Bon Voyage

 

We went on a Caribbean cruise this last week to help my Mom celebrate her 50th birthday. We had a wonderful time and my fears of sailing were relieved as the ship did not sink and I did not get sea sick (a miracle for those of you who know how easily I get motion sickness). That said, I thought I'd give a little picture show of our first cruise. Hudson had such a great time entertaining the other passengers and crew. He made lots of friends and made Dan and I feel like celebrities. Each time we stepped out of our little room and walked around the boat someone called Hudson's name and we were stopped while either another passenger or crew member held/played with him. Many of the crew had children of their own at home who they hadn't seen in months and they especially children. One woman from Dominican Republic, our waitress who Hudson really liked, actually took him around to show him to all her tables and other customers. She held him, and held his had as she led him from table to table just letting him make faces at others. It sure is a good thing that he isn't afraid of strangers. I was so nervous at first when people would come up to us and being talking to Hudson, but it has been so commonplace that I don't even bat an eye. Enough of that rabbit trail...

Our Hudsy loves, and I mean loves sand. While at each port's beach, most of my time was spent building sand "castles" for him to knock down. We also had our fare share of eating sand and tasting sea shells. I guess he got his fare share of fiber that day.

 

In Jamaica we took a taxi to the beach and got quite a taste of the local flavor. It's no joke that Jamaicans say "no problem" and "ya man" for just about everything. I really believe I could have asked him the time and he'd have told me something like this: "no problem man, it's 2pm, ya man, 2pm, beautiful day out here man, ya, ya, it's no problem man, no problem." By the end of the day it was hard for me not to say "ya man" and "no problem" when someone would talk to me. It's quite catchy when you hear it a lot!

 

And there nothing quite like a nice nap at the beach with the sound of the crashing waves. I guess it can be just irresistible for some...

 

Big shot so hot...

"When did he grow up?" I have this thought just about every day now as I watch him act more and more like a little man. No longer does he sit staring at the colorful little objects hanging from the mobile above him, or happily eat food from a baby jar. Nope, now he spends his days trying to get in as much activity as possible. A few days ago we were at my parents house and while playing outside he found this huge walking stick of Daniel's. I never dreamed he'd use it as such, but for the next while he spent his time carrying around the stick as he explored their back yard.
I'd often heard while in college the "nature vs. nurture" theory, and even studied it, but there is no question in my mind that it is nature all the way! No one had to teach this little boy how to like sticks, balls, yelling, and just being crazy active. He was just born that way. So here is a picture of my very own little Davy Crocket.

 

I see this picture and just think about how much our children watch us and everything we do. It is quite sobering realizing they often want to be just like us.

 

Happy New Year Cont...

These pictures were dropped from the entry below - just wanted to share them also. Enjoy. Here is what Hudson does in a typical 30 minutes....

Climbing

 

Riding

 

Eating

 

Ahh, the good life.

Happy New Year!

We are back up and running. It's been a crazy but wonderful month, one of which I'll fill in the details of later. Here are some of our Merry 1st Christmas picutres. There is so much to say as of late, too much to write now, but I'll at least list some of my favorite moments from the past few weeks (below the pictures).

 

 

 

 

1.) Waking up to Hudson in my bedroom. Dan let me sleep in this past weekend, getting up with our early riser. While he was busy in the kitchen, Hudson actually reached up, pulled down the lever and opened the bedroom door to come get me. He did it again later that evening to get into the bathroom. Never in our wildest dreams did we think we'd have to lock the doors to keep our little 11 month old out! He truly watches everything we do, them mimics it! Exciting & scary all at once!

2.) Stocking stuffer - Catching him delving into Dan's stocking with a mouth and two handfulls of beef jerky & the candy Hot Tamales. He has been sick with a cold since Christmas and was extra cranky that day. I noticed he got quiet then found him eating the jerky & candy with red sugar smeared all over his face. For the first time all day he was extreemly content. The kid won't eat turkey, but will down beef jerky? After I had a good long laugh, I took the candy away and let him gnaw on the jerky for the rest of the afternoon. That evening when Dan got home the first thing he said was, "Why does Hudson smell like beef jerky?" We laughed all over again.

3.) Chase me Daddy - His favorite game recently has become "chase". We get down on all fours and say "I'm gonna get ya" then he takes off with a squeal of delight, arms flailing. My mom commented that he should have been Jack Sparrow for halloween since he walks and runs like him - a bit off balance. He is determined though, as I have not seen him crawl in over 3 weeks.

4.) Christmas morning - he had the time of his life. Since his favorite toys are all balls, we thought for Christmas we would get him an entire pit, or crab, full of them. His eyes widened, and mouth dropped when we got to my parents later that morning & he saw the balls. The rest of the morning was spent in and around them. He even had to open the rest of his presents while sitting in the balls. His second favorite toy was a rocking horse that sings a little song which Dan and I can now recite in our sleep. He sits on it, bouncing up and down while it sings "I'm a little pony, clippity clop, clippity clop such a pretty pony....." Ah, yes, still in my head. But he loves it and it's worth it for this toy at least.

5.) Candy canes - lets just say he can focus on nothing else as long as there is one on the tree within his reach. He learned that if you bite really hard you can taste sugar, and had determined to each each one - only until the rouned top breaks. Then it is no longer worth eating and a new one must be found. He can go through 4 or 5 in a 10 minute period.

6.) Hearing him say "ma ma ma" and "da da da". He knows each of our names, and started calling us out of the blue one day. It was as though he'd known for a while and decided that last Thursday was going to be the day he actually started talking. I can't tell you the joy and sheer excitement that wells within my heart each time I hear him say "ma ma ma" and come looking for me with his arms open wide ready to be held. That makes everything else worth while.

7.) Mealtime - baby food is all but a thing of the past as he wants nothing more than to eat whatever we are having. It doesn't matter what it is as long as we eat it as well. So for breakfast he may have toast, fruit, cheese, yogurt, etc. For lunch possibly a grilled cheese sandwich or Annie's mac & cheese & veggies, and dinner maybe some spaghetti or roasted chicken and potatoes.

No more baby here, he drinks out of a sippy cup, eats cut up "big people" food, walks, talks & now opens doors. "When did this all happen" I continually think. He is a little boy now who likes balls, hammers, running, climing everything and yelling. I loved the little baby, but I can't imagine him being any different.

Thanksgiving Break

I know, I know, it's not like I've been good at posting our little events and happenings lately. Alas, I've fallen into researching Dan and I's family ancestry online and have traced my family back to the middle ages so far. It's been so much fun that I can't seem to use my coveted "computer time" for anything else, such as blogging. Dan's parents are arriving in town tomorrow for an extended Thanksgiving visit so it may be a little while before I post pictures and stories of our time together.

But in the here and now, I sit, the baby sleeping peacefully in his bed wearing his new big boy, two piece pjs. He truly is a big boy now and at 9 1/2 months is able to walk from object to object within a room and just Sunday stood up without having to pull himself up on something. He often gets this crazy, "I'm hyper" look in his little eyes and will pick up balls only to throw them over and over while chasing after them. Just this week he also began showing his preferences quite definitively. He is a true outdoorsman like his father and is so content just to be outside sitting in his stroller while we water the plants. In fact, he enjoys it so much that if he sees a front or back door close he'll throw his head down and give the most heartbroken cry. I truly believe it breaks his little heart to miss an opportunity to be outside!
Lest you see only one side of him, he is also a little lover with a tender heart. Each day, the first time he sees a family member, he must immediately give them a hug. We all of course love this, all that is except for the dog. Each morning he chases her down and gives her a big ole kiss too, much to her dismay.

So, a little about the video. We took this last weekend while sitting on the back porch enjoying some freshly made banana muffins while the power company cleared the fence in the back yard. Dan was so proud when Hudson took his own pinch of muffin and lifted it to Dan's mouth to share. I quickly pulled the camera out in a vain attempt to catch it again but it was not to be. So, enjoy a little of our little guy eating breakfast on a sunny Saturday morning with his Daddy.

Catching Up

Oh boy am I way behind on this blog! I really have no excuse, only to say that I've had a sick baby for the last two weeks and as it turns out, my sick baby is a momma's boy when he doesn't feel well. My arms are sure getting a great work out, for every waking moment he wants to be held, and not just by anyone, by me. It's great to be wanted and loved, but at night I lay in bed laughing because my arms are sooo sore and fatigued. I can't imagine what life was like before the invention of modern medicine. I was so worried as Hudson's fever stayed at the 102 range, even with Motrin. So I did what any worried mother would do and called the doctor asking if they could work us in TODAY. I wonder how often pediatricians get calls like this, as they were so nice and within 30 minutes we were out the door and on our way to get antibiotics. So fast forward a week and a half and I'm just getting back to a normal routine and a less dependent baby. Ahh, that's much better.
I also learned something about my son that should not surprise me. I learned the he will eat anything that can be digested. We had two medications to give him and one of them tasted horrible. Nonetheless, he took it no problem as long as I let him hold the dropper. The kid even readily opens his mouth each morning for his bitter vitamins, that honestly, I wouldn't even take! Sometimes I wonder if he is a bottomless pit. At mealtimes I pretty much just get tired of feeding him or he just gets tired of sitting in his highchair long before he is full. Tonight for instance he ate 3 tubs of baby food, 1 container of infant yogurt, some pumpkin bread and a few cheerios. We had a good laugh as Dan told him he doesn't have to readily open his mouth for more food if he is full. Although he can ingest Cheerios as though his life depended on it. Every morning he looses himself in sheer excitement when I pull the box out of the pantry, shake it and say "cheerios, cheerios". He waves his arms in the air, shakes with excitement, and sticks his two bottom teethies out in a huge grin.
These are the moments that make the fatigues arms and long nights worth it.

Happy Harvest

Here are a few pictures from the pumpkin patch Becca and I took the boys to on Saturday. Hudson had such good time eating the Indian Corn and banging on the pumpkins. I really think he would have stayed there all day if I would have let him.