Ride em Cowboy

I just wanted to show you how happy this little guy is every day! (Just don't try to take away his toy...see below). Hope you're having a wonderful day!!

 

 

 

 

Blue Suede Shoes

 

Ok, so they are actually black, but they are his first pair of "official" shoes, (Merrells to be exact, we have to be like Daddy!). By official I mean the shoes that have a rubber sole, not the Robeez that we so dearly love. I bought them from a resale shop across the street called Kid to Kid. It is a regular stop for Hudson and I on our daily walks. I love breezing in there to check out the toy shelf or clothes to see what exciting new things are in that we absolutely must have.... So back at home last night I wanted to try the shoes on him to see what he'd do with hard soles on his feet. He sat still while I wriggled them onto his fat little feet then walked around picking his feet up high with each step, as though he were wearing snow shoes. After a good little giggle, I took the shoes off him so as not to interrupt his play time too much. He promptly came back, sat down and began trying to put the shoes on his own feet. When that didn't work he then stood up and tried jamming his foot into the shoe just like we would with a slip on. I guess you could say they are keepers, and that he didn't mind the shoes so much afterall.

Oh, Applesauce!

Never underestimate the reach of a toddler. Today I did. This morning, while cleaning up our usual breakfast mess in the kitchen, I let my mind wander becoming blissfully absorbed in the music playing on my ipod. Then at some point I realized it was quiet, too quiet. Every parent knows that feeling when they instantly become aware of the lack of noise in their home and think, "my child doing something they shouldn't". I joined the rank of those parents today when I turned the corner, looked under the dining room table and saw my precious "little monkey" (as I like to call him) spoon in hand trying to dig applesauce out of it's container. In those situations you can't do anything but laugh because it is just about the cutest thing you've ever seen, and as a parent when they aren't really doing any damage and you can see they are having a grand old time, you stop and enjoy the moment of childhood. He was so content to sit there digging into the cup, as lately he is determined to feed himself with his own spoon and fork. I let him keep the spoon, but quickly started the process of finding and cleaning the 15 spots on the carpet as well as the huge glob on the shutters across the room - how he got it there I'll never know!


And in other news, I just had to take this picture and no, it is not poo. I have done what I've said I would not do. I've allowed my child to fall in love with sweets, and in this case, homemade cookies. It's really Dan's fault and he asks me for cookies regularly and I of course have to oblige :). Last night Hudson saw the cookies on the counter and literally went nuts, pulling out every sound and facial expression he knew to get a hold of a bite or ten. He had just gotten out of the bath, and was thus naked. We learned something about him. Without a diaper on, he is fascinated with touching his little cheeks. He hasn't learned that it's a dead give away when you scratch with melted chocolate on your fingers.

I hope it brings a smile to you face as well.

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.