18 Months!

A year and a half with our little man! I feel like I say this every time, but I can hardly believe he has grown up so quickly! He is definitely changing from baby to boy.

He was healthy as a horse at his 18-month check-up. He weighs a little over 24 pounds and is about 32 inches tall. He has three teeth now - his top two molars and one bottom middle tooth - and I think a couple more are getting close. I can already see a difference in how it has helped him to bite and chew his food. He loves to point to his tooth if you ask him!

His little vocabulary grows daily, and teaching him new words is a lot of fun, as is deciphering the ones he is already saying. Recent words he uses are: hat, star, oh no, no-no, nana (banana), Daddy (instead of Dada), and Mommy (instead of Mama). He also knows his best friend Jack, and says "Jack Jack" when he sees him (although it sounds a lot like Da da, we know what he means). It is SO cute! 

He really knows his animal sounds and says them when he sees the correct animal. We went to a friend's house who had a cat, and he was so excited, just saying "meow meow meow" over and over. He also says "Rawr" when he sees a picture of a lion or tiger, which is funny to me because I don't remember teaching him that one! 

Any and everything that is round is "A BA!" Which is Hudson for "a ball!" He loves balls, and has a killer arm! Future Cardinal, obviously. Of course not everything round is a ball, so you have to be on your toes. Case in point, when we were at Target yesterday and he picked up a Christmas ornament and chucked it down the aisle. Oops. Thankfully it was one of those non-shatter ones, so no harm done!

We enjoyed a WONDERFUL trip home to St. Louis for Thanksgiving. Below are some pics of our time there, as well as a few more from the past month. 

Since most of our favorite fruits are out of season, we are enjoying pre-packaged peaches and pears!

I found an amazing deal on this wagon, and it was supposed to be Hudson's big Christmas present but we were having too much fun with it to wait!

 

Found a leaf on our walk!

Chocolate chip muffin face.

My little picky eater loves lasagna. Love this pic of him and Daddy chowing down.

Ben goes and gets Hudson every morning and brings him to our bed for cuddles. And then Daddy promptly falls back asleep. :)

Helping me do laundry.

Home for Thanksgiving... Mom had this little vacuum waiting and it was a big hit!

Our nephew Logan has three little brothers of his own so he is so sweet and patient with Hudson! They really enjoyed playing together so much.

Our friends Rob and Laura have an adorable little boy named Dylan. Can't believe Hudson was only this big at this time last year!

Playing at the St. Louis Science Center

Logan showing Hudson the best places.

He loved this Lego wall!

17 Months

Hey, remember that time when I was a TERRIBLE blogger? Yikes. Well if anyone is still reading this thing (hi Mom!), I'm going to attempt to pull it together and get better at posting more frequently. No really, this time it will be different. Stop laughing.

Anyway, let's start with this: HUDSON HAS TEETH! I REPEAT, MY SON IS NO LONGER TOOTHLESS! Point to your tooth, Hudson!

I was tickling him in our bed one morning and as he was laughing, I saw something in his mouth. Sure enough, there they were - two top molars, one on each side. Yes, that's right. At sixteen months old, my son finally got his first teeth, and they were molars! I could hardly believe it. Still no sign of the front teeth, but I'm assuming they'll come in eventually.

Other developments in the past couple months:

No more nursing. He weaned right before he was 16 months. It was bittersweet. How funny that something so difficult and agonizing for us at the start became something I didn't want to end. I'm so grateful I had the support and encouragement to stick with it as long as we did. Have to find other ways to get my cuddles in now with my busy boy!

He's become quite the little picky eater. I am trying to stay optimistic since most experts seem to say this is just standard toddler behavior. I'm a terribly picky eater myself, and I always prayed my children wouldn't inherit this trait! I just keep offering things and hope that eventually he'll start trying and eating them. Every once in a while he'll surprise me: he won't touch any other kind of pasta but he just loves lasagna! And in the past week he tried and decided he approved of ketchup. I think there's hope!

His little vocabulary is growing slowly. It's funny (and sometimes frustrating) because most of the time these days, he's definitely saying something, but the jibberish is indecipherable. We have words for ball, balloon, butterfly, airplane, baby, and a handful more. He also recognizes all the grandparents and family by name and tries really hard to say them too! When we went to visit my sister in Chicago last month, he started calling her "Tee Tee" (for Auntie). It was ridiculously precious.

He loves running, kicking and throwing a ball, climbing and balancing, sweeping and cleaning (whose kid is this?!), playing with the iPhone, watching Blues Clues, and - despite continued guitar lessons from Daddy - drumming. After church a couple weeks ago, we let him get on the big drums. He was a natural.

Yes indeed, we've been having lots of fun and here are some pictures to prove it! (PS, our beloved Cardinals almost made it to the World Series this year, hence the wardrobe selections in most of these photos. Gotta represent!)

Reading in his "secret" spot behind the rocking chair.

Watching the ballgame!

Keeping the sidewalks clean.

Kisses from Momma

Watching leopard cubs at the zoo.

Lunch with Jenny -- celebrating that she is going to be a mommy too!

Arrrrgh! Baby pirate!

Our family

Board Meeting of the Immanuel Church Babies!

Watching some dancing at the Tennessee American Indian Pow-Wow.

My little lunch date.

These were his PJs for when the Cardinals' games were on after bedtime!

At his friend Stella's color-themed birthday party

Being a goofball. :)

Zoo time with Jack

Helping me make cookies. 

Corn dog date night

At the Pumpkin Festival

Best. Costume. Ever.

Dragon Booty

Walking with Scruff

Guitar time with Daddy

Playdate with his BFF Jack

A rare moment sleeping in Momma's arms

Just doing our civic duty

Little Dragon is ready to trick-or-treat

Lots of fun at the Frist Art Museum

Kicking leaves with Daddy

Hanging out with the Appel Twins!

I Just Realized...

This is the first time in five years I haven't done an Emmy fashion blog! Sadness! Honestly, without TiVo or a DVR and with Hudson, it has gotten so hard to watch any live TV anymore. What I did watch of this year's show seemed very underwhelming and none of the shows/actors I was rooting for won. And then I got very busy and went out of town and now it seems too late so... the end of an era! In lieu of my own commentary, may I direct you to the Emmy coverage from my two favorite fashion blogs.

The Fug Girls Emmy-related posts can be found HERE.
Tom & Lorenzo's Emmy-related posts can be found HERE. (T & Lo are somewhat potty-mouthed, so consider yourself warned!)

I solemnly swear to get my act together in time to do justice to the Golden Globes and Oscars early next year!

15 Months

Time is flying, and today my little bitty turns 15 months old. I think in the past three months he has really changed so much, and is officially transitioning from baby into toddler. Of course, he's long been a pro at the "toddling" part... we often have people comment that he looks too little to be running so fast! He's certainly a speedy one. He falls occasionally when he trips over his shoes, but don't we all? Otherwise he's sure-footed and constantly on the move.

He is getting better at expressing himself, and just in the past few weeks has branched out from "Mama" and "Dah-dee" and started to mimic a few other words we say often, including "baby," "uh-oh," and "thank you." He also knows sign-language for "milk," "more," "all done," and "hungry," although usually if he wants food he skips "hungry" and just signs for "more." Or to be even more clear, he will go over to his high chair and attempt to crawl in it! He also understands SO much of what we say, which is kind of wild. He understands so much that I can get exasperated when it seems like he is ignoring or disobeying me. At those times, I have to remind myself that he is still so little and I need to give him lots of patience and grace!

He loves to play with toys with pieces (like puzzles or blocks) and with anything you can push, like a walker, a broom, a shopping cart, and so forth. In fact, he will push things around whether they or meant to be or not. Today he was strong-arming our dining room chairs all over the kitchen! He still loves to look at books and be read to. He can identify lots of animals from his books and our many zoo trips, including birds, bunnies, dogs, cats, zebras, and I think we are getting close on giraffes and elephants.

Other things I want to remember about Hudson at this age:

• The sound of his little voice yelling for Ben... "Dah DEE? DAH DEE?"
• The other night he wouldn't eat his peas until I told him they were green berries. :)
• His face gets all red when he gets hot, just like mine.
• We've been learning "belly button" and he gets the biggest grin on his face when he finds his.
• The "swishy swishy" sound of his diaper as he scurries around the house.
• He throws things on the floor (purposefully) and then says, "Uh oh."
• Loves remotes and anything else with buttons.
• He has started dancing when he hears music. ADORABLE.
• We've been explaining that his paci is only for bedtime, so when I get him up from his nap he throws his paci back into the bed. It's just really cute.

We go to the pediatrician on Thursday for his official check-up so I'll be able to post his height and weight stats then. Unofficially, I'd guess he's still hovering around 20 pounds, but I think he has definitely gotten a little taller.

I was saving most of my pics from STL for some more blog posts about that trip, but here's a few recent shots to commemorate 15 months with my little fella.

Taking a walk with Scruffy.

Busted! He got stuck trying to crawl past a box I use to block the stairs.

Bath baby.

Love this face. :)

Hee hee!