Happy Birthday Baby!

One year of life with Hudson. Every tear he (and I) cried, every giggle, every diaper, every cuddle, every moment... seems like too much for one little year to hold. My son is such a joy in my life. I feel so special that God allows me to be his mother.

Here's a little bit about Hudson at one.

He loves books, balloons, bathtime, and airplanes. This morning I got him a balloon at Publix, and except for naptime, he literally has not let it go.

He eats a lot, but favorites include strawberries, bananas, oatmeal, and pretty much anything else so long as it comes off someone else's plate. If you're eating it, he wants some. We call him the Baby Vulture. Right now he is trying (and succeeding) to get some of the cupcake I am eating.

He still nurses a few times a day, but mostly at night/naps and in the morning. So strange, this whole breastfeeding thing - in the beginning, it is all you do and it is so frustrating and difficult that you want to quit. And now, every time he is nursing I see how much he has grown and how independent he is becoming, and I don't want it to end. I think if it was up to him, he would just do it at bedtime and in the morning. I think I will slowly try to let that happen, though it is bittersweet for me!

He has zero teeth. Zilch. Nada. Toothless.

He walks almost exclusively; even if he falls down, he rarely crawls anymore. Just picks himself up and continues toddling along.

He doesn't talk yet, but makes lots of sounds and knows several objects by name and can point to them when asked, like puppy, mama, and daddy. Just this past weekend he finally started saying "mama" but not to or about me. He just says it while he's playing or jabbering. I still love it!

He had his first major sickness a few weeks ago, when he somehow caught Hand, Foot, & Mouth Disease. And then I caught Hand, Foot, & Mouth Disease. And Ben was out of town. We were a pathetic mess. It was awful.

He takes one nap, usually around noon, and it lasts for 2-3 hours. He goes to bed about 7:30pm and sleeps basically all night. Sometimes he wakes up around 5am, nurses, and then I can usually get him to go back to sleep for another couple hours. He sleeps in his own crib in his own room, and that is the way HE wants it. He's not a snuggler and he won't sleep in our bed anymore, not even in the morning like he used to. I miss it. But sleep - for everyone - is also wonderful.

I'm reading back over this and it seems like such a surface-level summary of who he is. Hudson is so much more than a list of his milestones. He is our baby-becoming-a-toddler, a little boy of quiet confidence and curiosity, with smiles and happy laughter to spare. He is everything I was terrified he would never be in those first few months when all we knew was crying and exhaustion. And while motherhood is still exhausting, most days it is from having too much fun and trying to keep up with Huddy and housework. I'll take that trade in on sleepless nights and endless sobs!

I am so excited to watch him grow and learn each day! Here are a few pictures of our new one year old.

11 Months!

Bad mommy blogger, bad! I'm woefully inept at getting updates written and posted. But we're having too much fun around here to stop for very long!

Hudson turned eleven months old this past weekend and I just can't believe it. He is growing and changing so quickly. Right now it seems like he inhabits this interesting space between baby and toddler-hood.

Sometimes he needs me so desperately - like the other night, for some reason, he was just sobbing as Ben tried to give him his bath. This is totally unlike him. Hudson loves bathtime and he loves Daddy. But for whatever reason, he didn't want either of those. He only wanted me. I knelt down by the tub where he was crying, and he stood up and put his little wet arms around my neck and kept crying until I finally picked him up and snuggled him in a towel. My baby. And then other times, he is so big and independent. He likes to eat what he wants (and throw the rest on the floor), pick which books to read, and play by himself.

He is getting very good with the walking. He can make it all the way across a room, and can bend over and pick something up and then (usually) stand back up. Just in the past couple days, he added the skill of being to stand up without holding onto or pulling up on anything. When he does fall, it's often because he got so excited that he tried to go fast. He looks like a drunken zombie, arms out in front, staggering side to side. He still prefers to crawl though, because it is much quicker.

Walking led to his first major boo boo. He tripped and fell, hitting his forehead on one of the vintage brass pulls on his dresser. It instantly swelled into this huge purple goose egg. There was much crying - some his, some mine. Thankfully there was no permanent damage and he was back to his old self in no time. This phase of development is full of falls, and with it come lots of close calls. I'll be grateful when he's a little more stable on two legs!

Ouchie. 

Hudson's new obsession is pointing at everything. It is darling and also hopefully helping him to identify items and file away the words for each one. The zoo is a blast now, as he points animatedly at each animal he sees. He also knows the sound of an airplane and anytime he hears one (whether we are outside or not), he points up in the air and looks around for the plane. It is so stinkin' cute! He also knows some people by name and will point to them when asked. Mostly this is reserved for "Daddy" and "Puppy," but this past weekend when my parents were in town, he also pointed correctly at my dad when we asked "Where's Gpa?" I'm pretty sure this was the highlight of the weekend.

Speaking of highlights, the pinnacle of Hudson's life thus far was last week when a Publix employee gave him a balloon while we were grocery shopping. He points at balloons any time we see one, but to have his own bouncing around at the end of a string was almost more than his baby brain could handle. I think I could've grocery shopped for hours and Hudson still would have been content just pulling on his balloon and bopping it around. I decided I must have tons of balloons at his birthday party.

Hudson is beginning to understand that "no" means to stop what he's doing, or at the very least to look at me before he continues to do whatever frustrating behavior he is engaged in. Just in the past few days, he seems to make the connection that when I say "no" in a certain tone, I am upset. He reacts by scrunching up his little face and starting to cry, which is so utterly heartbreaking and adorable that I am simultaneously trying not to laugh and doing whatever I can to get him happy again. He's got me hook, line, and sinker, that ornery baby!

He loves to read stories, which we do before every nap and bedtime. Sometimes when we are playing in his room, he will bring me a book, as if he wants me to read it to him (which I always do). He also likes to sit by himself and look at his books, focusing very hard on opening each one and turning the pages. As someone who loves to read so much, this trend makes me one happy momma. His favorite books right now are "I Am a Bunny," "Jamberry," "King Bidgood's In the Bathtub," and "Goodnight, Baby."

 

He loves to empty and fill containers. Mostly empty. He has figured out how to open the drawers in his dresser and loves to pull out the clothes, piece by piece, and throw them down until the drawer is empty. He also likes blocks (chewing on them and putting them in and out of the toy box), paper, and his toy drum and the accompanying drum sticks. He has gotten into "sharing," which means he wants to hand you a toy and then you hand it back, and this can carry on for quite some time. He has the funniest little "pose" he does when he holds out something he wants to share. It looks like this:

Hudson also loves to eat! He still nurses about 4-5 times a day and eats three meals of "people food," along with some snacks here and there. He likes to eat with his hands, and is also still happy to be fed with a spoon. Faster food-to-mouth delivery is a-ok with him! He saw his friend Jack eat a strawberry while they were on a playdate and now this is a favorite snack of his. His other favorite foods are Chick-fil-a grilled nuggets, any kind of fruit, puffs, sausage, and bread. He will eat veggies but I have been trying to find a way to get more green stuff into his diet (and mine, for that matter), and a friend had the idea of making baby-friendly green smoothies. Hudson is great at drinking with a straw, so this worked great for us. His first green smoothie was strawberries, spinach, pineapple, and banana. And he loved it! (Me too!)

Chicken nugget!

Strawberry!

Mmm, green smoothie!

The most frustrating part of this month has been that Hudson is possibly transitioning to only one nap a day. I know this will make our schedules more flexible, but it will be hard to give up all the time that two naps allowed me! He was taking two two-hour naps a day - four hours a day that I could do chores or get online or catch a few winks of my own. But over the past couple weeks naptime has become a huge fight and so we are going to try one nap for a while and see how that goes.

I can hardly believe that my baby is almost one year old! He is such a joy and we have so much fun each day together. Here are a few more pictures from the past month or two.

Happy Easter! 

Little Boy Blue

Roadtrip with Mommy

Snuggles with Aunt Ashley

Grandma warms up his bath towel!

Laughing at Daddy on Skype

Fun in the Bath

Hanging with his BFF Jack

Zoo with Gpa and Grammy

Swinging

9 Months

Well I started this blog post when Hudson turned 9 months old but it's been about 2.5 weeks since then. Oops! Better hurry or it'll be time for a 10 month post. Time is flying!

First, the stats. At his 9 month check-up, he weighed 18 pounds, 13 ounces and was 28 inches long. That's around the 35-40th percentile for both weight and height. He is healthy and as happy as can be!

Hudson is on the move constantly. He loves to crawl and climb all over everything. He is really good at cruising along furniture and has even taken a few steps, though they seem to be unintentional. His favorite things to do are to pull all his books off the shelf and all his stuffed animals out of the bin. Really, pulling stuff out of any kind of box or bag is fun for him! The other day I was folding clothes and putting them in the bottom drawer of his dresser. He crawled over and pulled up, then proceeded to take each article of clothing out of the drawer, shake it with glee, and throw it over his shoulder. It was so cute I let him empty the hole drawer, even though I had to refold about thirty onesies.

He makes lots of different sounds, and they are more responsive, which is fun. I swear he is trying to mimic me when I say "Oh-oh!" No "mama" or "dada" yet, though! He also knows how to wave "bye-bye" which is ADORABLE. Of course, he will never do it on command. Same thing with giving kisses. When we are out and about he always makes friends with everybody, and doesn't seem to show any real stranger or separation anxiety, even though he prefers me when he needs to be comforted or is sleepy.

Hudson LOVES food and puts it away like you wouldn't believe. He still has no teeth, so he prefers stuff that is still pureed or well-mushed. But he does love to eat with his hands, especially bananas, puffs, and pieces of bread.

And, saving the best for last, Hudson has finally FINALLY slept through the night! Cue the angel chorus! He was still waking up to nurse twice a night, and then one night he just... didn't. And the next night he did it again! And again! He does still wake up between 5-6, but then I nurse him and bring him into our bed and he will usually sleep a little longer. On top of that, he is taking two good 1.5-2 hour naps every day. Wow! I actually called the pediatrician because I was worried he was sleeping too much! She reassured me that this was normal and I just wasn't used to it. He is just doing so much growing and learning that he needs a lot of time to rest and recharge. I'll take it, gladly!

Here are a few pics of adventures in months 6-9.

Skyping with Daddy is our favorite way to stay in touch when he is out on the road.

First real big snow (in St. Louis). Not a fan!

First tortilla chip! He doesn't get these any more because he choked on one.

First cornbread.

First pancake.

Hanging with Daddy.

He learned to climb the stairs! He can go all the way up!

First trip to the Nashville Zoo.

Loves being outside and riding in his stroller.

Baby, Baby, Baby, Oooh

It's always nice to kick things off with a Justin Bieber reference.

It's been a while since I did a proper Hudson update, and since he's accomplished a lot since Thanksgiving, I've got plenty of material.

We had such an amazing Christmas with our families in St. Louis. We got to enjoy time with both sides of the family, and introduce Hudson to some friends who hadn't met him before.

With our new stroller, a Christmas gift from all the parents!

Hudson and Mommy on Christmas Eve

Christmas morning jammies!

With our friends Cara & Cody and Rob & Laura

With his new Magic Mozart Cube

He got some wonderful gifts and with the help of my mom I was able to finish his handmade stocking by Christmas. I love how it turned out and I'm so happy he'll have it to cherish for many Christmases to come!

Hudson is definitely into food! He still nurses like a champ, but in between, he is hungry for more. He is getting used to the idea of texture in his food. Most of the time if he turns up his nose at something, it isn't the flavor but the texture. I'm afraid he may be a late teether, like his mama. I was toothless until I was a year old! I certainly don't see any little budding teeth in his mouth, and none of the other telltale signs, like excessive drooling, are present either. But even though actual chewing might be a ways off, I don't want him to get addicted to the smooth purees, so I try to thicken things up with his baby oatmeal. I also have given him little veggie puffs, and picking them up off his tray helps with his coordination and fine motor skills. He rarely gets one in his mouth (Scruffy ends up with most of them) but when he does, he makes the funniest faces trying to figure out what to do with it! I made him food for the first time the other day (carrots), and that was fun to watch him eat and enjoy.

Now that he is starting to eat larger amounts of food than just a spoonful or two, I think I will be making it for him more often. For anyone else who is interested in making baby food for any stage of baby/toddler, I am LOVING this website which has SO many wonderful ideas beyond just the standard purees.

Sleeping is... improving... slowly. We have been letting Hudson cry in certain situations. It's very difficult, and not a decision we made lightly. But in my opinion, there's a big difference between letting a 7 week-old cry and letting a 7 month-old cry, and as we hit certain milestones in Hudson's development, I became more comfortable with the idea of encouraging him to self-soothe by not immediately going to him when he cried at night. He still wakes up to eat twice, usually about three hours after he goes to sleep and again about three hours before he gets up. If he wakes up in between, I try not to go to him unless he gets hysterical. Now most nights, he doesn't even wake up in between those times, which means if I would just go to bed on time, I might actually get a decent stretch of sleep! He has also stopped going to bed at 6pm, and consequently stopped waking up at 6am, which is a relief to us all! He usually goes to bed closer to 7 or 7:30, and then wakes up for good about the same time the next morning.

He also stopped taking his 40-minute catnaps, and instead takes two nice hour-plus naps a day, usually around 9:30ish and again around 2ish. One frustrating development with naps has happened since he started crawling. Basically, even when he seems SUPER tired, he spends a good 20-30 minutes playing in his crib or pack-and-play before finally going to sleep. There are no toys or anything in there; he just crawls around, sits up, lays down, tries to stand up, etc. I don't know if I should try keeping him up longer or if he is just exercising his new-found freedom of movement and would do it no matter what time I put him down. He will literally be half-asleep in my arms and as soon as he hits the mattress, it's suddenly playtime. He doesn't do it at bedtime, just for naps.

I sort of just spoiled it in the last paragraph, but our biggest news is that Hudson is officially CRAWLING! He was so close for so long and then finally on New Years Day, he put it all together and he was on the move. Tentatively at first, but now he's a regular motoring man. He's a classic crawler, on his hands and knees. Crawling has brought to the forefront the need for drastic, immediate babyproofing. If it is even borderline dangerous, Hudson wants to do it, and fearlessly. Crawl off the bed? Check. (Thankfully that was feet first.) Stick his hands in the floor vents? Check. Chew on an electrical cord? Check. Open junk drawer in kitchen? Check. Lick shoes left out on the floor? Oh yes, yes he did.

Crawling also appears to have unleashed his mobility in other ways, because he can do a whole host of things he couldn't do before. He can go from sitting to crawling and back to sitting again. He can get up on his knees, sort of sitting on his haunches. He has also started the process of pulling up, which has resulted in many, many conks on the head. I wasn't there to verify it, but Ben told me this morning he walked up and down the length of his crib while holding on to the edge. Eek! Unfortunately, he likes to practice his standing during naptime, and once he stands up, he can't figure out how to sit back down, and so he just cries and cries until I come help him.

He's certainly a busy, happy boy these days. I feel like we are flying through the changes week by week, just trying to keep up. We love this little man who keeps us on our toes!

Six Months!

Oh, my Sweet Baby James! Has it really been half a year with you? You have filled up our hearts and our lives with so much! You've been a busy little boy lately. Let's take a look back at your fun-filled sixth month of life.

You met your Great-Grandpa Hal and wore matching overalls.

You met Great-Grandma Anita and had lots of fun playing on the table!

Perhaps our biggest achievement of the month - you learned to sleep unswaddled!

You can now get up on your hands and knees and rock back and forth, and you can also get on your hands and your feet. It's so cute!

You've started eating food! So far you've had peaches, pears, bananas, sweet potatoes, carrots, and most recently, mangoes.

You rode in first class on an airplane. Here you are reading the pretentious first class magazine.

You're so strong and determined. You like to play and rough-house and run around in your walker. You have the dearest crinkle-nosed smile and the most serious, studious frown. Your ears are ticklish. Your hair is growing in pale blonde. You love to go and explore and move. You have made our family so happy. Daddy and I love you so much and look forward to every coming day with you.

Love,

Momma