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!

Oops I Did It Again

Blog redesign #987! This is a change I have been wanting to make for a while - simple and clean. I have been adding lots more pictures to my blogs these days and I just think the white background suits that best. I may get bored with it eventually, but tonight I'm loving it.

The header is from one of my favorite artists, Paul Klee. This is one of his works from 1922 called "Separation in the Evening," and I am in love with the beautiful colors and how it is geometric and yet so soft. From the title I'm assuming it is a study on a sunset, but I just saw it and immediately thought of God, reaching down to us, bridging the divide to meet us in our need. All of that makes more sense if you know that the painting is actually a vertical, like so:

However, I'm really sorry Mr. Klee, but I had to turn it horizontally to make it fit as my blog header. Also I cropped it. Again, sorrryyyyyy. (I don't think he minds terribly, being deceased and all.)

I hope the new look is nice and easy on the eyes, dear readers. If not, you can leave your complaints below. Ta ta!

Kansas! (Also, Kansas: The Sequel)

A big chunk of this extended trip that Huddy and I have been on has involved traveling to Kansas to visit family. Both my parents were born and raised in the same small town in south central Kansas, and all of my mom's side of the family still lives there. It is challenging to get out there for a visit because it is a long drive - about eight hours - and even more so with a little one. When we went with Hudson for Thanksgiving, we flew to Kansas City and then my parents picked us up to make it the rest of the way. But this time my mom and I would be driving with Hudson all the way from St. Louis. For the most part, he was a great car napper and God bless the iPhone, which kept him pretty well occupied for any awake time!

Huddy had a great time at Great-Grandma's house. It was a little tough because their place is (understandably) not exactly baby-proofed. I found myself having to say "no" a lot more than usual, which I hate, but it was tough to balance between letting him explore and keeping him (and Grandma's knick-knacks) safe! Still, he was so sweet and happy and did great with all the people he's only met once. We were confined indoors for the most part because every day we were there it was over 100 degrees. But he found plenty to keep him entertained.

Mom tied a tea-towel around him like a cape and then he decided he wanted to wear it at all times!

Showing Great-Grandma Anita his little car.

My mom with my grandma and grandpa

Huddy really took a liking to my Uncle Phil. So cute!

He got this little car from some of the family. He loves riding it but mostly pushing it around.

Uncle Bob and Aunt Sandy got him his very own Harley Davidson gear.

Hanging out on Great-Grandma's front porch.

My cute grandparents!

Truth be told, there's not much in Wellington, Kansas. But there is a Braums. What's that, you ask? Oh, just some of the world's finest icecream. Which, tragically for the rest of us, is pretty much only available in Oklahoma and Kansas. We made a daily trip for our icecream fix. On our last day, I decided Huddy had been such a wonderful boy on our trip that it was high time he saw what all the icecream fuss was about. Baby's first icecream cone was, needless to say, a HUGE hit.

"What do I do with this?"

Lightbulb moment.

Once the top part was gone, he tried to drink it out of the cone.

Took the icecream away for a second to get this messy-face photo...

I WAS NOT DONE GIVE IT BACK WHYYYYY

"Never do that again."

Once we wrapped up our time in Wellington, we headed back to St. Louis. On our way, we made stops in Topeka and Kansas City to visit even MORE family. It actually worked out well to help break up the car time for Hudson, and I was so grateful to see some relatives I hadn't seen in far too long. In Topeka we stopped to see my Uncle Joe. He was at his mom's house making tortillas so we joined in the fun! They are Mexican and I love getting little glimpses into the culture when I get the chance to spend time with them.

 

Huddy approves of the final product.

Me and Hudster with Mary, Uncle Joe, and his mom Jenny

Finally, we made our way to Kansas City to see my cousin Mitchell (Joe's son, if you're trying to fill in your own personal copy of my Family Tree). I hadn't seen him in practically two years, during which he had gotten engaged and had a baby of his own! Knox is only about 2.5 months younger than Hudson, so they were fast friends. It was pretty awesome for my boy to be playing with his second cousin.

New friends with fun toys!

Me, Hudson, Courtney, Knox, and Mitchell

Such a cutie and so many teeth!

In fact, we had so much fun with Knox and Co. that we decided to come BACK to Kansas City the following weekend for his 1st birthday party! We were also excited that we would get to see my cousin Katie (Mitchell's sister; I'll wait while you jot that down). Again, we hadn't seen her in ages and it was wonderful to introduce her to Hudson in person. He had lots of fun being the only other baby at the party and getting to "borrow" some presents while Knox was otherwise occupied. 

Love this shot of Hudson holding on to my dad. :)

Hudson "helping" Knox with one of his presents.

Katie finally gets to meet Huddy!

Unfortunately, the party proved to be too much fun for Hudson, as he then spent two of the four hours of our drive back to St. Louis awake and crying. Yikes. I guess he just loved Kansas so much he was sad to leave.

Thus ended our adventures visiting everyone to whom we are related within a 500 mile radius. It was exhausting but wonderful. There's nothing quite like family, is there? We are pretty blessed with ours.