15 months

WOW, has it really been 15 months since this amazing person was born?! it's hard to believe, and watching him grow and change like crazy lately makes me feel like he'll be starting first grade before we know it. These days Hudson is chatting up a storm, and we officially have his first few words to report!

1. BYE. He will say bye to everyone and everything. Stranger, animal, car. Anything.
2. CAR. When we get in the car, when he sees a car, when we're walking out of daycare to go to the car. CAR. CAR. CAR.
3. BALL. Hudson loves to identify any round object that resembles a ball. Lots of fun.
4. SHOE. He will get his shoes, my shoes, and andy's shoes, and bring them to me saying "shoe."
5. UH OH. This one is more recent, like in the last week. He will throw food off of the table and say uh oh. He's learning quickly that he can do something, and use 'uh oh' as the reaction. Smarty pants, indeed.
6. Belly Button - this one he's still working on, but he if you ask where his is, he'll pull up his shirt and show you. VERY cute.

There are few other things he says, but these are the most common, and he's been using bye for over a month now. So i think his first official word is bye!

In addition to the chatter, he is "helping" more around the house - he'll put things "away" when i ask him to, and will let me know when he's all done with something so i can clean it up. He still loves hanging out on the stairs (see picture), and though he likes his pacifier to chew on, he loves his straw-lid sippy cup also. In the last couple weeks he has had molars on both sides of his mouth break through! He's been a bit more restless at night, waking up a couple times a night regularly to cry out, roll around, then fall back asleep. He's also been drooling more, so we've been eating pieces of ice to try and cool down our mouth (yes, i do this with him - what? I like eating ice sometimes…and popsicles). Thankfully he hasn't gotten sick yet this season, and I'm starting my prayers now that he won't be sick when we're traveling!

We have still been spending time almost every weekend across the street in the park. This is a great time to point out cars, airplanes (another favorite of his), and kick leaves around while we walk toward any dog we can see. I love this time, because he is free to direct his own path, and it's fun to see what he wants to do. Most of the time he's not really interested in the actual playground. If someone pushes a tricycle or wagon to the park, he'd rather check that out and push it around the perimeter. Which is always fun, asking the parent if it's ok if my son takes your son or daughters bike for a 'push' around the area. Thankfully all the parents around here are very friendly!

A few other fun new developments have been popping up as well - Hudson can now open doors, and will not hesitate to see what you're doing in the bathroom if you close the door. He will also go in and shut the door by himself, even with the lights out. Just hanging out in the bathroom with the lights off. That's our son. He's also enjoying riding on things still - we got him a choo choo train to push around the house, and that has been fun. Even if he only gets to push it for a couple feet before he runs into something.

We love the hugs and kisses we get from him now, and the fact that he can tell us so much better what he wants and doesn't want. He still loves seeing other people, and will smile and laugh at just about anything. We can't stop talking about how great he is, and how thankful we are for him. He's a character - and fits right in with the rest of our family! :)