a trip to the zoo

Last time we went to the zoo was Halloween, Hudson was less than three months old, dressed like a pumpkin, and slept through the whole thing. This time was a little better - he was awake, in his big boy stroller, and was equally as cute as he was at Halloween! And this time Grandma was here to go with us!!

we had to stop in to get a sun hat because it was 81 degrees out! Of course the next day it is snowing...and if someone says "that's spring in Colorado" one more time...I swear...

He's smiling now...

Once Hudson starts walking, I think Andy's face might look a little bit different...

stand in the place where you are...at least for the moment.

Now that Hudson is crawling AND standing up - he is getting EVERYWHERE, and pulling himself up on EVERYTHING. Here are a few examples...:)

fish face

Hudson's new favorite pose - we like to also call it "Blue Steel" (Zoolander inspired).

me and my boy

Well, we thought Hudson had his first cold a couple weeks ago, but I now believe it was a precursor to his REAL cold, which is currently happening right now. He has the runny nose, the horrible cough, trouble sleeping, trouble eating, general unhappiness - which is not like him! Poor little guy...and now i've got the cold too, so poor me. :) It's definitely more difficult to take care of a sick baby when you're sick and not getting sleep either! At least we have Andy, and he is a good daddy/husband - so we appreciate that! He just has to deal with us...so poor Andy too.

In other news, Hudson is pulling himself into the standing position whenever possible, and has now mastered his crawling. He will crawl directly to the closest object he can pull himself up on, and work his hardest to get up on those feet. Last night i walked into his room to find him standing in his crib...and i know it's only a matter of time before he takes a nice crash and hits his head. But i guess there's no avoiding that, since he doesn't know how to bend his knees while standing, and i'm not going to stay up all night watching him. Andy and I both think this kid will be a handful of constant motion...starting now.

Loving his walks...

7 months

So, i know this is quite a few pictures that are very similar, but it was necessary to put them all on to show the sequence of behavior we have now begun. This weekend, upon turning seven months old, Hudson discovered his ability to pull himself up onto his feet. He is now doing this as often as possible, no matter the location. This kid hasn't quite mastered his crawling, and here he is starting to stand up. Great.

Other things happening with this amazing 7 month old:

1. He LOVES pears. He'll eat some of his other vegetables, with an often times painful look on his face, but he'll devour his pears. 

2. He makes the funniest sounds - with his breath. If he feels something in his nose, he breaths heavily in and out through his nose, seemingly fascinated by the noise. He's started breathing in, while making a kind of squeeky noise - and he loves it. He'll just take deep breaths, for no necessary reason, other than to make that noise. It's really funny. He also says DaDaDaDa all the time...so far no MAMA, but i'm listening very closely. :)

3. He is crawling/army crawling everywhere. And he wants to put everything in his mouth. So we have now vowed to clean the floors more often, and put away the nasty things we don't want him chewing on. 

4. He is wearing 9-12 month clothes, and size 3 diapers. 

5. He still cat naps a few times a day, but usually sleeps 9-11 hours a night, so he gets enough rest. 

6. He will be starting to have 3 meals a day, starting this week! Since his activity has gone WAY up with his crawling, we figure the 3rd meal is necessary now. 

7. He still loves his sippy cups, and likes to take drinks all by himself - tipping his head as far back as he can to get that last bit of water at the bottom of the cup. 

8. Hudson and Lego are playing more together as well. Lego LOVES the attention, and Hudson just laughs and thinks she is the best as she wiggles and jumps all around him, wanting desperately to play. They're pretty cute together, other than the fact that Lego gets too excited. Go figure. 

**SPECIAL NOTE***

We lowered the crib today. This 7 month old isn't pulling a fast one on us yet. 

Is this normal to do at 7 months???

First cold

Last night Hudson got his first fever, and it's moved into his first cold. The second picture on this blog was taken today, and you can see that the cold hasn't totally gotten him down. :) He has been more fussy, hasn't eaten much, and has had a hard time breathing, but he's still the little happy man for the most part. Hopefully his immune system will kick this quick, but on the positive side i got to be home with him today, and will be with him for most of the day tomorrow (other than when i go in to work for a meeting). 

Tomorrow he turns seven months...

strolling

This weekend we took Hudson out in his big boy stroller - facing forward! He LOVED being able to see where he was going, and had his legs swinging back and forth the entire time. It was a little chilly out so he was kind of bundled up...but was so content and happy to be in that stroller! We took two walks, just because he was so cute to watch - so happy looking around and taking it all in.
Lately Hudson has been a little more difficult to put down for his naps - he ends up crying sometimes for 10 minutes before he finally relaxes and lets go, falling into his 30 slumber (short break for us, but still nice!). Today Andy was holding him after trying to put him down for a nap (unsuccessfully), and he was so tired he just started zoning out and rubbing Andy's chin. It was both hilarious and the cutest thing you've ever seen at the same time. This kid is always moving his hands and feet, but it was just funny to watch him calm himself by giving andy's chin a little massage.

Sometimes I look at him and just can't believe how adorable he is. Other times, I wonder why he won't sleep just a little bit longer...

The little traveler

This last weekend Hudson was away from us overnight for the first time. He spent time with Grandma and Grandpa Reeves while we spent a little time together in San Francisco. It was hard at first to be away from him, but the time together with Andy was definitely worth the time to reconnect and have some time just the two of us. Hudson did great as well, loving every minute with Oma, Opa and the two yellow labs Bru and Shammy!

I do have to say, the flight back was definitely the most rough of the flights we've had with him so far (this was his fourth time flying out of state!). He is so squirmy and didn't want to sit still, let alone be quiet. So, for what I'm sure won't be the only time, we were "those people" on the plane with the baby that just wouldn't be quiet. All i can think to say to that now is, there are worse things that could happen...

love bug

waking up from a nap

Hudson has started pulling the bumper on his crib down to see what's going on when he wakes up from his naps. It's the cutest thing...and it's nice because he doesn't cry because he's too busy trying to get a peak at whatever is going on.

one week to 6 months

One week old

6 months

Just can't get enough of this face!!

I love this picture of Hudson in the chair with the sun streaming in...grabbing his foot, one of his favorite past times. And another great shot of his teeth. I think I look at this blog at least once a day...and it's my blog. I double click on the picture, and just look at how amazingly wonderful my son is. He's fun, gentle, sweet, goofy, curious, brave, and has a genuine joy that spreads right into my heart. I love you Hudson. 

the sippy cup

This kid loves sippy cups!! He's started drinking little bits of water here and there now, and once you give him that cup he will not let go! This one has a straw (given to us by a friend), and he actually figured out a couple times how to suck the water through the straw! His other sippy cup is currently his favorite thing - if I dump the water out of it he starts crying! He knows I'm taking the good stuff out that he wants! Crazy kid.

Six month stats

We had our six month shots today - NEVER a fun process. But we did get his stats!

Six Months:
Height: 28 1/2 inches (97th %)
Weight: 20 lbs 2 oz (85th %)
Head circumference: 17 1/8 (45th %)

Compared to what he was at 4 months:
Height: 26 1/2
Weight: 16 lbs 2 oz
Head: 16 1/4

So he grew two inches and gained 4 pounds!!!

little bear update

This last week Hudson turned six months old! It's amazing how many things have changed in just the last month, but to think about where we were six months ago is almost hard to fathom. 

Our little 7lb 7oz bundle started out beautiful (for a newborn), and has already grown into such a handsome little boy! 

A few highlights at the six month mark:

1. Hudson got his two bottom teeth! They came in at the same time, and he was just about five months and one week when they arrived. We're wondering how long it will be until the top two decide to start showing up...

2. He is sitting up! He's been wanting to sit up for months, and has finally mastered the art of keeping his balance to do it on his own. He LOVES sitting up...while he's eating, getting his diaper changed, you name it. I can't even imagine what will happen when he wants to stand or walk. Oh man. 

3. FOOD. Hudson is now eating real food, and a little bit of water from the sippy cup! His first taste of peas was hilarious - we don't think he liked them...but he kept opening up for more! He's still eating rice cereal twice a day, and now has veggies and water along with it. The most well received veggie so far has been sweet potatoes - we have a food processor so he's getting some good fresh stuff!

4. Now that Hudson can roll over, and is constantly doing so, he has started working on his crawling. He gets up on all fours and rocks, lurching himself forward onto his tummy to get where he is trying to go. By 7 months I'm sure he'll be scooting all over the place!

5. He has been sleeping through the night for the most part the last couple months, and usually sleeps 9-11 hours, going to bed between 7:30-8. Some days he chooses to wake up at 4:30 all bright eyed...and we're hoping that is a phase that will die soon. :)

6. Hudson still loves music, and is always soothed by the sound of it either on the radio or from mom and dad singing. 

7. We still have a little giggler and smiler on her hands - our boy LOVES people, loves doing things and looking at everything (if not grabbing it), and will smile for any stranger he interacts with. He is getting a bit more ticklish, and Lego licking his hands makes him laugh no matter what! Lego and Hudson have definitely grown in their interactions with each other!

8. We have our six month check up next week, but we can already tell Hudson is a bit larger than your average six month old. He is wearing 9 month clothes (6-12 from gap), size 3 shoes, and we're thinking he is close to 20 pounds!! We are nearing the day of upgrading to the bigger car seat - WHAT!? Crazy. 

Daddy and son have been bonding more this last month as well - trips to Home Depot, play time just the two of them, etc. Andy and I both continue to LOVE this little boy more each day - his smile melts our hearts in an instant (even at 4:30am). Our prayers over his life grow more meaningful each day, as we pray for a lifetime of blessings and happiness for this amazing little person. 

happy at the half

my half birthday!

At about 5 1/2 months, Hudson started sitting up on his own!

Check out the TWO chompers he got during his fifth month of life...

GQ

He's got the crawling position down, just hasn't quite figured out how to move the arms and legs...yet.

Don't have to show this kid how to play with his food...

Our little half pint. 

TEETH.

and there they are...the chompers. 

almost crawling

Hudson has been in a growth spurt for over a month now, and he is continuing to grow and change so much. His new thing is getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth, getting the motion of crawling almost down to a T. So we're giving him a few more weeks, maybe less, before he figures out how to move those hands and feet to start crawling!

This last week he's had peas and carrots, and seems to not love either of them...but still eats them. He is six months this week, so i'll be doing his update and some pictures pretty soon!

Hudson eats peas for the first time

big boy bath

 Hudson loves taking baths, and now that he also loves sitting up, they are getting more interesting...

The funniest thing is when you press the beak on this duck it quacks, and it stops him no matter what he's doing...he'll sit there trying to figure out where the sound is coming from. 

Crazy legs

 Hudson got this outfit from his Great Grandma...you can't see them, but there are two big hoof prints on his booty. Very cute...

This picture is the perfect way of showing how much he loves that bouncy chair - he's blurry because he won't stop moving, and his mouth is open because he's screaming with excitement. 

how much has changed...

One month ago today, it had been about 24 hours since Hudson had rolled from his stomach to his back for the first time (Christmas Day). For the next week he mastered the skill, but he couldn't roll from his back over to his stomach yet.
It's been a few more weeks since then, and today I realized how much has happened since that day he rolled over for the first time. It's only been a month, but Hudson is now:
1. rolling over both from his back to his stomach, and from his stomach to his back
2. scooting on his stomach all the time, legs and arms flailing - i'm sure he'll be crawling soon!
3. eating rice cereal TWICE a day
4. he broke his first TWO teeth
5. sitting up by himself!

Crazy that all this happened in one month. Our little Hudson is GROWING. My little baby is becoming a little boy...

The tooth has broken through

This morning we woke up to find that Hudson has FINALLY broken through those gums and his first chomper is on it's way in! He's been teething since just after thanksgiving, so we're glad to finally see the next stage - now the challenge will be trying to SEE what is going on in there. Hudson is very good at getting that tongue right over the spot you're trying to look at...