Family summer

Grandma time!

 The weekend before the 4th of July, we got a visit from Grandma Rosdil! Andy was out of town in Vegas with his friends, so grandma, mom and Hudson got some good quality time together! That week before her arrival, Lego was hit by a car out in front of our house. Miraculously she survived with no broken bones! She was pretty banged up, and spent the night in the hospital (you don't want to know how much that cost), but she recovered over the next week or so and is pretty much back to herself. Her demeanor is different when we take her out front now, but i'm sure she'll soon forget and be back to her spunky, zooming self. The accident gave us quite the scare though!! Hudson started saying Lego a LOT after that happened - so we are glad she is still with us!

 Hudson still LOVES his choo choos, and his tracks do not discriminate when it comes to cars and trucks going for a ride as well. Sometimes when he's really into his tracks, he'll lay down like you see in this picture, to just relax and enjoy. I think this is probably the only time he is still like this, other than when he's sleeping. 

words words words

Hudson's vocabulary has been exploding lately. It seems like he's saying a new word every day! "watch - more fishies please - birdies - purple cars - big belle blue - clean-up - yea - pool - zoo - hotdog - Mater - rocks - bugs - bees - socks - choo choo shirt - turtle - bear lie down - doggie poopoo" are just a few of the words we are hearing. He's still putting more words together as well - three and sometimes four words! If you say a word, he will try to repeat it - so fun!

Since his daycare is closing (next week is the last week), he has been in the 2-3 year old room due to so many kids leaving before the last day. It's been the best experience for him! He LOVES being with the big kids, in the bigger room, and with all the new activities. We think this is part of the reason his vocabulary is growing so quickly as well. He is soaking up all his time with these kids, and we will be sad when he goes to his new daycare as the oldest one. :( But we are thankful he will be in a home day care where we trust the teachers!!

what we do

 Since we live across from a park, and we have no yard, we spend a good amount of time across the street. It's not uncommon to be there once or twice a week, sometimes more. Park time can include playing with trucks (sometimes other people's trucks, such as this picture), taking a "break" on the bench - with bear of course, and we can't forget the leisurely walk back to the house when it's time to go home. Yes, he took the truck home. I think it was abandoned. We were the only ones at the park, and after much one-sided conversation with Hudson about not taking other people's toys, he carried it all the way home. Don't worry, we took it back. 

 Inside the house play time doesn't change much, despite the lack for room. Bear is still present, energy is up, and the house becomes a disaster quicker than i thought humanly possible. This kid is definitely a toddler.

 Speaking of toddlerhood, we have started the implementation of "time out." The picture below is a reenactment of the time out we had just today. I put Hudson on the chair (without bear), and walked away to let him sit in his time out. When i walked back in from the kitchen, maybe 20 seconds later, he had wrapped himself up in the blanket and sat there with a big smile on his face. Yea, time out is working real well so far. Sometimes it works more than others, and there are a handful of times he will stop crying, screaming, kicking or throwing if we threaten a time out, so i think that's saying something. Oh the joys of a two year old boy. Yes, i know it's only the beginning. Many laughs, joys, and grey hairs to come, right? 

summer time fun

 95 degrees on this warm Father's day, so we're celebrating with some pool time! 

Hudson has taken to running around the courtyard to burn off steam. This kid has a lot of steam, so it's actually nice to let him do this…and it's entertaining as well. 

Trip to the Zoo

This last weekend we went to the zoo with our friends the Jones', and Hudson had a great time with his friend Quentin. We asked them to hold hands and stay close, and they did exactly that! Some of the time one was pulling the other around, but it was still pretty stinkin cute. Hudson has become such a big boy - he is listening better when we ask him to do something, he's very helpful with small chores around the house, and his vocabulary is growing immensely! Last night he asked for a "chip" - which was a new word for us! Day care told me this week that he said "not tired" before nap, which i have never heard him say before either. He's putting three words together pretty regularly now - "bear all done" for example - so fun!

kauai 2012

Hudson was with his best friend the ENTIRE trip - soon after we arrived he began showing bear the sights! If we saw turtles, he would pick the bear up to look at them too. If we got a hug from Hudson, we got a hug from bear too. Bear has truly become part of the family - and he's been needing more baths as well. :)

Our son is a true water child - we would wake up saying "Wayer" (water), and typically we'd be at the beach by 8:30am every day. If we were at the beach, he would be IN the water the entire time. Literally. It was SO awesome to see him enjoy the water - he didn't mind the salt water at all!

By the second or third day we were there Hudson had learned how to use his new "floatie", and he was well on his way to becoming a swimmer (or so he thought). He was smiling ear to ear from the second we arrived to the moment he screamed bloody murder because we had to go.

Uncle Rick and Andy went golfing one day, and brought home a huge toad for Hudson. He wasn't quite sure what to do with it, but was fascinated nonetheless!

Cheek alert!

Hudson didn't miss a chance to look at the water!

Piano lessons with Auntie Susie!

friends and birthdays

Last weekend I got to spend some time with my beautiful friend Chair for her birthday! I love her and am so thankful for her friendship!

 I also got to see Melissa and Sandra, two more of my beautiful close friends.

Easter at church service outside - Hudson had a ball, but i don't think Andy got to hear much of the message since he was chasing Hudson all over the whole time!

Outside time

Outside time!

half way between one and a half and two

It's crazy how much Hudson is growing and changing these days. His play time has changed, he's talking more, showing more independence, and acting more like a BOY every day. He used to be very attached to me whenever we were together (even more after the hospital), but the last week or so he has been playing more independently - even in the other room! His love for choo choo's has remained since he was introduced to Thomas the train in the hosptial, and he'll now sit in the living room with his little track and choo choos, playing happily - sometimes singing - for a good 20-30 mintues sometimes. His vocabulary seems to be growing by the day sometimes, and he's grouping more words together all the time. He often takes your hand to lead you where he wants you to be, and will tell you to sit down or lay down to read a book or play choo choo with him. He also loves ICE, and if he bumps himself on anything, even a tiny bit, he comes in asking for "Ice." His favorites are the fish and star shaped ice cubes I bought him.
He loves his books as well, and his favorite right now is one that I bought him before he was born - it talks about how unique and special his is, and that the moon and wind are so enthralled with him that they whisper his name. When i read it to him I imitate the sound of the wind, and he quickly latched on to that sound - repeating it at the most random, fun times.
Jumping, throwing a ball, going down the slide by himself, tractors, cars, and SHOES are just a few of the things we talk a lot about or do on a regular basis. He's gotten much better at running too, and will run in laps around the house for a LONG time - hence his naps have gotten longer, which we are fine with!

potty time

Today was a hilarious, awesome, funny, and sort of breakthrough night for Hudson and his big boy potty. We've (more so I) started singing a little potty song to him, and asking him if he wants to sit on his potty and go to the bathroom. Tonight, after his bath, we began the routine, and Hudson sat down on his potty and peed a little bit (he had to scoot himself back so he could actually pee IN the potty, which was hilarious to watch). Upon doing this, Andy and I started clapping and applauding his success. This encouraged him to sit down and repeat his short potty time. Which resulted in Andy and I applauding him again with clapping, yelling, and high fives. Which resulted in him repeating the potty time again. And so the applaud repeated, and the mini potty time repeated, and so on. This routine happened probably 10-12 times. And every time, a mini pee time took place in Hudson's little potty. It was awesome.  I finally went to get my phone to video this activity, and unfortunately that was the end of this potty time party. The great news is Hudson seems to have had a little breakthrough with his potty. Or at least he's a step closer to understanding the point. Maybe. Either way, it was a fun moment for our family - our little naked boy is the best.

a wave goodbye

So today, when i dropped Hudson off at daycare and went to leave, he looked at me - waved goodbye - and went on playing. This may seem normal to some people, but in the 17 months this child has been at daycare he has NEVER been ok with me leaving. He's always put up a fight, a cry, or tried to follow me out the door. But not today. Today, he was ok with me being gone...my little independent man. Growing up too fast...

thank you, Easter Bunny

Every year the park across from our house has an Easter egg hunt. Last year, Hudson wasn't walking yet and had a bad double ear infection the day they had the hunt. This year, we got there about two minutes too late, and all the eggs had been snatched up by the hundreds of other little kids there. We did manage to get a picture of Hudson with the Easter bunny - and he played in the box of "recycled" egg containers to get his egg fix. :) It's a gorgeous day out though, and we are all healthy, so it was still a perfect day to go out for the annual egg hunt!

Here he was last year…same bunny, much 'fuller' Hudson face! :) 

Chatter box

Latest words:
Tractor
Heart
Help
Oh no
Helicopter (this one needs interpretation)
Apple
Ice
Juice

Sentences: Hudson is using more and more words together, though it's often hard to get every word clearly.
Regular sentences include things like; mama and car go take bath. Mama lay down. Bye dada car go bye bye.