beautiful day

It was gorgeous here today so we went to the zoo again! Wednesday's are $2 Wednesday's during the winter and today was the last one of the season, so we figured we better not miss it.

Hudson fell asleep right after we got there so he missed the first couple exhibits but when he woke up he was in a happy mood - and he even let Papa and Aunt Celeste hold him so Mama didn't have to hold him the whole time - that was a nice break! He is still being pretty clingy since the teething began...he has one little tooth poking out now, but we can see several others just below the gums.

Lots of the family got to go to the zoo too- including Garret and Callista. It was lots of fun. Garret spent the whole afternoon looking for "kangakays". Some kind of wierd kangaroo evidently - they are blue or pink and have horns and make a sound like "yippee". We never saw any but one did bop Garret on the head one time but we couldn't catch it.

Hudson checking out the penguins. They were swimming around and very active today and he liked watching them.

Hudson making his monkey face

The cousins.

Marbles the Chimpanzee. Hudson loved the monkeys and watched them real close.

Looking for the "kangakays"

Tried another group picture but Callista was the only one who would cooperate...

waving

For the past week or so I have been taking Hudosn to the window to wave goodbye whenever Jamie leaves for work or when visitors are leaving. I just noticed this morning that he is starting to "wave" by himself!

What Hudson has to say...

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Binga's visit

So Binga (Jamie's mom) came to spend a few days with us this week. Unfortunately since Hudson has been teething he pretty much has only wanted his mommy and hasn't spent a lot of time playing with her, but thankfully he was much happier yesterday and hopefully will be this afternoon before she leaves.

Binga bought Hudson this walker and he loves it (now that I can actually put him down without him crying, that is!) He only went backward in it at first but now he seems to have the hang of it. He likes to have cheerios on the tray and he walks around and throws them down for the dogs.

Also, Binga was brave enough to babysit for us last night and Jamie and I got to go on a date! I was pretty worried about Hudson the whole time we were gone - him just being cranky and crying and because that is the longest I have ever been away from him (2 hours- isn't that sad!) So we pretty much only talked about Hudson the whole time we were at dinner. Jamie kept telling me not to worry, but I hate making someone else take care of my screaming baby. But we made it home with no crying (on my part, I mean!) but of course Hudson was crying when we came in. But Binga said he slept most of the time and had just started getting fussy. Not sure if she just told me that to make me feel better but either way, we all survived!

scratch #2 - I was wrong about #1

So I knew I shouldn't have put it in writing....Hudson hasn't slept through the night since. Actually, he hasn't hardly slept at all. And that's becuase the teething really began on Wednesday. Ugghh!! He was inconsolable all day Wednesday - couldn't sleep, wouldn't let me put him down for 2 seconds. It wasn't fun. Thursday was better since Jamie was home to help out but Hudson still didn't feel well. Friday Binga suggested we try Motrin instead of Tylenol and either he isn't feeling as bad or that is working cause he slept better Friday night and was a much happier boy yesterday.

This pretty much sums up how we have all been feeling the last few days!

all the new things...

1. Hudson is finally getting some teeth! There are 2 tiny teeth starting to poke through on the bottom. I don't think he has been real fussy with the teething process but it's hard to tell because of #3.

2. Hudson has started sleeping 10-12 hours a night (For the last 3 nights anyways. I hesitate to put it in writing cause I am afraid to jinx ourselves but so be it!). He has started going to bed earlier - between 7 and 8 - and sleeping till 6-8 in the morning. He wakes up a few times at night but we let him cry and he falls back asleep in 20 minutes or so - sometimes less!

3. I think he is sleeping so well at night because he is not napping during the day at all. We have reverted back to the cry it out method (which is why I have time to post this morning - I'm listening to him cry through his morning nap...). The problem with it is so far he has not taken a nap with this method. Just cries for an hour - then I go get him. Then I am supposed to stimulate him till the next nap time and try it again. (This is all per the book Healthy Sleep, Happy Child.) Well, needless to say it's not working and he is a mess by 6 pm. Hence the earlier bed time. But I guess we can't have it all, right? Just be grateful he's sleeping at night and forget about naptimes maybe? :)

4. And, drum roll please..... one of my proudest moments yet, and I wasn't actually in the room to see it, so I don't know how he did it, but this morning I set him down on the floor with some toys and left the room for a few minutes. He was crying the whole time I was gone and when I came back he was standing next to the couch!! He was only about a foot away from the couch when I left him, but somehow he made his way there and pulled himself up! So I am thinking of setting the camera up and leaving the room again this afternoon so I can figure out how he did it. :) Evidently he can move if he gets mad enough!

watching video

Hudson loves watching video on the computer - usually it's videos of himself, but yesterday we were looking at blogs and he liked seeing everyone - especially Callista!

This was one of our first tries - put the camera a little too close!

Big Boy Walking

Hudson loves to walk and has started walking around the couch and tables. He still doesn't like to walk behind moving objects so much - he forgets to move his feet and ends up with his feet way behind him and his arms still holding on to the walker. And no, he still isn't crawling!
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Valentine's Dinner

Instead of fighting the crowds last night I decided to make a special dinner for our Valentine's. I saw on Rachael Ray's "30 Minute Meals" this week a recipe for Three Mushroom Rigatoni - and since Jamie and I both like mushrooms, I thought I would give it a try. It did take less than 30 minutes and it was pretty good. Jamie didn't ask for seconds, or want leftovers today, so I don't think he cared for it too much. He said it was good, but not his favorite. Oh well!

Three Mushroom Rotini (coudn't find whole wheat rigatoni at the store, so we switched).

Hudson's Valentine dinner

And you have to have something chocolate on Valentine's. I ate most of them!

Happy Valentine's Day!

splish splash I was taking a bath...

Hudson refuses to sit in the bath anymore. He will only stand and walk around the edge of the tub. Makes it a little hard to clean him up - plus he gets cold pretty quick. He just discovered the bar on the back of the tub this week and it's the first thing he goes for when you put him in. He also like to move back and forth between the bar and the spout.

friends

Hudson went to a birthday party tonight for his friend Reign. 3 of my friends from high school were there with their families - and it was all boys! 7 of them in all!

Hudson and Nathan - Nathan is 2 weeks older than Hudson - but obviously has already mastered the crawling!

I am 1!

Hudson went to a birthday party tonight for his friend Reign.

firetruck

This is what mommy can get done when Hudson takes an hour and half nap!

Hudson's cousin Garret just turned 3 and I made him this for his birthday. The party's on Sunday so don't ruin the surprise!!!

Garret is OBSESSED with firefighters. He goes to the fire station several times a week (as often as they will take him anyways). He knows all the firefighters, knows all about the trucks - what they're called, how to turn them on, turn the lights and sirens on, how to make the garage doors on the fire station go up and down. He even has his own fireman outfit which looks just like a real one.

So we got a new vaccum cleaner last week and the box was perfect for making a firetruck out of. Then the more I got into it the more elaborate the whole thing became. I used my old vaccum cleaner for the fire hose and stuck the attachments in the back of the truck too. Then I got really crazy and took the whole vaccum apart and took the motor out - so now the vaccum canister is a fire hydrant! Garret is going to love it. He has quite the imagination so I think he'll just jump in and start playing!

Station #37 is the one he goes to all the time so I had to make his truck #37 too!

This is the vaccum canister that will be the fire hydrant. That way he can take the hose out of the truck and put it in the vaccum - just like a real fire hydrant. My only concern is going to be whether he tries to put water inside the canister. But his mom will have to deal with that! :)

funny faces

This is what happens when Hudson takes an hour and half nap!!!

getting so big

Hudson has started doing so much new stuff the last few weeks I thought I better update you all. First off, he is "talking" all the time now. He says "mama" and "dada" all the time. He also says "ba" which is what he seems to call all of his toys and "da" for dog. He has also said "nana" which will make Nana Wilma proud! Although I actually think he is saying "banana" because the 2 times he has said it he has been eating a banana... His newest words are "oh" and "whoa" which are pretty funny to hear when he sees something he likes and says "ooooohhhh"! Everything else is gibberish, but there is lots of it!

I just noticed yesterday that he has started walking around some of his stand up toys. I put him down on one side of it and slowly he'll make his way around the table! He also took one step yesterday just holding on with one hand instead of having to have something in both! But still no crawling - although he definitely has started scooting himself backwards.

He will not eat green vegetables. He's always hated peas but he used to love green beans pureed but now that he is eating small bites he won't eat them. He'll eat sweet potatoes and carrots all day long though!

And his newest discovery is putting his lips together and blowing. He started doing that 2 days ago and does it forever when he remembers he can do it. It's so cute!

And his 15 minute nap is now over so that's all I have time fr now!

Laundry Day

Wednesday is Hudson's favorite day because it's laundry day and that means mommy has the laundry baskets out. Laundry baskets are evidently the most amazing thing invented because he loves to play with them. If I just bring one into the room and set it down he wiggles and fusses until he's put down next to it to play. He loves standing on the outside or riding around on the inside. Since we moved our laundry room downstairs I carry the baskets up and down and so far I just put him on top and carry him too. Not sure how much longer I'll be able to keep that up as he gets bigger!

playing with Daddy

Hudson loves playing with Daddy - he always can make him laugh. Of course, it helped that Hudson took a 3 hour nap this afternoon so he's in a pretty good mood! (And don't be fooled - I also took a 3 hour nap which is the only reason Hudson's lasted that long- he was in bed with me!)