Papa's Serenade

We spent the day today with Matthew's parents (Mimi and Papa). At the end of the night, when Hudson was ready for bed in his jammies, Papa pulled out his guitar and began to serenade us. Hudson was in awe of him singing and watched him intently the whole time. It was very cute! We all enjoyed sitting around listening to Papa sing and play the wonderful songs that he's written in the past.

Sing to me, Papa!

Our sweet boy enjoyed the music!

16 Months

Hudson is 16 months old today! Here are some things we want to remember about Hudson at 16 months:

• He will make sound effects with toys, such as when he's pushing a car around.



• Hudson will say "Uh Oh" when he falls or drops something. He calls Misha "Good Gir" (Good Girl), especially when she comes inside from going potty, which is when Mommy & Daddy always say it. He also likes to say "Hiyee" (Hi) all the time. "Goo Goo" (choo, choo) is what a train says, and he likes to say this when he's watching Chuggington. Other words added to his vocabulary are: "All Da" (All Done), "bat", "car", "cookie", "eye", "go" and "juice".



• Hudson can now run all over the place, and is practicing stepping down the stair in our bedroom though he still falls over when he tries.



• Hudson will pick up a napkin and wipe his face with it. He looks so proper doing it!



• He's learning to color with crayons.



• Hudson will point to facial features on his own face now, and he knows many of the body parts such as nose, ear, eye, hair, mouth and foot.



• He has discovered how fun a roll of toilet paper can be.



• He is definitely getting picky with food. The main thing he doesn't like to eat is meat, but Mommy is finding other ways to give him protein such as in peanut butter, yogurt, cheese, beans and eggs (which he loves). I've heard this is common at his age, but Mommy can't wait for him to grow out of this stage.



• Hudson understands most all instructions now: sit down, stand up, bring me the ball, walk to your bedroom, go get your milk, put that down, bring it to Mommy, hold my hand, come here and let's go change your diaper (he'll walk into his bedroom where the change table is).



• Hudson likes to help Mommy with the dishes. When I'm putting them away, he will hand me each item out of the dishwasher to put up.



• He is also learning how to help Mommy put his toys away. He's such a big helper!



• Hudson can pull things off the kitchen counters now. He's getting tall!



• He likes to switch the light on and off when Mommy is holding him, and we are entering/exiting his bedroom.



• He is still a cuddler! He likes to sit on Mommy's lap to watch TV and still loves to give kisses/hugs.



• He definitely gets jealous when I play or hold other kids... This will be a transition when Luke arrives!



• He likes to talk on the phone to Dada. He will jabber to him and say "Dada" when he's on the phone.



• He will say "bye-bye" back each time his toys say bye-bye to him. (Many of his toys will say bye-bye when they haven't been played with for a while and are turning off).



• He loves to watch and dance to The Fresh Beat Band.



• He is often sleeping in until 8:30 or 9:00 in the morning, except the three days that Mommy works when Daddy wakes him up around 7:15.



• He loves to brush his teeth now that he can stand at the sink!



• When we read to him, he likes to point to objects on the pages for us to tell him what they are.



• He's had a few temper tantrums so far, but, overall, he's pretty obedient. If he is holding a "no-no", and I tell him to put it down or bring it to Mommy, he's getting good at obeying now. Actually, he's gotten pretty good about not touching or getting into things he shouldn't to begin with.

We LOVE our sweet boy!

Brush, Brush, Brush

Our normal nightly routine is:

• Matthew gives Hudson a bath, and we let him play a little while longer (to let his hair dry).
• Then he drinks his milk while sitting on one of our laps on the couch.
• When he's finished with his milk, the other person goes to get his toothbrush, and I brush his teeth (while he's still sitting with one of us on the couch).
• Then we read him a book.
• After reading a book, we stand up with him, and he is ready for bed all snuggled up on our shoulder holding Peanut and his night-night. He knows it's bedtime and is tired at this point.

Well, everything in our routine has been easy and fun, except brushing his teeth... Although he's been a little better lately, he's always struggled with me, moving his head away and pulling out the toothbrush, making it difficult for Mommy to get a good brush. Well, the other night, I decided to change the routine to have him come to his sink instead of us bringing the toothbrush to him. I should have started this a few weeks ago when we got the stool because teeth brushing has turned from a struggle into SO MUCH FUN! Hudson loves to brush his teeth at the sink and will let Mommy brush them very well! He even tries to brush them himself! He also loves standing on the stool and looking in the mirror. He enjoys standing on the lion and roars when he looks at it. Who knew teeth brushing could be so much FUN!

I'm a big boy standing at the sink!I'm also brushing my teeth... Gotta make sure to brush everywhere!
"All Da" (All Done)

Forget this pretend stuff... I want the REAL deal!

Hudson has so many fun pretend toys, but he always knows the difference between them and the real thing, which is MUCH more fun. For example, Hudson loves Mommy & Daddy's remote control. He's now pretty good about not touching a "no-no", except for the remote... he is fascinated with it! We even gave him one of our old ones that we don't use anymore, and we put batteries in it so it lights up like the real thing. Well, he thought this was great until he walked up to the TV pressing the buttons and realized they weren't doing anything. He still enjoys playing with it, but he often wants ours because he knows it's the REAL deal when he can see Mommy & Daddy using it. To keep him interested in his, we'll sometimes act like we are using it to change the channels (while changing them with the hidden remote)... then he becomes interested in his again.

On that same note, this morning, Hudson was playing in the front room that we use as the exercise/play room to keep some of Hudson's toys in. Well, this is also where Daddy likes to keep his golf clubs (even though Mommy would rather them stay in the garage). So today, Hudson decided that his pretend clubs aren't near as much fun as Daddy's REAL ones, so this is what I found him carrying around the house this morning. He thought he was too COOL! After Mommy shows Daddy these pictures, he might decide to keep those clubs back out in the garage. :-)

Yay! I can play with Daddy's grown up clubs! I don't think I'm tall enough yet to use it! Mommy let me walk around the house with it

You Want to be My Valentine?

Roses are red, Violets are blue.
If you flirt with me, I'll flirt with you!

Yesterday, Hudson spent the day with Erica, and she took him to lunch with her and her mom. I asked her how it went, and she said that he was perfect, as always, and flirting with her mom the whole time. He kept playing with her and giving her his box of crayons. I thought that was so cute! Well, immediately after picking him up from Erica's, I drove to the grocery store to do some shopping. When I was checking out I looked over at Hudson, and he was flirting with the other cashier next to us. She was smiling at him, and I noticed it was because Hudson was staring at her... giggling and giving her a big smile. It looks like Hudson is looking for his valentine! However, he does flirt with Mommy the most - giving me smiles and kisses all day long, so maybe he wants me to be his valentine this year! That would make me a very lucky gal!

Put Me In, Coach...I'm Ready to Play!

Hudson loves running around outdoors. Since today was such nice weather, we took him out to the nearby high school to run around. He thought this was so much fun! We first took him to the practice soccer field to play with Misha, and then we took him out to the baseball field. Hudson was doing very well dribbling the ball around. Maybe soccer will be one of his first team sports to play. While we were there, Daddy made the comment that this makes him even more excited to have two boys! It also makes Mommy very excited... I can't wait to watch my boys play on the field! It will be lots of fun to be a team mom, making drinks and snacks for the boys!

Well, Hudson doesn't throw many tantrums, but whenever he has to come in from running around outside he will always throw a fit. He LOVES playing outdoors!

Hudson playing with Misha

This baseball field looks fun! Dribbling the ball around with Daddy
Hudson was pretty good at it! Running towards the infield Come on guys... Let's go back down there!Put me in, Coach...I'm Ready to Play! Nobody let me in! Watching Daddy on the field
Hudson doesn't want to leave! He threw a fit until we put him in the car

Fixin' My Hair

This afternoon, Hudson found my hairbrush, so I let him play with it. To my surprise, he knew what to do with it! He must have learned from watching Mommy!

Look Mommy... I found your brush! I know what to do with it!
Fixin' my 'do
I need one of these for myself!

Enjoying our New Gifts

Since Christmas, Hudson has been enjoying playing with all of his new toys. Mommy has also enjoyed wearing her new Mommy birthstone bracelet that Hudson gave her and using her new Texas Tech platter.

Let's see what fun toys I can get out of my new toy box!

Starting to play with golf clubs even younger than Tiger did!Walking my new doggie

I want to go inside my new Thomas tent! Don't come in here Mommy! Only boys are allowed! Playing with his new Fridge Phonics that the Bribiesca's (his sitter Miss Erica) gave him Hudson always likes to get the orange shape to put into the circle slot of his blender. He will repeat this shape over and over!
Playing with his fun new helicopter from the Baxters
Mommy wearing her new birthstone bangle bracelet from Hudson. The birthstones are for all four of our family members (Matthew, Hudson, Lucas and Me).

Go Cowboys!

Daddy and Hudson wore their matching shirts during the Cowboys game today. Hudson watched the game with Daddy for a short period and then decided that his toys are much more fun! Go Cowboys!

Daddy and Hudson watching football together

Hudson is holding his new doggie he named "Ruff" that Kelsey and Trevor gave him and his baseball bat that he loves to carry around.
Both Daddy and Hudson are not happy about something in the game!
Forget this football... I want to play! This is much more fun! I love playing with my Alphabet Train!