Spider Mania

Whether we call it the Pumpkin Party or Fall Carnival (no one name has stuck just yet), Pa and Gigi's second annual gathering was incredible! I think some public festivals don't even have as many activities as this did. Tractor rides, fishing booth, bowling, and most every other type of carnival game you can think of were the kids' options. And, of course, there were plenty of yummy treats to be had. We didn't even get to the pumpkin carving, but they did paint pumpkins. Hudson loved the bowling and the tub of balls.

We spread out our celebrating throughout the week. We enjoyed Stillwater's Downtown Festival on Tuesday, did a little trick-or-treating and candy distributing on Thursday (yes, Stillwater moved the official celebration due to football games), and then finished up the week with the grand Pumpkin Party on Saturday. Hudson was the best looking spider I've ever known. His costume choice was his idea, so it made it even better.

(P.S. So I realize it is December as I'm posting this, but I felt it was necessary to chronicle our Halloween celebration. I tend to blog in clumps. I just can't help it!)

Hudson's Quotes

Hudson is my little entertainer. I find myself laughing aloud with him all the time. As he learns more, he says such funny things. Often he doesn't get the sentence structure correct or the pronunciation, but we kinda like it that way.

Some of my favorite recent sayings:

"Go Team!" with a big fist pump whenever he sees a football game on TV. If he's got Papa on his mind, he'll say "go dawgs!"

Driving past a dog eating grass on the side of the road, he said, "dog, I eat it grass" to explain that the dog was eating grass.

He has very much enjoyed out visits to Keely and Kim's house to meet their babies and has remembered those clearly. Right after we came home from visiting Keely, he started to say, "no, I Kee-yee's house" over and over again. He'll just say it randomly while we're driving and repeat himself over and over.  I think he's telling me he wants to go back to Keely's house.

He's also taken to self discipline. Often times when he has done something he's not supposed to, he'll choose to sit himself down right where he is. At first I thought he was mocking me or something along those lines. Then I realized from the pure look on his face that he had realized there was a consequence to his action. It didn't necessarily stop him from doing it, but he realized that!! A great ah-ha moment for Mom!

I'm also so delighted at the new concepts he's learning. He has continued to learn colors and shapes. My favorite to hear him say is triangle. I honestly didn't think he would be ready for shapes for awhile, but he's started to say them as we're playing with puzzles and shape sorters. He moves more quickly than I'm ready for sometimes.

Fall Means Football

To his father's delight, Hudson has come to learn about many sports, including football. At the first Stillwater home game, Hudson started to say "football game." If you know Hudson, you know when he talks he often draws things out and kinda sings them. This phrase is the same way. Very funny.

We've been to several Stillwater Pioneer games to watch a few of our youth boys play. Hudson has enjoyed all the action and the lights. When we went to the Stillwater-Union game, we cheered for Stillwater, but I did try to teach him the Union fight song. :)

We also made a trip to Nashville to see Jay's side of the family and watch Mississippi State play football. As usual, Susu had a great outfit for Hudson to wear to the game. We got to stay at Opryland and enjoyed the visit with family. The Bulldogs won, making the trip even better. Way-to-go, Papa Rock!

This past weekend was OSU homecoming, so we participated in several of those fun events. The Pattersons came up and filled our house with activity for a night. Hudson was just so excited for them to be here! We went to Walk Around with all the crowds of people. Hudson and Spencer were not so sure about the event. My favorite q uotes from the night were: Spencer, "This is not fun!" and Hudson, "No! No! No!" as we walked away from one of the first house decs. They did warm up to the concept as the night went on. We also enjoyed the OSU parade. Hudson's favorit es were Pistol Pete, horses, and the fire trucks. He kept asking for "Mo Pete-Pete."

Hudson watching as Pistol Pete drove by!

Happy Birthday, Baby!

October 7, 2009, Hudson turned two years old! We have so many great memories of Hudson in these two years, giving us many reasons to celebrate.
So...we celebrated over several days. The morning of Hudson's birthday we started by enjoying chocolate chips muffins complete with a number 2 candle. Hudson loved the "party song." He liked it so much so that he asked us to sing it to him several times that day. He opened a few presents from Mom and Dad. Then we spent the morning at the Tulsa Zoo. He loved the monkeys and the train! His memory is getting so much strong. We've only been to the zoo once before, but he knew where we were as soon as we crossed over the bridge. We then had lunch with Pa and Gigi afterwards. Hudson was delighted to see them. He got a cool fire truck and a great cookie, then a balloon from the hostess. That night we went to church, a fun place for Hudson. He got a few more yummy goodies from sweet friends and lots of birthday wishes.The celebration continued on Saturday with Hudson's birthday party. It was a special day because so many of our favorite people were there. Susu and Stephen drove all the way from Mississippi, and the cousins/my sisters came despite feeling a little sick (germ-x should have been given away in the favor bags!). Fire trucks were the theme, and they were everywhere! We even had 2 great fire truck birthday cakes. Hudson didn't like opening his presents much more than last year. He opened a present of matchbox cars from Uncle Stephen before the party started and really just wanted those. Hudson received some great gifts, even a new swing set. One of the highlights was seeing Hudson's face light up as we sang him Happy Birthday and brought him a cup cake. This year he blew out his candle on his own. He did try to touch it again though. Maybe we'll be better at that by next year. Somehow I don't think so!

We love you, Hudson!

Who Does He Look Like?

Jay has always told me that Hudson has my face shape, particularly my chin. I think I believe him now after looking at this picture. I take it as such a compliment that my beautiful little boy might resemble me!

I Diddd It!!

(No, I didn't misspell "did;" that's just the way Hudson says it!)

After accomplishing great feats such as putting a piece in a puzzle or some equally daunting task, Hudson loves to say with pride "I diddd it!"

There seems to be an internal clock within him telling him that it's time to make some changes now that he is almost two. I recently started a book about two year olds (Making the Terrible Twos Terrific...very good read, thanks Susan), and it seemed the next day Hudson was exhibiting some of those two year old behaviors. He would insist on independence one moment, and then frantically chase me down the hall wailing the next moment because I tried to walk out of his room. I wondered if maybe he read the book while I wasn't looking.

Part of me must be a little crazy because I have actually enjoyed hearing Hudson use the word "no." It has tickled me to hear him begin to exercise his opinion. He does not like putting his head in the water during a bath, so when we've asked him to do so recently, he shakes his head and makes a little noise for no. His "no's" are usually just a polite refusal. Of course, there are times when I have to go against his request of no, but he has handled that okay so far.

Growing up will bring some disappointments for us as parents as we have to let Hudson be more independent, like today when Hudson decided to read books to himself before nap instead of letting me read to him. But it's also so wonderful to watch him grow and develop. We've had so much fun these past 2 weeks letting him fill in the blanks to songs and books. We were shocked at what all he has memorized. It's amazing how much knowledge he has been storing in his little mind...and a warning for us as his parents to realize how much he is soaking up of what we say.

I love watching Hudson as he gains confidence in new tasks and will say triumphantly, "I did it!"...even if is just a puzzle piece.

Meet Baby Zachary

On Tuesday, August 4, Zachary Ryan was born. We were all quite surprised as Teresa had a c-section scheduled for two days later. Zachary still would have been about 2 weeks early then. He decided that wasn't soon enough, I suppose.

Hudson enjoyed meeting "Baby Zach." Uncle Seth gave him a toy to play with while Mommy held the new baby, so he wasn't not bothered at all. The cousins/big siblings all got to wear cool matching t-shirts thanks to Aunt Kandace.

Zachary will be a special baby to our family as he would have been such a close cousin to our Eliot. They would have been about 6 weeks apart.