Itsy Bitsy Spider

Hudson- 18 months

Note: For all of our blog followers- this may not be the most exciting post for you. This one is more of a baby book type entry so I don't forget what Hudson was like at this age.

Little Hudson has quite a few favorite things right now. Most of all, he loves to be outside and to listen to anything with a good noise...trucks, lawn mowers, buses. His favorite words to say are imitations of sounds, animal or transportation. He enjoys looking for these things when we're outside or reading books about them inside. He also really enjoys playing ball of any kind.

He's got a great sleep routine! He takes one good 2 hour nap after lunch and then usually sleeps from 9 at night to 7 or 8 in the morning. He falls asleep on his own very easily, well with the help of a pacifier. We read him a few books and then lay him in his bed. Mom takes care of the daytime naps, and Dad puts Hudson to sleep at night.

As for eating, Hudson doesn't do so great. He is such a picky eater, but we get by with bread, fruit, and well...vitamins. He has 10 teeth now. Although we're still behind most kiddos our age, we catching up!

Hudson does not have too many fears. He seems to be a pretty brave, adventurous kid. Although it may take him a little time to warm up to new people, he usually is ready to play in just a few minutes. He has done very well in our church nursery, which is great since we're there so much. Loud noises excite him rather than scare him. When Jay mows the lawn, Hudson goes straight up to the moving lawn mower to check it out. He loves to climb and stand on furniture (we're working on that one!). His one great fear so far has been a pool of water. He did not like that one bit when we were at our hotel on the ski trip. Maybe he'll change his mind this summer.

We love this little guy! He continues to bring such joy into our life, and we are thankful for him now more than ever. Children are such a sweet, sweet gift from the Lord.

Our Baby Eliot

In January we found out that we were expecting another baby and quickly became excited about the thought of a little sibling for Hudson and another baby for us to love. This little one was due in September, just days before Hudson's second birthday. I spent so much time thinking about how I could get Hudson ready for this new sibling.

For reasons we will probably never know, our second little baby boy did not make it. I was in my fifth month of pregnancy when we discovered that his heart had stopped beating. Although we never met this baby while he was still living, we were able to hold him, name him, and pray over him before saying goodbye and giving him back to the Lord. We named him Eliot.

Usually, this is a place where I get to record Hudson's achievements and exciting adventures. Today I'm recording one of our greatest heartaches, but I think Eliot's name deserves mentioning on Hudson's blog. One day we will tell Hudson of his little brother and share his sweet footprints with him.

Eliot's Footprints

Happy Easter

Easter Egg Hunt and Celebration at Countryside

Hudson had a blast during our Easter photo shoot

Celebrating our Risen Savior!

More Words

Since my last post, Hudson has added a few more words...

Susu (doesn't have the "s" well, but we know what he's saying)
Pooh (as in Pooh Bear)
Ice
Bubbles

There were a few others I left off the list last time: teeth, ears, and eyes.

I'm sure there are a few others I forgot, but this is basically the list for now. His vocabulary is just growing everyday, so I'm sure I won't be able to keep up with a list for long. This is such an amazing time to get to spend with a toddler!

Hudson's Good Buddy

After we got back from our youth ski trip, Hudson decided that he wanted to be with his daddy pretty much all the time. He even decided that Jay was a worthy comforter when he gets hurt, which has always been a Mom job.

Here's a picture of Hudson helping Jay mow the lawn. He wouldn't even let Dad be gone long enough to mow the lawn on his own.

Last night Jay was putting him to bed as usual. Hudson came to give me a kiss and then told me bye, bye. I needed to put some medicine on his arm, so I had to stay in there a little while longer. He seemed disturbed that I was still in there intruding on his time with his Daddy. He then told me bye bye over and over.

Jay has always been a really active parent, and Hudson has been close to him. It's great seeing the two of them bonding even more. Just so long as Hudson still loves his Mommy.

Hudson's Favorite Words

Hudson is learning new words, or at least parts of words, all the time now.  It's really fun to hear what he'll come up with next.  We have a doctor's appointment this week since Hudson will be 18 months, so I've been trying to count how many words he can say since that's a question the pediatrician always asks.  Here's what I came up with.

His early words were Bayee (Bailey), Dada, Moma, Bye Bye, Gigi, Ba (Pa), Baba (Papa), Ba (ball, bath, what a sheep says, really almost anything).  Notice the "b" trend??

Then he added a few more: Bee (tree and shoe/feet?), Bee Bee (beep, beep), Ah Ah (arf, arf), Chee (cheese), and Haa (hot).

Last week he decided to really work on his vocabulary and added two new words.  He said Moo (moon) and Ayee (Ally).  We're working on Susu as well. 

Despite the new words, hot is still his word of the moment.  We'll hear him wake up and lay in his bed saying "haa, haa."  I have no idea what makes him think of hot, but he loves to say it.  In fact, I think he'll eat something just because it's hot.

We're amazed at watching our little man learn so much!