Catching up - Hudson

I really love it when my kids turn one - they are sleeping through the night, I'm finished nursing (it's so inconvienent when there are 3 other lives I have to attend to - like nursing while sitting on the bleachers during Annie's swim practice and trying to keep Noah and Brigham from tripping over piles of life jackets and falling head long over the railing. Or, this is my favorite - nursing while trying to wipe Brigham since he is just potty training and he can't do it himself. I think I was also talking on the phone at the time). Another thing I love - they do the cutest things. Hudson is toddling around now - he was 15 months before he really started walking around on his own. He's also saying all sorts of words: mama, da, cah ("car" in a high, excited voice), no no (which he says whenever we ask him for a kiss), mm hm (he says that instead of "yes"), bapple ("apple" which is usually said in a low, husky voice, much to the delight of his siblings) and so many others. Here are a few of my favorite pics:

He's walking!

Hudson loves being outside! He is always bringing me his sandals so I can put them on and take him out. His favorite things to do are throwing rocks in the garden, going down the slide, swinging, and riding his little trike. Here's an example of how he looks much of the time.

It's so nice to have older kids to help with Hudson. Annie and Noah are so extremely helpful when they see I need it. Whenever I need to get in the shower or make dinner, or whatever, I just have to ask, and I know Hudson will be fine.

I love this picture. This was after dinner (hence the shirtless look - he soaked it while he ate), and Hudson figured out how to climb onto the stool; he was so proud of himself. He would climb up, wave excitedly at whoever was around, then climb down and start all over again.

He is loving books lately. I often catch him sitting by himself, looking at them and babbling. It's one of my favorite things in the world when he climbs onto my lap with a book in his hand. He especially loves books about animals and cars.

Whenever I ask him if he wants to take a bath, he starts heading upstairs, saying "ba ba ba."




Hudson gave us quite a scare a couple of weeks ago. He walked into the kitchen one afternoon with one of Brig's pirate coins in his hand. I saw him put it into his mouth, so I immediately took it out. What I didn't know is that he had put another coin in before he came into the kitchen. He started gagging, and so I did exactly what you aren't supposed to do - a blind sweep. It was so scary to stick my finger down his throat and feel a coin down there, and not be able to get it out. I turned him upside down and banged him on the back, but it didn't do anything. I ran outside, banging him on the back (our next door neighbor is a nurse, and I figured I could use some help). As I was out there, banging and running, the coin finally fell out.

As I talked to Chris about it later, he mentioned that it's good to have little scares like this every once in awhile (not too often, though!), just so we can be reminded of what really are the most important things in our lives. They are also good reminders of how precious life really is, and that it can be taken from us or our loved ones at any time. Yes, I know this is sappy, but I'm going to say it anyway: what a different world this would be if we could live each day with those things in mind.