Hudson update

It's high time for another one of these. I can't believe this kid's almost two!

You wouldn't think it from looking at this adorable face, but Hudson is now a walking disaster! He has figured out doorknobs and zippers, so nothing is safe from him anymore.
It took a few times of walking into the dining room and seeing the complete contents of my purse and the backpack scattered all over to realize that I needed to put them in a closet. It also took quite a few times of hearing him banging the toilet closed or seeing him tip my water bottle all over my night stand to break down and get the door knob covers. Now, if everyone in the house can remember to close all the doors, we're set.

Hudson cannot stay away from plugs, either. We put plug covers on all of our unused outlets (which he can pick out now), but I can't find those box plug covers anymore - you know, the ones that snap over the entire outlet and the plugs. Anyone know where to find those these days?? Anyway, Hudson has shocked himself more times than I care to record, but he still can't stay away from them! He's just like his brothers - pain doesn't seem to teach him any sort of lesson.

Since he's figured zippers out, he loves to his footie pajamas because he can play with the zippers. He gets the zipper down, then leaves it there, which gives him a bit of a Neil Diamond look (which I do not approve of!)

Stuff he loves right now:

His blanket and stuffed animals, namely, brown monkey,

Crackers the bear (named by Noah the brother. Also can you see those rosy cheeks? He has those ALL the time!),

and Orange Monkey. This one is actually a Dr. Seuss character, but Hudson named it himself. As indicated from the previous two pictures, Hudson also LOVES books. Just a word of advice, if you ever want find a way to his heart, offer to read him a book. He'll be your best friend.

His other favorite things to do are puzzles, cars, playdough, and coloring. At Christmas, I thought it would be brilliant to get him Color Wonder so we wouldn't find marker streaks on everything. It worked for a little while, until Hudson figured out that he could take the actual marker part out of the plastic holder and bite pieces off of it. Color Wonder is banned now.

Hudson is a fairly clean kid (well, relatively, for a toddler). He gets upset when he sees that he's dirty, including times that he sees snow on his boots and pants. He has also just recently started picking the lint out of his toes. Whenever I take his feet out of his pajamas so I can change his diaper, his feet are immediately up in the air so he can reach them and start picking. He got this from me - my parents have three or four pictures of me at this age doing the same thing.

Hudson is a great fit-thrower these days. As with most kids his age, his tantrums occur when he wants to do something and can't, or if something is done in a way different from the way he likes it done. Chris and I try to accomodate his particular ways, because we know he's just trying to get a little bit of control over his world, but sometimes it's just ridiculous.
Hudson also has to do everything himself. His most common phrases are "No me!" and "I do it!" There are many times that I have to unsnap him from his high chair so he can snap himself in, turn the water off so he can turn it on, turn the lights back on so he can turn them off, and oh so many other things.

Still loves sugar.

Other things:

He loves music, and he gets attached to certain songs, which he wants to hear over and over and over. I've heard enough "Fruit Salad" (Wiggles), "Yeti Stomp" (Backyardigans), "Popcorn" (Bare Naked Ladies), and "Mama Mia" (Abba) to last a lifetime. On the flipside, we can usually get him to calm down when we ask him if he wants to listen to one of the above songs. I can also usually get him to lay still long enough to change his diaper or get him dressed if I sing songs. The most requested ones at these particular times are nursery songs: "Itsy Bitsy Spider" "Five Little Monkeys" "Wheels on the Bus" or "Popcorn Popping." He also requests "I Am a Child of God" on CD (NOT me singing it) when he goes to sleep.

There's been quite an evolution with Hudson's manners. Last spring, when we were trying to teach him to say Thank You, he had the intonation down ("thank" being said a little lower than "you"), but he would say "nkuh nkuh." He'd say it in his throat without even opening his lips. Oh, how I wish we had had our video camera at the time - it was so funny. Then it evolved to just one "nk." Three or so months ago, he finally started saying the actual "thank you" and he'd say it every time we did something for him. Now it's just a simple "thanks."

He's started to hit sometimes because he thinks it's funny. There have been a number of times that he has pulled his hand back to hit me, and I'll tell him, "No, we don't hit." He'll start to get upset and say, "Please!" Ah,well, at least he's polite about wanting to hit me.

He's started to fight naps the last couple of months. I still put him down everyday after lunch, and sometimes he'll fall asleep if he's really tired, but a majority of the time, he'll just talk and play. Poor kid - we haven't had room to put up the crib, so he's always been in a porta crib in Annie's room. He's figured out how to throw himself against the side of the crib to get it to move. I've learned to put all of Annie's things from her dresser and night stand onto the floor so he can't reach them when he scoots himself over. He is a great sleeper at night, though.

He doesn't like winter and snow much.

He LOVES nursery! We are all so lucky that he has the BEST nursery leaders. Just about every time we get in the car he asks if we are going to church so he can go to nursery and see Grandma Jeena.

He's talking like crazy - he says pretty much everything and he's stringing words into sentences. Overall, Hudson has a very laid back personality and he's so much fun!