Hudson is 2!

Hudson had a very happy birthday, I think.  He woke up knowing it was his birthday because we had been talking abut it all week.  I made him a 2 shirt and he wanted to put it on (and does pretty much every day), because the other boys wear their special shirts all the time and he finally got one!

Friday, we woke up and told him Happy Birthday and he gave us all big hugs and said, "Yeah, it's my birthday."  Then we went downstairs to eat breakfast.  I lit a candle, just to make the house smell better and he started singing "Happy Birthday."  He even inserted ""Hudson" into the appropriate spot.  Then we got ready to get in the car to run some errands and he said, "Can we go to the donut store?"  You can't deny birthday wishes, so we went to Basha's and he enjoyed his whole white donut.  After that we got to go play at the splash pad and play with chalk out front and ride bikes and just have a nice fun day.

We opened presents and ate cake on Saturday when Daddy was home (and sick).

Hudson was into opening his presents and inspecting and using each thing that he got.  I took Carson and Porter grocery shopping in the morning and let them pick out a couple of things for Hudson.

Here he is reading his dinosaur birthday card from Grandma Margie and Grandma Norm.

Getting the hang of opening the presents.

He got a big boy spin toothbrush.  Used it all morning.

Carson picked out a watergun for him.  And Porter picked out a big yellow bouncy ball.

The gun matched his shirt perfectly!

One day about a month ago, we passed a cement truck on the highway.  He asked me what it was and I told him.  He has remembered what it is and can say it and now points them out when we see them all over town.      He LOVED this present.  

BUT Porter liked it too, they fought over it the rest of the day.

He is saying "cheese!"

I asked him if he wanted a big cake, or a car cake for his birthday.  Of course he wanted a car.  So I made a little red and blue car for him (with mini oreos for the wheels and steering wheel) and a round layered cake for us.  Well, the whole round cake stuck to the pan, so the other boys got a random pie shaped slice with some frosting.  They were not happy, but Hudson sure was.  

When it came out, he said "A CAR!"  And then started the Happy Birthday singing.

He totally knew the day was all about him.  It was fun seeing him realize that.

Hudson is in the 50th percentile for height, weight and head size.  WE don't know how that compares to before because we switched doctor's and they didn't have all of his old records yet.  But his iron was fine, and the doctor says he looks really good despite eating only cereal, peanut butter crackers, chicken taquitos and sugar of any kind.  The kid doesn't even drink milk.  So we have started to give him Flintstones Vitamins, which he enjoys and thinks are candy.  

I can't even make a list of the things he can say, because he can really say everything.  He speaks in complete sentences most of the time and can ask for help, or tell you what he wants or needs.  If he doesn't know what something is, he asks and can repeat it right back to you and almost always remembers it.  A couple of the conversations that he is saying right now are:

"Wait, wait, we forgot Daddy."  (When we are leaving the driveway to go somewhere during the day when Travis isn't home)

"Um, but..."  (He uses this for everything.  I think it pretty much means he doesn't like your answer).  i.e.  Hudson:  "Mom can I have some candy?"

Mom:  "No, Hudson, we don't have any more."
Hudson:  "Um, but... there is some in your diaper bag!"

Hudson: "Can I have the pacifier?"

Mom:  "No Hudson, it is all gone.  It is yucky.  You threw it away in the trash yesterday because you are a big boy now.  Big boys don't use pacifiers."
Hudson:  "I threw it away in the trash?"  "Because I'm a big boy?"
Mom:  "Yes."
Hudson:  "Well, we can go get to the store and get a pacifier?!"

"I wanna go on the Car Potty, will you take off my shirt?"  (He thinks he has to be naked to use the potty??)

"I want to go downstairs to eat breakfast!"  (Probably his favorite thing to say, every morning as soon as he wakes up!)  It amazes me that he doesn't just say the words "food" or "hungry" or "eat".  He tells me exactly what he wants too.  "I want Life Cereals."  "I want milk in my bowl."  "I need a spoon."  "Mom, can I watch a show?"  "I wanna watch Little Einsteins. I wanna watch Carmine!"  So he tells me what he wants to eat, and not just which show he wants, but which episode.  

His communication is so different from my other boys at this age.  It makes it so easy to understand his wants and needs, I feel like the tantrums are minimal.

His favorite songs are ABC's, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Teach Me to Walk in the Light, and Mary Mack.  He also sings along to everything in the car--little kid cds, Porter's music class cd, church primary songs, Taylor Swift, The Dixie Chicks and Steve Miller Band.

Hudson loves cars, motorcycles, helicopters, airplanes, balls, bats, trains and coloring.  He likes to do what the boys are doing.  He likes to wear Porter's big boy flip flops and drink out of big boy cups.  He always tells me when he is poopy and asks for a new diaper.  The kid might be potty trained before his older brother.

He is in his first session of swim lessons and cries the whole time.  But the second he gets out of the pool, he gets his licorice and sits down happily to eat snacks and watch Carson and Porter swim.

Even though he talks all the time, at home, he is very shy around anyone else.  Most people have never heard him talk.  But don't let his outward sweetness fool you.  He is a terror at home.  He hits, pushes, yells, pulls hair and laughs about it all!  He gets into the fridge, pulls chairs to the counter to climb up and get things.  He tells us all to go to timeout.  He holds down the water on the door of the fridge and fills the kitchen up and then comes and tells me there is a mess in the kitchen.  He is sweet and cuddly and a monster and too cute and smart for his own good.  And we sure do love him!  

Happy Birthday Hudson!

Carson's Birthday

A random cute picture of my boys.  Carson was waiting for the school bus and he wanted to match Travis that day.  I am not sure why Travis was home during the week??  I don't remember

Carson turned 4 and had a fun birthday.  He got Little Caesar's, cheetos and capri sun for dinner.

Then we sang to him and he actually wanted a pink cupcake (leftover from school) so that was nice, I didn't have to make a seperate cake that we would eat 2 pieces of and let the rest go bad.

He is getting pretty good at blowing out the candles.

We let him open his presents.  For months he had been asking for binoculars, and a green rocket.  He was so excited.

Nobody wanted Porter to feel left out, so he got him some orange binoculars too.

But then Hudson felt left out so he got some new binoculars a couple of days later.  

Carson said he had a great birthday and is excited for the next one.  

Happy Birthday Hudson!

 Yep.  He did it.  He had a birthday.  I wonder every day, why is it going by so fast?  Hudson's birthday was a typical day.  He sat in his stroller for over an hour and half while we were at swim lessons.  He did get to dip his feet, once.  We came home and he took a nap for almost the rest of the day, since he had to make-up for missing his morning nap.  Then he got dressed up for me to take a couple of pictures, but didn't do his hair, he wanted the bedhead instead.  Saw Daddy for about 15 minutes while eating his first cake, outside, 105 degrees, then went to bed.  But I think he had fun and felt loved.  I sure hope so.

Here he is wiggling around while I am trying to at least get him and the words on the paper in the pictures.

We did it! We got one!

Of course, it didn't last long.

Enjoying his disgusting looking cake.  I can assure you it only appeared to be gross, it was rainbow chip--you can't go wrong.

Hudson and Daddy outside

He loves this little basketball so much.  A woman who does Habilitation with Carson brought it over.  But Hudson really started to like it.  She let us keep it for a little while.  We need to find him one just like it.  He entertains himself for hours just rolling it around and then chasing it.  When you ask him where the basketball is, he stops whatever he is doing and looks all around.  If he sees it, he crawls as fast as he can while giggling. It's the only thing that would get him to sit still in the grass for a couple of seconds.  He is looking at his Daddy in the picture.

I just love his little faces.  Something about the way his little mouth moves that is just so sweet.

I put him in his booster chair but didn't have any food ready.  He was so mad at me.  When he gets mad he has started this thing where he slaps his own face, over his mouth??  It's weird/sad/cute all at the same time.

Woke up with some serious bedhead.  We tried to get him a haircut on Tuesday but he won't sit still to save his life.  She was only able to get in a couple of clips of the hair over the ears.  He looks so big in this picture. So grown up!   He sleeps in his crib for his morning nap and bedtime.  For his afternoon nap he sleeps in his pack n play in our bedroom.  We have blackout curtains and that keeps him seperate from Porter (since they share a room and take naps at the same time).  I am still not brave enough to put them down for naps together.  We tried it a couple times and they just talked back and forth and never went to bed.   I need my quiet time too. 

His first cake.  It was a grassy hill with oreos for dirt and a truck.  It was the combination of Carson's and Porter's cake because I like to add food coloring to box cake mixes and frosting.  The truck was from the toy room and I washed it.  I didn't even buy him a new one.  LAME!

He wasn't sure what to do.  He has started to do this with his head.  ALL THE TIME.  Especially when he is eating.  I took him in to the Dr. because I thought maybe he had an ear infection.  He doesn't.  The doctor thinks it might be his molar coming in.  I hope so, because it freaks me out a little.

See.  Again.

Getting a little messier.

Doing that thing again and getting messier.

And messier and he finally go through to the cake part.  He didn't want to stop but Carson and Porter were bored and inside, Daddy had to go to Scouts and Mommy was getting hot and sweaty.  I took him outside thinking he would make a huge mess that I would rather hose down.  Nothing left his tray, he was pretty neat really.  

Dear Hudson, 

You are my little baby.  I get you out of your crib in the morning and after naps and I can't help but grab you and give those cheeks kisses.  I just want to squeeze you, I love you so much.  You are so funny and are learning things so quickly.  I love watching you try to go down the stairs.  You know you are supposed to put your feet first, but you can't figure out how to turn around.  You pretend like you are going to go head first but you never do.  I always come running, saying 'no' and then you turn around and take off and laugh.  You are so grown up.  

You like to push cars and trucks around.  I love it when you are pushing one and then pass a toy.  You stop, look at it and decide if you want it then pick it up and put it in the truck.  You must really be watching your brothers because they do the same things!  You always want to be playing in a room where somebody else is.  It doesn't have to be with them, you just want someone around.  

Carson and Porter say such sweet things to you.  You may have been told to go to time-out a few times by Carson.  He says that you aren't supposed to touch the train tracks and you need to go to the naughty step for 2 minutes.  In his defense, when you touch the train tracks you rip them apart, throw them behind your head and sometimes chew on them.  But we don't ever put you in time-out.  

Your favorite thing is sippy cups.  You don't really care if you drink out of yours or a bottle.  You want the ones that the boys have that you don't know how to drink out of.  You pick up the ones that they drop and carry them all over the house.  when you are cranky and we are out of the house, I can usually hand you one of their cups and you are happy for the rest of the time.  

You love to eat.  You like to eat when everyone else is eating.  Your favorite finger foods are bread, toast with jelly, cheerios, goldfish, and strawberries.  You enjoy yogurt, all of those baby cereals, apple juice and pretty much any fruit or vegetable.  You aren't a fan of the meats that come in the jar (not that I can blame you!) or any other meats in general.  You will usually just throw them all on the floor.  You still take 3 sometimes 4 bottles a day and I have been doing half formula and half whole milk.  You don't seem to mind the whole milk.  But you only like to eat about 2 ounces before you throw your bottle/cup and want to get down to go play.  I have to give you the other 6 ounces in stages so you will finish it.  

Most mornings you wake up talking with Porter and giggling back and forth.  When you are crying in your crib or in the car, Porter yells, 'Hudson stop crying' and you stop.  When he looks at you, you laugh.  Then the 2 of you will go back and forth laughing and looking at each other for a long time.  I love to just sit back and listen and enjoy it.  It is the best.

You repeat the words Daddy, cheese, car, and I swear anything the boys are yelling.   Carson keeps asking you to say 'Carson.'  When you do, he is going to be so happy.  You have started throwing little fits, which to be honest I am not too fond of.  You screech and throw your head back when something is taken away from you (like the remote) or you don't get what you want.  Like to sit on the floor, not in my lap at church.  Oh or when we are trying to get you dressed.  Holy cow that is so hard to do.  You try to get away the whole time! If I sing the ABC's it calms you down!  Yesterday I told you 'no' and you started crying so badly that your hand was shaking.  You got so offended and it was so sad.  But seriously, you shouldn't wack me in the face.  

You are an incredibly happy baby when you aren't throwing tantrums.  You are always wanting to play.  But I love when you still want to cuddle.         

I love your hair.  You get bedhead every day and wake up from naps and it is all curly in the back and usually sticking up.  It goes with your personality.  

I love you so much Hudson.  We all adore you.  You have the cutest cheeks and we will love you even if they go away.  I just hope it isn't too quickly.  You are fun and sweet and a pistol.  I know you are who you are and thank you for that.  Keep growing just not too quickly.  Please, for me?  

Love, Mom

Porter is 2!!

Thursday, March 3, Porter turned 2 years old!  What a big boy.  Porter is an awesome kid, with a bunch of everything all mixed in one sweet little boy.  He is happy, kind, dirty, messy, smart, funny, and independent.  He is often galloping around the house (I think he thinks he is jumping, but his feet barely leave the ground).  His favorite foods are pizza and chicken nuggets and french fries.  He loves to go to "Giggo King" (Burger King) to eat and play on the slides.  He knows what Burger King is from the logo and will point out ones we have never even taken the kids to. 

He LOVES trains and Thomas the Train.  Like Carson, he is particular about what he wants to wear.  But he chooses a train shirt or a Thomas shirt every day.  Sometimes we have to let him wear his Thomas pj shirt as a normal shirt, because, again, I can't do laundry that often.  And he always says he wants a Thomas shirt on his belly.  Every morning when we go in his room to get him and Hudson, he says "you have a shirt."  ???  I don't know what goes on in that little head but it sure does crack me up. 

He is speaking in full sentences most of the time.  I think I understand him 95 % of the time.  Even Travis, sometimes has a hard time knowing what he says.  One of his new sayings  is "Look at that, Mommy, it's a _____" and he says whatever it is.  It could be anything, something cool or a truck or a slide or a plate or clouds, usually pretty random things, but they are always something that is around us.  So I guess he thinks they are pretty cool. 

Porter loves going to church and going to the nursery.  He can barely make it through Sacrament Meeting to run down the hall.  As soon as we open the door to the nursery, he runs in straight to the toys.  And he is pretty good with saying 'bye' and giving his teachers hugs or high fives.  And then he always tells me about his pictures of Jesus that he colors.  I absolutely love him!

Porter adores both of his brothers.  He is copying Carson all the time, both words and actions.  And they completely understand each other's nonsense.  But he also knows when to run.  He can quickly steal a toy from Carson and then take-off.  And he always goes and plays by Hudson.  He is always aware of the things going on around him.  If I walk in the room holding Hudson, he says, hi to him. 

He giggles a lot.  And it makes me laugh when he tries to run away from something, but he is gigg

ling to much to even go fast.  He really likes to go outside and ride his bike.  Which is a BigWheels bike that is way to big for him.  But he can use his feet to push it around a little bit. 

Porter has climbed out of his crib quite a few times, but doesn't do it that much. He climbs up onto the rail and then lays there. It's so weird. He has already done the hard part but he told Travis one day that he didn't want to fall. He is starting to fight naps and bedtime. But he is such a pushover. If I tell him Wrigley is waiting for him in his bed and Wrigley is very tired, then he goes right down and cuddles with him with a big smile.

There is so much more about Porter, so many things are just so hard to describe.  He is so unique.  But most of all we are so glad he is part of our family. We love him.  He makes us smile.  He wears me out!

Here are A LOT of pictures from his actual birthday and today when we celebrated it (since Travis wasn't able to on Thursday).  They aren't in chronological order.  I will go back later and write details about the pics.  But for now, these are for my parents.

**Updated 3/7/11--I wrote some things about what was going on in the pictures**

I walked into the room and found Porter and Hudson playing together.  It was very sweet. I love how both Porter and Carson say they want to play with Hudson and then go lay on the floor by him.  If they don't he crawls/scoots/worms his way over to them.

Porter got his first Thomas and Percy trains for his birthday.  He was so happy to be playing with them.  This picture was BEFORE Carson got home from school.

 

Porter must have know it was his birthday because he woke up like this.  He was trying to get in his birthday suit all by himself. Thank goodness he didn't make it that far.

 

Porter picking apart his cupcake after we sang 'Happy Birthday'.

Carson, inhaling his.

Aunt Lisa, holding and feeding Hudson.

 

Lisa and Hudson and Uncle Ethan, at Porter's "party".  We didn't really have a party.  We just invited family over for cheap pizza and cupcakes to sing to Porter.

Grandma Grover being shy (yeah right, haha) and Uncle Troy.

Hudson and his cousin Allyson.  These kids are so sweet, they always want to hold babies!!

Porter chose to wear that shirt, again.

I love his faces in these pictures.  They get his sugar and he LOVES it.  He pretends he doesn't want it, but when they stop he begs for more!

Cousin Jackson holding Hudson.

Porter kept backing away from the giraffe and that tongue couldn't quite reach.  He wasn't so sure about the whole thing.

But Carson thought it was awesome.  He fed Charlie like 10 pieces of lettuce.

Having a fun day at the zoo.

They all loved the camel ride.  Even the camel was posing.

While at the zoo, Hudson hung out in the stroller and took a nap.  Hardly made a peep the whole 2 1/2 hours.

Carson liked this dragon (it's fake) and kept giving it kisses.  Gross.

I think this was Porter's first ride on the carousel without crying.  Carson immediately picked out the cheetah.  He also never took off those sunglasses the whole time we were there.

Porter's birthday present from us and grandparents.

The boys are obsessed with it.  It came with all the tracks and trains and makes noises when the trains cross certain pieces. You can also use any of the wooden magnetic trains on it.  So we have some Thomas ones and some from IKEA that work on it.  It is pretty sweet.

Carson's first tantrum came about 5 minutes after they first saw it.  He kept telling Porter "No, Porter, it's MINE!  It's not yours!"

 

Porter was pretty oblivious to the tantrums.

Hudson even likes it.  He crawls over to it and gets under the kids feet and tries to pull himself up.

Porter got a Thomas book and coloring book and a Thomas card from his Grandma Margie and Grandpa Norm. Hudson is helping.

I think he had an awesome birthday!