The Tweedles

My Dear Hudson.

Sweet boy you’re 20 months old now!  We’ve had a quiet month.

We went to the beach at Half Moon Bay with some friends and you had an excellent time eating sand, getting a lot of sand in your diaper.  (How do you not complain when that happens?)  It was a little chilly, so there was no playing in the water, just lots of digging and playing with cars with the big boys, and watching the Mamas try to fly a kite, which I can see is amusing for it’s own reasons.  We also went on a lady bug hunt, which you found to be most amusing.   There was a steep trail up a small bluff that we had to climb to get back up from the beach, and since my arms were full of all of our beach stuff I had to wear you on my back, which was interesting becasue I haven’t worn you in a long time, but you were happy back there.  Nice to know that we can fall back into our old routines!

A big milestone this month.  Daddy taught you how to euuurch your cars.  Since you’ve developed this facination with matchbox cars, you carry them around with you everywhere, mostly driving them on what ever surface you are next to and telling me or Daddy waht kind of car it is (car or truck) and what colour it is.  So to perpetuate you love for cars we bought you a car rug so you could have something to drive them on , then Daddy taught you how to euuurrrch them.  You make the most adorable little euuurch.  Often when I am not sure where you are, I can find you on your car rug, on your belly driving cars around the little town, not on the streets or anything, just around, randomly euuurrrching, often parking in the parking stalls.  The adorable is high.

This month we went apple picking and you were in small boy heaven.  Your favourite food might be apples, so seeing whole trees of them, and then row on row of trees of apples may have made you a little crazy!  I think you ate 5 or 6 apples that day.  We had a lot of fun picking them and filling the big bucket for Daddy to carry.  Then we all went or some apple pie and then for lunch and to play on the beach.  It was a really great day, and you had so much fun.  I think you are defiantly a little California boy.

I’ve started a new playdate with your playgroup.  We’re doing messy art playdates now.  I wanted to put you into an art class, but the times didn’t work with our schedule, so I figured I could just host them myself.  And we do.  It’s going well.  We made drawings with chalk soaked in sugar water, which helps it to be really bright.  You had a good time, did some good drawing, but mostly had a great time playing.  I’m looking forward to more of the art playdates, so that you can play with more of your peers and do some art that’s more appropriate for your age.

So recently I’ve realized that you can count to five, then ten.  Also you know your alphabet.  I know that some people assume that we work on your letters and numbers over and over, but you learned them because the toys in the shower are foam letters and numbers and over the months you’ve just learned them.  It’s rather amazing really at how you did it, and a testament at how easily children learn.  In any case you are so proud of yourself.  Also it’s so cute to hear your tiny baby voice counting.  And since you’ve learned you want to count everything, identify numbers and letters everywhere.  So random strangers are hearing you count and recite letters, they’re always shocked and demand to know how old you are.  I like to tell them that you’re not even two years old.  What they don’t know as well is that your Daddy learned his numbers and letters really young too, so it’s understandable that you did learn them so young.   Also with language and learning this month, you’ve learned the sign for ‘baby’, and every time we see one, you drop what’s in your hands and sign it, or just sign it with one hand.  You adore babies!  When we were at the doctor’s office there was a really new baby there, and you kept going over and standing beside the baby’s car seat and bending sideways really far to look at the baby, then you’d run back over to me signing ‘baby’ while shouting ‘BABY!’.  It’s so cute.  I think you’d love a little brother or sister just as much as Trixie would.

So this month ends with us going to Disney for my birthday.  I’m really excited to see how you react this time to Disney.  Last time you had a great time, so I hope you love it again.

My sweet boy, I’ve said countless times in this letter that you’re adorable and cute.  I know it’s poor writing, but it’s the best words to describe you.  You are adorable and cute.

I love you so much!

Love,

Mama.

Little Buddy!

You’re 19 months old!

We’ve had a few big events this month.

We went camping with my Mama’s group for babies born in 2010 and you had so much fun getting dirty with your peers.  There was a lot of dirt, a lot of dirt eating, a lot of rolling in the dirt, and more dirt.  You also played with balls, chased squirrels and were introduced to a s’more.  It was a great trip, I think the first of many more.

Another new thing this month is that you’ve started following simple directions like, “go and get your shoes”, “here’s a cracker for you and one for your sister, please give her one”, “put away your crayons/ cars/ toys”  it’s handy that you can follow directions!

We’ve done more swimming this month and you have demonstrated that you are fearless around water, even more.  I have to be really careful that you are being closely watched, because you will jump in, mostly if you think I am there to catch you, but I’m not willing to find out what you’ll do if you’re not watched like a hawk!  One the one hand I am glad that you’re not scared of water, but on the other it freaks me out that you are so fearless.  I don’t even want to imagine what could happen.  So I won’t.  Suffice it to say, you are closely watched around water, more than most children.  I”m seeing about getting you into some lessons!

Your hair.  Hudson you have the most amazing hair.  I love it!  Everyone loves it.  But it’s getting long, and I dont’ want to cut it.  I have had it trimmed before, but I love your curls and I know that once they are all trimmed away they’re not coming back, but I don’t want you to have a mullet.  So I’m in denial.  Your hair is awfully shaggy right now.  So we make use of a manly headband and manly top knots.  I think they make you more adorable.  I think many people agree with me.  It’s interesting though, to see your whole face with no hair on your forehead.  Also, you love having me do your hair, if Trixie can do it, then so can you, is your motto.  She gets her hair done, then so shall you.

A new thing this month is that we’ve joined the Y, so you go to the Y daycare while I go and get my sweat on.  You don’t much like it there, which makes it hard for me.  When we walk around the corner you cry and cry before we’re even in the day care, Trixie loves it and that helps you, but you’re not a fan.  The ladies who work there assure me that as soon as I am gone you settle in and play, and I’ve had friends confirm this.  But it makes me sad.  On the third time I dropped you off they had to come and get me from the class I was in because you weren’t happy.  Eventually you settled down and I was able to go and work out more.  Luckily that was the only time they had to call me out for you crying.  (They’ve had to call me out because you’ve had a poopy bum though.)

Speaking of poop…. Every moring Daddy puts you on the toilet and sometimes you’ll even go.  We’d like more of that please.

I think you’re trying to drop your nap.  It’s starting to take a lot more to put you down for a nap.  It’s like you need to do twenty minutes of bed gymnastics before you’ll settle down.  I hope it’s a phase.  I’m not ready for you to drop your nap, and really, you’re not ready either.

We went to the dentist this month and you were okay about it.  You didn’t fuss and cry, but you refused to open your mouth so the dentist could take a peek.  Eventually I opened your new toothbrush and let you brush, which you love to do, so the dentist could peek.  He saw as much as he could, and was impressed that you like to brush your teeth.  Hopefully when we go back in a couple of months you’ll be better about it all.

With food you’re the same as before.  You don’t eat as much.  You love meat, especially anything in ball form and bread.  You love to drink from a bowl, and you love miso, I may have encouraged this.  Just like your sister a meal of miso, rice and seaweed is a favourite in our house.

You love to be in the kitchen with me.  You’ll help me put away the cutlery, you’ll push the stool over to help me with whatever you can.  It’s pretty adorable.  Perhaps you’re a little chef in the making?  We’ll see!

The other night you were watching a movie with Daddy and Daddy laughed at something and you forced the craziest laugh ever to mimic Daddy.  It was so funny that it made Daddy and me laugh harder.  You are adorable, sweet boy!

Oh dearest Hudson.  You keep me in laughter and cuddles.

As always I am the luckiest Mama ever.

love,

Mama.

Dearest Little Buddy,

You’re 18 months old now!  That’s a whole year and a half!  I can’t believe it!

You turned 18 months while we were in Canada, so we celebrated, Canadian style.
For Canada day we were on the beach in Vancouver, and with the tide quite a ways out you were in baby heaven, playing with the mud and sand.  Also you found a new big boy idol.  You thought Jacob was the bees knees, it was pretty cute.  Also while in Vancouver we went to a water park in Stanley Park, which was fun for you and Trixie, but at one point I lost you, and it was one of the most terrifying moments in my life.  I was making sure Trixie wasn’t getting into trouble and I looked away from you for a moment, and you were gone.  I panicked but luckily Daddy was able to spot you, (I’m grateful you were wearing a bright yellow shirt!) and I went sprinting through the crowds to get you.  When I scooped you up I felt better.  Luckily you weren’t fazed by it all, you had just wandered away, you didn’t know yet that you were lost and weren’t scared.  I’ve learned that I have to keep a really close eye on you, it seems that your invisible tether to me is much longer than Trixie’s ever was at your age.  Yet another example of how you are NOT like your sister!

On the way home from Canada we brought Auntie Kelly and cousin Liam with us, and you enjoyed having another kid in the car too, and a boy!  By the time we were on the way home you had gotten used to all of the driving (really after day one on the way up you were fine) and thought it was a great game.  You loved seeing the sea gulls in Seattle and tried to feed them french fries, which is encouraged, but they were such big birds, so Daddy or I helped you to feed them.  They were pretty dynamic in their pursuit of the fries though.  We all enjoyed watching them.

On to other things…

You want to pee in a potty!  You’re so keen on it, I’m amazed.  You’ll try to pee with Daddy when he’s peeing, which means you pee on the floor.  But every morning you ask to go to the potty, sometimes successfully, sometimes not.   I’ve also learned that taking you and your sister potty when we are at the mall is a challenge, but I’m making it work, somehow!  Good thing you’re both such patient children!

Your speech is improving, you are fascinated with the “K” sound, you’ll say a word then repeat the “K” sound a few times.  Book-k-k-k. shark-k-k-k, truck-k-k-k, sock-k-k-k, you also like shoe, but there’s no hard sound to repeat.  You also roar, it’s adorable.  You often walk around the house the a turtle puzzle piece roaring, but it’s sounds like “rooooarrreeeeerrrrr”  cute, cute, ctue.

You’ve discovered Yo Gabba Gabba this month, you still don’t watch much, but you will proclaim “Rock!” (k-k-k-k) when you hear the opening credits.  I’m pretty sure you mean DJ Lance Rock, who was your hero for about 2 weeks.

You want to do whatever Trixie does, and you let her dictate your play.  Often I find you two playing fairies, you wearing the green wings and a green crown, and Trixie wearing pink wings and a pink crown.  I must say, you two are an adorable set of faries!

You are obsessed with the kitchen and are in there often helping me.  It’s adorable.  And by help I mean get under my feet.  But I will let you stir things when I am making up a mix of dry stuff, and you’re so proud.  Once while I was making muffins you helped and then tried to help dish the wet batter out.  I”m pretty sure you spilled at least a muffin worth, but it was adorable and you were so proud.

The most noteworthy thing this month was your first temper tantrum.  It wasn’t too crazy, but you are starting to let me know how you feel about stuff.  I guess you’re really coming out of babyhood and establishing yourself firmly in toddlerhood.

My sweet boy, you’re amazing and I”m lucky.

I love you so much.

Love forever and always.

Mama.

Dearest Hudson,

You are 16 months old now!  I can’t believe how quickly time is passing and how you are changing from my tiny baby to this hulking toddler!  You are amazingly adorable and cuddly, every day I am amazed at how you are such a little person, not just a mini version of your sister, but a unique person yourself.  I know it seems a little silly to notice this, but it’s hard to not compare you to your sister, so noticing how different you are is amazing.  You are so sensitive and intuitive, and yet such a boy!  I love it!

This month has been busy and full of new thing.  Much to your absolute joy we’ve started gymnastics for you.  You’re in the Diaper Dynos class, which is for crawlers to 2.5 year old kids.  Since Trixie has started in a class that doesn’t require a parent I’ve been wrestling with you to keep you away from all of the equipment while she’s in class, and you have not been happy about that!  Sadly we were on a waitlist to get into your class and it was going to be a while until we could get in, but luckily the head preschool teacher put you in the class, ahead of all of the waitlisted students.  She said it wasn’t fair to make you watch while everyone else played.  So now we’re in the class and you love it!  LOVE!  Your favourite things are to hang from the bar and crawl over the obstacles, you also like the parachute time, but you don’t participate much, but that’s okay it’s still all new to you, I expect you’ll be all over it soon!

With your eating you’re the same, although you’re starting to slow down a little with your eating and not consuming everything in sight.  Some days I worry that you’re not eating enough greens, but then I remember that you LOVE seaweed and eat as much as you can get, or rather as much as you can get away from your sister who also loves seaweed.  Often while eating seaweed we’re eating miso, which is a favourite of yours, both you and your sister like to sip it from your bowls.  I love that you are so eager to eat it, it’s good for you and yummy too.  You adore fruit, especially oranges.  Recently you’ve learned to sign ‘orange’ and and you’ve started to use it to be the sign for all fruit, we’re working on teaching you the other signs, you’re getting close to using ‘banana’.

This month we went camping on the beach with some friends.  The first day that we got there we went right down to the beach to see everyone and play in the water.  Your sister was quick to go to play in the waves and you tried to follow her but the splash upset you, and you were much happier to just sit with me while Trixie and Daddy played in the water.  You tried a couple of other times, but the big splash of water was scary to you, so you just drove cars in the sand with the other boys who were there with us.  After we played at the beach we made the big hike back up to the camp ground and while Daddy was setting up our brand new tent you were playing.  At one point you decided that you needed to check out the fire pit and before anyone could get to you, you reached out your little baby hand and grabbed the metal bin that was the fire pit.  You had blisters across the tips of your fingers (pointer, ring and middle) on your hand.  You, understandably, cried a lot, and had a hard time going to sleep that night.  The only thing that calmed you down was for me to blow on them.  The next day you were fine and had a great time frolicking and playing with the other kids.  Everyone was extra careful to make sure all of the kids stayed well away from the fire pit.  That day when we got home I checked your hand again and saw that more blisters formed across the top of your palm, where your fingers meet your hand.  To be cautious I took you to the doctor and they put some cream on your hand and wrapped it with gauze up to your wrist, it looked so sad.  You were a trooper and left the bandage on and didn’t pull at it at all.  We were able to leave it on for a day or so, then it came off, the blisters did pop, but we kept them clean and you were fine.  I was shocked at how quickly you healed!  We all learned a lesson from this: to always bring a cage to put around a fire pit!

This month since you’ve started to show some interest in potty learning I’ve bought you some adorable little baby briefs, and you are so cute when you wear them!  I just can’t help myself, and I give your adorable little tush a wee pinch.  You are so proud when you are wearing them too, if a tiny little guy like you could strut, I’d say you were strutting!

Your wee mouth has been giving you some trouble as your teeth come in.  You seem to be suffering less than when your first ones came in, but you’re still waking a little more than normal, but all in all you’re dealing with them well.  I haven’t had to use any painkillers and mostly we can get by with cuddles or some homeopathy.

I went away this month for a scrapbooking weekend and you had your first few nights away from Mama.  Daddy was home with you and Trixie, and I was given reports of how you were fine.  I was lonely to have no warm little bodies in bed with me though, but we all survived and I managed to get a lot of work done on my scrapbook.  I promise to not go away a lot though, I don’t like being away from you, your sister and Daddy!

Finally, Little Man I love you so much.  I’ve already mentioned how time has gone by so fast, and yet I can’t imagine my life without you.  My tiny little baby stud.

Love,

Mama.