Hudson! My sweet boy! You’re three years old! I type this knowing that I am late on this post and ever so delinquent on doing your monthly posts, so delinquent that it’s best that I not mention it, ever again.
Anyhow, you have grown into this adorable, snuggly little boy. I adore you and your tounge thrust lisp. You are quick to give hugs, but never kisses since they are gah-ross! You are also quick to tears if chided, but hugs and snuggles will resolve the tears and we both feel better after a little chat about what was wrong and what we can do better next time.
While you spend most of your time with your sister and me, and most of your friends are girls; you my boy, are all boy, a sensitive boy, but all boy. I love your devotion to Jake and the Neverland Pirates, I love your shaggy blonde hair and incredibly bright blue eyes. I love your pink lips, even with their little scar, I love how your hands are forever dirty (I must go through a brick of baby wipes every couple of days chasing you down to wipe you up), I love how you, even with your dirty hands, always want to touch my face, to look into my eyes. I love you so much.
You are an incredibly bright boy. You often baffle Daddy and I with your ability to make stunning connections about the world around you. You have this intense desire to understand how things work. Daddy says you have the “knack” (for engineering), mostly I just try to keep you safe! We were at the mall one day riding the coin operated rides and you climbed off of your ride while it was going and tried to get a good peek underneath it to see the mechanics of it. I had a mini heart attack watching you do this, because I was worried that you would crush your head. Now writing it out, it seems like I was standing far away, but you’re quick, I was close! We had a chat about how to stay safe, and I had to remind you a couple more times, but you were just so interested to see how it worked. Other times at a park you’ll crawl off of a moving part of some apparatus and see how it works. I’m starting to get good at anticipating what you’ll need to inspect before I need to panic about crushed heads or pinched fingers, but yes, I’ll agree with Daddy, you have the “knack” indeed. But please, Sweet Boy, be safe, if only to protect my heart!
You also have a good understanding of your letters and numbers. You know your upper case and lower case numbers and you can write your name. You can count to 10+ in English and to 10 in Spanish, and we’re working on French. We practice basic math, and you are grasping it so easily. Now if you’re reading this in your 20s or so and think that I ran a super tight ship and made you study study study while you were only two years old, you are absolutely right! Except, no, I’m sure you know that we just played with letters and numbers a lot. You know that your Daddy and I valued such things and we just worked them into daily life. Who knew that there were so many lessons that could be casually brought together from a bag of clementines!
Speaking of oranges! Oh my word! You love oranges! You will beg me to peel you orange after orange until you’ve eaten four or five, which is when I’d normally cut you off; I should just let you keep eating them to see what your limit is, but I fear for your tummy. I don’t think there is a limit for you. Luckily though, I have planted an orange tree at our new house. I hope it keeps you in oranges, if not, I’ll plant another. Although I also planted a grapefruit, lime, two kumquats and a buddah hand, which you love to chant as you play in the back yard. ”Bue-dah hae-ndh, bue-dah hae-ndh.” This is in addition the the two lemons trees we already have, which you make great use of. I am grateful that you adore citrus so much, but honestly I worry about your tummy! With eating though, you are still a pretty good eater. We have days when you would rather play than eat, and I try to let you do what you need to do, but lets not forgo eating too much, okay? You’ve also recently decided that you love spicy food, and your favourite spicy food is red fish, as you call it, which is the spicy Korean fish cake. You’ve also told me that only boys like spicy food. I didn’t have the heart to tell you otherwise, but reality in our house, is that Daddy and you are the ones who eat most of the spicy food!
Oh my word Hudson, you love babies! We have a little baby in our social circle whom you adore. It’s ovary jumping adorable to watch you play with her. You’ll go up to her, and she’ll squeal her amusement at seeing you, then you’ll offer her your face and head, to which she pokes and tears at, to your delight. You’ll often tell me that you want a baby sister just like Baby Ruth. And Buddy, I’m working on it!
Recently you got a new baby cousin, Esmee, and while you’ve only been allowed to peek at her so far, you’re so excited at her arrival. We talk of her a lot and you can recognize photos of her, and plot which toys you’re going to share with her and how you’re going to play with her. It’s so cute to see you bonding with her in your own way, in her absence. I know that you’re going to make an amazing big cousin and eventually big brother!
Your favourite toys are wheeled or mechanic in some way. I often find you surrounded by duplos and hot wheel cars. Sometimes though you do play with baby dolls, which is interesting since your sister has doffed baby dolls all together. You also love playdough, any crafts and playing in your play kitchen. For Christmas you got a couple of toy knives in different play sets, a play breakfast set, a playdough set and in a fossil toy thing, and you have managed to bring them all together and will proudly share your “knife-es” with your Daddy and I. It’s really cute how you’ve not learned the correct plural form of ‘knife’, and while I correct you, I secretly hope you’ll keep saying it wrong. Also I can see how it looks a little creepy that you like your collection of knives, but you spend a lot of time chopping your playdough to make little meals for me or Daddy or even Sister. So perhaps with having the knack for engineering you have the knack for being a cook or chef.
Finally, my little Doodle, my little Bunny, my little Buddy, my Sweet Boy, I love you to pieces, and while I can’t wait to have a sibling for you, I am so happy that you’ve been my baby for so long. I know you’re excited to be a big boy now, and that you’re ready to move away from babydom, but you’ll always be my Sweet Boy. I love you so much; you know how much, as big as the universe, times infinity.
love, always and forever,
Mama.