2 1/2 Years Old

Hudson is SO BIG. It's like he turned 2 and became a bona fide toddler overnight. He is also super smart. I'm not just saying that because I am his biased mother. I've had four kids now and he is the most advanced 26 monther yet. He knows all his colors. I will catch him singing the alphabet to himself. If someone counts to 3, he follows it up with 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Hilariously, the other day we were watching a movie where they said "uno, dos, tres" and Hudson responded with "cuatro, cinco, seis." Ha ha. The kid has some mad learning skills. He is also SO assertive. If he wants to sit on my lap and it is already occupied by someone else, he is not afraid to start attacking that person yelling, "my lap!" If he wants a book read to him, he will pull me by the hand and literally drag me to the couch saying, "Mommy, come." He knows what he wants but he can be reasoned with as well. I can say to him, "First Judah's turn, then Hudsy's turn," and he will stop yelling and sweetly say, "K." Our family just listened to "Beezus and Ramona" and in the book Ramona is naughty and takes just one bite out of every apple in a box of apples. Not one week later, we are in the back yard, and I have gathered up a pile of perfect apples that had fallen off our tree for us to bring inside and eat. Chad called, I got distracted, and when I get off the phone, I turn around to find Hudson sitting in a small pile of apples, each with one bite out of them. :) He has a little runny nose today and he said to me, "Bothering me." I said, "What's bothering you?" and he said, "Nose." How cute is that? I think he learned the word bothering me from the Jungle Book "I Wanna Be Like You" song. "I reached the top and had to stop and that's what's bothering me." Hilarious.

Hudson has hit his independent phase and he also speaks so clearly. He is using full sentences and his little voice is just adorable. He calls himself Ya Ya and refers to himself in third person. He likes to let me know that he wants to try to do things by himself and not with my help. If he pulls the thing off, he exclaims triumphantly, "Ya Ya did it! Not Mommy did it! Ya Ya did it!"

Another something that is so cute I can't even handle is the way Hudson says the color orange. He knows his colors cold now and whenever he sees something orange he says "oranges." For example, "Where oranges socks?" (where are my orange socks?) Gets me every time.

Hudson also likes to say, "How about me?" when he sees others getting something he wants. If I give Judah ibuprofen, Hudson is all in my face saying, "How about me?" If someone gets a cookie in their Primary class, Hudson quickly asks, "How about me?" If the kids are getting their snow boots on to go outside and play, "Hudson comes running over, "How about me?"

The Light of the World statues at Thanksgiving Point

Over the holidays, when the kids and I walked into Candlelight Christmas, like hadn't even crossed the threshold of the gift shop to get our tickets, Hudson tripped in his clunky snow boots and hit his head on a cabinet. I picked him up because he was crying and felt something wet all over my face. I looked at his head and he was bleeding everywhere! I rushed him downstairs to the bathroom (where the hilarious kid started screaming, "No watch a movie!" because we had watched a short film on the Mormon pioneers last time we were there), and cleaned him up. The cut was about a 1 cm linear laceration, just behind his hairline. I thought we should get it stitched up. We have never had a child get stitches before. I didn't think it would be a big deal, so I stayed with the kids at Candlelight Christmas and had Chad run him down to the Holladay location of Medallus for stitches. Unfortunately, Phil didn't feel comfortable doing it because Hudson was screaming and being his crazy self! Ugh. Phil encouraged Chad to take Hudson to Primary Children's ER but I said I would rather do it myself. So Chad came back to This is the Place and switched me spots. He stayed with the kids while I brought Hudson down to the Sandy location of Medallus. Daniel Offret was there, and he used to work in the ER so this was no big deal for him. He stitched Hudson up while I held him tight. That Hudson is a fighter and he screamed his little heart out til he fell asleep. I felt so peaceful and grateful that we had it taken care of, and were also able to keep him out of the ER. Poor little guy.

Scofield

Hudson. Hudson. Hudson. Oh my goodness. He is our most "spirited" child by a million miles. I don't know what to do with him. Everywhere I go, it's a disaster. Yesterday, Judah had gymnastics and Hudson was running all around the mats with his shoes on, and jumping on the little trampolines yelling, "I in nastics! I in nastics!" It is cute but he absolutely refuses to listen to me, so things like this always end up ugly, with me hauling him off while he is kicking and screaming. I try reasoning with him, I try bribing him, I try humor, and occasionally something works, but typically he has a mind of his own. He is incredibly demanding, but simultaneously extremely polite. When he is done with his meals, he starts screaming from his high chair, "Get me outta here!!!" This scream is on repeat until either Chad or I can get ourselves over to him, whereupon he immediately gives the sweetest smile and with the friendliest voice says, "Thank you." This is all very funny to me as I am typing this, but in the moment, when 3 other kids are also screaming for things and the phone is ringing and pots are boiling over, I get so flustered and frustrated and I just want to explode.

Back to yesterday. The only other place at gymnastics besides by the mats, is upstairs on the...bleachers. The worst! Hudson is running and climbing all over those things and falling endlessly. He screams and cries when he gets hurt, and then immediately returns to his kamikaze ways. I am chasing after him, weaving through people, it's a nightmare. His diaper was stinky and he simply would not come to me so I could change him. He kept crawling higher and higher up the bleachers with a come-and-get-me smirk on his face. Finally I tackle him and get him to ground level, and he is screaming because he doesn't want to be changed in the private hallway around the corner, he wants to be changed right in front of the entire bleacher crowd!

 I could go on and on about him pulling all the toys off the shelf at Discovery Preschool as I am trying to sign Baylor up, slamming doors at the orthodontist office, knocking over a wrapping paper display and crawling inside a book shelf at Deseret Book, lining up every beanie boo on the floor behind the cashier at Michael's, and (this is so humiliating) screaming and fighting so loudly with Baylor today in Mara's school office as I was checking her out of school, that the principal came out of his office to see what all the commotion was about. All this in the past 48 hours. We make a scene everywhere we go. I feel like I just need to stop going anywhere. But I can't stand staying home all the time. I don't know which is worse.

 He battles getting into his car seat and buckled EVERY time, he runs out into parking lots and refuses to hold my hand, he bolts through store aisles without a care of where I might be, he breaks nearly everything he touches, he screams when we listen to anything but scripture scouts in the van (give me strength!), he is simply a menace. He was so easy from about October until early January. Now he is harder than ever. In a new way. He plays much nicer with Baylor and his older siblings now and it is easier to be home with him. He doesn't need to be in the same room with me anymore, nor does he need to be constantly entertained anymore, nor does he pull everything out of the shelves anymore. He is mainly really hard to take anywhere. I have never had a child with this bad of a case of the terrible twos. I always really loved two year olds.

Despite this exasperated rant, I do love Hudson. He can be so cute and cuddly. I love when he crawls into my lap or arms and puts his head on my shoulder. He is getting into picture books instead of board books and I am so happy about that. No more, "This is a dog. This is a hippo." I can actually read him the words and he is interested. The other day Chad was putting Hudson to bed and he said, "I'm going to get your banky (blanket) and bop (paci) and we are going to go to bed, ok?" Hudson looked Chad defiantly and said, "No K!"

Judah was recently helping Hudson say a prayer (whispering the words in his ear) and when Judah would say, "Um," Hudson would say, "Um."

Hudson gets attacked in the mornings. As soon as he wakes up, Chad or I are usually holding him, or we bring him to our bed with us. As the other kids wake up, they immediately start clawing at Hudson, pulling on his legs if he is in our arms, or climbing all over him if we are in our bed. Poor Hudson screams, "No! No! No!" but the kids can't help themselves. They just want them some Hudson hugs when they wake up. I do too. He is so nice to cuddle.

Hudson is such an amazing talker. He basically speaks fluently now. It's so impressive. I think he's gonna be a smart one. His little voice is just to die for. And he leaves the "s" sound off the first of words. He is OBSESSED with the Scripture Scouts CD and as SOON as he puts his foot in the van, he starts screaming, "I need cripture couts!" It's so cute. And sometimes annoying. I have OD'd on cripture couts. At bedtime he says, "I need a tory. I hate songs! I need a tory."

He is one bossy little 2 year old. All the kids will be on the tramp, and he has no problem getting on and immediately yelling, "Top (stop) jumping guys! I said top jumping! Let ME jump!" Or if we are in the van and all talking and he can't quite understand everything, ye yells, "Top talking! No talking!" He thinks he's in charge. And he kind of is.   

He is also very exuberant about life. He can get excited about just about anything, and he jumps and skips around and runs into my arms with excitement. He has this happy little "Yep!" instead of yes when I ask him questions, and sometimes it’s a cute little, "Yeps!" He also has a really perky "Welcome!" for you're welcome, followed by him running away on his cute little legs. He often uses "welcome!" for please, which is just the cutest. I'll set him in his chair to eat and he'll say, "Welcome!" Or I'll give him his sippy cup and he says, "Welcome!"  

Last Monday I said, "After we get dinner cleaned up it will be time for FHE." Hudson, who had been silent the entire meal, yells out, "Why Mom?!?!"

Another day, I had told him that Rosie Spencer was 2, and when he realized that he and Rosie were the same age, he got a big grin on his face and said, "She's a baby!" Ever since then, he has been much nicer to her. He has accepted her into his circle and they play so well together. The Spencers sit on the row in front of us in church and Hudson gets under the bench and says, "Rosie! Where are you Rosie?" and then she will get down on the floor, "Here I am!"

Hudson decided to inquire about the other Spencer children as well. One day he said to me, "What Eliza's number?" At first I couldn't figure out what he meant, and then I said, "Oh. You mean her age? She's 7." Hudson smiled big and said, "Ooooh." Then, "What Isaiah's number?" "Isaiah is 4 honey." "Oooooh." "What Charlie's number?" "Charlie is 9 sweetheart." "Ooooh." Hudson felt very enlightened and knowledgeable.

We had booked tickets to see the children's production of the Wizard of Oz with my parents before my mom's big heart attack. We ended up still going and then Dad spent the day with my kids while I spent the day helping Mom get settled (she had come home from the hospital the day before). The wicked witch of the west was scary!!!! She had a deafening cackle and they played loud music and smoke and it was very intense! I had poor little Hudson on my lap, and the first time she came on, he practically jumped from my lap to on top of my head and clung on for dear life. His heart was pounding! Then I began to smell a stinky smell. The poor thing was so scared, he pooped his diaper! Just a little squirt. But, that's some real fear! I took him out. Poor little thing. I feel bad subjecting him to that. I hadn't anticipated the witch being so intense!

Christmas 2016

The holidays were a long series of highs and lows for me. I think I was just trying to force the Christmas spirit this year with too many holiday activities in conjunction with too many sick kids. The illnesses have been impressive--and debilitating. We had two rounds where all the kids (and me once) got strep throat, and Hudson also got it a third time. Baylor had pink eye, Judah had the flu and missed a whole week of school, all the boys had bronchitis where Judah missed another week of school, Mara and Baylor had croup, Baylor had a double ear infection, it was ridiculous. I swear every Saturday night for 2 months straight, someone threw up, and we had to rework our church plans. Chad and I have been running back and forth taking turns during the different hours of church all month. It's brutal. We definitely stayed home more than I would have liked due to all the sickness, but we hit a lot of holiday activities as well--Zoo Lights again (not as fun as our first time with the Spencers last year), the ward party (which only Baylor and I attended due to illness) where the Primary kids did an amazing job playing the handbells with their song, Harrison Idol where Mara read some of Luke 2 in Spanish, Judah and I played Angels We Have Heard on High in a piano duet, and Baylor told a few Christmas jokes. Aebleskievers night (which only Chad and Judah attended due to the croup), the Nativity in the Glen (amazing), and we tried Candlelight Christmas at This is the Place for the first time.

Serious icicles

Our street

The Christensens came to our house for soup, then we all headed over to the Hillside Rehab Center to do some Christmas caroling from room to room. Julie's kids were fabulous. So friendly and loving with the residents. The kids had such a great time, they wanted to do more and more and more rooms. They would walk in first and ask if we could sing to them. Julie's baby, Drew, would hold the residents' hands while we sang. The residents were so sweet and appreciative. Everyone had a great feeling. I'm fairly sure it was the highlight of everyone's holiday season.

Mara had a little Christmas singing program at her school that was really memorable to me. I was totally crying through a number of the songs! It was just so fulfilling to watch her up there singing entirely in Spanish. The girl is GOOD with her Spanish. It is mind blowing to think how much she has learned in just a few months. It definitely made me feel like all the driving has been worth it. Another gorgeous song was about peace on earth and sharing your light, and it is just so different hearing these adorable little Mexican, and Burmese refugee, and Sudanese refugee, and Polynesian kids sing about peace than to hear the well-off white kids singing Christmas songs at Uintah. It really was touching. (and humorous to see little girls in hijabs singing about Santa) 

Dad's 40th birthday party at Sundance

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were...interesting. The kids were sick and worn out and WHINEY and selfish and entitled. The amount of fighting and not sharing and teasing during our Bethlehem Dinner was killing me. Chad and I were SO fed up with the selfishness by the time we put the kids to bed on Christmas Eve that we only allowed Santa to fill the kids' stockings but not leave the big gift he always also leaves. Instead he left a note that said the kids had nearly fallen off his nice list and that he hid their gifts in our house and that if they were good through the end of January, they could receive their other gifts then.

Live List item: Trampoline with Dad in the snow!

After church we took Say Lear's family to see the lights at Temple Square. Say Lear is the Burmese refugee we are having monthly FHEs with. We went in December and acted out the nativity with them and it was a blast. Cutest family. There is suddenly a huge refugee crisis in the world, and the church has asked its members to reach out to refugees. Say Lear has 7 kids, plus another girl that lives with her. Chad and I drove both our cars, but we still had to leave 3 family members home! (the father and two babies) Their older kids, Lars Se Way and Christina Say, and Po Nay The, all only had sweatshirt  hoodies for their coats. And none of the kids had snow gloves, just knit gloves. Regardless, they were having a blast, rolling around and jumping in the snow at Temple Square. Our kids, on the other hand, were dressed in ski coats, ski gloves, and snow boots, and complained the ENTIRE time that they were cold. It was so embarrassing. My kids are so entitled and selfish. I MUST work on this this year!

The church did a worldwide Christmas initiative called Light the World this year. They encouraged everyone to serve "in 25 ways over 25 days." There was a theme each day, but I didn't follow any of the themes. We did try to do a service each day though. Some things we did were writing letters to Grandma Great and Grandma and Grandpa Funk, writing letters to Primary teachers and school teachers, a "candy cane bomb" where we put candy canes on the doors of cars in a parking lot, caroling at the nursing home, heart attacking our next door neighbors the Dohms, visiting Donna, etc. (Our wonderful, amazing, 86 year old next-door neighbor, Donna Taylor, fell down her stairs and has been in the hospital and at a rehabilitation center over the holidays. )

Over New Year's we went to Scofield. So did Mom and Dad and Heather's family. It was so great to just be there sledding all the time, drinking hot chocolate, playing games, and relaxing. Our kids are getting big enough to need less assistance with sledding and even putting their snow clothes on and off. It's so nice!

Halloween 2016

Hudson chose a bee costume that was going to be WAY too cold on Halloween night, so I found a mouse costume from Heather in a box that fit him perfectly. As soon as he put it on, he started saying, "Squeak, squeak" and smiling. He squeak squeaked the whole evening Trick-or-Treating. So adorable.

2 years old!

At 2 years old, Hudson weighs in at:

Weight: 28 lb (43rd percentile)

Length: 35 in (53rd percentile)

Nine Mile Canyon

Hudson is either really happy or really mad. One of the cutest things he does is raise his hand super high in response to the question, "Who wants to (fill in the blank)." Chad frequently uses this line. For example, "Who wants to say the prayer?" Hudson's hand shoots up and he says, "Me!" in the cutest little voice. The kids can't even talk but he volunteers for every prayer. He also says, "Yeah" with a smile to every yes or no question. Did you go to nursery? Yeah. Did you have snacks? Yeah. Did you sing songs? Yeah. Was Rosie there? Yeah. Do you like Sister Kirk? Yeah. Do you want to eat some worms? Yeah.

Hudson is getting easier just in time for summer. Much less crying, much fewer tantrums, much more independent. He DOES still scream, "Mama!" for a good part of the day, and also every time I leave the room or go outside to throw something in the garbage or get something from the freezer, but overall he is improving.

First day of summer picnic at Sugarhouse Park

It is so fun to just hang out with the kids and enjoy each other, and also to have time to get things done that are on MY agenda (reading, piano practicing, learning Spanish, etc that are tricky to squeeze in during the school year). This morning, before registering Judah at Whittier, running to swim lessons, then Spanish camp, then gymnastics, we grabbed the Monday special at Einstein's Bagels (13 bagels for $7) and relaxed in the shade at Liberty Park while we enjoyed our warm soft bagels, and I wanted to just savor that moment forever. We had 45 minutes between swimming and Spanish and I popped some popcorn and we ate popcorn and blueberries for lunch while watching the Olympics together. I just love those moments. Relaxing with my children, and enjoying each other. Of course, all of this would be infinitely easier without Hudson trying to jump into the pond at Liberty Park, or the pool at swimming lessons, or screaming every time we get in the van because he wants to sit in someone's booster instead of his car seat so we can't listen to our current audiobook, Ella Enchanted, because no one can hear over Hudson's wails. I could go on about him demanding to bring his toy dog into Whittier and then falling off the table and hitting his head on the gym floor, or him dumping the popcorn bowl onto his head, but suffice it to say, he makes sure I don't get to relax for too long. Ever.

Hudson. What can I say? He is a challenge. Whereas Baylor was content to ride in the stroller while Mara and Judah biked, Hudson sees all the other kids biking and he tantrums until he is being pushed on a bike. Whereas Baylor was content to sit in the shopping cart, even if the other children were walking, Hudson simply will not be the only child in the cart. He screams and throws his body around until he too is allowed to walk through the store. The only problem with that is that he also starts taking anything he can reach off the shelves, or running around like a mad person. In fact, last time I had him at Smith's, he took a glass jar of salsa and THREW it on the floor and it shattered. Salsa everywhere. I had to call a clean up crew over. It was humiliating and frustrating. Hudson has not been to Smith's since. My grocery runs have had to move to Saturday mornings thanks to him. He races the other kids to the van and tries to steal their seats before they get in. He is apparently sick of his car seat. We have tried to move his seat to different chairs, but it doesn't matter. He wants anyone's seat but his own and kicks and screams and throws his body down when forced into his car seat. Last week he beat Baylor to Baylor's seat and Baylor was kind enough to switch Hudson seats for the ride. Apparently there were two colored pencils in Baylor's seat, which Hudson took the opportunity to scribble all over the van walls and ceiling with during the ride. When we got home, I had him scrub the ceiling with some cleaner and a rag. When we got inside the house, I left the cleaner on the floor in the OFF spray position. That Hudson figured out how to turn the sprayer to ON and he sprayed down the entire kitchen with cleaner. Grrrrr. If it's not one thing it's another with him. He does have a super cute shy smile and when guests come to our house, he runs to me and grabs my legs until I pick him up and then he buries his face into my shoulder. It is really adorable. He worships Chad and his favorite song to be sung before naps is I'm So Dad When Daddy Comes Home. He does the actions when we sing it in the van together. He is starting to imitate nearly everything we say. If we ask him to say something, he will typically at least attempt it and then smile his cute little smile. Chad even has him saying prayers sometimes now. Hudson is the epitome of that scripture that calls Mormon "quick to observe" when he is a child. If the other kids all decide to put a superhero cape on, or use their blanket to tie around their neck as a cape, I would give Hudson less than 5 seconds to have gone into his room and brought me a blanket to tie around his neck. If Baylor is getting a dose of amoxicillin for an ear infection, before I finish drawing up the dose from the bottle, Hudson is screaming for his own placebo dose of water in a syringe. If someone says the word prayer, his arms are folded in a half a second. That kids is always watching. And watching closely. He knows exactly what is going on and is the first to react. I will be interested to see how his personality turns out.  

City Creek Dinosaurs

Hudson's second birthday was really bitter sweet for me. I just can't believe I don't have a one year old anymore. And Hudson is like a little adult. He is growing up WAY too fast. He insists on doing everything everyone else is doing. Whereas Baylor was always content to sit in the shopping cart, even if other kids are walking, Hudson MUST get out and walk. Whereas Baylor was always content to sit in the stroller on walks, even if other kids were riding bikes, Hudson MUST be on his own wheels. Last week he got our smallest scooter out of the garage himself, drug it under the trampoline and around the van, then started scooting it down the sidewalk. He was pretty good at it for never doing it before. I was curious as to where he was headed, so I followed him, and he went straight down to Eggs in the City and was aimed to take it right across the street to Jolleys! The kid has no fear. He is also more curious, and also more confident that it's okay to explore his curiousities than the other kids were. Back to the scooter, the same large red ribbon has stayed on that scooter since it was given to us by my parents. Even while we lent it to Isaiah Spencer, it came back to us with the big ribbon on it. But day two of Hudson taking possession of the scooter, the ribbon was torn off. I have also been able to keep the flour and sugar in containers in the kitchen without the other babies getting into it. Not so with this baby. I ALMOST moved the containers out of his reach, but held out long enough, and cleaned up flour messes enough times, and said no enough times, that he has either lost interest, or learned to leave it alone. Same story with the cleaning sprays and the kids' candy buckets. Never had to turn all the cleaners to the OFF position before, or never found a baby covered with candy smears sitting in front of the candy buckets smiling. Books that have survived the three other kids, that I was envisioning keeping around to read to grand kids, have been torn to shreds by this one. You get the idea.

Garden planted. Feeling proud.

Fishing in Price

Like I mentioned earlier, Hudson thinks he is an adult. He is already decent at the scooter, whereas Baylor just learned how to use that scooter about six months ago. And Hudson is talking up a storm! He can pretty much say anything. He is definitely our earliest talker. I would make a list here of words he can say, but he can say any word. And he puts multiple words together all the time. I would say from about three months ago until now, he has gone from saying only a handful of words, to being able to say anything.

On Grandma G's ranch

He loves to say prayers. Whenever I say, "Who wants to pray?", Hudson says, "Me!" before anyone has a chance and both hands shoot up to the sky. Chad is usually the one helping Hudson with his prayers, and Chad always has Hudson thank Heavenly Father for every member of our family by name. One day at lunch, I was in a bit of a hurry, and Hudson wanted to pray, so I had him say, "We're thankful for our family," which he did, but when I told him to say, "In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen," he looked up at me in alarm and said, "Wawa?" He was confused as to why he was closing the prayer when he hadn't yet mentioned every family member?!?! It was so adorable. We went through everyone's names before we closed the prayer and he was satisfied.

Anticipation

On Mars and the Moon at the Clark Planetarium

Another adorable thing he has done recently was bonk his head and then come running to me like usual. I gave him a hug and said how sorry I was for him but he wouldn't leave it alone. He kept following me and tugging on my pants until finally I looked down and he made a kissing sound with his lips. He wanted me to kiss his ouchie! I just love that kid.

Hogle Zoo

First kayak ride. Scofield. 4th of July.