The HUD

I've taken some really cute pics of the Hud lately- these are a few of my favorites from this week:

Hudson still LOVES his books. He spends more time with books (by far) than with any toy he owns, even the train table. He has so many of them memorized that he reads them in his bed by himself before his nap (when he takes one) and before bedtime. When I went in to check on him the other day, this is how I found him. So, so cute.

Our neighbor is putting a new roof on his house and Hudson is loving all of the construction going on over there. He loves the workers, he loves to watch what they're doing and he asks a million questions about everything. Our neighbor is kind enough to fill him in on all the details and he even let Hudson wear his hat.

For quite some time Hudson has been insisting that he doesn't need a nap. I would say that's actually true about 10% of the time. Some days it's just not worth the battle, so often I'll ask him to just look at some books on my bed and wait for me while I put Madeline down for her nap. On friday, when I returned I found him asleep on my bed. He doesn't need a nap, eh? 

Today we were out and about when suddenly it starting hailing. We didn't know hail happened in Seattle and we're betting it's a fairly odd occurrence given the amount of people we saw outside taking pictures in it. Let me be clear, though...Hail in Seattle is nowhere near the size of hail in Dallas. At least it wasn't today. It did look like it snowed though and so, as you might imagine, Hudson broke out with Jingle Bells once again. Good grief, he makes me laugh. 

Yeah, those are great pics, but trust me, it isn't always pretty around here folks....

Pics from breakfast this morning.

The Hair

When we first moved to Seattle, Hudson's hair was in dire need of cutting. So, I simply looked online for the best place to go for a haircut in Queen Anne, and learned that according to Yelp, The Shop was the place to go. So, off we went. As it turns out, The Shop is actually a barber shop, so I'm not sure it was the best choice for a say, stylish cut, but I thought, how bad can it be?

Pretty bad, apparently. Hudson came out looking like this:

I'm not sure how or why he ended up with a buzz-cut, but he did. It didn't bother me a whole lot at first, I mean, it's about as low maintenance as you can possibly get, and in my own biased opinion, he always looks cute. As it started growing, however, I admit, it started looking a little bit funny, sticking up a little in the back and laying down flat in the front. I figured, ah, he's a kid, no one will care. 

Boy, was I WRONG.

He's 3. Yeah, you already know that, but I felt the need to remind you because it's quite shocking to me to learn that kids picking on kids begins at age 3. I learned this last week from another one of the moms that the kids in Hudson's class were teasing him about his hair, calling him HAIRHEAD instead of Hudson. When she shared this with me I tried to hold back my emotion, though my heart was pounding and I was shaking a little bit at the utter thought that I'd just sent my child into a class room full of kids making fun of him. My instinct was to run in, grab him and take him home with me, but I didn't. 

On the way home I got more and more upset, thinking about how the whole thing was my fault for taking him to that stupid barber shop to get his haircut. What was I thinking?  My sweet, innocent little boy is being picked on and it's all my fault. So, I did the obvious things-

1. Cried

2. Called the school

3. Bought him some hair products ASAP.

4. Styled him up.

Ta-da! The finished product. Scott thinks he has "boy band" potential, what do you think?

I realize that even though I'd honestly like to just wrap both of my children in bubble wrap so they never have to experience hurt, it's just not realistic. Hurt is going to happen, both physically and emotionally, and although it's our maternal instinct to protect our children from harms way it's not possible to protect them from everything. Hurt is a part of life, part of the human experience. I get all of that, but I don't have to like it. To think of other kids picking on your child (AT AGE 3!!) is just unbearable and I know as he gets older these things only get worse. I better toughen up.

I'm not sure Hudson really grasps that they're teasing him. At age 3 can you really understand that concept? I don't know. For now, we're talking a lot about friends and being kind to others and the other things that are important (I think) to a 3 year old. He's probably wondering why I'm suddenly hugging him more than usual, and telling him how much he's loved. I don't want there to be any doubt, that he is loved, no matter what the kids at school think about his hair. I personally think he's adorable and oh, do I love him so, bad haircut and all. 

Yesterday I think I completely and totally had a lapse in sanity.
I went to Costco, with both kids, by myself.
Yes.
By. My. Self.
What in the world was I thinking?
I have no idea, but hey, at least now I know I can.

Here's proof I did it:

Hudson is actually way too big to be in the cart, and he rarely wants to be anyways, but yesterday he did and I went with it.

Other than that, I don't have much to say except that I'm glad tomorrow is Friday!

Cousins

Hudson and Madeline's cousin Scarlett came over to hang out with us today. Hudson was super excited to see her, and for me, seeing the two of them together is really, really fun. It's just smiles the whole time, it really is, and Madeline loved all the action, too.

Who knows what they're talking about here. Whatever it was, it was pretty funny, according to them anyways.

Lunchtime with the three of them (and Mr. Potato-head).

I can't recall what it was, but here, Scarlett is feeding Hudson something (pretend) over and over again. It never got old, apparently.

This was by far the funniest part of the afternoon. Note: first, the effort which is being applied to this activity. Second, the "team" effort which is being applied. Third, the serious determination going on here. And yet, it is important also to note that, first, they've got way too much play dough in this device to make it work even IF it was being used with the correct parts, and second, it's not being used with the correct parts, so....even with all of that teamwork, effort and determination, it was a fail. A big fat fail. Poor kids. I think they still had fun.

We had such a great weekend..Spring has sprung and there is beauty everywhere! I love this time of year, you just can't help but be happy!

Hudson picks dandelions every day on the way to the park. When we get home he puts them in a vase on our kitchen table.

I have no idea how it happened, but he looks like he's 10 in this next photo. They are just growing up waaaaaaayyyyyy tooooooo faaaassssstttttt!!!!!!!

I mean, just look at our little pumpkin!!! She turned 10 months this weekend! I know a lot has happened in our lives since she came into the world, but gosh, it seems like I blinked and it's 10 months later. I am completely and totally smitten with my little girl. She could not be any cuter if she tried.

There was a lot of park time this weekend, and trust me, nothing makes the Hud happier.

At Kerry Park they have this awesome slide. Hudson loves it, and as it turns out, so did Scott and Maddie! I got lucky with this great photo, which I cropped so you could see their faces, but I posted the original below it so you could see how big the slide actually is.

And, this one is from Kerry Park yesterday. Mt Rainier continues to amaze us, it just doesn't even look real sometimes. It's funny, every time Hudson sees any mountain, he gets very excited and yells, "Mommy, there's Mt. Rainier!!" So cute.