Funny toddler stories: Part 1 and 2

Hudson is now 20 months, which means he is hilarious. Like every parent in the history of mankind, I am astonished at how quickly he is growing up. I don't want to forget the priceless things he does so figured that is a great reason to start blogging again. I figure if I write my story on a Google machine it will exist until the end of the world. So here is Part 1 and Part 2 of hopefully many stories...

Part 1

The other day Becky, Hudson and I we were at the new playground near our house. There were a lot of kids there, but one in particular caught Hudson's attention. This was because this little boy was wearing a shirt with Elmo on it. This boy was a good amount older than Hudson (though about the same size), so was moving much quicker than him. Hudson's full attention was on following Elmo wherever he went, and whenever he managed to catch up to him he would poke him in the chest and say, "Elmo!"

So this is a funny enough story as is, but it got even better the next day. I did not mention that the little boy was Hispanic. One great thing about the community we live in is the diversity. Basically every possible color of child is represented most every time we go to the local playground. Regardless of the fact that Hudson has seen many Hispanic kids in the course of his short life, he was convinced that the Hispanic boy he saw at Costco the next day had to be the same one he saw on the playground...so while waiting in line with Becky he kept pointing to a child he had never seen before while yelling, "Elmo!"

Part 2

So Becky is pregnant, and Hudson is a bit on the larger size right now. When we first began to explain to him that there is a baby in Becky's belly his immediate reaction was to pull his shirt up, smack himself in the belly, and yell, "baby!"

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Space Shuttle

I was able to see the final flight of the Discovery space shuttle outside of my office as it did a fly-by of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center today. The shuttle program was a huge inspiration for me as a kid and no doubt played a significant role in directing me towards the career I ended up in. And of course I got to be a part of a simulated shuttle mission while I was at Space Camp!

Here is a good picture taken by someone at NASA that shows the view I had this morning.


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Christmas in Michigan

When spending Christmas in Michigan it seemed reasonable to expect that we would have a white Christmas. While I was disappointed that that didn't happen, we at least got enough snow the day before for Hudson to experience his first sleigh ride! Grandpa Bernie makes quite an excellent reindeer.



The whole fam dressed up for church on Christmas day.


This year Hudson was actually more interested in the toys as opposed to last year where the wrapping paper was much more interesting.


Hudson has a blast with Uncle Marcus.


As at home, one of his favorite things is to listen and dance to music. Once he realized where the music comes from at Grandma and Grandpa's house he spent much of his time there.



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Happy Holloween!

Please don't mention this costume choice to Hudson until he thins out a bit.

Keeping the hat on was quite a challenge.
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Zoe still gets to have fun once in awhile

Zoe the dog's life has changed significantly since our child-free days in Colorado. Her life used to consist of two outdoor exercise sessions a day, often with a spectacular view of the beautiful Flatirons in Boulder (I like to think that dogs appreciate good scenery). Winter weekends were spent chasing other dogs around in several feet of snow at a ski resort parking lot while summer weekends were spent hiking and swimming in the mountains. She has adjusted well to her new role as big sister but Becky and I often feel badly about the fact that she gets much less attention and exercise than she used to.

This morning, Zoe and I had the chance to go for a hike at Catoctin Mountain Park about an hour from our house. I think we both appreciate days like today more than ever.




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Larrilland Farms - 2011

It's a fun realization that we are starting annual family traditions. This is our 2nd year taking Hudson to Larrilland Farms to enjoy fresh apple fritters and hot cider. One of these years we'll actually make it out into the orchard to pick the apples, but this time we just stayed near the barn. Hudson had a blast walking along the fences and watching the goats. It was a bit muddy, but he didn't seem to mind. We are thankful for the beautiful fall weather and tasty treats!

Swim Lessons

Hudson loves swim lessons. Of course with a 10-month old he's not really learning to swim, but just getting used to being in the water. It really is just a fun play time for all of us that results in very long naps afterwards!

The "instructors" have all been great with the kids. One of them told us about a class he participated in years ago where newborns were exposed to the pool very close to birth, and around 8-weeks old they were intentionally dropped into the pool, at which point every one of them would naturally right themselves and float to the top on their backs. Though we were fascinated by this story we have not attempted this experiment with Hudson...he does have some great natural flotation (i.e. chubbiness).

Here's a few pictures and videos of our kid being cute.

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