Happy 11 Month Birthday

December 6, 2010

YOU GOT YOUR FIRST TOOTH. Well, sort of. It popped through, but just barely.

You were so adorable this month. We had many family get togethers. Mommy turned 30 and you and Daddy through her a surprise party. The next weekend, we had Vovo’s surprise 60th party. You also had Nana’s birthday party too. Even though it wasn’t your birthday, you stole the show. People liked seeing you and playing with you. You had a playdate with your friend Logan at the library.

You had your first Thanksgiving. You went to your Grandma and Poppie’s first. You went to Vovo and Vavo’s house later on. You were very well behaved and you looked so handsome in your Thanksgiving outfit and hat.

You love blowing raspberries. One day, you were playing in bed with Mommy and Daddy and you started blowing raspberries on Mommy’s tummy. It was hysterical. You laughed and Mommy and Daddy laughed too. You also tried to blow raspberries on the ottoman at Poppie’s house. Silly boy.

YOU TOOK YOUR FIRST STEPS! Just a couple steps! Mommy and Grandma started squealing with excitement and you stopped and looked.

You went with Mommy and Daddy to cut down your first Christmas tree. You had this expression on your face like, “why is there a big tree INSIDE my house?” You’re very well behaved and don’t touch the tree. You point to it a lot, though. You have a little tree in your room that you like looking at, too. You DO NOT like Santa Claus. We brought you to the Wallingford Holiday festival. We waited in line 2.5 hours to see Santa. When we got to him and Mrs. Claus, you started crying. The next day, we went to the Nucor kid’s Christmas party. Santa was there too. Once again, you cried when we put you on Santa’s lap.

You like reading. You will play with your books, turn the pages, and “read” to yourself. You LOVE walking around. Some days, you LOVE eating food.

You are so adorable and easy going. I love you more than you will ever know.

Kisses,
Mommy

Christmas Card 2010

Red Glee Christmas

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Happy 10 Month Birthday

November 6, 2010

This month, you started blowing bubbles with your mouth. It’s really cute. You will just sit there and when you get enough saliva (easily because you drool a lot now) you just open up your mouth and make bubbles. You also do raspberries all the time too. Sometimes, you do them into the air and sometimes into your hands. It’s so adorable I want you to never grow up and stay like this forever.

You started eating more. You like your food. You love walking. You hold our hands and just run all over the place. You will walk so much and so fast, you start to sweat. You get really angry when we stop to pick you up or sit you down. My little prince, you have a temper. It’s really kind of funny to see you flail your body back for a tantrum.

We’ve had a couple of playdates with new friends. One day, we all went to a pumpkin patch and you and a friend sat in the pumpkins. We also went to a farm that had a petting zoo. You didn’t pet the animals but you did look at them. You were amazed by all the new creatures you saw.

You started “climbing” the stairs. You can get up the bottom step. You love it when we sing “The Wheels on the Bus” and you do the motions with your hands. You’ve also started to play Peek-A-Boo. That has to be one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen in my life.

You had your first Halloween. You were a skunk and oh so cute. At first you acted like we were abusing you when we put your costume on you, but then you got used to it and liked it. We didn’t go trick-or-treating though.

We had a couple birthday parties this month. Your Uncle Anthony had a birthday and we went to Grandma and Poppie’s house and you were very well behaved. Grandma had a birthday and we went there again. You love bouncing in your special seat there. You love looking at the dogs too. Jasper takes an interest in you. Fluffy can’t be bothered with you, but she’s a mean old lady dog.

You are so adorable. I could just hug and kiss you all day long!

Happy 9 Month Birthday

October 6, 2010

This month there were no big milestones. You just continued crawling and trying to stand without holding on. You played and played and played.

We went to “Itty Bitty Babies” at the library. It’s a story/playtime activity at our local library. You get to see other babies and play with new toys. You love it. We went to visit Cousin Dillon for his birthday and you played with you cousins. We went to the Celebrate Wallingford festival. You fell asleep in the stroller so you missed the fire engine and other big trucks. People thought you were so adorable. They’re right. You are. We also went to the Southington Apple Harvest festival. It was much colder that day. You didn’t have as much fun. The clown scared you and you cried a bunch. You liked her at first and were smiling, but when she blew bubbles with her bubble gun, you turned inside out.

One silly activity worth noting: you LOVE playing with the Swiffer. You pick up the long pole and can just sit there picking it up and looking at both sides, moving it a little bit for at least 10 minutes. You get very upset if we take it away from you. The Swiffer is you favorite toy I think. Well, maybe it’s your second favorite. You have a duck puppet that you ADORE. Daddy makes the duck talk and come play with you and you get so excited. It’s one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen.

Kisses to my adorable baby boy.

Happy 8 Months

September 6, 2010

Oh my goodness! This month was amazing for you.
To start the month, you returned home from your first family vacation in Pennsylvania. You were good on the drive back home. Mommy went back to work three days a week. Even though you miss her and call for her during the day, you have fun at home. You stay at home with Daddy, who works from home during the days Mommy is at work, and Vavo. She comes over to play with you so Daddy can actually get work done. You are excited to see Mommy when she gets home and get very clingy to her that evening and the next day.

You went to your first New York Yankees game (well, out of the womb!) You had a wonderful time looking at all the people at the game. People came up to you and told you how cute you were. You smiled at them. You know that you are one adorable baby.

You started CRAWLING! You are getting so big! You started on Saturday, August 28, in the late afternoon. Mommy was home by herself with you. She squealed with delight and clapped for you. You were pretty proud of yourself. Mommy called Daddy and told him the good news. He was out fishing with Poppie. He was so happy for you. You stayed up late to wait for Daddy to get home so you could show off your new skill to him, too.

This month, you went to your first bridal shower. Your future Auntie Jen had a bridal shower and you were very well behaved all day long.

You went to a few picnics too. The first Labor Day picnic was in Rhode Island and your Grandma Janet's house. You absolutely HATED the drive up there and CRIED. Mommy and Daddy had to pull the car over a few times. You finally fell asleep the last half hour of the trip. You also went to a picnic at your Nana and Big Poppie's house. You went swimming there in the big pool and had a great time relaxing in it. You also played with a brand new toy that your Grandma got you and loved it.

Mommy says stop growing. She loves you.

Happy 7 Months

Happy 7 Month Birthday
August 6, 2010

You are getting so big. It seems like just yesterday I was giving birth to you and thought what a big newborn you were. You try to stand; you try to crawl. You are adorable.

You sit very well now. You started pulling yourself to a standing position in the crib. We took down the top of your play gym. You kept trying to stand with it and it’s not sturdy enough to hold your weight.

You love when we say, “How big is Hudson? Sooooo Big!” and lift you to a standing position with you arms above your head. You still love to jump. You love looking in the mirror.

We left you in the church nursery for the first time. You hated it and cried…a lot. They had to come get me.

You went to your cousin Logan’s 3rd birthday party in the middle of July and to you friend Logan’s 2nd birthday party at the end of July. You had fun at both of those entertaining yourself with watching people.

This month, you went to Mystic for the first time. Mommy and Daddy celebrated their 5 year anniversary and went there for the day. You were the picture of an easygoing baby, until the drive back home at least.

You went on your first vacation. We went to visit some friends in Pennsylvania. You met Jacob, who is a week older than you. You slept most of the way down to the cabin. We went walking on a trail, swimming in a pool, and out to eat. We went to the camper at Lake Adventure and you had a good time there too.

The best thing about this month…you said your first word. MOMMA!!!!! Good job!

Happy 6 Months

July 6, 2010

This was a busy month for you. You started sitting up and without much support. We put pillows around you in case you fall over. You do very well though. You started scooting on your bottom too when you sit. It’s your version of crawling since you act like you have no desire to learn how to crawl. In order to do that, you’d need to hang out on your belly, but you always roll right onto your back whenever we put you on your stomach. Sometimes you “yell” at us when we put you on your stomach. You think we would have learned by now that you hate hanging out on your stomach.

We got you a booster seat/high chair and you sit on it at the table when we eat meals. You hadn’t started eating solid foods yet, so we just give you a spoon and some toys to play with. You appear to like sitting at the table though. You act all proud of yourself, because you’re a big kid!

Father’s Day was a big day for you. First, you bought your father a first edition RISK game. He loved it. It was Baby Dedication at church and all of your grandparents, your Aunt, Uncle, and cousins came to see you in the “Baby Parade” at church and being dedicated with the other babies. After church, everyone came over to the house to eat lunch. Later on that day, you went in the BIG pool (inground) at Big Poppie’s house. You L-O-V-E-D the pool. You splashed and tried to drink the water. It was very cute.

You met Aunt Selma, Aunt Rosemary, and Aunt Ann today for the first time. You smiled at them,

You went to a birthday party on July 3 for your friends Olivia and Sophia. You and Sophia played together. You loved her swingset. In fact, you enjoyed it so much, you fell asleep in the swing. After the party, we stopped by Grandma and Poppie’s house and walked to the fireworks with your friend Logan and his parents. You slept on the way to the fireworks and woke up a little bit before they started. You enjoyed them. Your eyes were big as Daddy was holding you. Halfway through it, you got a little bored and wanted to eat. On Independence Day, we all went to a picnic at Vovo and Vavo’s house. You went in their big pool but it was really cold, so you didn’t stay in it very long. Daddy set off some fireworks and you had fun watching them.

On your 6 month birthday, you ate avocados for the first time. You played with them and mashed them around. You shuddered when you put some in your mouth. It was adorable.

Happy 5 Months

Happy 5 Month Birthday
June 6, 2010

This month, you celebrated Mother’s Day by giving your Mommy a beautiful rosebush. Somehow, you knew that Mommy really wanted a rosebush. Daddy must have told you that. You like to sit up. You’ve decided you have no use for lying on your belly or your back. You don’t roll from back to belly yet, so you just get angry like a turtle on its back. We put pillows around you and let you sit up. You love it.

You still love your jumperoo. You’re like a maniac in that thing. It’s cute.

You talk a lot. You nap never. Considering how little you nap (unless you’re in Mommy’s arms) you’re relatively happy. You don’t really fuss all that much. We are VERY blessed. You don’t like going to bed at night though. I think you just love being held/touched, which makes sense. I mean, if I were your age, I’d want to be held by the people that I love the most in this world, and being near the food supply would be AWESOME too.

Mommy and Daddy left you for the first time for an extended period of time. They had a wedding to go to and you weren’t invited. You stayed at home and your Grandma came over to play with you. You played in the sink and you LOVED it. Grandma took pictures with her phone and sent them to Mommy. You also went for a walk with Grandma while she wore you in the Bjorn. You fell asleep. It started raining while you guys were out walking though. You decided that you were mad at Grandma and Mommy and refused to take your bottle that your Mommy had pumped for you. You wouldn’t eat and you yelled. No worries though. You weren’t going to starve. You ate as soon as Mommy got home.

On Memorial Day, you spent it with the women in your family – Mommy, Grandma, Vovo, and Nana. Your Daddy and the rest of the men in your family went fishing without you. The nerve of them to leave you with a bunch of girls! You had a good time though. You looked at the dogs, napped outside on a beach towel, and went in a pool your Grandma bought you. That was the first time you went in a pool and you loved it. It was just your size and you jumped in it to splash.

Your friend turned ONE and you went to his birthday party. You behaved very well even though it was hot and Mommy wouldn't let you eat the cake.

It was a good month for you.

Happy 4 Month Birthday

Happy 4 Month Birthday
May 6, 2010

This month, you rolled over for the first time! I was SO EXCITED for you. It was right after your 3 month appointment with the pediatrician (yes, you got another shot, DTaP this time, but you didn’t cry at all – you actually just looked at her and then continued to “talk” to her). I praised you. Daddy was outside working on the yard so he didn’t see it. When he came in, I put you on your belly again to try to get you to roll over to your back. You refused. You cried. In fact, all month long, you only rolled from belly to back on your own terms. If either of us asked you to roll, you refused, cried, and then when we picked you back up, you seemed to be “telling us off”. It was amusing. You really don’t like being on your stomach all that much.

You do love your jumperoo. You sit in that and play with the little ducks or the horse on it and bounce. We try not to keep you in it for very long because I’ve heard it’s not great for your development. You’re content for a few minutes in it though.

I think you hate the fact that you can’t walk. You get “antsy” if you’re in one room for a long period of time. I guess that’s understandable. You have so much to see and learn.

You don’t sleep for long periods of time. You wake up about every 2 hours at night, but that’s okay because you fall right back to sleep when you’re done eating. I’ve read in the research of James McKenna that is normal in breastfed babies that bedshare. I get plenty of rest, so I’m not too worried.

We learned infant massage this month. You enjoy getting massaged on your legs the most I think. Of course, you don’t act like it relaxes you since all you do is talk all the time. You are such a vocal baby. I think the olive oil is good for your skin, which appears to be getting a little bit dry lately.

We spend some days at home, reading books, learning our alphabet, and hanging out. Other days, we visit your friends at their houses, go for walks, and go to the store. You like going for walks the best. You LOVE the outdoors.

I can’t believe that my maternity leave is going to be over before I know it. I’m going to miss spending all day every day with you, little one. You brighten up my day, every day.

Another thought so quickly! Oh my.

So, I've decided that I'm going to blog more often. I seldom do. I used to when I used my Xanga account years ago. Hmmm, I wonder if they randomly delete due to inactivity. Anyway, I read so many interesting articles about things that I value that I think would be good to put in here. That way, I can always just go to my blog when I want to look something up, instead of going through my Favorites list on Internet Explorer. AND, maybe it will make my blog interesting to people will want to read it. :) Oh well, even if my friend is my only follower, she's like-minded with me in a lot of things so she might enjoy it...of course, she's probably already read the link/information to since she follows more blogs.

I just became a FAN of Elizabeth Pantley on Facebook. She's the author of the "No Cry" Series of books. The No Cry Sleep Solution, No Cry Nap Solution...She recently wrote the No Cry Separation Anxiety Solution. I'm looking forward to reading it, even though I really haven't had much of a reason to leave my little one yet. I will be returning to work eventually (already feeling panicky about that) and would love to not hear "Oh, he's just so attached to you. Just let him cry and he'll stop." So, I will be reading this soon.
http://www.nocrysolution.com is her website.

She had this quote on her account.
"Let's raise children who won't have to recover from their childhood." - Pam Leo

I thought it was powerful.

Happy 3 Month Birthday

April 6, 2010

This was a busy month for you too. You got your first vaccinations (just 2 of them). You cried so hard when they gave them to you in your legs (both at the same time). I was very upset too. My eyes filled with tears too. You quieted down pretty quickly though when I started nursing you.

This month you ALWAYS had your hands in your mouth. And you started drooling like a water faucet. We’ll have to start keeping bibs on you all the time or else your shirts will be soaked. You also found your feet and try to grab them.

You started giggling. It is the CUTEST, most beautiful sound that Mommy and Daddy have ever heard. We love trying to make you laugh.

Your Uncle Nick had a birthday so we had a big family birthday party to attend. You did really well and only fussed a little bit. You also celebrated your first Resurrection Sunday: Easter. You looked SO HANDSOME in your outfit for church. We almost had a blowout right before church but Mommy heard you going and called to Daddy to change your diaper before it leaked. Mommy had JUST painted her nails so she couldn’t change you. You enjoyed going to your Vovo’s house for Easter and seeing family members. You were such a good boy.

Happy 2 Month Birthday

March 6, 2010

Hello my little one. This month, you got you first cold. Daddy noticed that you were really congested one evening. That night, you got a fever. We stayed up looking at you and just watching you breathe for about an hour and decided that we would call the pediatrician in the morning. Your fever was lower by then, but your doctor still wanted to look at you and listen to you breathe. I think your cold upset us more than it upset you. Since you breathed easier when sitting up a little, you couldn’t/wouldn’t sleep in your bassinette. You ended up in our bed on your own little mattress that we raised up for you. I think you enjoyed being close to us all night long.

During you sick time, you decided that you would be WIDE awake between 10pm and 1/1:30 am. FANTASTIC. Daddy watched you a few times while mommy passed out from exhaustion.

You had your first Valentines Day and helped Daddy make Mommy breakfast in bed. It was very sweet of you. You looked so cute in the outfit Daddy bought for you to wear.

We celebrated your daddy's 35th birthday. You helped blow out the candles.

You visited Poppie and Grandma’s house for the first time. You got to see the dogs, Fluffy and Jasper. We made sure that they didn’t lick you. You went to the Fishing and Hunting Expo. Poppie had a booth there so we went to see him.


You started smiling this month too, right after Valentines Day. It’s so wonderful to look at you, talk to you, and watch you smile and try to “talk” to us. Your little sounds are some of the most beautiful sounds that we have ever heard.

You also went on your first official walk. We started at the library and walked around Choate. You enjoyed it so much that you just had to sleep during it.

Pictures from Hudson's newborn photo session

I love the pictures from his newborn photography session. Nicole of Nicole Taylor Photography did an amazing job. These were done when he was about 3 weeks old. Feel free to leave a comment on her blog since if we get enough comments, we can win free pictures, and we all know how much I love free things!
http://nltphotography.blogspot.com/2010/03/baby-hudson-connecticut-newborn.html

Happy 1 Month Birthday

Happy 1 Month Birthday
February 6, 2010

Wow! One full month of your life on this earth has passed. I am amazed at how quickly it happened. I feel like I just blinked and you were out of newborn diapers. My sweet baby, in your first month of life, you met many people. You went to church for the first time (outside the womb). You liked looking at the light (or maybe it’s the ceiling fan) in our bedroom. I know you cannot see clearly things that far away from you, but you seem to really enjoy looking at it. You will be fussing and it will just catch your eye and make you forget that you were cranky (at least forget for a few seconds). You decided that late evening, and I mean very late (10:30 to midnight) is a great time to get the urge to scream. You have a very deep cry. We found out that turning on the shower or the faucet in the bathroom calms you down for a while. Our water bill is going to be very high. You really enjoy your time with Daddy. He’s the one who discovered your love for the sound of running water. He’s the one who seems to be able to calm you down much easier than I can.

You are gaining weight like a champ and nursing like it’s your job. Oh wait! That is your job right now: eat, poop, sleep, and grow. You really are doing very well at all of that. You outgrew your newborn clothes. You have such a long torso, even the 0-3 month onesies seem to be getting a little tight (with the length, you aren’t chubby enough yet). At your 4 week doctor’s appointment you weighed 10 pounds 6 ounces and were 22 inches long.

You seem to enjoy being here. You’ve enjoyed going to meet other babies (okay, you sleep most of the time) at the breastfeeding group at Middlesex Hospital on Tuesdays. It’s a fun outing each week that mommy looks forward to going to with you. You love your swing (and the music setting on the swing. You’re not too keen on the crickets chirping setting which is a good thing because mommy hates that sound). You liked getting your picture taken. You had to pose for a few hours one day so we could get some beautiful pictures of you. You were a little annoyed when we accidentally woke you up while trying to get you into certain poses. We asked for your forgiveness, fed you, and you seemed to be okay with the whole ordeal then.

We just love looking at you, whether you’re asleep or awake. You are beautiful and are changing every day. Since you won’t be a little baby for very long, I am so very happy that you are content to let me hold you, cuddle with you, hug and kiss you all the time. I hope that doesn’t change.

Happy One Week Birthday, Hudson!

January 13, 2010

It seems amazing to me that one week of your life outside the womb has come and gone. Just a week ago, I was working my hardest to get you to make an appearance into this world. This past week, you have generally been such a calm baby. You like to sleep and you like to eat. You did not lose much of your birth weight before we left the hospital. Your lowest was 8 pounds 2 ounces. At our first appointment with the pediatrician (which happened to be your first outing), you had gained back all your weight. You eat like a champ. You did try to pee on the pediatrician and you did not like to be weighed. You screamed! As soon as our visit was over and you got to eat again, you were content.

This week, after arriving home from the hospital on Saturday, you spent your sleep in the pack and play. Your bassinette had not arrived yet. You had numerous visitors like all your grandparents, aunts, and uncles. You also had your first bath at home, which you really did not like. Mommy and Daddy are doing their best at trying to meet your needs and show you love.

Welcome to the World

Hudson Micah
January 6, 2010
11:27 pm

Sunday night/Monday morning I woke up to some contractions, about 15 minutes apart and couldn’t fall back to sleep so I just hung out downstairs until it was time to get ready for work. I went in for what ended up being my last day of work. Monday night/Tuesday morning I woke up again around 2:30am with more contractions, about 10 minutes apart and couldn’t go back to sleep. It was all back pain. Rich kept trying to tell me to rest, but when I laid down, the pain that woke me up was unbearable, so I just stayed up and went downstairs, walked around. We had an appointment that day at 11 and I had a Non Stress Test. My contractions were still 10 minutes apart. I was 2 cm dilated and 80% effaced. My midwife said she expected that I’d be calling her that evening telling her I was in active labor. I was thrilled that our Baby Bug would be arriving soon!

Rich and I went to IKEA and Target and walked around. I had to stop a few times with contractions. They were pretty constant throughout the day, but not really close together. I did feel lots of rectal pressure though! I took a bath to relieve the pain, then a hot shower, and heat packs. My contractions were still all just in my back but I felt like I constantly need to go to the bathroom. The contractions never got close together, but I was in pain and crying saying I didn’t think I could do this drug free anymore since I knew it was going to get worse. We started timing contractions and they’d go from 7 to 3 to 5 to 10 to 2 to 4. Nothing consistent. I was exhausted. I called the midwife and was told to alternate heat and ice and take another bath. That last bath was the only thing that gave me comfort and I did fall asleep in between contractions……which ended up slowing down to about 7 minutes.

I was convinced I was leaking fluid at this point and called her again when I just couldn’t take the pain. I was trying to breathe and do “vocal toning” and kept thinking open cervix…..but I couldn’t focus. She told me she’d meet me at the hospital and we got there just before 7am. My contractions slowed to 10 minutes at this time and I was terrified they’d send me home. I started crying as soon as we pulled up because my emotions were all over the place.

I was checked and was 4 cm and 100% effaced and the baby was in +2 (I think that’s it) so he was really low…explains why I wanted to poo all the time. We tried to get my contractions to go to 2-3 minutes by walking, squatting, and nipple stimulation but nothing was working. Rich, the nurse, and the midwife would all help me through the back pain by pushing hard on my back. Finally, at 1, I was given Pitocin to speed up my contractions and I started crying because I felt like my body had failed me. I was convinced that meant I’d end up with an epidural, but she assured me it wouldn’t make the contractions worse, just closer. The kept upping it because I’d contract really good for a while and then it would slow back to 10. I was told my uterus was just exhausted (I hadn’t really slept in over 24 hours!)

Fast forward. I got Sterile Water Injections. AMAZING! My back labor stopped and I could feel the contraction in my pelvis but it was much more bearable. I think I was at 7 cm and we were trying everything to get me wider. Lots of manipulation. Shift change. I had 2 of my midwives there at the same time trying to help me out. I had a little bit of a lip left so I had to try to push it away and they’d try to move it. By this time, they’d really started to think he was sunny side up but they couldn’t be positive. I pushed forever, they had to call the OB in since I’d been in labor so long. He was pretty sure baby was facing up. We talked about forceps (out of the question since they couldn’t figure out the position positively), vacuum, he couldn’t try it yet, and C-Section which I really didn’t want. I pushed a ton more in literally every possible position you could think of. Tried to get a catheter thinking my bladder was in the way but I was too swollen. We could see his head and then he’d go back up.

My mother ended up showing up at the hospital and we let her in so she could help me push. I got an episiotomy, which my practice seldom does. It helped. I finally pushed him out and got a 4th degree laceration. He was put right on me and pooped but they took him away (same room) because the OB had to stitch me up because I was ripped so badly. I swear it took over an hour to stitch me up. Rich held the baby. He was face up and his head was tilted which is why it took forever for him to come out. I think I pushed 6 hours.

All the pain was worth it. Even though I didn’t have the delivery I thought I’d have, and Hudson came a week late, I wouldn’t change it. I truly feel like it made me realize I could do anything. For me, I never was in so much pain at the hospital that I wanted an epidural (and narcotics make me crazy so I didn’t want those). I was told that if I had an epidural, I almost definitely would have ended up with a C-Section…..so I’m REALLY glad that the sterile water injections worked for me (they don’t for everyone). I am so thankful that God gave me the strength to get through it and led me to choose the midwives that I had.