Hudson - 7/29/2016

Hudson ate brown rice and raisins for breakfast.  For lunch he had several bites of turkey meat loaf, ate pita bread, carrots, and apricots.

He was turning loose and walking several times this morning; especially between pieces of furniture. Way more times than yesterday!  I counted 13 steps on one of his adventures.

Hudson was at the big gate watching Lauralea get ready for work.  He realized for the first time that he could shake this gate and he rattled it pretty good.  I didn't say anything (yet) and he only did it the one time so we'll see.  Ha!  He was saying "LaLa" for Lauralea and then he switched to "Dada" and "Mama" for everything and everyone.  :)

How many times have I posted pictures of the barbecue?!?  He loves that thing and I thought this picture was especially cute considering the utensil he's using.  :)  Almost ready to flip a few burgers! Looks like a natural to me!

Hudson and Sophie are the only kids here today so we went on a wagon ride.  Here's a picture as we're leaving the yard.  We stopped and threw pebbles in some water, watched workers on the roof at Meadow Hill School, talked to a neighbor girl on her scooter, looked at a barking puppy, watched some birds that Sophie spotted, got our mail, and filled the bird feeder.  (I lathered on sun screen before we left.)

Hudson - 7/28/2016

Hudson ate two servings of cinnamon toast and ate several bites of cantaloupe for breakfast.  For lunch he ate baked chicken, dinner roll, bites of hash browns, and ate one canned cherry.  :)

Hudson continues to love mimicking lots of sounds and it's fun to play with that in the mornings.  His receptive language skills are noticeably increasing as well.  I asked him this morning; "Do you want to go to the window and wave at Uncle Pat?"  He went charging and crawling across the room as fast as he could go and went right to the window, climbed up, and started waving like mad man!  Of course Pat wasn't there yet, but that didn't really seem to matter!  Nothing real subtle about Bubba when he's on a mission!  :)

We have several masks in this toy set and he's been watching Sophie and Cooper play with them.  I asked him if I could put one on him and I was expecting him to immediately rip it off!  Instead, he left it on and continued to play for probably 10 minutes.  I think this is a lion's mask.  :)  Two or three times he pulled it down and then pulled it back up.

When I took this next picture Hudson was holding on to the blue balance beam and bouncing up and down on the mattress.  Nice work Bubba!!  We also played outside again this morning and he loves the wagons and ice cream carts.  He also likes to play at the bottom of the slides - right where all the action is located when kids are coming down the slides!!

Hudson - 7/27/2016

Hudson ate blueberry bagel and peaches for breakfast.  For lunch he ate ham, whole wheat elbow noodles, half of corn, and half of apple pieces.  He's doing a good job using the "more" sign at mealtime to make his wants known.  And if he doesn't want something that's easily discerned as well, right!?  No question when he whips his head sideways!  :)

Yesterday afternoon Reid and his Momma stopped by to visit and I was trying to get Hudson to show off his newly acquired walking skills!  Of course that rarely works!  But he did take a couple of steps and Lesley started cheering loudly and it scared the daylights out of Bubba.  I was kind of expecting that and I was right there to love on him and so he actually did not start howling!  Today he stood up outside on the lawn and took a couple of steps.  That's an uneven place to try learning to walk!!

Hudson likes to laugh at Cooper and Cooper loves to make him laugh.  I combined the two pictures below to show you what they were doing this morning.  Bubba was laughing loud and this is what I saw when I turned around.  He loves laughing at quirky and silly things!  I love that!

And, guess what, Hudson's laughing at Cooper again!  He's standing on the step to the balance beam watching as Cooper was performing some more tricks - bouncing up and down on the mattress and tossing a stuffed animal up and trying to catch it.  Cooper said, "These animals keep jumping out of my hand!"  :)

Hudson - 7/26/2016

Hudson ate waffle and most of pears for breakfast.  For lunch he ate tuna & crackers, bites of sweet potatoes, and a bite of mandarin oranges.

After breakfast Hudson was playing at the couch, then he turned loose and stood there, and then took off walking.  I counted 10 steps - small steps - but still 10 steps!  :)  It looked like it all happened without him really thinking about it.  Regardless, his balance is good and he can take off whenever he decides he wants to.

I filled the bird feeder this morning and there were lots of birds on and around it.  Hudson was slapping at the window and some of them just kept on eating.  I was saying, "bird, bird, bird."  Hudson was repeating; "bur, bur, bur."

We had lots of fun playing inside and then outside this morning.  Hudson joined Avilene at the legos table and they were both digging around in there.  Hudson likes it because it's noisy too!  He can shuffle those legos around and make quite a racket!!

Cooper asked me to help them build a fort and then we covered it with a blanket.  Hudson was crawling all around it and Cooper and Sophie were trying to hide from him.  In the 2nd picture Avi is dragging the roof down and Cooper is on the back side of the fort yelling; "Hey!  Who's wrecking our fort!?!"  Ha!  Bubba is taking off!

Hudson - 7/25/2016

Hudson ate chex cereal and mixed fruit for breakfast.  For lunch he ate beef sandwich, sips of tomato soup, ate crackers, and bites of pickled beets.  It was fun to see Hudson after he was gone for 4 days! I got lots of loves this morning!!  He came by several times and laid his head in my lap.  So sweet!

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend and what better toy for Bubba than a drum!?! Yup, the boy loves to hammer on stuff!  Nice!  :)  Hudson was standing on the window step and thumping on the window this morning after Cooper's Dad had driven past.  Cooper said, "Bubba's waving at my Dad when he's gone!"  :)

Sophie had been reading lots of books and piling them on the bench beside her.  Hudson came over to do some reading too.  In the picture below she's just massaging his back with her foot, NOT trying to get him out of her book territory!  :)

Here's a picture of Hudson playing with his two favorite things to do outside the last week or two; push the ice cream carts around and play in the wagon.  Cooper had been throwing the ball at the wind chimes (illegal activity - ha) and Bubba was cracking up.  Why are the most fun activities always the ones we're not allowed to do!!??!!  (The wind chime he'd chosen to target is also the most fragile of the bunch!  I was distracted changing Sophie's diaper.)  Bubba was roaring with laughter and I hated to put a stop to it so I had Cooper bounce the ball off the garage and try to catch it.  Almost as entertaining for Hudson, but not quite!!

Hudson - 7/20/2016

Hudson ate whole wheat toast and most of mixed berries for breakfast.  For lunch he ate ham, crackers, several bites of bean & bacon soup, and ate his strawberries.

Hudson is frequently the first one here and like I've mentioned several times it's fun to do sounds with him.  And he loves doing them as well!  (Which is what makes it so much fun!)  I was saying "Lauralea" to him and he tried it several times!  "Lor Lor"  A distinctive "L" and "R" sound.  Very impressive!!

Hudson managed to get off his shoes and socks this morning and Cooper found them laying on the floor.  He said, "Look what Bubba blew off!"  Haha!  Hudson was laying on the floor kind of twisted around the dress-up clothes rack and Cooper started laughing; "Take a picture of Bubba!"  :)

Here are some pictures that pretty much describe some of Hudson's activities this morning!  In the first picture he's giving Avilene a taste of an ice cream scoop!  He's actually doing very well with the baby and is quite gentle with her - with lots of reminders of course.  In the second picture he is playing us a tune on the piano!  And he's obviously quite accomplished because he's already playing with both hands!  :)  In the last picture; Cooper had asked, "Will you make a fort with the blanket for me?"  So we made a fort and you can see both Cooper and Hudson in the picture.  (Sophie didn't come to Daycare until shortly before Lunch.)

Hudson - 7/19/2016

Hudson ate blueberry bagel and tasted the apricots three times, but was not impressed.  For lunch he ate chicken, whole wheat elbow noodles, bites of peas, and applesauce.

Hudson was doing the same thing as yesterday - lounging on some pillows on the floor, laying on his back all stretched out.  (picture yesterday)  I find it interesting when they repeat silly little behaviors like that over and over.  And then they'll move on to something different.

He was also loving on Avilene and laying his head in her lap.  She got a handful of his hair today and was tugging on it.  Needless to say he was not happy about that and started yelling.  This is the first time I've seen her grab his hair.  He looked at her like, "What was THAT about!?!"  :)

I took this picture of Hudson outside this morning when he was pushing the ice cream cart around. Sophie got so excited when she saw he was "walking."  "Bubba!  Bubba!"  He's done it many times, but this time she actually SAW him doing it!  It's funny how often that happens.  Frequently after one of our babies have been walking for a few weeks one of the older kids will say, "Look!! They can walk!!"  Yup, I'm glad you noticed!  :)

We did some bubbles outside this morning and I took this picture of Hudson trying to eat one.  Cooper thought that was so funny!  "Bubba's trying to eat them!!"

Hudson - 7/18/2016

Hudson ate raisin bran cereal and most of his dried cranberries for breakfast.  For lunch he ate cheese and canadian bacon pizza, several bites of corn, and several bites of tropical fruit.

I remembered to buy some bird feed this weekend and so the bird activity was pretty heavy this morning.  (Which is one reason Hudson was a little distracted and not waving bye to Daddy - He did wave when you were probably half-way down the block!)  There were lots of birds, but they'd get a bit nervous when Bubba would pound on the window.  Those birds will just have to adjust!  :)  They're hard to see in the picture, but there are at least two or three on the ground eating some seed that has fallen.

I had to stop reading at Story Time and take a picture of Hudson chilling on the pillows.  It was pretty cute; he was just stretched out for a minute or two.  Which is a pretty long time in Bubba's world!!

Cooper said, "I'm gonna put on a puppet show!"  So he headed under the legos table with the little red legos you see in the picture below and that was his puppet.  Hudson was not really interested in the puppet show, but he managed to grab that puppet!!  Ha!  Which caused the puppeteer some angst! "No Bubba!!  No!"  :)

Hudson - 7/13/2016

Hudson arrived just before lunch with Grandma so there will not be a Blog for him today.  I'm not sure I mentioned this when I set up his Blog so I'll mention it here.  The input for the children's Blogs are from the morning activities and then I do them at Nap Time.  (I take notes all morning!!) Sometimes I'll include an incident from the previous afternoon, but primarily it's about their mornings.  So obviously whenever a child is gone in the morning then there will not be any Blog.

Hudson ate a good serving of baked beans, ate a bun, sniffed the peas, and had several bites of crushed pineapple.

Hudson - 7/12/2016

Hudson ate waffle and most of hash browns for breakfast.  For lunch he ate chicken & cheese quesadilla, several bites of carrots, and two bites of mandarin oranges.  I was still cleaning up after breakfast when Cooper yelled, "Gary!  Bubba escaped!!"  LOL!!  Bubba was in the living room where the "big kids" nap and was dismantling Cooper's nap mat, cover, pillow, pillow case, etc.  So I guess Cooper had added incentive for wanting immediate assistance.  :)

He was so cute this morning waving and saying, "bye" to Daddy.  Colin had left and was probably still walking down the sidewalk and Bubba was still inside waving and saying, "bye."  At least 5 more times!

Hudson had not been here more than 2 or 3 minutes this morning when he found one of the hats and put it on.  He loves them and leaves them on.  Lots of children this age will immediately whip a hat or cap (or anything) off their head if I try to put it on them and would never think of putting it on themselves!

Hudson watched Cooper and Sophie do some stickers at Art Time today.  He's still a bit young for what we do, but it won't be long and I'll start giving it a try.  Making marks on paper is the beginning exercise and it all depends if the marker consistently goes on the paper or in the mouth!!  :)

Hudson - 7/11/2016

Hudson ate cheerios and banana for breakfast.  For lunch he ate cheese sandwich, a couple sips of tomato soup, ate his crackers, and his pickled beets.  I gave him a bite of beet, he tasted it and immediately reached for more.

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend so there was lots of "new" stuff to check out. Cooper was passing out ice-cream cones to everyone and Hudson found the stash right beside the barbecue.  However, he was way more concerned with banging the lid of the barbecue.  I'll state the obvious; whenever you see pictures of the same toy posted over and over it's a safe bet that is a favorite toy, right!?  :) Hudson LOVES to bang down the lid of the barbecue.  Cooper thought it was funny because right after I took this picture Bubba had one of his hands pinned down under the barbecue lid!

Here's a picture to show there is more than one way to play a piano!  He practiced walking around the room while hanging on to something and he also looked out the window several times.  I've been watching him closely because he seems to like getting a reaction out of Sophie.  :)

I put this hat on Hudson and Sophie put one on and they played by the book rack and also read some books.  After that Hudson was putting on one of the hats all morning.  Then later he put a doll blanket over his head, took a step forward, and crashed into the legos table.  Ouch!  And he seemed a little confused about who he could blame!  Ha!  (There was no one near him!)

Hudson - 7/8/2016

Hudson ate kix cereal and several bites of dried cranberries for breakfast.  For lunch he ate chicken, whole wheat elbow noodles; and several bites of peas and applesauce.  (mixed together)

I only have the two youngest residents of Little Treasures today; Hudson and Avilene, so it's a little slower and quieter than usual around here!  :)  First thing this morning Hudson and I did our daily ritual of sounds together.  He makes a sound and I'll mimic it, or I'll make a sound and wait for him to mimic it.  Then he played with the baby saucer that you see in the picture below.  He likes to twirl the wheel with little beads in it and you can see how fast his hand was moving.  Plus, I think this is a great picture of Hudson.  Very cute.

I was able to get a picture of him talking on the phone!  (As you well know, you have to be fast with the camera because Hudson is a fast mover!!)  Today was the first time I've seen him doing this and I was excited!  This is an example of "dramatic play" where they are basically acting out/pretending something they see in daily life.  It's a developmental milestone of pretend play.  And he actually said something when he put it up to his ear.  "Hello"- maybe?  :)  Talking on the phone is almost ALWAYS the first type of pretend play we see - no surprise there, right!?!  It's probably the most common activity they see every day!!

No sooner had Hudson "got off the phone" (ha!) and he went on the #2 dramatic play for the morning!!  He started "combing his hair!"  I have several combs in this toy set and the comb he's holding in the picture is the one that Sophie has used to comb his hair!  :)  Love this!  He totally knew what to do with it; immediately put it up to his head to comb!

Hudson - 7/7/2016

Hudson ate two servings of raisin english muffin and two servings of blueberries for breakfast.  For lunch he ate turkey slices, sandwich thin, green beans, and strawberries.  As soon as Hudson hears the gate open to the Lunch Room he streaks for the gate knowing it must be meal time!!  :)  I'm very careful not to go out there or open the gate close to those times because it makes him upset if it's a false alarm!!    :)

I had to take another picture of Hudson studying a poster.  I love it when they are curious about their environment.  So much fun to observe them learning!  He would point and I was naming whatever he was pointing at.

We threw a blanket over the chair and end of the couch to make a new hideout.  It wasn't an easy feat to get a picture with all three of the kids in it!!  Cooper asked, "Can we play hide-n-seek?"  Hmmm...I wonder where they might hide?!  :)  Cooper heard Bubba talking; "He said, "Momma!  He thought Avi was his Momma!!"  Ha!

Sophie was rolling up in the blanket (one of her favorite games) and then yelling out at Hudson.  He was getting a kick out of the game.  Also this morning, I sat Hudson in his highchair and he watched Sophie and Cooper do some dot painting.

Hudson - 7/6/2016

Hudson had bites of breakfast: jelly toast and mangoes.  For lunch he ate bean & beef burrito, sweet potatoes, and a couple bites of tropical fruit.

Hudson was so cute waving bye to Dad this morning and saying, "bye bye."  Then he was also really into waving bye again at the big window when Dad was leaving.  After Daddy drove away Hudson started playing and I was mimicking all the sounds he was making and we played that game for several minutes.  I think he's gonna be a talker!  :)

Here's a picture of Hudson making a move on Avilene, but that doesn't seem to faze her!  She just keeps on playing!  Ha!  Shortly before I took this picture Hudson was watching her stretch and reach for a banana - one of the food toys.  He picked it up and handed it to her, which I thought was pretty cool!  Except, he didn't really want her to take it and he pulled it back and a short lived tug-of-war ensued!  Ha!  (That's very age-appropriate behavior.  At this age they'll frequently hand something to you, but without the intention of actually giving it to you!)

Hudson had a good morning and played hard with lots of toys.  He sat in the legos drawer playing for a long time and I took this next picture when he was heading out!  That drawer is a great place to bang around and it makes lots of noise!!  Consequently, it's a favorite spot for Bubba!  He also played on the mattress when Cooper and Sophie were jumping and he looked at books, emptied the book rack, and studied some posters.

Hudson - 7/5/2016

Hudson arrived after breakfast - For lunch he ate scrambled eggs, hash brown, and sausage combo; he also ate waffle, and several bites of cantaloupe.  

This is the funnest part of coming back from a vacation - seeing all the children.  Hudson looks so great with his new haircut!  I love it.  He was so cute while playing and banging the barbecue lid again!  (Picking up right where he left off!)  He saw me grinning at him and he came scurrying right over to give me another love.  So precious.  Thank you Bubba!!

We so enjoyed our trip to Colorado and saw some beautiful places.  However, I regretted that I forgot to take one special picture!!  I'll explain.  We were staying at a Motel in Aztec, NM, just across the border from Durango. (Motel was much cheaper!)  We drove past a big sign after dark in Aztec and I told Lauralea, "I want to remember to take a picture of that sign tomorrow morning in the daylight."  I didn't remember until we were 40 Miles out of town on our way home!  Dang!!  The sign read:        Bubba's Tax Service!  Oh man, Lauralea and I laughed when we saw that.  How perfect!!

Hudson was standing several times this morning without hanging on to anything.  Then outside on the patio he was pushing the ice cream carts around which is also good practice for walking.  Now it's just a matter of time when he feels comfortable enough to let loose and start walking.  (He'll probably be running a week after he starts walking!)

Here's a picture of Hudson playing with the food toys; some toast, egg, and bacon.  Nice choice Bubba!!  All three of the Cline Kids are here today so there was plenty of excitement and activity!  (Their Pre-School was not open today.)  He kept himself busy, but there was entertainment as well!