Hudson Crosby Lyon

I thought I should do a little celebration of Hudson's 18 month B-day...I never write enough about Hudson, sometimes I feel like I have missed chunks of his "baby-hood" because Gunner demands (literally DEMANDS) so much of my attention.

The week I popped out...I was only 4 months pregnant...I swear I was the same size from then until almost the end!

Here I am 1 week before he arrived, our last date as a family of 3...

Hudson was an "easier" child from the very beginning....even labor was easier! I woke up at 4:00 a.m. ON my due date with a little cramping, I thought maybe it was false labor. I was induced w/ Gunner, so that is all I had to compare it to; which was more like a freight train right away. The contractions slowly got worse, but I still wasn't convinced....so I went out to lunch with Lenny, then we meandered to Home Depot to get some last minute stuff for the nursery. I think I was freaking the other shoppers out a little when I would stop mid-aisle, grimace, and say "Hold on, I am having a contraction" and Lenny would check his watch to time them.

I called my friend Alicia to take my mind off of it, but I would have to stop mid-sentence for the contractions...she said "Girl, you are having that baby today!". I finally gave in and went to the hospital at 2:00.

I have never, in 6 years of marriage, seen Lenny look visibly worried. However, when we got stuck behind some old guy going 25 mph and my contractions started coming 3 minutes apart, he looked pretty serious. Despite being almost 6 centimeters when I got to the hospital, Hudson was wrapped up in his cord, so it took until 9:18 p.m. to deliver him. After 1 1/2 hours of pushing that is; which frankly made me mad because after 3 hours of pushing with Gunner I thought I was owed a quicky this time! At least we didn't need suction to get Hudson out!

The day we brought him home from the hospital...I can't believe he was so small!

Notice that a week into the whole thing, Gunner doesn't look as excited about him anymore...he is probably saying "when does he go back?", which was a question we got a few times, until he gave up and realized that he was here to stay!

One month old, remember when they just always slept...I kind of miss those days!

Finding the thumb...

Tummy time...he actually liked it, so much that he wouldn't even sleep on his back, no matter how hard I tried to get him to!

Hudson has been the yang to Gunner's yin from the beginning...he is the calming force. When he was sick w/ ear infections and bronchitis the 1st 4 months of his life, he rarely fussed or cried. His sleep training was right on schedule; and he was such a happy baby. It was, and is, so easy to get him to laugh.

Three months old, right b-4 his baptism. He looks like an angel, and I can't believe how dark his hair looked.

7 months, he would play so quietly...no whining or fussing.

10 months old, loves to climb and explore...he is totally fearless (don't have a good picture to illustrate because I am usually attempting to save him from peril when he is doing something daring!)Once he learned to crawl he would fly off as soon as you put him down. He did this funny army crawl up until the time he walked, 1st he would drag his whole body behind him, then he would get up on one knee and drag the other behind him. On the occasion he crawls, he will still do the one legged move.

He is so cuddly, especially with Lenny. When Len comes home from work he literally does this high pitched squeal "DA-DDY! DA-DDY" and comes running.

It is so amazing to watch him really grow and learn, it is so much less stressful the second time around. I am much more willing to let him learn things at his own pace, and he is probably more relaxed as a result!

I love this stage because he is starting to try and say so many things...not that anyone else can understand him, but naturally I think he is brilliant! He really gets using words instead of whining (although he takes reminding) and knows "open, help, down".

He will get his shoes and socks and Gunner's shoes if you ask him "Sooos & ocks" and will ask for his favorite foods, bananas "nana" or a wheat roll "row". My absolute favorite, which I can't seem to get on tape, is when he is playing hide-n-seek or peek-a-boo w/ us or Gunner. He will hide his face and then pop out and say "There he is" (sounds like "eheeeissss") because that is always what we would say when we played peek-a-boo w/ him. He will say "hi" on the phone now and when he does something, like pressing the elevator button he will say "I di iiii" (I did it).

I just can't believe how he has really learned to be vocal from Gunner, he has said at least 50 words (I was never one for counting that kind of stuff, but I know he says a lot). He probably won't know his colors, shapes, letters and numbers as quickly as Gunner; because he just won't sit down long enough to even finish a book! However, he is friendly and funny and just a total blessing!

He is also impossibly cute...ok, I am his Mom, but he IS

As usual he must be playing with whatever Gunner plays with, no baby toys for him. His favorites are Gunner's trains and die cast cars which he "zooms" around the floor.

He loves the piano and sitting on the piano bench, and if he gets tired, he actually lays down on it using "puppy" as a pillow. This is how I know it's nap time!


A very familiar pose..thumb in mouth, rubbing puppy with his hand and against his face. That puppy gets us through some sticky situations! However I live in fear of losing it...we had a panic at bed time the other night when it had gotten stuffed under the couch and couldn't be located right away!

I can't wait to see what he is going to be like at Gunner's age and beyond, one thing I am sure, he will be his own little person with a very big personality to match his very big hair!