The Battle of the meals has begun...Mom - 2, Hudson - 0

Ok, so I am so proud of myself that I have to share it, and most of my friends will not see the excitement in this story...so my blogging ladies will just have to sit through it!

I have been frustrated with Hudson's eating for a while now. He has refused to try fruit for a long time now, but was eating a good variety of vegetables. Well, for the last month, he decided unless it was a carb or meat, he wasn't going to eat it. He refused his old favorite broccoli and even threw a cheese stick back at me the other day! So I have been cutting him some slack because of his collarbone, but he doesn't seem bothered by it this week, so I decided it was time to show him who was boss. A child can't live on goldfish and breaded chicken alone!

I gave him only fruit and vegetables for lunch yesterday and said if he ate it, that he could have some chicken. He ate nothing. I made him sit in his chair until mealtime was over and then let him down. He wasn't allowed any snacks except some dried fruit, which he also refused. So dinner came and I gave him the vegetables and fruit from lunch back. He started screaming. I pulled his highchair in front of the door and let Gunner eat outside so he didn't have to hear him screaming...for the entire 1/2 hour. I gave them both a bath and then came down and handed Gunner his snack and Hudson his broccoli. HE ATE IT!!! I made a big deal about it and then gave him a treat and the chicken.

Today, lunch went about the same, he refused the rice, beans and veggies I gave him. I refused to give him anything else, he screamed the whole meal and then got down and didn't eat anything until dinner. I gave him his lunch back and he immediately ATE IT, then I gave him the spinach and watermelon that they were supposed to get for dinner and a little breaded fish. He ate the spinach and the fish. I praised him profusely and said "ok, you have to eat the watermelon or you don't get your snack tonight". He picked it up and licked it....I cheered as if he had just won the lottery; and then he proceeded to eat all of it!

All I have to say is, I think he is figuring out that I am more stubborn than he is...he will be a healthy eater like Gunner or be so darn hungry he won't have a choice! I won the battle, let's hope I can hold out and win the war!

Our first broken bone

This has been a particularly stressful long weekend! We had parent conferences on Thursday, and while I am trying to find the boys shoes in the morning, Hudson falls off a bench in our hallway (that he has climbed on and off 100's of times). So he is crying his brains out, and although I didn't see him go down, he didn't fall very far at all, and I am already running late; so I think everything will be fine once he calms down. So I load them into the car, Hudson calms down a little bit with a graham cracker, but really seems pretty upset and cries off and on during the car ride...I had a little voice in my head say "something is wrong", now I know that "Mommy instinct" is not a myth and from now on I will listen to it! I knew there was just something a little different in how he was reacting, but I convinced myself I was overreacting and continued on to the school.

We get to the school and he starts crying when I pick him up, this strikes me as odd, but I explain it away...tired, hungry...must be something. However there was a voice in my head, something wrong, but I didn't want there to be something wrong, so I kept ignoring the "Mommy instinct". Then I try to leave him in the nursery so I can go to the conference without kids, but he is clinging to me and starts shrieking. I take him with me thinking he will be running around, grabbing my leg during the whole conference. Instead, he puts his head on my shoulder, looks very depressed and just clings to me in silence during the entire conference...now anyone who knows Hudson can tell you that this is VERY unusual. When I drop Gunner off at school I have to keep him in the stroller and strapped in, because he will go running down the hallway at breakneck speed, pulling other children's artwork off the walls as he goes (what happened to my sweet little baby!?). I have only seen him act like that once before, when he had strep throat.

So by the time we get back home and he is still wanting to be held constantly, I have to admit something is wrong. I feel every inch of his head, I watch him walk, I manipulate his arms and legs, and I gently press on his ribs...nothing. Then I pick him up and he starts crying again and I just knew that it was his collar bone. I call Alicia, and she says "maybe it is his collarbone, you can drop Gunner here and take him to the emergency room"...you would think this was enough for me to go to the emergency room, but no, I just don't want to admit that something is broken on one of my children. I call our pediatrician, and just say that he has been crying all day and I need an appt., they can't see him until the next day, so I call Lenny, he comes home, goes to pick Hudson up and he starts crying...so I FINALLY say "that's it, we are going to the emergency room". Two hours, an interview where the nurse looks highly sceptical that I am being honest about how far he fell, and some traumatizing x-rays later, yes, it IS his collarbone. It was as if he felt better once everyone realized that he actually had something wrong, because he was literally flirting with all the doctors and nurses and singing songs with me while we were waiting to be discharged....so everyone at Bayside Hospital thinks he is "such a little charmer". Which at least took some of the heat off of me, because I was pretty sure they thought I was a child abuser (i.e. "it doesn't look like he hit his head, THESE bruises look old").

Three days later, you would never know he had broken anything...he is lifting his arm, running around and climbing up on everything again...but the lesson for us all is....LISTEN to your Mommy instinct, it is always right!

Ok, so I am going to add this last part because none of my entries flow anyway...So we have had 2 days straight of constant rain, plus a child that needs to be taking it easy so his break heals (and so he doesn't break anything else). So we have played dress up, cars, coloring and we already attempted the aquarium this morning. Hudson took off running, or tried to climb anything in sight if his feet hit floor; and he screamed bloody murder if he was put in the stroller; so that didn't last long. I don't remember it being this hard to take Gunner places as a toddler, but maybe I am just blocking!

Anyway, the long and the short of it is that I feel bad that Gunner didn't get to see anything at the aquarium because of Hudson, is constantly getting yelled at the last couple days to stay away from Hudson and can't go out on the playground because of the rain. So I told him we could go rent a movie for this afternoon.

At the movie store he saw the Spiderman cartoon and begged me for it once again...so this time I gave in, because I thought, how violent can a cartoon be. I am thinking "Superfriends" from when I was a kid. Ok, so to make a long story short, the first episode comes on and the girl character is only dressed in shirts that show her belly, they are kissing, people get shot and stabbed (luckily they don't really show anything, little consolation) one of the characters says "damn"....what the heck happened to cartoons and how do I lie and say I had to return this video in the middle of the night!!!! I will NEVER let him watch anything I have not prescreened first again....

We have had a busy several weeks, so here is some of the excitement!

First, a trip to the circus, just me and Gunner (too afraid that Hudson would take off running and end up in the tiger cage!). Alicia and her girls went too, even though we weren't seated together, so it was fun to drive together....the kids crack me up in the back seat, they just make each other laugh and sing songs...too cute.

We had awesome seats, we had two empty rows in front of us and then the floor...Gunner was pretty excited to see the animals...and to eat the very expensive popcorn!

I didn't take a lot of pics, but the elephants and tigers were his favorite, so I got some pics of them...this was the best shot. We could have touched the elephants when they walked by!

It was really fun to have a day with just the two of us that was so fun, we both enjoyed it, although he seemed a little overwhelmed by how much there was to look at!

So next on the line-up of events is Gunner's preschool Spring Program. Each class did about 4-5 songs, and they all did great...even if it was more screaming than singing!

I love how Gunner stops and points to show Marley that Daddy was in the back (entertaining Hudson who refused to sit still for even 5 minutes of the show), and I have no idea why he lifted up his shirt and looked at his belly at one point?! I do think it is hysterical that he kept putting his hands over his ears the entire show...I think he does it once in this video, because he thought everyone was too loud. He kept telling the other kids to be quiet when they were talking or singing when they weren't supposed to!

In addition to his spring program, it was Gunner's last soccer game for the season...and the first one where he scored a goal..and not just one goal, but three! Yeah Gunner! It helped that he played his first game with the other 1/2 of the team, instead of on the field he usually plays on. We realized that all the kids like Gunner (inexperienced and non-aggressive) must have been all playing on that field all season; vs. the field he was playing on w/ his friend, Parker, who has been playing for a while, not giving Gunner a chance to get at the ball.

Getting ready to do the kick off ...is that what they call it in soccer? Just realized I don't know...but it's when they all stand in a circle and one kid gets to do the first kick. Gunner begs to do it every time.

On his way to making his first goal...he looked so surprised to find himself way out in front of everyone!

So sorry this was blurry, because he had this look of pure joy after he made the goal!

Making another goal (he is #3)

This isn't a great pic, but it totally demonstrates the level of "politeness" on this field...notice how everyone is just kind of looking at the ball, but they don't want to take it from anyone else. It is really too adorable to watch.

His favorite part, getting his trophy from Coach Dave!

Some random backyard shots...the weather has been so wonderful, in between a few days of rain, that we have been in the backyard or at the beach a lot! I love how Hudson is looking at Gunner in this picture!

Playing in an old fence on our property...I wish that leaf wasn't in the way, he looks like he has his head stuck, but he doesn't...he climbed back and forth through this fence for 20 minutes!

Mothers Day, and a little after dinner trip to the beach. Gunner had a blast pulling Hudson on the boogie board in the tide pool.

However, when Gunner wanted Hudson to reciprocate, we had to explain that Gunner was a little too heavy. Daddy to the rescue (with his mojito still in hand)

Well, that is all for now...I love how I have no pics of me on Mothers Day..typical, ha ha! I am going to end with two random funnies from Gunner today...

At the END of bathtime (thank god) he was 1/2 laying in the tub, grabs his penis and starts peeing an amazingly high arc into the air. "Look Mom, it's a watering can, it can water the bushes".

Later on, I am surprised by a giant water bug (seriously, this thing was as big as my thumb), and I let out an ear piercing scream. Gunner comes over and hugs my leg "it's ok Mommy, did that bug scare you? He won't hurt you Mommy, it's ok". Protected by my 4 year old...classic!