Today was my little Hud Bud’s first day of school. He is in the Twos class this year. TC and I went to a parent orientation and open house a couple nights ago at the school and then Hudson had his open house/orientation yesterday. He got to meet his classmates and his teacher and the moms got to hang out, too. He loved playing in the classroom and exploring.

I couldn’t get  him to sit on the steps in front of the house this morning for a picture. But he did stand there for me in his fun little school bus shirt! (And somehow my camera went to B&W mode- so frustrating!) Look at him this year compared to last year!

2011

2010 (my camera was taken over by the humidity that day)

My hope for him this year is that he’ll continue to grow and mature. I hope he’ll make good friends and learn to share and be a kind friend.

As I observe other kids, I’m beginning to see that most two-year-olds are just alike. All parents of toddlers struggle with the same things where kids are saying “no” all the time and “mine” when someone tries to play with their toy. It can be so embarrassing when you witness your child acting that way toward another child. But Hudson isn’t the first kid that has acted this way. I’m pretty sure another kid will give him the “MINE!” treatment a time or two!

We’ve had a long summer of hanging out at home and Hudson has really been such a patient little boy. Even though he’s Hayes’s big brother, he’s still my very young little boy. And I forget that sometimes. And I expect too much out of him and expect him to act more maturely sometimes. But he is such a great kid and he makes me so proud.

He cried yesterday when we left the open house because he wanted to stay and play. But I explained that we’d be back all the time. I’m so excited that he likes it so much. I’m praying for him to have a wonderful year. The teacher said that each month they’ll focus on a different shape, color, and Bible verse. I’m just so encouraged. I love that the lessons, values and stories of Jesus’s love that we teach at home will be reinforced at church and at school! What a lucky kid!

When I picked him up from school today, he told me that he’d had fun and started saying goodbye to his classmates and calling them by now. I am so encouraged!

I am looking forward to spending a little quiet time with this sweet guy while Hudson is at school. I’m excited to be able to focus on Hayes’s development for a few hours every day. And I’m excited to have an extra hand to run some errands or get some things done around the house before Hudson comes home from school.

My funny, goofy, wild Hudson has quite the vocabulary and he often says things that cause us to scratch our heads and say to each other, “Where did he get that?”

I’ve been keeping a little list on my iPhone of the funny things he says. I’ll probably print out this blog post and put it in his baby book. (By the way, I’ll do a post soon showing y’all their baby books and photo storage.)

“Come here, Dreaux.”

Hudson no longer refers to our fluffy Golden Retriever by his actual name. He calls him Dreaux. Poor Boudreaux kind of looks around as if to say, “Is he talking to me?” He invites Boudreaux into his room and tries to get Boudreaux to play with him. At one point he was calling him Boudreaux, but now it’s just Dreaux.

The other day, Hudson woke up from his nap and was standing at the gate at his door when Boudreaux came walking by his room. On the monitor, I heard Hudson say, “Hey, Dreaux! Let me out!”

“Show me! Show me!”

When Hudson was younger, he would point to things on the top shelves in his room and say something that we couldn’t understand. It would take us forever to figure out what he wanted. So I started picking him up and asking him to show me. I’d say, “Show me what you want, Hudson.” So he’d point and I’d get the toy or video he was requesting. Now when he sees something he wants, he says, “Show me! Show me the firetruck!” Ha! He’s just repeating what we said, but it’s unnecessary because he can actually tell us what he wants. And he’s showing us, but saying “show me.” So funny.

“Somewhere” and “Anywhere”

If Hudson is asking for something, we might say, “where is it?” And his answer is always “ummm it’s somewhere” or “ummm it’s anywhere.”

“What happened?”

I laugh just thinking about this. When Hudson takes a tumble, he’ll jump and say, “What happened?” Ha! Because…ding ding ding… that’s what we say when he falls!

“I’m okay!”

Another thing Hudson says when he falls down is, “I’m okay!” We’re so glad!

“It’s stuck!” or “I’m stuck!”

If Hudson is in his carseat and wants to get it, he says, “I’m stuck.” If he sticks a big toy in a small space and can’t get it out, he says, “It’s stuck!” And when he is in his room, but the gate is accidentally locked and he can’t get out, he shouts, “I’m stuck! Help! I’m stuck!”

“Yes, sir!” “No, sir!” “Thank you” “Pwwwease” or “I say pwwwease”

Our little Hud Bud has pretty great manners. He has always been a “thank you” kid. When we’re at the grocery store, he shouts “thank you” to every employee he sees and shouts “thank you” every time the bagger puts a bag in the buggy. He has started saying things like, “Daddy, can I have some milk, please?” But sometimes he forgets the please. So we’ll say, “What do you say, Hudson?” And his response is always, “I say pwwwease.” Those Ls and Rs are tough!

He shouts “no, sir” when he’s correcting Boudreaux and has started saying “yes, sir” to TC when he’s asking a question. We’ve even heard a “no, thank you” a few times.

“I don’t think so”

We’re not sure how he picked this one up, but a lot of times instead of just a “no,” he gives a big “I don’t think so.” But it’s more like “I don’t FINK so.”

“SURPRISE!”

Lately, he has been running into the room and shouting, “Surprise!” Or hiding and coming up to shout surprise. He’ll still play peek-a-boo sometimes and when he moves the blanket or lovie, he shouts, “surprise!”

“Don’t smile….”

Sometimes when Hudson is pouting or pitching a fit, I’ll give him a look and say, “don’t smile…” And he always smiles and then laughs. So in the past few weeks, if I give him that look, he’ll say it to me. “Don’t smile….” And, oh, it just makes me want to scoop him up and cover him in sweet mommy kisses!

“It’s so funny!”

If Hudson gets tickled over something, he’ll laugh and laugh, and then squeak out the words, “it’s so funny!”

“That’s right, Mommy!”

Hudson will say, “What number is this?” or “What shape is this?” And I always turn the question back on him and get him to answer it. And he always knows what number, letter, shape, color, or animal it is. (Those Melissa & Doug puzzles are amazing!) So right after he say, “Number 2!” He follows it up with, “That’s right, Mommy! Number 2!”

Other great Hudson-isms are “it stinks!” (when having his diaper changed) and “it’s okay, Hayes!” (when Hayes is crying)

We love having a wild toddler around here. I could write a book alone on the rowdiness and then the sweet cuddles on the couch. And when he asks me to climb in bed with him to snuggle before he goes to sleep, I am more than willing to miss 30 minutes of my TV show for a lifetime of memories. He’s not going to let me do this much longer. Tear.