It is obvious that Hudson knows a baby is coming. Hudson has never ever taken a pacifier because he has always sucked his thumb. But when I was sterilizing and washing pacifiers the other day, Hudson decided he wanted one. I decided the most drama-free way to handle it would just be to let him have the paci and kind of ignore him. The only time he wants the pacifier in his mouth is when he wears this silly Halloween glasses that he got last year! It’s his “costume” and he runs around with the glasses and this pacifier at least once a day. Pretty sure he knows a baby is coming.

We decided to do a really fun, special weekend for Hudson this weekend. We live in Columbia and there is a wonderful zoo and a great children’s museum, but because I’m not getting around all that well these days and it’s already flipping hot, we decided to do something different.

We wanted to give him a fun weekend since he’ll be a big brother soon and even though he won’t even remember not having a brother, TC and I want to cherish this time with having just one child and hold on to him and his baby-ness as long as possible.

Someone suggested we take Hudson to Build-A- Bear. I had never done Build-A-Bear before, but I thought he might like it. I also wondered if he’d be too young to really get it. But we went. Hudson was pretty mesmerized when he saw all the bears and other stuffed animal options on the wall!

As soon as we got there, the salesperson gave Hudson a sticker. And boy, was he proud of his sticker. He really didn’t want to pay attention to anything else other than his sticker the rest of the time we were there. She could have given him a page of stickers and he would have been absolutely content.

Despite trying to talk Hudson into getting a stuffed puppy, he chose the stuffed monkey. He loves those monkeys!

He did pick out a heart for the monkey, but wasn’t interested in finding the monkey anything to wear. We walked around for a long time looking at all the different outfit options, but he just wasn’t into it. Todd and I kept joking about how we’d come to Build-A-Bear to build ourselves a monkey because Hudson couldn’t have cared less!

He ended up seeing a black “Save the Animals” t-shirt for the monkey to wear that had a panda on it. He loves pandas and kept saying “hey, panda bear” over and over again. So, we got a “Save the Animals” t-shirt for the monkey and named the monkey “Panda Bear.” He loved the part at the end where he got to play on the computer while TC and I made a birth certificate for the monkey. I forgot to take a picture of Panda Bear the monkey.

After the Build-A-Bear experience, we went to Chick-fil-A to pick up lunch and took it to the park near our house to have  fun picnic and let Hudson play. He and TC played for a long time on the fun jungle gym until Hudson could barely walk he was so tired.

We had a great weekend and just soaked up as much time with our baby boy as we could!

My dear Hudson,

You turned 22 months old on April 5. The next time I write one of these letters to you, you’ll be a big brother! But that doesn’t mean you have to grow up any faster.

I love that you assert your independence as an almost 2-year-old, but still ask me to hold you and give you kisses. This age is such a fun age with you. I know I say that every single month and it does seem like each month only gets more and more fun as you learn to do more and say more.

You are so observant and I am still convinced that you have some kind of photographic memory. You have the entire book Goodnight Moon memorized. We hear you reading it to yourself in the monitor at night after we’ve read it to you. You almost have all of Green Eggs and Ham memorized, too.

The entire cast of Sesame Street are your absolute favorites. You love to name them all and talk about them. The giant Elmo that KK gave you has to be right next to you in bed every night and sometimes you drag him around the house talking to him. The other day you said, “Did Elmo poo poo? Elmo need a change?” I thought it was hilarious.

You still love your ABCs and love to call out letters when you see them on street signs, license plates, and signs on buildings. Your favorite, though, is H-U-D-S-O-N.

You are still going to school two days a week and your favorite time at school is circle time when you all sit in a circle and sing songs. You get in the car every day singing “Twinkle Twinkle,” “Itsy Bitsy Spider,” “Jesus Loves Me”, and “Wheels on the Bus.” You also love to sing the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme song and the Hot Dog song. You really are a happy kid.

You are one hundred percent boy and love cars, trucks, tractor, fire trucks, garbage trucks, and any other heavy machinery. You love being outside and climbing things.

You have recently really started loving to color. I got you a big sketch pad and some twist top Crayons and you will sit and try to write your letters and draw pictures of the dogs. You love naming all of the colors and saying, “Do you see the green?” Or “Do you see the pink?”

I am afraid you have a bit of a bossy streak. You are always telling the dogs to hush and get in their kennels. And yesterday at school you were telling one of your friends to stop crying while he waited for his mommy to get there.

This month we’ve talked a lot about Easter, the Easter bunny, and Easter eggs, but we’ve also told you about Jesus on the cross and how much He loves you, Hudson. I hope that you always know how much He loves you and that you continue to grow to love Jesus, too. That is my biggest prayer.

I am so excited about watching you become a big brother to sweet little Hayes. I can’t wait to see the things that you teach him and show him. I can’t wait to see how different the two of you will be and see your similarities.

We love you so much and are so proud of you!

Love,

Mommy

Clothes: 2T shorts, 3T shirts, and 3T John Johns and longalls

Diaper: Size 6 (time for potty!)

Shoes: Size 7

Weight: 32 pounds