Fun Times

First off, let me inform you that I mean the title of this blog both literally and sarcastically.  We'll start with the literal part.

Last week Shawn took Thursday and Friday off of work.  He hasn't had an assistant manager in about 2 months and his new one finally started that Monday so he bounced.  He really deserved a break and I'm so glad he agreed to take one.  We decided we would go down to the Sacramento area for the long weekend and do some fun things and see my parents.  We left on Thursday morning and headed straight to the Sacramento Train Museum.  Hudson really likes trains (like, really) so we thought he would enjoy it.  We were kind of wrong.  He was totally freaked out by how big they were and spent a lot of time trying to run away.  Luckily, they have an upstairs area that is all train tables with lots of Thomas stuff to play with so we spent most of the time up there.  He tends to be really timid of a lot of things at first, so I'm sure when we go back he won't be as scared.  That night Shawn and I went out to a nice dinner.  It was nice to have a date night and uninterrupted adult conversation.

On Friday we went to the Sacramento Zoo and Fairytale Town.  Hudson couldn't really care less about the zoo and pretty much just sat in the stroller and ate Cheerios.  I think it was because most of the animals were sleeping so they were kinda hard for him to see.  So we headed over to Fairytale town, which is basically just a big playground.  He liked that a lot better.  He's super into slides right now so we went down every one we could find multiple times.  It was really great (and long overdue) to have a couple of days just having fun as a family.

On Saturday I left my boys and went down to Vallejo to my sister-in-law's baby shower.  This was very exciting for me because a baby shower means a baby is getting close to coming and in this case this baby will make me an aunt.  Um, I'm pretty jazzed about that.  Like really jazzed.  Anyway, it was fun to see my sister-in-law all good and pregnant and anticipate the addition to the family.

Sunday we just took it easy in the morning and then drove home.  It was a really nice and relaxing weekend that I think we all enjoyed.  It's a good thing I did because I had no idea what was in store for me in the days ahead.

This is where the sarcastic fun times comes in.  So, generally Hudson has been a super good kid since he was born and I definitely realized this and was very thankful for it.  I don't know what crawled up his ass on Sunday night, but boy is it nasty.  He is like a totally different child.  He is suddenly doing everything he knows he's not supposed to do.  Like, constantly.  It's his entire day.  Then when I tell him no, it's apparently super hilarious and discipline is the funniest thing he's ever seen.  There is no putting this kid in his place.  I feel like I've been doing everything that darn parenting book has told me to but it's not working.  It's about to end up in the garbage disposal.  We have agreed not to spank Hudson so we are trying to think outside of the box in terms of discipline.  We haven't yet found what works best with him, which I think is probably pretty normal for a kid this age.  The last few days have been entirely exhausting and I'm actually counting the hours to bedtime which I haven't really ever done before.  I know he's just testing us and his boundaries, but DAMN. 

Luckily, it didn't rain today so we went to the park.  We left after he threw two handfuls of sand right in his friend's face (sorry Haile).  It was way too long until nap time to go home so I took him to Barnes and Noble to play with the train table.  That's always good to kill a couple of hours but that big positive is always met with a giant tantrum when it's time to leave.  It was definitely worth it today though.  I got some sanity because he was distracted the whole morning.  I know it's probably just a phase and that is what is helping me get through this.  I'm sure once he's 16 I'll be wishing my worst problem was him throwing sand at the park.



**As this went to press, Hudson was on time-out.**

Oh Crap.

I know, I know.  I haven't updated in a while.  I can honestly say nothing exciting or eventful has happened in the last month.  Until last night.

It's not at all exciting but undeniably eventful.  I was giving Hudson a bath and he was just playing around when all of a sudden, he lifted up one side of his little tushy and a big poop came out.  He said "toot".  I freaked out.  Luckily, at that exact moment, Shawn got home from work.  I immediately called him into the bathroom.  "What do I do?  I don't know what to do!".  I had already taken Hudson out of the tub but I didn't know where to go from there.  I figured since we are trying to introduce potty training, I would show Hudson what he had done and even get a little excited about it for him.  I know.  After that display of complete fakeness, Shawn told me to take Hudson out of the bathroom and he took a big cup and scooped the poo out and flushed it down the toilet.  The tub had to be completely sanitized and Hudson was definitely not clean so Shawn took him into our bathroom and gave him his first "big boy shower".  I vote for this to happen much more often.

It's behind us now and the tub has been sanitized but we will definitely remember this incident for a while.  I just hope my celebretory attitude about it all in front of Hudson doesn't come back to bite me in the, well, butt.

Christmas

It all started on the 18th with my big family Christmas.  There were about 30 people at my parents' house.  We only buy presents for the kids and I had made a list on Target.com to help people with ideas on what to get for Hudson.  I realized there were only two things on his list that weren't online only when he got three of each of those two things.  Ooops!  Oh well, we had lots of fun and it was great to see Hudson more into it this year, even though he still didn't fully understand what was going on.

Christmas Eve we went up to Shawn's parents' house.  They bought him a few Thomas the Train toys and on top of that they had gotten some new toys to keep at their house for when he comes over.  He also got to see both of his Great-Grandmas from that side which was really special.  He had such a great time and when we left he was definitely over stimulated, but happy nonetheless.  When we got home he got to open his Christmas Eve present from Shawn and I which was a new pair of converse to match his cute Christmas outfit for the next day.

Christmas day started out with just the three of us exchanging gifts.  Hudson got an overflowing stocking, crayons and coloring books, lots of regular books, a couple of Elmo movies, a Puma outfit, and a Thomas the Train book that has buttons and songs on it.  From there we went to Vacaville to see my mom's cousins.  We have a themed gift exchange every year.  We've been doing this as long as I can remember.  The theme this year was green (environmentally friendly) items.  Right up my alley!!  Shawn wound up with a bunch of CFL light bulbs and I got a reusable water bottle.  From there we drove to Folsom to my parents' house where we did our small family Christmas with just my parents, brothers, and sister-in-law.  Hudson got ultra super spoiled and wound up with another overflowing stocking, a tiny recliner, and a fun contraption that has a slide, just to name a few.  He was only seven months old last Christmas so this one was so much more fun!  He loved ripping off the wrapping paper and pulling the tissue paper out of the bags.  He seriously has more stuff now than we all know what to do with and it's still just all over the house because the task of finding places for it all overwhelms me.  I could have a lot worse problems though. He is a very fortunate little boy!

Just Had To Share

So yesterday I was putting Hudson in his car seat and I always kiss him and say "I love you" as I do that.  This time, as I was getting out of the back seat, I head a smacking noise.  I looked at him and he was blowing me kisses!  It was the sweetest thing.  Of course I totally gushed over it and he continued to blow me kisses the entire way to the store.  I know I talk a lot of crap about all the tantrums and trials, but the sweetness and love this little boy brings to my life far outweighs all of that!!!  I mean how could you not love this face?!

Seriously?!

Several things lately have made me say "Seriously?!", often times out loud.  I thought I would share a few.

• I ALWAYS get a squeaky shopping cart when I go somewhere.  It doesn't matter where I am; I'm the one with the noisy cart walking down the aisles.  Then people look at me like I'm the one making it be so loud.  This is not my choice, people!
• Speaking of shopping, the other day Hudson and I were at Target and I was buying a toy for a family member that's about his age.  He was playing with it in the (noisy) cart and when it came time to pay for it I asked if I could have it.  He handed it to me nicely and then proceeded to flip out.  And I mean flip out.  He started screaming at the top of his lungs and thrashing around in the cart.  Of course it was crowded because it's Target in December and all these people turn to look.  Then the woman in front of me in line turns around and says "Oh good.  A child is screaming and it's not mine".  Yeah, super great, lady.  To make matters worse, I had grabbed an item that didn't have a tag on it so the cashier was trying to figure out how much it was.  It was taking a while so she suspends my transaction and starts helping the people behind me.  So now I'm just standing by a crowded register with my psychotic child and waiting.  And waiting.  Luckily, Hudson did calm down and started being really cute and saying "bye bye" to everyone that was behind us in line as they left.  Bi-freaking-polar.
• Speaking of Hudson, I put him in time out the other day because he violently shook the gate that blocks off the kitchen and it came off.  He's usually pretty good about time out and I can just tell him to go sit and he knows where to go and he sits.  He did it this time only as soon as I turned my back to fix the gate, he got right back up.  Lord help us, it has occurred to him that he can get up from time out.  I knew this day was coming, but I was not prepared for it.  I haven't gotten any further in my parenting book, but I have watched Supernanny a few times so I used her strategy.  I looked him in the eyes and told him he needed to stay in time out and I brought him back to the spot.  As soon as I turned around he got up again.  Let me inform you that each time he got up he ran right to me and was laughing hysterically.  Like, seriously hysterically.  And right in my face.  Each time after the initial put-back, I'll call it, I didn't say anything to him or look at him, I just put him back in time out.  I did this probably 8-10 times (all the while he's still laughing his head off) before I just got too frustrated so I put him in his crib, took everything out of it, and walked out of his room.  Oh, how quickly can laugher turn to tears.  I haven't had to put him in time out since then so I'm not sure if this is the new way time out is going to go.  But I do know I better crack open that parenting book.  Seriously.

Lately

When I first started this blog, for some reason I though I would have a lot to talk about.  This has proven to be untrue.  My daily life is pretty routine and scheduled because that is how Hudson likes it.  Nothing out of the ordinary or exciting really ever happens.  Therefore, the rest of the blog is likely to be pretty boring.  Full disclosure.

• Actually, something rather exciting did happen yesterday.  My brother and sister-in-law found out that they are having a boy!  I'm very excited about having another baby in the family.  The due date is, strangely, the same due date as Hudson's was which is April 28.  I see many joint birthday parties in the future.
• Hudson went up a diaper size.  This always makes me unnaturally sad for usually an entire day.  It means he is growing up and getting bigger.  I don't necessarily want this to happen.  I mean look at the changes in him in just the last 6 months.  It's all happening too fast!

• Speaking of Hudson growing up, he is finally starting to enjoy storytime at the library.  It has never really captured his interest before, but yesterday he was totally into it.  In addition to reading a couple of books, they sing some songs and he loved them!  Every time a song was finished he would say "Gain!  Gain!", which translates into "Again! Again!".  Not letting this knowledge go to waste, I now burst into song whenever he is about to throw a fit and it's worked pretty well so far!
• I bought a parenting book a week or two ago.  I bought it because I'm a parent.  But being a parent so often means I don't have time to read it.  What a cruel cycle.  When Hudson is acting out or throwing a tantrum I think "I wonder what my parenting book would say to do in this situation.  I should really try to read it".  I am about half way through it now but to get there it has required me to stay up way later than I want to.  Just something I have to get used to I guess.

See, nothing too exciting (except for the first one).  But, thus is my life.  I expect most of my blogs will contain similar useless information to your life.  I'm warning you now.

Daylight Savings Time

Ok, so "fall back" used to be my favorite day of the year.  As an expert in sleeping, getting an extra hour of it is an amazing gift.  However, this year I realized that since I haven't taught Hudson how to tell time, I will not be receiving this gift.  As a stay at home mom I am on Hudson's schedule, no matter what it is.  He had previously been waking up in the 8 o'clock hour and, while that's still a little early for my liking, I was ok with it.  Now he wakes up in the 7 o'clock hour and it's throwing everything off.  I no longer understand why people get all excited over the extra hour of sleep because everyone with kids doesn't get it.  And a freakin' lot of people have kids.  I like the extra sunlight in the summer too, so why can't it just always be daylight savings time?  Why do we have to toggle back and forth screwing with the equilibrium of people's schedules?  I mean, I was still trying to get over the guilt and shame of contributing to the childhood obesity epidemic by shoving pounds of candy into the hands of a hundred children on Halloween and then this comes and messes things up for me even more.  Needless to say, I am no longer a fan of the "fall back" idea.  But I guess all I can do is try to teach Hudson to tell time by this time next year so maybe I won't feel so jipped and write a bitter blog for who knows how many people to see.