Hudson Seventeen Months

Hudson, it seems like every month I say you have developed your own little personality. And again, as I sat down to write this post, that is what is on the top of my mind. Perhaps because you have so much personality? You are determined, smart, strong willed, and able. You have spend the past month mastering so many new skills. You have climb to new heights. Literally. You have climbed just about every piece of furniture in our house, especially if climbing higher helped you reach something. When you summit the coffee table, kitchen table, or your newest feat, our bed, you do what we have begun to affectionally call the "sumo stomp." You get so excited, your fat little feet move so fast.

You are not deterred by limits. You do not want to be held back. When we tell you no, you frown, grimace, or fake cry, but you almost always spit. You spit again and again, like an old greek lady who is dissatisfied with her cooking. You wiggle out of most holds and hand holding is your least favorite activity. Conversely, you love button pushing, all varieties. One day you escaped down the hall and started all of the intern dishwashers! You are also a pro at removing batteries. If there are batteries to be found, you are the man for the job.

You make us laugh. Oh boy, do you make us laugh. Your smarts come into play here. You catch us off guard, or make something ordinary far more exciting, and we all burst out with joy. I hope and pray you keep this gift and share it often throughout your life. I am not supposed to tell you this, but your spitting is what makes us laugh the most...

When we are out and about, you are so happy. You say "hi, hi, hi!" every time we pass someone and sometimes even to dogs. You points to animals and say "ooh, ooh," making a surprise face.

For months now, you have been throwing things away. When something goes missing, we panic that perhaps it fell victim to you and the trash. We even thought you tossed Dad's watch for a few days. Recently you have showed us that you know when something is supposed to be thrown away and when you get it right, we whoop and holler and cheer! We love watching you learn. Behr loves teaching you new things. He also likes getting credit for your new achievements.

You want to do almost everything Behr does. From first thing in the morning when you join him as he pushes dad out for work. All the way through the day until the very end when you climb into his bed instead of your own. As long as he isn't hugging you (which makes you so mad!) you want to be right along side him.

During bath time you sneakily get a cup and try to drink the bath water. Every single time. You pretend you are going to pour the water out and then gulp, down it goes! And once we finally get you to stop drinking the water, you dump it straight out of the tub. Some nights we use five or six towels just because of you.

You are in the process of cutting 2-4 more teeth, its hard to tell exactly where they are coming in. We think because of this, you have a new found fascination with your toothbrush. You carry it around most of the day and frequently go into the bathroom, climb up on the stool, and wait for more water.

Word are coming slowly to you, but you still babble on all day. Here are your favorite words these days: hi, hot, dog, mama, dada, up, on,  and sometimes we think you say Behr. But you still point as your primary means for communication, and you have it down to a science. When you are hungry or thirsty, you dump out the basket of baby dishes and start banging the counter. It reminds me of a prison scene in an old black and white movie, but I always know what you want!

I am so excited for you to start talking because I can see you processing all these ideas. But for now, we are trying to soak up all of the hilarious things you are doing at this stage. Thank you for being such a joy in our family. We are so blessed to have you in our lives.