This next one is a little out of order but it's a quick one and the next is a long one so here it is...
My motivation for a lot of these posts is my fear of forgetting something. I ask my mom questions about things that I did at Hudson's age and she has forgotten (since it was so long ago:) So when something strikes me and I worry that I may forget I try to capture it here.
Hudson does the funniest things and I think he knows it. I didn't think that at his age he could have such a sense of humor, but he does. Take this video for example. Hudson and the rest of us clearly watch too much baseball, but as a result I have quite an accomplished player. It doesn't get much better than this.
He also loves to make spit bubbles. He is so all boy! He didn't start doing it until he realized there was a laugh factor. He loves to make us laugh.
The thing is he makes me laugh just as much if not more. Thank you Hudson for making my life, even if it is sleepless sometimes. Tara :)
So I count down is officially over and Summer is finally here. Hooray!!!!! Now what to do???? Swimming lessons! I always start things with the best intentions, but I should listen to that voice in the back of my head that says "Are you sure?". Needless to say I didn't listen and we started swim lessons anyway the first week out of work. What made me tentative was that I decided to take some classes at the YMCA and the times they had available didn't work for Hudson's nap schedule. I figured one day a week how bad can it be. But that little voice in my head tried to warm me. All in all we survived. Through a lot of tears I learned that my child is NOT flexible. He is definitely my child and likes things to be routine and this was not part of his routine. So instead of going to the pool I was assure was heated and was not, for the last class I took him to the YMCA and did the class myself at a time that worked for us and didn't have to watch his lips turn blue and shiver. It was so much better. It has been A LOT of years since I taught swimming, but hopefully it is like riding a bike and we'll do just fine.
1 year ago
Father's Day we headed out on the road to see some Dinosaurs. Sometimes I get these ideas in my head and all Jeremy can do is go along with them. After 16 years I guess he's used to it. So we hit the road, this time dragging my dad along for the long ride to Salt Lake City. I probably had more fun then anyone. Of course Hudson has no clue what we are looking at except he did learn a new word "Tops" for triceratops. I truly think that it is more about spending time together than it is about what we are doing. I remember going on long trips with my dad and being stuck in the car with your family only results in conversation. I think it is harder these days with I-phones and I-pads distracting us, but we still visited, laughed, and talked about nothing in particular. At one point in the trip I took a picture of Hudson and Jeremy and couldn't believe how much Hudson has grown in the last year. My baby is getting to be so big and I hate when I miss anything. There are still times when I look at him sleeping and it doesn't feel real. I know that sounds silly, but it's true. I look at him and expect to wake up from this great dream. I can't believe he's mine! Thank you Lord for not giving me what I deserve!
I say this now because at some point this month God has decided to remind me of what I deserve and take my easy going child and replace him with alter ego Hudson. When I first got out of work I knew that my very structured child would have some issue with the transition of me being home all the time. I take a lot of guff from people about how structured I am with Hudson and how nuts I am about consistency in his day to day, but if they could see him in June they would LOCK IT UP! Due to the swimming lessons his nap schedule got interrupted, and we were coming to the point of phasing out that morning nap. No matter how hard I tried to hold on to that beloved nap this month we said goodbye to our old friend. I feel like he needs an obituary...
This month we lost a true friend and integral part of the Miller family. Although he held on longer than he should it was still difficult to say goodbye. He leaves behind a mother in desperate need of caffeine. Donations will be accepted in the form of Starbucks gift cards.
Now that the grieving process is over I have to say that I have truly enjoyed my mornings. It wasn't like that in the beginning though. We began just taking a short morning nap but the only way Hudson would nap would be if he slept on me. At first I probably made the situation worse because I had my snuggle bug back so I didn't put an end to it as fast as I probably should. However, as my pediatrician says to me "Mom, he won't be going down the isle [insert issue] in this case sleeping on me. So I enjoyed the hour a day with Hudson's hot box body sleeping on me as I put off doing the things I didn't want to do anyway. Then we transitioned to no nap in the AM, but the PM nap was a fight. I ended up spending most of the afternoon laying on the floor next to his crib singing him to sleep. When did he learn the word sing?? Anyway... The few times that I thought he was asleep and I tried to army crawl out of the room only ended with me being scolded by a less than two year old to "Sit, Sing!" So once again I would being making up words to songs or there were days where I was having complete brain blanks and the only songs I could come up with were from Bob Marley or Jimmy Buffett, which don't get me wrong I love, but singing wasting away again in Margaritaville might not be the best. There were days that I thought going back to work might be the answer, but I'm not that crazy (no comment).
By the end of the month his neediness subsided and he realized I wasn't going to disappear. I could now set him down, leave the room to pee, not sleep on the floor, and play the radio on SOS rather than sing.
Cheesy grin
The best reminder this month for me was friendship. This month I was reunited with a great friend. In my life I have been lucky enough to have people that I can be completely honest with, put myself out there for, and they are my friend regardless. This month I was lucky enough to reconnect with a friend from college who is all that and more. We all know that I am terrible with phones and staying in touch (I'm working on it), but Ang never gives up on me and accepts that about me and works that much harder to stay in touch. We both have moved (her out of the country for awhile) and as a result lost touch and haven't spoken in years and yet when she finally got a hold of me it was like no time has passed at all. I have taken her and her friendship for granted and I will never do that again. I realize what a great friend she is and how much that I have truly missed her. I won't make that mistake again. I want to make sure that Hudson learns how to be a friend and what it takes to have great friendships in life. I will lead by example.
She will be here for a visit in a few weeks and I can hardly wait! Since being pregnant some of my relationships with old friends has fizzled. We were the first in our core group of friends to have a child, a sick child at that, and our friends didn't quite know how to transition our relationship or what to say. We ended up being isolated since we couldn't do a lot of social activities we'd done before, and by the time we could we had stopped being invited and relationships were strained. As a result that, and Ang have brought friendship into perspective for me and how much I value the great friends that I do have that are there through thick and thin, day in day out. I have friends that I have known since I was a baby. I look at pictures of Hudson and Dean and wonder if it will be the same. I recently have been going through pictures and found some of me and the girls in my neighborhood (don't worry ladies I won't post them, I'll wait and use it as blackmail:) and hope that Hudson has the same great friends that I was and am lucky to have. Thankfully Dean has moved on from "Ninny" and now is being called by his real name so hopefully he doesn't hold that against him.
Friends
Water play with D-Duck on his birthday
Tara
:)
Gotcha
The best friend a boy could have
Life in a Snap Shot...
So life has been so busy that I have not been on here in FORRR-EV-ERRRR, so much so that I forgot the password. So here is my attempt to get back on track. I have been writing notes here and there as things came up so I apologize if there is no theme or message to my madness in this long and drawn out post. I had no plans of this sitting in the draft box for as long as it did. I started it, would have to go back to it to add pictures, add a little more, have to add pictures, and as you will see it got out of control. So here is a bunch of posts all rolled in to one. It makes sense to me so hopefully I don't lose you.
February started with a trip to Lego Land with some of my students (I know February, I told you!). They are on a robotics team lead by one of our teachers whose talents boggle my mind. So I figured she doesn't have a grade level team, I would want support if it were me, so we tagged along. It also happened to fall on Jeremy's birthday so I figured we'd make a trip out of it. Not only was I amazed by our Jo Mackey Robotics team and their leader, but I LOVED Lego Land. I'm not a big lego person per se, I don't remember ever having a set as a child, and to be honest they frustrate me to no end. My designs never look like anything. But I figure it is something that Hudson will at some point enjoy so I better get prepared and on board. I was amazed at what they can create out of Legos.
So strong
Amazed the the marching band marched
Ferndale CA, used to live there and shop on that street
That smile gets me every time
Not only did we have a great time, get a crash course in robotics, and stay at a beautiful hotel, but we had a great family trip. We went to a beautiful area, stopped by to see our buddy Shamu, and checked out the ocean which is always what I look forward to.
Peek-a-boo Shamu
Dada and Hudson
Love that laugh!!!
We finished the month off with a birthday party where Hudson had his first taste of chocolate cake, and then just some fun at home. Life was good to us in February.
Cake is good
Now on to March
March was pretty low key probably due to the testing schedule of my beloved CCSD. All in all it went well. My students did amazing on their Writing test (the best scores the school has seen, and I've ever had) and as usual Jo Mackey did better than the district average. However it never seems to be good enough. I toyed with the idea of changing grade levels as I do every year. The testing pressure is extraordinary and I've done it far too long and some of the joy of teaching gets lost in it. However, after LONG talks with my principal I decided to stay put AGAIN and look at the long term benefits (I think that's her strategy). I am not one for change, and with the current climate of our district and our school staying put worked for me FOR NOW. My grade level team situation works for me, and I have been told I am not the easiest to work with (no comments necessary). They accept me and I them and I decided that WHO I work with is more important than WHAT grade level I teach. Kids are kids. It also makes sense for my family right now. I have what I do pretty well figured out and the long nights grading papers are long gone. It leaves me what little time I do get with Hudson in the evenings stress free. The pros outweigh the cons.
We did however take a break from stress to enjoy some corned beef and cabbage along with Irish car bomb cupcakes. Too good to pass up.
April brought another trip to Cali and Spring Break 2012.
Hudson Dancing
Love Shamu
4/7/2012
You'd think we'd get tired of going to Sea World and the beach...NOPE. I won't bore everyone with a ton of pictures, only my favorites. I tried desperately to catch Hudson doing this dance he does on video, but the second he sees the video all dancing stops. I wish I could describe it and the description would do it justice. He bounces up and down and then bends his hands at the wrist in almost a hula motion. He seems to really enjoy music and I hope that continues.
Hudson and "Ninny"
The weather is getting warm enough that we can play in the pool with Hudson's best bud Mean Dean who he affectionately calls "Ninny". I am sad for the day that "Ninny" gets old enough to teach Hudson a lesson about name calling, luckily he's such a good boy maybe he'll let it slide.
April also brought our 18 month well check for Hudson. It should have been toward the end of March, but I delayed in making the appointment so we went April 19th. I don't think that I delayed his appointment intentionally, but I may have done it subconsciously. I was not looking forward to talking to my pediatrician, who I LOVE by the way and have no reason to want to avoid, about Hudson's language development or lack there of. At 12 months he was saying nothing more than "tickle his first real word, mama, and dada" but was signing most food items. At that stage my doctor showed little to no concern and told me to encourage him to talk rather than sign. By 18 months when he was saying little more than 12 months. We had added ball, nana, pop-pop, but little more and I knew he would ask me if Hudson was speaking 20 words which is what is expected. As everything, when Hudson decides to do it he's off and running. In the 3 weeks that I delayed his appointment we were up to 20 words, and then after that we had a language explosion. He amazed me with the words he knew and numbers and animals that I hadn't even explicitly taught. He's my little sponge. Sits back and absorbs everything until he is fully saturated and then leaks out everything. What a joy to watch him really change and become independent. I'm not saying that it doesn't come with struggles, especially when he wants to do it all by himself, but he works so diligently at things, and doesn't give up, traits that I hope continue.
5/11/2012
Dada and Hudson. I love when they walk hand in hand
Hudson and Dean Friends Forever
By May it was time to head back to Cali for Mother's day and our first baseball game. It was a night game so of course I was worried about how Hudson would do, and of course he did great. I saw NONE of the baseball game, I was too busy watching Hudson watch the game, but it was still a great night. School for me is winding down and I am counting the days and hours until I am home full time. How I wish I didn't have to work, maybe some day. We spent most of this month being low key and at home which is nice too. We enjoyed the eclipse with our neighbors and then had to say goodbye to neighbors that have been stationed at Edwards Airforce Base. We had a great time visiting, laughing, and watching all our boys play.
Good friends make all the difference
June brings the end of the year, my school lost a lot of great teachers. Things will be very different next year and I'm not sure what it will bring. I am still happy with my decision to stay put, now more than ever, but this is the third time I have been through a mass re-staffing and I go into it with mixed feelings. Due to the decision made by the school district we are not replacing some of the staff that is leaving and class sizes will just go up. Next year should be interesting. By grade level is stable, but the climate of the school will definitely impact us. I leave it all behind me for the next three months. It is out of my control and the district doesn't care how I feel about it, so I am going to enjoy my son and time off:)
Thanks for sticking with me on this one. I promise June will be shorter
