Babies need tickets too

A week from today we leave to head north to visit family in Halifax. Hudson will get to meet his whole family and we might get to meet Baby Woods. Either way, we will see Andrew and Jenny and Anthony and Penny and Hudson will spend time with his grandparents and great-grandparents and that is exciting all by itself.

We will also be going apple picking in the Annapolis Valley, which has been a family tradition for many years. Even more so than the actual apple picking, there is a traditional rotten apple throwing battle that ensues. Inevitably someone gets hit in the wrong place with an apple, gets hurt, then turns cranky and the fun is over. For 'those people' (cough, Dad, cough) I wanted to point out this passage from the web site referenced above:

Behaviour and Attitude:
Pickers are expected to be on their best behaviour when in the orchard. A cheery attitude makes it better for you and everyone else. No one appreciates a grumbler.

Word.


Anyway, back to the original story....

I decided to take a look at our reservation to make sure I knew when we were departing, etc. I had spelled Mike's name wrong on the reservation, with two M's: mmichael. I was pretty sure that the security folks would consider a tall, pale (but handsome) dude as a terrorist with a name spelled like mmichael so I called the airline to have it corrected. After 15 minutes, they had issued him a new ticket.

So I thought I should mention to the ticket agent that we would be bringing an infant on with us to sit in a lap (no, I'm not spending $500 so that Hudson can have his own seat). There is no way to book 'Infant on Lap' through the online reservation system, so I ASSumed that he didn't need a reservation. Turns out that Infants On Laps need tickets too! Why did I not consider this? He needs a passport so of course he would need a ticket. I am an idiot. Anyway, $15 later, he now has a ticket and will not be denied entry to the jetbridge.

Hudson has started to shun baby food and does not want to be spoon fed anymore. It never fails, when Mike is feeding Hudson he bats the spoon and the food flies everywhere. So far Mike's solution to this problem is to pin H's baby-arms below the high chair tray (though it never works). There is a web site that I reference frequently about infant feeding so I consulted it, and sure enough, found a great article on what to do in this situation. As it turns out, it is time to let him feed himself. Last night I gave him diced chicken and macaroni and let him go to town. The night before it was ground beef and mashed 'taties.

Mike's Helper

Mike was vacuuming yesterday, and Hudson was helping...

Photoshoot Take 2

Bianca from A Moment Like This Photography came by this morning for the second in our four part 'A Year In The Life' series of Hudson.

For anyone who didn't see the first round of pictures, taken when H was 3.5 months old, you can find them here: http://www.amomentlikethis.net/hudson

He held up pretty well and we got some great shots. I tried not to take too many photos in the background because it's distracting to both photog and model, but I did manage to snap these few.

Bianca captured a great series of him attacking Ashley the cat.

I wanted to get some shots of him in his Halloween costume to provide a timeline reference (the images will be going in a coffee table book at the end of the fourth session). So it would be cool to have some of the holidays that came and went during his first year of life.

I think from the images below you can deduce that Hudson does NOT want to be a dragon for Halloween.

'God Bless Him!'

Hudson and I were making our morning stop at Starbucks yesterday when a nice man started to chat me up in line. He asked how old Hudson was:

Chatty Man: 'How old is your son? 12 months?'.
Me: 'No, he's not 8 months yet.'
Man: 'Oh God bless him! He's huge!'
Me: 'mmmmm, ok.'

Not sure what to make of all that, but the H-Bomb is near the top of the growth chart in height and weight at 80% (he's about 21 pounds). Considering that his Dad and Uncle are both giants, he comes by it honestly enough so I am not concerned.

So here's a pictorial ode to my monstrous babe. All photos have been taken in the last few days. I've been so excited to break out his fall wardrobe (in size 12-18 months)!









This little guy put his finger in Hudson's mouth - so Hudson bit him. Can't say that I blame him.





Pictures from this morning.




(yes, this is a velour jumpsuit)




'Look Ma! No Hands!'










Mike got home late last night but Hudson didn't see him until this morning. He was SO happy to see Dad.







This picture was taken a few weeks back at Ralph & Sandy's, riding on Leo the Lion. Not sure what's funnier, the look on his face or the diaper-and-socks combo.

Carrots and Colds

Our little monster has yet another cold. This is what happens when you've got a daycare kid. 'They' say that the average is 10 colds in the first year of their lives, but then their immune systems mirror that of a cockroach and it's all good from them on. I think we are on cold #48.

Last night after he had dinner (pureed chicken and sweet potatoes - ick) we tried some cooked carrots, since he's all about feeding himself now. He didn't completely get the carrots.

He had a pretty terrible night, awake almost every hour and hardcore wailing at 4am. Mike's out of town all week so it's all me.

This morning you'd never know that he's feeling crappy. All smiles, as usual. Man, I love this kid.

Now that he's mastered crawling, all he wants to do it stand.

I'm not sure I'll make it through the whole work day. I anticipate the 'come pick up your sick kid' phone call to be coming through at any moment.