cherry blossom festival

So we headed to the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens today with a couple other family friends from the neighborhood to enjoy the cherry blossom festival and the beautiful weather - finally! We were quite the entourage with three strollers, our friends from the building and coworkers from the building came with us.

 

James is 22 months and loves to run and play. Emma is 8 months and is cruising and crawling. And Hudson *wants* to crawl. Grass was pretty neat too!

 Yes, Hudson decided to try to taste some of the foliage (no worries, we made sure it was non toxic stuff! He loves hanging out with his daddy!

 All in all, it was a fun trip - and the cherry blossoms lived up to all the hype!

the proof is in the pudding

As I mentioned in his 23 week photo, Hudson is starting to get up on all fours. Below is the proof of said claim. This kid *really* wants to move on his own!

bouncy baby

So we put together a little video of Hudson enjoying his time with Oma and his bouncy chair (not in that order!).  He is such a happy baby!

twenty-three weeks!

Hudson is twenty-three weeks old - today! We gave him props this week, seeing as it is Easter Monday.  He is starting to get up on all fours by himself and rock back and forth. I know that crawling is soon to follow!

Plastic eggs are yummy!

happy easter!

We had a busy day yesterday. Church in Park Slope, then a delicious Easter lunch at M+B's new house. We didn't get home till almost 5pm so the photoshoot was dimly lit and Hudson was squirmy so most of the shots were blurry. We're going to have a re-take this afternoon. and post tonight. Below is a pic from Hudson on one of our walks yesterday. It was nice that it was so warm (no hat!)



twenty-two weeks!

Hudson is growing like a weed. His very wriggly. Every time I put him on his changing table - he flips over! It is hard to get him to keep still. Today he enjoyed pulling the burp cloth over his head and then waiting for you to pull it off.

Photo shoots are turning into a big game of twister - following Hudson and making sure he does not eat the camera while we try to capture "the shot" of the week...

..He almost took a bite here!

twenty-one weeks!

Hudson has such personality!

 

He was fun to photograph this week!

 

 

He had fun talking to the camera:

Oma's visit!

So Hudson got a treat this week! Oma came to visit! The photos on the blog was too enticing and she just had to come see him in person! I took off work a couple of days to hang out as well! I was able to get my hair cut on Thursday while Oma and Hudson  hung out!

Friday we went to see Diana Warner and she graciously gave me a pendant with Hudson's birthday as well as a necklace with an 'h' for Hudson. She has beautiful jewelry! She also will be opening a flagship retail store in NYC this coming June (so happy for her!!!!)

We also tried green beans and peas with Oma. Hudson shivered and made a face with the green beans. He loves to eat, so he wanted to like them, but it just wasn't working out. Peas went over better, although he still loves carrots and sweet potato best!

Saturday we got to see M+B's twelve foot wide house. Oma really enjoyed the tour! We all think it is beautifully done! Hudson had fun looking in the new mirror with Megan.

Hudson loves his Oma! He loves to giggle with her and play on the floor and read!

the (high)chair dileimma

 

So we were pretty adamant about not having a highchair. Then we tried to feed Hudson in the Bumbo seat and tray I had scored off of Park Slope Parents classifieds for $15, but it wasn't pleasant. Hudson was not a big fan. He kept trying to twist out of the seat (I don't think the leg holes were big enough for his thunder thighs) or arch his back to make an escape. I ended up re-selling it for a $5 profit. Then we tried the Bjorn chair which worked pretty well except that Hudson kept leaning forward to get closer to the food which resulted in a mess as it doesn't have a tray. The pediatrician had recommended the bouncer seat as it provides head support (the Bumbo does not), so we were on the market for a high chair.

 
I will concede that the nicest highchair on the market is the Stokke Trip Trapp. Made of solid wood and available in a variety of stains and paint colors, you buy one chair and it lasts until your child sits in your own dining chairs. At $230, it is not cheap, and that does not include the infant seat, the cushion or the tray (all of those add another $180!). One benefit is it is another chair at your table, so you don't need the intermediate booster seat (or phone book!) when your child is in between the highchair and dining chair size. That benefit, actually doesn't help us as Hudson's crib is in our 'dining' area and we don't have room for another chair at our table. We need a high chair that folds flat for easy storage or that was a booster seat. The chair even with the infant adapter, like the Bumbo, does not offer head support. The search was on!

I had thought we were going to get this Fisher price booster seat, but our dining chairs (from Yankee stadium, but that is another story...) really aren't conducive to the seat  as they are cantilevered, have metal arms and tilt back slightly. The things that I liked about the fisher price seat was that there was a removable tray that actually fit in the dishwasher.

Our criteria was as follows:
1. Must fold easily and quickly, to something small enough that is easily stored.
2. Must be safe (5 point harness, high back for head support) and easy to get Hudson in an out of
3. Removable tray that fit in the dishwasher
4. Flexible enough to work until Hudson is big enough to sit on a small booster (or book!)
4. Preferably not too ugly!

I had narrowed down the search to three options (listed in order of favored appearance):

Bloom Nano 

 

Valco Baby Astro 

 Joovy Nook

The Bloom Nano was pretty, but the reviews were not good. The baby was tilted away from the tray, it is hard to clean, the tray 'takes three hands to operate' and it was the priciest one of the bunch. The Valco Baby Astro has a cool fold (it collapses), but the tray is not dishwasher safe and the leg holes were small which could limit use for an older child. BabyGizmo.com was a really helpful, as they had video reviews of the Astro & the Nook the high chairs. 

Ultimately we ended up with the least expensive(!) Joovy Nook as it is an easy compact fold which can be done with one hand, the tray swings open (operation again with one hand) and it has a removable dishwasher safe tray. We went with the white 'leatherette' as the reviews said that it was easier to care for than the fabric. The only 'con' is that the baby sits a bit far from the tray, but it is closer than the Nano, and this is easily remedied witha folded up blanket. We are happy with our decision, as is Hudson! He *loves* to eat!

twenty weeks!

Hudson is thickening up with the addition of yummy solids. His favorites so far are carrots and sweet potatoes and avacado.Here he is rolling over...

and back again...

 

happy birthday, cousin!

Today also marks Aaron's first birthday! Hudson is so happy to have a cousin near his age (well actually, I'm happy...Hudson doesn't realize this; he's only 5 months old so we'll give him a break for now...)! We got to Skype with Aaron this morning which was really fun!

They have similar hair patterns - hair on top with wisps at the back and light on the sides!

in loving memory

Today, one year ago, we lost our dear sweet Giselle to a brain tumor. She was any many ways 'our first' - preparing us to be parents. Three weeks before she had unexplainable grand mal seizures, and then we had to make one of the hardest decisions an adult ever has to make about a pet that they love dearly.

She had an adventure of a life! She was a feisty bulldog from the beginning and a sweetheart...

 

She had traveled by plane, train, car, taxi (I consider this an alternate genre to the car), dingy, sailboat, canoe, bicycle and by foot. She had been to Maine, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Utah, Nevada, Virginia and Georgia.

 

 

Losing her taught us about letting go. Which is what parenthood is all about...

12.12.04 - 4.02.10

"Love is so short, forgetting so long..." ~ Pablo Neruda