crashing cousin camp

My parents have been running a 'cousin camp' (aka Camp Oma Opa) for the past 5 years. It's great for the older cousins to get together from around the country (VA, CO & GA) in Tennessee with Oma & Opa and have adventures together. The prerequisite for cousin camp is that you must be five years of age. Unfortunately, Hudson doesn't meet that cut off. He is much like his mother and doesn't like to be left out of things.

My sisters typically hang out in GA with our aunt and uncle while Opa and Opa supervise the controlled chaos of 8 kids, pre-teens, & teens! I decided Wednesday morning that I needed a break from the city and Dave, the encouraging husband that he is, said I should go. A few airline miles spent later, I had my ticket, we let the nanny know she had Friday off and Hudson and I were on our way to GA Friday morning. As my parents were in the throws of the previously mentioned "controlled chaos," we decided to keep it a surprise for Saturday, when my sisters had to pick up their kids. To contribute to the surprise, Andrea carried Hudson to say hello while Katherine played paparazzi....The expressions are priceless:

 Opa isn't sure what is going on. Where did Andrea get a baby?

 Craig knew what was coming and was happy to see how much Hudson had grown..

 Oma can't figure out who Hudson is...It hasn't been that long, has it?

But she was sooo happy to get her hands on him! Hudson fit right into the chaos. He loved all the people! And he liked to show off how he can crawl and pull up..on everything including people!

thirty-one weeks!

Hudson was pretty calm today because we did the photo shoot after a nice long nap. He was really interested in the camera strap! And we got a good father - son shot too...

 

happy father's day!

 

Hudson woke us up bright and early today as he was too excited that it was father's day. He gave Dave a sweet card and signed it himself!

Cards are tasty too!

new kicks

So Hudson got his first pair of shoes this weekend. They are actually sandals, but they count. He was very accommodating when getting them on, although he was pretty curious. We went to the tot lot @ Garfield place which is especially  designed for new and beginner walkers. Hudson had a ball watching the other kids and pulling up and cruising along the bars. He was by far the youngest one there.

 

 

I love that you can see his foot prints on the bottom of the shoes The tops are pretty tasty too!

bye bye daddy!

So Hudson and I had our first 'alone time' together this week. Dave headed off to Chicago Sunday morning for a business trip and did come back until Tuesday night. Hudson was so happy to see Dave on Wednesday that he said 'da-da' for the first time in the bath.  Above Hudson is playing with Dave's suitcase. He then got distracted and wanted to check out daddy's night stand. It is the perfect height for chomping.

Our ride on the elevator to see Daddy go bye bye.

M+B were kind enough to have us over on their new back patio. We had delicious burgers from the grill and great homemade guacamole! Hudson didn't nap much, but he had fun!

ma ma! da da?

So I was very impressed (and happy) that Hudson's first word on June 12, was 'ma ma.' He said da-da two days later, but we have yet to capture it on video. Below is a video of us trying to get him to say da-da. Instead he was more enthralled with Dave's teeth. Dave says he might be a dentist. I think he is just a baby figuring things out...We'll see in 20 years!

thirty weeks!

It is hard to believe that Hudson is going to be seven months old on Wednesday (bonus day!). This morning he woke up saying 'ma mam.' Yes, that's right...Hudson marches to the beat of his own drum. It may be easier to say 'da-da' and father's day is coming up, so that would be fortuitous. But no. Hudson said 'ma - ma ma.' Gotta love him! We tried to take a sitting photo but that was even more hard than getting a photo while he was laying down on his back (more to see around the room versus just me and the ceiling when he is laying on the floor). Also he crawls over to his toys now and pulls them out to play. Teaching him to 'clean up!' is next on the list... HIs favorite foods this week include broccoli with ricotta (or goat cheese), yogurt and prunes and blueberries! He also enjoyed a bit of my pancake this morning.

 

hi janey!

Hudson and I met our friend Janey who was visiting from DC on Friday afternoon. The weather was much nicer than it had been all week and we enjoyed hanging out side!

splash!

Hudson loves bath time. We got a new book that squirts water (best of both worlds) and the stacking cups have holes in the bottom that shower water on him. He loves to be in the water! The bath seat (that we picked up off the street the week before he was born  - and then deeply disinfected it) is also a favorite. Funny thing is that his cousin Aaron has the same one as a hand-me-me down from his much older brothers!

twenty-nine weeks!

Hudson is a *very* active baby. This photo only includes part of his leg as he kept moving. Hudson loves to be on the move. Crawling is really a means to an end - an opportunity to climb onto something. The only problem is that Hudson hasn't really developed any fear yet nor a sense of depth (this explains his constant attempt to nose dive off of the changing table). Thankfully he is pretty resilient and hasn't had too many bumps and bruises. Yet.

pat the puppy

Saturday we went into the city so Hudson could meet Lucy, our friends Holly & Nick's new vizsla puppy. Nick & Holly had run with Lucy for a good hour before we arrived, so she was pretty docile and sleepy. The funny thing is that Hudson went her toys and Lucy went for his toys (that is untill she fell back asleep!) Can't get much cuter than babies and puppies!