Here we are: the final monthly photo update.
365 days. 52 weeks. 12 months. One year!
However you say it, it’s gone by in a flash! I can’t believe we have a one-year-old son. (But of course some days I can’t believe we have a son, at all!) The year has been nothing short of awesome–in all senses of the word. It’s been exhilarating, joyful, humbling, eye-opening, overwhelming, life-altering… and honestly earth-rocking. He’s aged one-year, we’ve aged five.
Though he started walking at ten months, he really became a toddler in his eleventh. He sticks out his robust little belly and strides to and fro with determination–and suprising speed! Just recently he decided that he will occasionally let me hold his hand while he’s walking (probably because I insist sometimes), but generally he’d prefer to do it on his own and maybe while pulling along a car. He goes up steps without a second thought, will slide down slides, and we’re not sure yet if he’d pause before coming down steps head-first; I think he does, but we don’t usually wait to find out. When he gets excited (which is often), he’ll wave his arms up and down and he makes little shrieks as he walks. If you don’t see him coming, you’ll likely hear him!
While he has said a few “words” with intention (duck, dada, mama, dog), the only one we routinely hear is dog (“dah”). It’s clear however that he understands far more. When we took his last monthly photos, I asked him what the doggy says–a routine call-and-response of mine–and he mouthed “woof” as I said it! He’ll also (if mood strikes) bring things over. A week or two ago, I asked him to bring me the car and he walked over to it, pointed (that was also new this month) and made a sound that I swear was “Dat?” a few times, and then picked it up and handed it to me. And then the ball, too. I couldn’t believe it! Now he’ll also retrieve shoes–and maybe try to slip his own foot inside at some point in the process. I really wonder how many words he knows.
There’s a certain category of noises that scare him and he’ll look at us with concern: construction sounds like drilling and sanding (not pounding) or sizzling. And he doesn’t feel comfortable around hoses. He also gets very upset sometimes when other babies cry (as evidenced in his birthday photos).
He doesn’t like having his diaper changed–which I think has to do more with his feeling pinned down than the diaper–but he can usually be distracted quickly.
Music seems to calm him in many scenarios. And he bounces and claps now whenever he hears a melody. We have started having little dance parties–my favorite is when we dance to Wyclef’s “Perfect Gentleman,” but singing along to a song about a strip joint is only going to feel ok for a little while longer. Actually, it already feels wrong now that I spell it out. Hmmm.
He has really been into hand-clapping this month, and he waves all the time now! He waves at dogs on the street (of course), birds, doormen, babies, and his grandparents’ photographs. He waves when you ask him to “wave goodbye” and waves his hands with excitement when he chases after birds and squirrels (which he will do for a shockingly long distance without ever looking back).
He’s very affectionate and comes in for hugs all the time (if he’s not, you know, chasing a squirrel). He puts his arms around my neck and rests his face against mine (and sometimes his lips against mine). He has started trying to hug other babies, too–which doesn’t always end well. I’m pleased that, so far, he loves sharing–though I have no expectation that this will always be so. We got him a little toy lawnmower push toy and it is often “borrowed” at the playground in the funniest ways: kids will toss something else at Hudson to distract him and then grab it and make a run for it! Where do they learn that trick? Pretty slick, these kiddos.
His most favorite toys this month were his push car and a box for sorting. He didn’t actually start pushing the car until the very end of the month (in fact the first time we saw him push a train on a table was on his first birthday), but loved pulling it behind him. I tied a string to its wheels and it suddenly came everywhere. And then we taped up his diaper wipes box and made it into a sorting toy and that, too, was a huge hit. Putting things into holes is a new favorite pastime and we’ve entered that phase wherein electronics go missing into the trash and trash goes mysteriously into a dresser drawer.
He continues to be a robust eater. We actually wonder if he would stop eating if we didn’t portion things out. Things he doesn’t like: Babybel cheeses, Broccoli (he used to, but no more), and spicy food (so much for all that Indian food I consumed while pregnant). Nursing is like a wrestling match (he likes to keep moving or standing whenever possible), but he still eats with me after he wakes. We’ve started giving him a spoon for practice, and he’s surprisingly good at feeding himself yogurt. We eat out all the time, and he’s generally pretty good at sitting still through a meal if we have some berries or cheerios on hand for when we first reach the table. Breakfast, now that Aron is finished with residency, is our most common meal out–with Peels (for muffins and scrambled eggs) being our most frequented spot.
There have been a series of early morning wake-ups in these past weeks–most likely related to teething (he’s about to get teeth 7 and 8 on the bottom)–but we’re generally coasting along with a pretty good schedule. We still look back on that trip in St. Lucia (7 months) as the time it finally came together. He gets up around 6am and goes down for his first nap at 9:30 or 10. He sleeps for 2 or so hours and then usually takes a shorter nap around 2:30 or 3. I think he’s going to try to drop that second nap before too long and push the first nap back. I wonder when?
Hudson has two laughs, a real one and a fake one. His fake one sounds like a tommy-gun and is often used to get the attention of strangers. The real one is still the sweetest sound ever and tends to be elicited with tickling, peekaboo, Mr. Brown Can Moo, and tummy razzes. Its more rare (he’s still a serious fellow), which makes it all the more amazing when you hear it. It’s in close competition for sweetest sound with this noise he makes with the back of his hand. It’s his attempt at going “pow-wow-wow-wow” but it’s much softer and sweeter. I hope I never forget it; we keep trying to catch it on video.
It’s hard knowing that you can’t capture everything with notes or photos or videos. We certainly try. I keep trying to remember exactly what it felt like when his dark little head fit in the palm of my hand and he’d fall asleep without a peep while resting against my legs. I know it happened, but how? I’m glad that I noticed that his newborn feet were exactly the length of my pinky so that I can compare his feet to my hand, now (they’re nearly twice as long).
When he was born he weighed 7 lbs, 2 0z (and dropped to 6lbs, 90z at his five-day check-up before rebounding), and was 21 inches long. At one year, he weighs 22 lbs, 10 oz and measures 31 inches. “Tall like his daddy,” as people say.
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