New Studio Owner

This is me. Age 39. In my new studio in Franklin.

Wordless Wednesday: Post VD

Thoroughly receptive to love

On February 8th my baby sister was married. The two cutest boys in the land were her ring security officers. Dressed in little suits with sunglasses, a safe, and appropriate in-ear "bluetooth" pieces, they walked down the aisle and stole the show. (Well, the bride was pretty amazing herself!)

I was extremely nervous about how they (specifically, the little one) would fare walking down the aisle essentially on their own. Since I was already down front and Josh was too (he was an usher) it was nerve-wracking. But it was so awesome.

Now, if you ask Hudson what was awesome, he will tell you about a little lady all dressed in red tulle. This was the niece of the groom and forever known as Hudson's new lady. After just one walk down the aisle during rehearsal, this pair were immediately drawn to one another. They did some small chit chat at the rehearsal dinner and by the time we got back to the hotel, all we heard about was his scheduled playdate later that night in her room!!!

Her name is Taylor, she is 4, and even though we had ever intention of sending Little Man back to the hotel after the ceremony to go to bed, he and his new friend danced the night away until 10 p.m.

By the end of the night they were sharing a Sprite out of a glass with two straws and breaking their mother's hearts. I can NOT wait to see more pictures from the wedding photographer. I know these moments were caught because the two of them had their own "new love" paparazzi following them all over the venue.

A little more about Mr. T

Tucker should pen a book about being adorable because no one knows it better. His personality and appearance seemingly qualify complete strangers to stop us in stores and public places for commentary. Tucker recently had his 30 month check up and he is just 9 inches shorter than Hudson (35 inches tall) and weighs almost 30 pounds. He feels light as a feather to me. His hair is still in full curls and reminds me so much of my own wacky tresses.

Tucker talks now all the time. Admittedly it still takes a dedicated ear to understand what he is saying, but the kid. is. talking. I genuinely had very serious fears about Tucker's lack of talking. That has proven to be just another example of a mother's worrying over needless things. In recent weeks he has joined in on our game of identifying "slug bug" cars out on our drives and starts about 20 "knock, knock" jokes a day, not knowing what to say you say "who is there?"

He has been in speech therapy for 6 weeks, and we have just one more session. I believe that he is not gaining much from the experience. However, his OT therapy (also weekly) has greatly improved some of his difficulty with transitions. It must be hard to be the littlest, always getting redirected and told what is happening next. However, we definitely have some issues which we are working through.

He just loves books. Like his brother, he does not lack the ability to tell you whether you have picked THE book that he wanted to read, but once you have found something of his interest, he will sit on "LAP" forever wanting "MORE MORE MORE".

No biography of Tucker would be complete without clearly explaining how much the boy loves his Cars. And I capitalize Cars on purpose. He does not just like regular HotWheels or Matchbox cars; he wants those from the Cars movie. He is completely obsessed. I bet he walks 40 miles a week just around our coffee table creating races.

"My turn" is his favorite thing to say. And he is not the most patient little turn-taker. As someone who is still a rather unsteady walker, he also says, "I'm OKAY!!!" when he falls in the snow.

Following last weekend's wedding, we "lost" paci. It has been a hard transition and he has asked for it every night. Then he explains how "Mama lost" it and I am sure that will bite me as he grows older.

Even though Tucker has difficulty going from one activity to the next, he still has such an ease about him that I love. He loves his schedule of daily 3 hour naps, watching "shows" and figuring out ways to incorporate more Goldfish crackers into his diet. 

Stiff Upper Lip

I have not been very good about blogging this winter. Frankly, as the boys get older it is becoming increasingly difficult to clearly communicate the changes that are happening with them and in our lives in general. But, I will try, for the sake of keeping things recorded for posterity to update how each of the boys are doing. Today, I will focus on Hudson.

Little Man has dramatically changed in the past three months. There were specific personality quirks that were stressful and even a bit challenging prior to his surgeries in November. He was a different kid almost immediately. (Pregnant pause...see I have a difficult time communicating all those changes...)

He continues to be loquacious, entertaining to all, intelligent, a fan of books, Angry Birds, and annoying his baby brother. He is honestly obsessed with technology in general. This weekend he was described by new friends as a "lover" and I think that is a fair descriptor as well. Hudson can be shy, but he is not one to know many strangers. And when he finds something he likes, he is very passionate about it. (I am on the verge of digressing, so I will hold back a bit and focus on a general update.)

He received his first real school "progress" report from preschool last week. He was above average or at skill level in all areas except: knowing his phone number and balance. This made me laugh out loud. In honesty, we do not work on phone numbers and addresses, so that was no surprise. And with his balance, that is SO him. I am forever telling him to get his butt up "off the ground" in every random dirty floor at every grocery store or other establishment.

If you remember Hudson received a fish tank for Christmas over a year ago. His first first, Swimmy, has not been in best health. Matter-a-fact, Josh and I have been "waiting for him to die" for at least a month. Hudson and I thought it would be good to add a new Zebra Danio to the tank to entertain the other zebra we have. (Zippy is still alive. Dippy died last summer.) So, we went to the store and got two more. Hudson had the task of naming them. Seeing as we had two new fish, one being a bit bigger than the other, he suggested they were brothers. So, he named the big one Hippy (like Hudson) and the little one Tippy (like Tucker). I am amused at how his brain works.

Last week I was singing the (OLD) Mickey Mouse theme song, "whose the leader of the band that's made for you and me? M-I-C-K-E-Y-M-O-U-S-E" and Hudson said, "Uh huh! Mom it is U-S-A, NOT U-S-E" I guess he has Olympic fever or something.

Probably the most challenging aspect of Hudson these days is how sassy he is. He is quick thinking and confrontational. He does not shy from stating his mind or showing his will. He presents himself to any situation with an opinion of how things should go. (I see my mother's smiling nod that her dream that "one day I hope you get a child just like you!" has come true.) While I am proud that his confidence seems strong, being on the parenting end of this equation is already proving to be stressful. When he and I can come together on a task, we are unstoppable, but when we have a difference in how to attack an issue, watch out.

I find myself in need of a stiff upper lip so often because he continues to surprise me with his responses. Last week I caught him in his first straight out, bold faced lie. And he was trying to cover it up and thought he was doing such a good job, I-- unfortunately-- found myself just wanting to laugh at his antics.

Kindergarten will be a sad time for me. As anxious as I am to have the ability to "get some stuff done" while he is away, I will so very much miss him. The next six months we are gonna live it up.