November 28th - A year already!!!!

Well a year has flow by... our Robbie will be ONE this weekend. It has been a great year, we've had so much fun watching this mini-maniac develop from a 7lb 11oz baby into a cereal throwing, slobber kissing, walking, and cracker eating machine. Robbie is an incredible ball of energy, soaking up everything that is around him, and I can't believe his first birthday is here all ready. I know that we have tons more fun ahead of us, I just wish that kids came with a pause, rewind (and sometimes fast fwd) buttons. Wouldn't it be great to rewind them back to some of the great moments of the first year... like when they learn to crawl, or the first time they give you a hug. Well as with Charlotte I have a quiz for you all to fill in. It is the same quiz (you know I have to keep things consistent around here). So humour me, and fill it...

Past
How much did he weigh at birth?
How long was he at birth?
How old was Robbie when he first rolled over?
How old was Robbie when he started to crawl?
How old was Robbie when he started to walk?
What was Robbie's first word?

Present
One of Robbie's nicknames?
Name one thing that he loves?
Name one thing that he does not love?
How many teeth does he have?
How much does he weight?
How long is Robbie?

Future
What personality trait do you think Robbie will have from me?
What personality trait do you think Robbie will have from Mike?
Do you think Robbie will be a soccer player or a hockey player?
Who do you think he'll play for, Canada or England?
What year will he graduate high school?
Any guesses as to what Robbie will be when he grows up?

Also here are some random photo's from Robbie's first year. They are in no particular order, as I just don't have the time nor energy to order them. And since Mike is away until Sunday (and I have a few dozen Monkey cupcakes to create, a house to clean, laundry to do, a party to decorate for, and two munchkins to watch over) I best get moving. I will be reminding myself that sleep is for the weak! :-)

Before I sign off... HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY to Adelaide!!! Hope you are having a nice time in Florida!

An Amazing Moment - November 25, 2008

I needed to share an absolute wonderful moment. Today right after supper Mike and I were sitting on the couch and the kids were crawling all over us, and just being the monkeys that they are. Charlotte was on my lap giving me hugs and kisses saying "I love mommy"... yeah super sweet! Then Robbie launched himself, yes launched from Mike's lap onto my other knee. Awww so sweet both kids on my lap, I always love that. Then Robbie leaned in an gave Charlotte a kiss!!!! It was so cute I couldn't help but laugh and giggle. So he did it again, and again each time saying "MMMMmmmmmmmm" as he moved towards her. After a little while Charlotte got bored, but I am so happy that I was front row to Robbie's first kiss to his sister. It is defintily a moment I need to store in my memory bank.

Winter has arrived early... November 23, 2008

Yes I know it is November and it is actually not that early for winter HOWEVER the maritimes don't tend to get much snow until after Christmas. But Ol' Man Winter did rear his head and dumped a pile of snow on us. I LOVED it!!! I love the snow, and now that I have a 2 year old, I love it even more. At one point Charlotte announced to me that she wanted to play outside all day. Eventually I needed to drag her in for lunch and nap, but don't worry we were out again right after her nap. Robbie didn't care for winter so much. I suspect it is probably because he is so restricted in his snowsuit and can't motor around like he is accustomed to.

Since the first day we had the snow we actually haven't had much opportunity to play outside. We should have gone out today, but had already planned/promised Charlotte we would go swimming. She chose to still go swimming. Now here is a funny story that seems to only happen to us...

Mike is not a fan of the water, and today I finally told him that he needed to help us at the pool. Robbie is just such a handful that I really did not want to have a terrible accident in either the pool or the change room. Mike finally agreed to come swimming. I asked him which kid he wanted to take into the change room, and he said Robbie. I was shocked. I ran through the list of items that were packed... the shampoo, towel, swimming daiper, swim trunks, diaper for after etc. And as many women, I accompanied this list with detailed instructions and helpful hints. His response was something along the line of "I'm not stupid, I've been swimming before." So off to swimming we went.

Charlotte and I met Mike and Robbie in the pool. After about 5 minutes Mike says "Oh, I didn't put on his swimming diaper". I said nothing (but was thinking alot) as Mike walked back to the change room with a soaked and puffy diaper on a wriggly kid. He came back and we all had a great time. Sorry no photo's of Mike's first swim. Swimming photo's are impossible now that Charlotte 'swims' and I am in the deeper water. Once we were all soaked and looking like prunes we ventured into out respective change rooms with a plan to meet in the lobby. As soon as I went to the lobby, Mike said he needed a diaper. Ohhh, now I get it. Mike put on the clean diaper (intended for after swimming) to swim in, initially I thought he just left Robbie in the diaper he'd been wearing. No worries, I was well equipped, sort of. I had extra diapers that are getting a tad small, but certainly still fit. The wife/mother in me wanted to instruct Mike to make sure he got the diaper on right, but recalled the "I'm not stupid" comment and stayed silent as Mike and Robbie went to get sorted. When Mike came back I new something wasn't right. Just before he got to the change table Robbie pee-ed! all over his dry clothes. Did I have an extra set of clothes. Nope. Why didn't I have extra clothes??? I have no idea but I didn't, and now we were in a bit of a pickle. We plotted a plan to get Robbie, wearing only a diaper and a winter coat into the car. It went off smooth and we were on our way home. Not a bad day in the world of the Hudson's, until we smelt something... Robbie must have swallowed pool water, which in our kids seems to work as a super laxative. Since we were already on our way home, we just kept on driving, although the smell tempted me to roll down the window, too bad he wasn't wearing pants! Then Charlotte said words I really wish hadn't been true. "Robbie has poop on his knee and his HANDS".

WHAT!!!!!!!!!! AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

Yes that tad small diaper (which perhaps wasn't exactly centered) was doing the best it could, but just couldn't stand up to what I saw. It was everywhere! I frantically wiped hands and legs and grabbed towels, to block any further exploration on Robbie's part. Meanwhile Mike sped us down the highway so we could all get out of the stink pot we called a van. We know needed to get a stinky, poopy, kid wearing only a diaper and winter coat into the bathtub without allowing him to touch anything. Whew. Mission accomplished, and as for the carseat, it is all in the wash!!!

I tell you if I didn't live these events I wouldn't believe them. Don't you just love the world of the Hudson's.

It Rained on Our Parade - Wednesday November 19, 2008

Last Saturday we bravely, or some would say foolishly headed out to watch the Parade of Lights in Halifax. The forcast called for rain, and about 4pm the rain started, but it wasn't too bad and at 5:30pm was just a slight drizzle. We had Charlotte so excited to go to the parade to see Santa and the Reindeer, that we decided to get a bit wet and head downtown. All was fine, we parked fine, made the trip up to the parade route fine, and barely had any wait for the start of the parade. Of course we were getting a little wet from the rain, but the kids were covered quite well with a rain shield and umbrella's. And despite it being 15 degrees in the day time I put them in their snow suits, so I knew they were warm. Charlotte and Robbie were certainly enjoying themselves so we were very pleased we decided to come. Then the skies opened up. The rain POURED down!!! and it POURED and it POURED!!! There would be brief pauses in the rain, but barely enough to catch your breath. The rain did start to reek havoc on the parade and there were significant pauses between floats. Of course rain does not bother kids as much as adults. Robbie was pleased to have his tray on the stroller filled with water and Charlotte was more than happy to watch and play with the virtual river flowing down the gutters in front of us while we waited. As adults we kept a good sense of humour about it, but as the temperature dropped and we realized that wet blue jeans are not nearly as warm as snow suites we started to quietly beg for the end of the parade. "Oh Please Santa HURRY UP!" As the parade continued on through the pouring rain, with baton twirlers dropping their batons (and one announcing how miserable she was), the bands continued to play, the lights flickered on all the floats. Everyone who did not have children waiting for Santa had all made it back to their dry, heated cars, we however continued to wait and wait. Then finally the Canada Post Bear came walking up the street. His job is to collect letters for Santa, this meant Santa was next. Then in the dark we could see a shadow of a float. It was Santa!... with NO LIGHTS. We couldnt' see him! The lights on the float couldn't handle the rain and only us adults could vaguely make out the shadow of his white beard. So that was it! We now had to force a soggy 2 year old back into the stroller, and explain that Santa and the Reindeer went by but we couldn't see them. When we got to the car, Charlotte must have processed everything and announced to me "I didn't see a Reindeer... but I saw a Bear!" Whew. My response was that maybe we could go to the mall (a nice dry mall) and see him. She said that was a good idea. As for Robbie I think he had a blast, he loved the trucks the lights, and the water. But as soon as he was out of the rain, he fell fast asleep. We did have a nice time and only the last little bit was tough on our Christmas Sprits, but nothing that the hot chocolate and cookies couldn't fix while we drove home.

Quick updates on the kids. Robbie is walking every where now and has added RowRow to his vocabulary. He loves the song Row Row Row your Boat. Charlotte is no longer Charlotte... she now insists on being called Diego. Yes Diego! Dora was wonderful, but then she saw and episode of Go Diego Go and has suddenly become an animal rescuer. All day we rescue animals, usually from crocodiles. She just loves that Diego can talk to animals and that the animals are his friends. Awww that Charlotte, or should I say Diego, is a true animal lover!

Before I go I have to wish Mike's mom a speedy recovery from her hip surgery. Mike is going to call tomorrow and I hope all went well. I'm sure she'll need to be off her feet for a while. But of anyone I know who deserves a little pampering it is certainly Margaret. Also wishing Kelly all the best as she is on hospital bed rest, waiting for her baby to arrive safely.

My momma's gone Crackers or is it Quackers?!?!

Here is a video to complement the previous post. Okay, I know his Cracker sound and his Quack sound are nearly identical, but to a mother's "trained" and complete biased ear they are slightly (or maybe not) different.

You tell me!

Anyway he nearly launched himself off the couch to get to the cupboard. And it is too bad that he still had his long underwear on (we'd been outside) because you should see the chub that this little string bean is finally adding. He actually has a roll on his upper thigh. It must be all the crackers! Which is surprising because he is on the go all the time and now that he can walk clear across the living room he walks nearly 50% - 60% of the time. However crackers are just too important and the speedy crawl was needed to get him into the kitchen.

The first word - Saturday November 8th, 2008

I always find the months surrounding a baby's first birthday to be so exciting. The first steps and the first words are such amazing moments. It is official Robbie is making specific sounds/words to get his voice heard. Now, he is only 11 months so the articulation needs to get much, much better, and he could have picked an easier first word. His first word would be Cracker... Yes, I know most first words are Ball, Mom, Dad but Robbie's is CAK-CAK-CAK. Laugh if you like, by my mom can even vouch that when Robbie wants a cracker, he'll repeat CAK-CAK-CAK until he gets a cracker. He'll even go to the cupboard and try to get himself one. By the way, have I ever mentioned how much I love the person who invented cupboard latches. If it weren't for that person, I am sure I would have crackers all over my house. Robbie is also making his first animal sound... again, he couldn't pick something easy like Moo. He picked Quack.

The time with my mom here is about to end. She leaves on Tuesday. We've had a great time, the kids love having her around and so do I. We took the kids to the pool last week and they loved it. Charlotte has turned into quite the little fish. I put water wings and a water belt on her so she can swim, and jump and roll all on her own. Robbie loves the water, and loved the beach in the summer, but wasn't so sure of the pool. Grandma tried to get him in the water but he wanted his mom. It took a little time playing with a bucket full of water to get him adjusted. Then we slowly moved closer and finally into the water. Once in, I couldn't get him out, he was having a blast!!! We will head back to the pool on Monday as we made a deal with Charlotte that we would come swimming one more time before Grandma left. She is a tough negotiator, and that was the only way we were getting her out of the pool.

Before I go, I have to congratulate the Mooney family. Jen gave birth to triplet boys last Monday!!! Amazing!!! The babies were all big and healthy, and the clan is now home with dad Justin and big brother Caden!!!

Here we go - Tuesday November 4th, 2008

Here are some photos and video of Robbie learning to walk. He still doesn't get many more than about 10 steps, but he works so hard at it that it won't take long for him to get sturdier. Oh and Charlotte loves to help him, she thinks Robbie learning to walk is pretty exciting.

I can't believe I almost forgot - Sunday November 2nd, 2008

How is it possible that I almost forgot to mention that today Robbie started to walk!!! For the last week he's been taking the odd step here and there and one time I saw him take 3 steps. But today he stood up and walked half way across the living room. The only bad part about it is that I MISSED IT!!! I had just walked down the hallway to start the bath for the kids, and my mom and Mike said Robbie stood up and began following me. They didn't want to yell, and startle him. But after about 10 steps they both shouted "Cordele", I came back to the living room just in time to see him fall down. Ohh shucks!!! After failing to get Robbie to walk that far again I returned to the bathroom and heard "He's doing it again". I ran down the hall just in time to see him fall, again. Ohh double shucks!!!

For the rest of the night he stuck to his couple of steps. Really if he simply tried to walk instead of trying to run which is actually what he is doing, he'd already be walking. But I'm sure it is now just a matter of days and he'll be crusing on two feet. I am now going upstairs to charge my camera battery! I'm not missing it again!

A week of Halloween activities - Sunday November 2, 2008

Anyone who knows me, knows that I love Halloween. You mix dressing up with candy and I am happy. This is what our Halloween was like...

Last week we had a Halloween Party at our weekly playgroup. I volunteered to make cupcakes, as that is another thing I enjoy doing. I never really know what I am going to do until I get started.

Even Honey Bunny and Mr. Murphy got into the spirit.

Then there came the costumes. Charlotte was to be a lady bug and Robbie a bumble bee. Robbie is 11 months old, and doesn't understand any of it... however he made a super cute bumble bee. Charlotte was all for dressing up until she realized that other people may see her. No way was she going to be seen in public dressed as a lady bug. The best I could get was a picture in the bathroom.

On Friday (Halloween), my mom who is visiting right now, my self and Charlotte all went through my piles of dress up clothes and tried on different costumes hoping to get her excited again. At one point she put on her (home made) witches hat and the cape from last year and I thought a little practice run would be good. So I had her knock on the bedroom door and say trick or treat, then I gave her some candy. That got her pretty excited for the real trick or treating.

After supper I dawned my Medusa costume and since my mom was here and was coming trick or treating she had to dress up to... I gave her my witches costume. Mike as always dressed as a soccer coach and handed out candy. Halloween night was quite cool, so we dressed the kids in warmer costumes. Charlotte was a panda bear and Robbie was a skunk. By this time Charlotte understood trick or treating and didn't mind being dressed up at all... anything for Candy. Robbie simply enjoyed seeing everyone out and about.

Then came the best part, sifting through the bags of candy. Robbie was happy just shaking the smartie box, but Charlotte wasn't so easily pleased and got to eat some of her loot. In this photo she is showing me that she ate her smarties. One thing that I didn't expect was how excited Charlotte would get about handing out Candy. She sat in the window watching everyone and as people would walk up our side walk she would run to the door so eager to give them candy. Then she would turn around and yell "I shared!".

Oh and I've just realized I've not added any pumpkin carving photo's yet... boy I am sure slacking off lately. Here are they are...