Smarty Pants

I know that everyone thinks their own child is the cutest thing ever and the smartest thing ever and that is just fine (and as it should be as a parent!). I am no different. Because this blog is a journal that I want to look back at (and for our children to look back at) I feel I should write some of the things that Hudson has been doing lately. So if you dont want to read about how great I think my child is, you should skip this post!
Yesterday when we were walking into the store, he point down at the street where there was a turning arrow painted on the ground for cars and he said "triangle" (because the arrow was painted in two pieces - a triangle and a rectangle). Then he said "jeep" to a jeep parked in front of us. I asked him what shape the spare tire on the back of the jeep was, and he said "circle". He also knows squares, stars and sometimes rectangles.
He knows so many animals right now it is crazy. He knows what I consider to be the more difficult animals - like "hippos", "rhinos", "camels", "llamas" "peacocks" "cheetahs" and "porcupines". He knows the sounds and can act like a lot of the animals too. For example, he stands on one leg if you ask him to be a flamingo and beats his chest if you tell him to act like a gorrilla.
He has been singing his ABCs for a few weeks now too (even though L-M-N-O is a little blurry he picks right back up at P and finishes, including the "next time wont you sing with me" part).
He can count to 14 (there are 14 stairs in our house that lead to the second floor, so we all count on the way up).
Hudson can do matching as well. He finds two trains that are the same or matches flash cards that are the same and brings them over and excitedly says "Same, Mommy!" He also knows when two things are different and points that out when we are doing these matching games.
He is aware of how people are feeling and gets sad and really nice if someone is crying or upset. On Sunday, I had some really strong contractions and got up from the floor where I was playing with Hudson to lie on the couch. Hudson jumped up and put his hands on my cheeks (to look me in the eyes) and said "Mommy what happened? All better?" He was so worried that I did my best to act fine -- which was a lot easier considering how impressed I was with his reaction.
I know this is all normal stuff - kids are such sponges at this age - but it's always impressive when it is your own child learning and taking in everything that you spend HOURS each day doing over and over and over again (and over... and over... Haha - I swear I have memorized so many of his books from readng and re-reading the ones he picks out). I do know he is talking and communicating so much for his age and we are so proud of him. He amazes and surprises us every day. Now if he would only listen all the time and sit still for more than a few minutes....