I cannot wait to hear what is going on in Cannon's head because I LOVE the funny things that Hudson says. Here are a few from the last couple weeks...
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Me to Hudson (after he fits into new and bigger shorts that I got him): Hudson you are getting bigger! I dont want you to get bigger! If you get bigger, I am not going to be able to hold you and I want to carry you forever.
Hudson, near tears: NO! I WANT TO GET BIGGER! I am growing and getting muscles and I am gonna get bigger. I will just carry you.
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Hudson: Mommy can you bring the legos to me? Me: Hudson, you can go get them. You are big enough. Hudson (while flexing his muscles): I cant get them. My muscles just arent big enough yet.
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Hudson (right when he wakes up in the morning): I just need my Grandma. Me: Ok let's go call her. Hudson to Grandma on the phone: I just need you to come get me so we can go get Gia. Then I will be so happy. ____________________________________
Hudson to JR: Daddy, I have a 'stomach-egg'. See right here [pointing to his stomach], there is an egg right here.
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Hudson's teacher told me this funny little story just now -
Teacher to everyone: No running in the classroom! Hudson: The only time we are allowed to run in the classroom is when we have to barf or go poop in the potty! _____________________________________
STORY TIME with Hudson Reynolds My parents go to dinner with Gianna and Hudson on Wednesdays. During dinner they started "Story Time" where evertone takes turns telling stories. When Hudson got home from dinner a few weeks ago, I asked him to tell me his story. Here it is:
We recently watched the movie 'Marley and Me' for the first time. The narrator calls Marley "the world's worst dog." We have two dogs similar to Marley and watching the movie made us think about them - in both good ways and bad ways. You see, before we had kids our dogs WERE our kids. Once we had kids, life gets busy and changes and dogs become DOGS (it is the same for most of the people I know). Not everyone, but MOST. I know one family who still treats their dog like their kid after having kids. ONE. Everyone else I know that has small children is pretty frustrated with their dogs most of the time. Dogs need attention. Dogs cost money. Dogs wake up sleeping babies. Dogs get in the trash and spread it all over the place. Dogs need walking EVERY DAY. Dogs are a lot of work - which is fine - until you have kids. Then dogs become another thing that needs attention when all you want to do after a long day at work or a long day of watching kids is sit in peace for two minutes without a dog whining to go on a walk.
Anways, back to the movie. So we watched the movie and couldnt believe how similar our dogs were to Marley. Here we go:
1. Our dogs are nearly impossible to walk. One is 75 pounds and the other is 45 pounds and I can no longer walk them with the kids in the stroller. I have tried and I am done. D-O-N-E. They both bark at other dogs and pull and pull and dont stop barking - even if the other dog they are barking at is long gone. And we have a lot of dogs in this area so it is hard to NOT run into other dogs on a walk. Maya also likes to lunge at passing byciclists. Yep. They pull so hard and lunge away that the last few times I took them the stroller was close to tipping over multiple times. Not to mention my hand and arm nearly falling off. So I am DONE. Sorry Honey, but that is now your job. And honestly, when JR takes them I am worried about him. He often takes them rollerblading and a couple times in the past they have seen a skunk or racoon or cat and have pulled JR hard and unexpectedly and he has fallen. He is frustrated and tired and upset that they are now a CHORE to walk as opposed to a nice evening out of the house or a little exercise.
2. They bark. If you have a child with sleep issues then you understand how much you want to strangle the source of the noise that wakes your hard-to-put-to-sleep and easily-woken-up child. When the kids finally fall asleep and then one or both of the dogs finds something to bark at, believe me, you want to do things to the animal that you previously didnt want to do before you had kids...back when the dogs were your kids.
3. They get into things. Our dogs havent eaten the couch or pillows like Marley did but they get into the trash (and remember our trash has diapers in it). Maya has eaten a pair of shoes and two nice pairs of sunglasses. They do eat and tear apart their own dogs beds and we often find the fluff all over the place. And like Marley, Jagger eats drywall. Yes, we have holes in the garage from Jagger eating through the wall. Not sure if he is trying to escape (which is what I think Marley was trying to do) but Jagger has eaten holes right near the open doggy door, so not sure it is for escape purposes. We have had the holes fixed and yet there are more. - I'm trying to get photos of the dogs next to their "work"
4. They cost money. Oh the dog food alone is expensive. Not to mention boarding if you ever go out of town. Plus, if your dogs get boarded at all then you need to be up to date on vaccines. Let's not forget vet visits for those things that happen unexpectedly. Like when Maya ate the neighbors dirt which had snail poison in it. Or the multiple visits Jagger has had to get his stomach pumped after he ate socks.
It makes us sad and it makes us feel guilty that the dogs have taken a back seat to our kids (and yet how obvious is that - OF COURSE our dogs are going to take a back seat to our kids). Everyone gets busy - I know it isnt just us. It isnt the dogs' fault. They dont know what happened. Kids made our lives busier than it already was. It doesnt help that Cannon is allergic to dogs either. But if these dogs were a little less like Marley then they would have a better life. I could walk them EVERY day with the kids while JR is at work. I could let them out in the front with the other dogs in the neighborhood if they didnt run away like Marley did. I could take them to parks and the beach with the kids if they listened and came back when I called them.
I feel bad but at the same time I am also upset with them. We cant seem to exercise them enough. Unfortunately everyone I know with kids has a similar story with respect to their dogs. In fact, MANY of the families I am talking about have considered getting rid of their dogs and a couple even have. The only thing stopping us at this point is guilt and feeling sorry for them. It isnt their fault but if they werent like Marley, then maybe things would be better for them (and us).
I love when I learn something from my kids. It happens all the time. The other day, when it was raining, I took the kids to the mall to see the carousel, the toy store, the Disney store, the toys in Pottery Barn Kid store and the animals and fish tanks at Rain Forest. That is a lot to see and we were moving through the mall. Except Cannon. He was stalling. He wasnt moving. I was telling him to keep up (which normally he does so well)! But he was stopped. And he wouldnt move.
He was looking up.
So I followed his gaze and saw something that I had never seen even though I am sure it has always been there. I just hadnt ever paused to look.
Cannon is so funny. Thanks for making me slow down and look at pretty things, Cannon!
Our kids are nineteen and a half months apart. We always wanted our kids close together. At times, when things are crazy around here, we wonder what we were thinking having them so close! However, most of the time we stand by our decision. We didnt want Hudson to ever know or remember a time that his little brother wasnt around. We didnt want him to be an only child and then try to get accostomed to a sibling. We knew it would be tough on us the first year or two but we thought that the brothers would be best friends and play with each other all the time (and no, we didnt know we were having a boy, so really we were thinking that two siblings would be best friends).
And we think we were right (for US). I dont think Hudson remembers a time when Cannon wasnt around. And he is already fiercely protective of Cannon (despite the fact that he is often beating on him when it is just the two of them). When others are around I notice that Hudson is very concerned about Cannon - where is he, what is he doing and even comforting him.
I went to pick the kids up at the gym Kid's Club the other day and I saw Hudson trying to talk his way into going out of the room where the toys are toward the check out area. Normally, they want the kids to stay in the playroom. I asked him why he was coming over to the door (at this point he didnt know I was coming) and he said because "I need to check on Cannon". Cannon was already at the door/gate (I couldnt see him until I looked down). But Hudson was very aware of Cannon and his whereabouts and was going to check on him.
And when I picked Hudson up from school without Cannon, Hudson's first question to me was "Where is Canny?"
At Disneyland last weekend a little girl was playing with Cannon in line for a ride and Hudson put his arms around Cannon, got between the girl and Cannon and said to her "That's my brother!"
Hudson is also turning into a little helper (or tattler) when it comes to Cannon. "Mommy, Cannon is dumping out his juice on the floor!" "Cannon is eating the sand!"
And the brother love definitely goes both ways. Cannon is OBSESSED with Hudson. They are rarely apart. Cannon copies (or tries) everything Hudson does and just laughs and laughs when it comes to anything Hudson. When Hudson sings in the car, Cannon stops crying. When Hudson plays with Cannon, he soaks up the attention. When Hudson hits Cannon, Cannon copies and hits back. He is learning everything from Hudson.
Two kids in diapers in the beginning wasnt easy. It wasnt easy getting two kids in and out of the car when neither could help or climb in like it was in the beginning. Having Cannon copy some of the stunts that Hudson does has been scary/unsafe. It has definitely been hard at times to have kids this close together but we are so happy with our decision. It's getting easier and it is so nice to see their relationship grow and form. They are brothers and they are close and they truly love each other.
And here is the long awaited video of the kids dancing to Beyonce's song. It is of course better in person with Cannon singing "oh oh oh" and Hudson doing the 'ring hand move' better and of course, Cannon not crying in the background. But here goes:
We get this question a lot. A lot more than I expected. Two kids is a lot of work but more than that, two kids that dont sleep are a ton of work. I thought I'd give you an example of an average night around here (in fact, I was gonna write down a week of average sleep for me but I thought that was overkill). You'll get my point:
Bed at 945pm Hudson up at 1015pm Cannon up at 1215am Hudson up from 115-330am wanting to go play downstairs Cannon up at 4am Cannon up at 6am for the day.
OK, not sure how much sleep I got but I know it isnt a lot. I think I average 4-5 hours a night (broken of course, not 4-5hours in a row. I could live on 4-5 hours if they were in a row!). I know it isnt enough. And I cannot imagine waking up for another child. I cant even figure out when that would be or how that would happen. Last night was probably a little worse than average. I am usually up 2-3 times a night on average. Somtimes 5 or more, but never less than twice. So, NO TO BABY #3, PEOPLE.
The boys in time-out for not sleeping (I kid).
The boys looking well rested, playing, active and crazy even though they were up all night (and Hudson doesnt even nap anymore either).
Hudson and Cannon got these VERY cool PlasmaCars for Christmas (thank you Anthony Fam!!) and they LOVE them. In fact, we all love them and you might find JR and I riding them too if you come over.
When we see Cannon speeding down the street, it is hard to believe that he is just 14 months old. He is wild, fearless, athletic and fast at everything he does. We think this video gives you a little glimpse of a boy that doesnt stop moving:
More snow and another trip up the mountain! We had a great time in Big Bear last weekend. The kids had a blast and the adults had fun when the kids went to bed!
The man-made sledding hill (with JR's finger in the picture):
The kids loved going down (except Kaylee). Hudson:
Harper:
Ella:
Kaylee (with Jeremy):
Cannon:
Having ice cream:
Having a bath:
Playing in a fort (or "gingerbread house" as Hudson called it):
We started Cannon in swimming lessons and he is doing great. Crying a lot but that is to be expected, especially given what a Mama's Boy he has been lately. His skin actually looks great after the chlorine which was a big concern for us. Hopefully he likes it as much as Hudson eventually did/does.
Hudson is sooo funny to us! Here are a couple of his most recent discussions: _______________________________________ Mommy and Daddy: Hudson, after dinner we are going across the street to get frozen yogurt! Hudson: Can I have gummy worms on it? Mommy: You can have one gummy worm. Hudson: How about two gummy worms. Mommy: Nope,just one. Hudson: Then I am going to cut my gummy worm in half and then I will have two gummy worms. ________________________________________
Mommy (while Hudson is going pee-pee in the potty): Hudson that was a big pee-pee [by 'big' I meant 'a lot' of urine]. Hudson: No, my pee-pee isnt big yet. But when I eat my dinner my pee-pee will get bigger. ________________________________________
Hudson: Mommy, here's some money [pretend money]. But dont put it in the piggy bank though, you have to spend it. ________________________________________
Mommy: Hudson, make sure you hold my hand in the street because I dont want you to get squooshed by a car. They can't see you but if you hold mommy's hand, you'll be safe because they can see mommy. Hudson: If I get squooshed, then you'll take me to the doctor and they will blow me back up. Mommy: That isnt how it works, honey. It will hurt very bad if a car hits you so stay next to me. Hudson: But if I get squooshed, the doctor will blow me back up and I will be big again.
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