Hudson turns 2!

How did we go from this....

to this...

so darn quickly?!  Where have the past 2 years gone?  

This sweet little stinker turned 2 last Thursday.  We had cupcakes for dessert to celebrate with a little party planned at Chuck E Cheese once the weather cleared up.  Yes, there was snow on the ground in Tennessee, in March, on your 2nd birthday sweet Hudson.  Crazy.  

Checking out Kemper dancing with Chuck E Cheese

So, a few stats before I forget them.  

At 2 years old, Hudson weights 30 lbs.  (And no longer gets weighed on the baby scale, he stands on the big scale like a big kid now.)

At 2 years old, Hudson is 36 inches tall.  (Sigh.  And no more baby measure mat...he stood up to the height chart like a big kid.)

His favorite foods are peas, yogurt, clementines, pineapples, any type of noodle (except macaroni and cheese), General Tso's and rice (he can eat a man portion, it is crazy), and cookies.  Of course cookies.

Pizza time...and canteloupe, tomatoes, croutons and ham.

He loves Mickey Mouse and Pluto, Paw Patrol and Yo Gabba Gabba.  He is starting to get interested in the train table and cars.  He mostly just likes to jump, climb and throw himself off of tall things.  He loves his trampoline and climber.  Anytime he can sneak into his brother's room, he enjoys wreaking the marker drawer and Legos.  He has an unhealthy obsession with the iPad in which he only likes to swipe from screen to screen and hit the home button.  He also loves bikes, especially ones that are too big for him and require that you push him.

He goes to bed at 7pm and gets up for the day around 7am...sometimes later.  I think he's going to be our kid that enjoys sleeping in, unlike his brother who is up with the sun every day.  He is starting to sleep through the night more nights than not but still wakes up occasionally.  He likes to sleep with at least 5 blankets, 4 stuffed animals and a pillow.  He still takes a 2ish-hour nap daily (and mommy is so very thankful for this.)  He recently began to actually sit for us to read him a book but only enjoys one book.  Goodnight Moon.  I can now recite the entire book, word for word, even when the book is lost.

Driving the Jeep.

He is quite the little spit fire.  He can be as sweet as pie but has a temper that he can turn on like he's flipping a switch.  He expects to get his way and is a force to be reckoned with when things don't go according to his plans.  He has mastered the art of sitting in time out.  Often, when he's doing something he shouldn't and you ask him if he wants to go to time out, he now says yes.  Typically, his favorite word is "no".  

This kid LOVES his Daddy.  He is a Daddy's boy and his favorite time of day is when Daddy gets home from work.  I would say that Kemper getting off of the bus is a close 2nd to Daddy getting home from work.  If he's up from nap, he runs down the sidewalk when he sees his "B" get off the bus.  He still calls Kemper "B" but when prompted, he will attempt to say his full name.  

Mom and Dad with the big 2 year old!

He is starting to talk more and more with each passing day.  When you ask him to say his name, he also calls himself  "B".  He can say Mama, Daddy, "B", MeMe, Pops, Moo-ma (Grandma) and Poo-pa (Grandpa) as well as a ton of other words to include no, peas (for peas AND please), dank oo (thank you), nigh nigh moan (Goodnight Moon), Noono (Muno), cookie, muk (milk), ooce (juice), Poo-toe (Pluto), Mickey Mike (Mickey Mouse), and he enjoys saying bye-bye to any and everything.

He loves going to nursery school and loves his teachers, Mrs. Lissa and Ms. Jennifer.  He is the youngest in his class but that is really only noticeable when it comes to verbal skills.  He is on par, if not more advanced, than most kids physically.  He dwarfs all of the little girls in his class.  He still asks for his friend Harper at least once a week (she moved at Christmas).  They think he is the sweetest little boy (I'm sure they tell all the moms that) and say his favorite thing to do is get books and sit in the little chair to read (I questioned them to make sure they had the right kid).  He also really loves the music class that they do once a week and they say he dances the entire time.  

Riding his favorite ride and saying "Wow!"

I had a hard time planning Hudson's birthday party because the majority of our good friends moved within the last 3 months and I knew that we would be having a super small party (compared to previous parties for the boys).  After a Saturday morning trip with Daddy to Chuck E Cheese (I kicked them out when I had to host a welcome), he became obsessed with Chuck E Cheese and asks to go "pay" a few times a day.  We decided that would be a perfect place to celebrate!

Singing to the birthday boy!

Our awesome friends, the Schmidts, joined us for pizza, games and cupcakes one afternoon.  Everyone had a blast!  Hudson loves the Chuck E Cheese that is up on the stage and would stand there and watch him for 2 hours if we would let him.  When he's not watching Chuck E Cheese, he enjoys the ride simulator.  I'm pretty sure he spent at least 18 of his 25 coins riding that ride.  Other favorites include the jeep, the carousel, and the frog popper game.  

Mouth full of cupcake, asking for more.  

He humored me by keeping his party hat on long enough to sing Happy Birthday to him and to eat his cupcakes.  I thought mini cupcakes would be a good idea.  He popped the entire thing in his mouth in one bit and asked for more as he was chewing.  

Just watching Chuck E Cheese.

Since Kemper enjoyed picking out a Christmas present for Hudson, we decided to let him pick out a birthday present.  He and I went to Toys R Us one day without Hudson and he walked up and down the aisles searching for the perfect present.  He finally settled on a wooden Noah's Ark set with wooden animals that you can load and unload along with a book called "Snuggle Puppy".  The Schmidts found a really cool dog house full of stuffed puppies and he LOVED it!  He is quite fond of puppies.  Lynse asked Kemper what she should get Hudson for his birthday and Kemper told her a puppy.  She asked Kemper if he meant a real puppy.  Kemper told her, "No, my mom would be so mad."  She got the next best thing!

After 2 hours of playing, eating and partying, we packed up and headed home.  I just knew he would fall asleep as soon as we put him in bed but I guess the sugar high still had hold because it took him quite awhile to settle down.  

Checking out all of his puppies!

We had such fun celebrating this sweet little boy!  It's hard to believe he's already 2 years old.  He is such a joy and it's so fun to see him grow and learn each and every day.  

I can't wait to see what this year brings and how he handles the big changes coming up when we move this summer.  We'll see if he picks up an Alabama-southern accent like Kemper picked up a Tennessee-southern accent! :)