January 4, 2011 A New Year

Hudson,
It's 2011. I cannot believe it. It seems like only yesterday when I brought you home from the hospital. You were so tiny and beautiful. An angel sent from above.

Christmas time was fun. It's definitely the most wonderful time of the year. The month started off going to get a Christmas tree and decorating the house. You thought this was so much fun and you were so into helping. You are such a great helper Hudson and a hard worker. Daddy and I always say that you are going to be a worker bee. You lift heavy things too - it's crazy! You want to be right in the middle of everything. You helped put the decorations on the tree and Daddy strung lights outside and you got very into this. You were excited when he first turned them on. He wrapped the tree trunk outside and it was so pretty! He worked hard. Then, you helped sweep up all the remnants left by dragging in the tree. You got Santa Claus this year and it was so much fun to watch you! All you wanted from him was a new drum set. You have banged up your old one and broke the cymbal and the snare drum. yes, you broke the cymbal in half! You played that drum set with all your heart, soul and strength for one year. The lights were beautiful in Highland Park. You wanted to go and see them every night. You would say, "let's go see the pretty lights." I loved the way you would say "pretty". One house had a big Santa Claus and snowmen and people could get out of their cars and go up to them. You wanted to get out every night. You would say, "I have to go see MY favorite snowman." We let you sit in the front seat of the car (illegally) and you thought that was pretty cool. We went to see Santa at Synder Plaza and their were real reindeer. You liked that. We waited in line and I kind of knew you weren't going to sit in Santa's lap. When it was or turn, you wanted no part in sitting in Santa's lap. You did not cry, you just didn't want to sit in his lap. So. I sat in the sleigh next to Santa and Daddy held you, and that was our Christmas picture with Santa. The year before, you were only 18 months and you sat in Santa's lap. The older you get, the more you know my love, and sometimes that is good, and sometimes that is bad. A wise man once told me, "You cannot unsee." I liked that. It is so true.

We traveled for the holidays, but all before Christmas so that you could wake up in our house Christmas morning. We went to Oklahoma City first to see my family. We stayed at Siti's house. She was so happy to see you and for us to be there. She gave you a huge keyboard/piano for your music room. It's awesome and makes me want to go take piano lessons. We went to Uncle Rhoni' house for Christmas dinner. Uncle Vic and Aunt Kay were there. You had such a blast playing with your cousin, Bailey. She is 3 and you are 2. You all played so hard until 10 pm. You don't stay up until 10 pm! You all were climbing up onto her bed and jumping off into a pallet of pillows you had made. You must have done this a 100 times and you were both exhausted by night's end. It's so funny how different girls and boys are. From the get go! She got barbies and dolls for Christmas and you got boy stuff. She was kind of bossing you too. It was hilarious. She would say, "Hudson, come on." She is such a sweet, easy going little girl. We love Bailey! We went to see a movie with Uncle Rhoni and Bailey, the story of Rapunzel. It was the first movie you ever sat through. You wanted to leave in the middle, but got into it again. You liked the popcorn and Rapunzel and her long hair.

We went to Shreveport after a day's rest in Dallas. We stayed in Aunt Shannon's back house, which now belongs to Scotty. He was nice enough to let us stay in his crib for a couple of days. The back house was redone and it is so cozy and private. You had a blast with Squires and Jackson and you love Jackson. You followed him everywhere and asked, "Where's Jackson" when you were not within in a couple of feet from him! He was so sweet and played with you non-stop. You went into Squires' room, made a drum set out of anything you could find and a couple pencils for drum sticks and listened to music and banged on your made-up drum set. They all thought it was amazing. I told them all you do is listen to music and bang on the drums and play the guitar. Hudson, you are amazing and imaginative. Wherever we are, you can make a drum set out of anything - phones, boxes, bowls, lamps or any toy. You are so creative! We went to Uncle Scott's farm the first night and you had an absolute blast with the boys. You road the four-wheeler all over, fed the horses, got muddy, ate candy, chased Jackson and ran all over the place. We had Christmas dinner at Big John and Sue's. We opened lots of presents and you got so many fun toys, including a big wheel and a Rudolph stuffed reindeer, which you carried all over. We watched the original Rudolph the red nosed reindeer movie during Christmas time and you were scared, but intrigued with Bumble, the abominable snowman, which you thought was monster. You did not like it when the other reindeer were mean to Rudolph. You have such a sweet heart Hudson and you get very upset when someone is sad or crying.

The night before Christmas, you spread the reindeer feed that you had gotten from school all over the lawn. We left cookies and milk for Santa. by the fireplace. When you woke up Christmas morning, we ran down the stairs and Santa had been there. He ate the cookies and left you a big drum set. Your eyes when you saw that drum set. They lit up!! You had told everyone that is what Santa was bringing you. That was all you wanted from him. He also set up the guest room into a music room for you with a new guitar (you have about 12 guitars now, no kidding) microphone, a saxophone and Siti's keyboard. You were so happy, so thrilled. The look on your face was the best part about my Christmas.

Daddy and mommy brought in the new year with our friends, Jon and Liz, Henry and Oliver's mom and dad. You were snug in your bed at midnight. One of my New Year's promises to myself was to start this blog for you. I hope to write in it a lot so that you will be able to read it when you are older.

Some things about you: You love music. You still say "mikos" instead of music and we love this word! I will be sad when you say "music" instead of music. "Let's play mikos" is a phrase I hear 10 times a day. Your favorite bands are Lady Antebellum, Coldplay and the Black Eyed Peas. You listen to music, play your guitars and your drums everyday. Mommy dances and sings and jams out with you everyday. You like sports and you are very coordinated. Daddy takes you to the range to hit balls and you have a blast. You have a thing with the moon. You always look for it at night and say "hi." I pretend like I am the moon and say, "Hi Hudson," and you have a conversation with the moon. You are smart and you are always one step ahead. You notice everything! It is hard to hide anything from you. You are particular about some things - you freak out when your guitar strap is tangled or when your drum set is moved. You will lay down and cry over this. You freak out if your drums are moved one millimeter. You say, "No, not like this. Like this!" If I move them to sweep, you know that I have moved them. You like them set up in a certain way. I am going to tell you what I tell you all the time, do not sweat the small stuff. Try to remain calm and rational even when you are upset (this is not a trait that your Lebanese side possesses). You cannot cry over drums and guitars. Those are just things, just objects that have no real meaning. You can cry if you fall and break your head, but not over drums. All you need is love baby. You say the darnedest things- the other day, Daddy made a fire and we were all sitting outside. Daddy sat in one chair and I sat in another, and you said, "Where am I suppose to sit?" The fact that you used the word "suppose" was just too much! Your favorite color seems to be purple. You only want purple pop cycles. You go to school at Saint Michael and All Angel on Mondays and Wednesdays. You loves your teacher, Miss Elizabeth. You told me you missed her during Christmas break. I am so happy that you like school! School is paramount and I can only hope that you will love learning. You play with Coco, Reese Michael, Andy, Brooks, and Matthew at school. You are bossy and sometimes you tell me you are the boss of your friends and I set you straight immediately. However, I always ask you who the boss is and you say, "mommy." Good answer. You're extremely independent. You want to do everything by yourself. If I help you pull your pants up, you will pull them down to pull them back up by yourself. It drives me crazy sometimes! Remember, you should ask for help always. It's good to ask for help. You really really like girls. I don't know what I am going to do. You are going to wear me out with girls. I can already see this. You were girl crazy 2! You really like older girls, particularly dark haired, dark eyed girls like your mommy. Although Ella is your first best friend and first little "girl" friend and she is blond hair and blue eyed. Ella is your best friend of all time and every time you got to a fountain you say, "I wish for Ella" and throw the penny in. If you have 2 pennies, you say, "I wish for Ella and Baby Karli." Back to girls. You really like girls. What am I going to do? You like older girls too. A lot of times, you will pick one girl out and completely focus on her or follow her around! You are 2 years and 8 months old. It is too early for this. We were playing in the kids area at the mall today and you came up to me and said, "mommy, I want to show you something." You were pointing, and I said, "that little girl?" You said, "No, the big girl. I think she is pretty." It was another mom!! You stared at her off and on the whole time you were playing and you were sad when she left. Another mom! Just remember to always treat girl with respect and kindness. You are a trip my love. You are very sympathetic and you get upset when someone else is crying or sad. It is so sweet! This summer at the pool a little baby was crying and you went and gave her a kiss. I love this about you! I love you my love. I could write and write to you, but I am going to stop for tonight. I am going to try and journal as much as I can this year amore mio. xoxo your mamma