Updates for people who love bullet-points

Here are some updates on life with Hudson:

4 month old check-up was Friday
*weight: 14lbs 11oz (50th %)
*length: 24 1/4" (25th %)
*head circum 16" (15-20th %)

*his neck is geting better! He has full range of motion now (with assistance)
*we'll still keep going to physical therapy, probably until he's about 6 months old

*the doctor said we could start feeding him cereal anytime in the next couple months & that there's no advantages to starting at one time versus another...I think we'll wait a little longer since it's one more thing to add to the schedule

*getting his immunizations was not fun again...although he only cried for a couple minutes, I hated holding him there while he got 4 shots

Sleeping
*he normally takes a couple 2 hour naps during the day now, sometimes he takes 3 shorter naps
*he gets up about every 3-4 hours during the night to eat, but he eats quickly and goes right back to sleep, so this schedule is working for us

Playing
*He interacts more and more with his toys (rings & rattles)
*He loves sticking as much of his fist in his mouth as he can fit
*He also loves grabbing his feet and holding onto them


We're leaving bright and early tomorrow morning for 10 days at my family's house in Vermont. Up there we'll visit my dad, stepmom, younger sister & older sister and her family

Exersaucer

Hudson absolutely love this toy! Every time I put him in it, he interacts with the toys more and more. He's able to spin the seat around since there are toys all around him. He now starts reaching for and playing with the toys before I can even get him all the way down in the seat. It's so much fun to watch him play and have fun!

Happy Birthday Aunt Erica!

I can't wait to see you next week & give you your present!

New Firsts

My first time in the pool!


scheming up an elaborate plan while sitting on the edge of the pool


i put my fingers in my mouth all the time


playing in my exersaucer


I can't quite reach all of the toys yet


notice that I can only reach with one foot


i love to play with my feet


another side shot of playing with my feet

Therapy & Papias updates

This was at our second PT appointment today. Hudson did a wonderful job turning his head to the left and enduring lots of stretches and different positions during his appointment. The therapist kept saying things like, "Wow, his ears (jaws, cheeks, eyes...) are still symmetrical. They haven't moved." I guess this is pretty common with babies that have Torticollis. Since they favor one head position so much, it causes their whole head and body to shift to favor this position. I'm happy that we're not having conversations of what you do about different body parts that have moved. Overall, he's made great progress already and we're expecting this to be totally solved through more stretching at home and therapy appointments.

We don't have much update on Papias, our cat. He ran away from the house in Nashville Monday night (into some woods) and hasn't been seen since. Our friends said they'd call when/if he comes back.

are you sure you want to go in for therapy again?


exhausted after all that playing at PT

Adventures with Papias

We haven't seen our cat, Papias, since Saturday night. He often sleeps outside at night, but is always at our door in the morning meowing for breakfast. We thought it was strange when he didn't come home yesterday, but started to worry when he wasn't here this morning. We talked about what could've happened to him today, but we never would've guessed....

We got a call from our neighbors, the Edemas, who packed their moving van Saturday and drove away Saturday evening. They opened it Monday evening in Nashville to find Papias inside. He survived the 48 hours without food or water and is safely in TN. The Edemas cannot keep him and we need to find something to do with him. Does anyone know anyone in Nashville who would be willing to temporarily (or permanently) take a cat? We don't know what we should do with Papias, but now need to find some place for him to stay while we figure things out.

Hudson & Papias a few days ago

A Glorious Picture of Love

"She was the love of my life."

It was not the first time the old man standing across from me at the bank told me about his bride. Attached to his red suspenders were large buttons emblazoned with pictures of his deceased wife. The buttons are so large and conspicuous I can't resist the implicit invitation to ask about her. When I do, his face lights up with a reminiscent smile as he proudly says, "We were married for over 50 glorious years." In my nearly three years of working at the bank, I've never seen the kind old man without his buttons displayed unabashedly across his chest. It's as though wherever he goes, he lovingly carries his wife over his heart.

This in itself is an amazing picture of love and devotion. But, it's got me thinking about how the Bible says that the church-- everyone who trusts in Christ alone for their salvation--is the bride of Christ. After seeing this man recently, I started thinking about Christ, seated at the right hand of God, unabashedly wearing our pictures over his heart. I imagine his face lighting up as he speaks fondly of us, his bride, and waits with great anticipation for the marriage supper of the Lamb-- the celebration of Christ's union with his church in heaven.

On that day we will truly understand: "Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb" (Revelation 19:9).

I find this all a glorious picture to contemplate.

Happy Fourth of July!

Physical Therapy

Hudson started PT yesterday and it went pretty well. We weren't real sure what to expect, but it seemed to be positive. His physical therapist said his condition was fairly mild & that she thought a few months of PT would correct the problem. We were happy with this news. She gave us a few stretches to do to help his neck muscles. We're supposed to do them 6-8 times per day with 7-10 repetitions for each one every time. This is quite time consuming! She also said we should increase his tummy time drammatically. So, this morning we put him on his stomach when he woke up and he immediately rolled over for the first time! We rolled him back to his stomach and he went right back to his back. We repeated this 5 or so times. I guess he's probably not going to have a lot of tummy time, but that seemed not as important as the other things she told us to do. There's also a special way we're supposed to carry him to stretch his neck. We go every 2 weeks. Overall, we were pleased with the appointment.

Hudson's new way to be carried around...I think it might take some getting used to

Lake of the Ozarks

So much has happened in the last few days! Hudson is now 3 months old, he spent his first night camping and got to see the world's largest banana split.

We left on Saturday for 2 nights at Lake of the Ozarks in central Missouri. This was one place we wanted to go sometime during our time in St. Louis since we've heard good things about it. We camped the first night. That's right, we took our 3 month old to sleep in the wild outdoors in a tent. We had fun setting up the tent, hiking a little & walking around the lake. Bedtime was not fun. We've trained Hudson to go to sleep when we swaddle him, and put him in his crib. We didn't have his swaddle blanket or his crib in the tent. We were planning on him sleeping in his carseat inside the tent. He screamed when we tried to put him in his carseat to go to sleep, so we decided to drive him around. When we got back and took the carseat out of the car with sleeping Hudson in it, he woke up and was very unhappy. So, we started the whole routine again. Eventually he fell asleep and slept great.

The second night we stayed in a cheap motel with indoor and outdoor pools. We had a great time staying there and feel rejuvenated.

a banana split almost as big as Hudson...no we didn't finish it, but we got our money's worth


some friends we met at the campground


near the pool at our motel