The Reed Family: 3 1/2 Years Old

Tomorrow this sweet boy will be 3 1/2 years old. I thought I would do a little update on him since I never really do that for him anymore.

Hudson is at full speed all of the time. His energy level blows me away and for whatever reason, it has really picked up lately, if that is even possible! He is hard to keep up with! He is SO silly all of the time too. And loud. :) He is sweet too. He loves to snuggle with you at night and watch a movie, and of course when we read books before bedtime, and loves to give hugs and kisses. He is so sweet to Harrison too. We have started getting to the "these are MY toys" stage now that Harrison is on the move and loves to play with toys too, but for the most part, Hudson is really good with him and is always concerned about where he is, especially if he is near stairs or somewhere that he shouldn't be.

He is a big help around the house too. We can tell him to clean up the toys and he will do it. He also loves to vaccuum, swiffer, and wipe things up. Anything that we are doing, he wants to help do too.

He has gotten a mouth on him these past few months. He definitely has started to talk back. Listening is a struggle for him (I hope I'm not the only one with a 3 year old that doesn't listen!) and when he doesn't want to do something, he will let you know it. We still do time out some, but taking away toys and/or taking cartoons away is usually more effective these days. For the most part though, he's such a good boy and when he's acting up, it's usually because he is overtired. This boy still needs a nap! He is still taking a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoons (at least on the days that we are home). He naps with about 50 stuffed animals in his bed. It's hilarious.

Hudson is finally officially potty trained. We are now working on the "not announcing it in public for all to hear" stage. For example, when we were eating lunch in La Paz last weekend, he yelled that he had to go poo poo and then, after me telling him in the bathroom to whisper what he did to Daddy (because he still is so proud of himself for it all and couldn't wait to run out and tell him), he runs out and yells again that he did it. It was SO embarassing! Luckily, the people beside us just laughed and said they were in that stage of life too. Anyway, all that to say, we've spent so long making such a big deal of the whole process that it is hard to now not talk about it so openly anymore. That is hard for a 3 year old to grasp! Life is so much easier now that he is potty trained, but I swear, why does he need to try out every single public bathroom there is??? I will make him go before we leave the house, but it never fails that he will have to go again as soon as we get somewhere.

He is a funny little kid. We laugh daily over the things that come out of his mouth. I should really write all of them down when he says them because I forget them so easily, but I think this is why I love this age so much. He is really using his imagination these days and I love to see what he comes up with. There is always a story that goes along with whatever he is doing. Right now, it seems that snakes are his thing. There is always an imaginary snake close by. I think he does it because he knows how much I despise snakes!

He has started answering the phone when it rings. I don't tell him to answer it, but he beats me to it sometimes. One time, I was giving Harrison a bath and Hudson came running into the bathroom with the phone in hand saying it was a lady and that it wasn't Migi and she was not nice. Incidentally, everytime the phone rings, he thinks it's Migi or Pops, so that is why he thought that, but it was so funny. I think it was a wrong number that called. At least I didn't have to deal with them--Hudson took care of it! Ha!

Hudson is still a bit of a picky eater and really doesn't eat that much at all. Lunch is usually the meal he does best on. He is coming around on eating veggies. He still just despises broccoli, but he will eat green beans and okra thank goodness (that's about it, though). If we can just get him to try things, he usually will like it. It's the trying that is the hard part.

I think he is pretty smart too. The other day, he told me that stop signs were octagons and that they had 8 sides. I was pretty impressed by that. He loves to count how many things there are and loves getting "monies" to put in his piggy bank. He is recognizing letters too and can write the letter H (and "o" too, but that one is easy!). He knows how to spell his first name and last name (orally), and also Mommy and Daddy. He knows his birthday and where we live, days of the week, and his left from right. I know I'm forgetting tons of things, but he is just learning so much every day! He also knows how to get everywhere! His sense of direction is remarkable.

He is a pro at using the Ipad. He loves to play Memory on the Ipad (and the board game too!) and also watch train videos, draw pictures, and play with all the other apps we have on there for him. He's pretty self sufficient with it. He is also really good at puzzles and can do them all by himself too. He loves the easel that we have. He loves drawing pictures (even though most of the time I have no idea what he is drawing).

This month, Hudson will be starting soccer! I can't wait. He has been doing Soccer Shots at school for a while now and he loves it, but I'm interested to see how he does in this setting. I'm sure it will be chaos. As long as he can use it to get some of that energy out, it will be a success for me. I'm not sure I will be able to handle it if he's the one playing in the grass. :)