Hudson's School Year Wrap Up

Hudson had such a fun year at school this year!  He had all of his friends in his class, and he was constantly updating me with his tales about his buddies.  He kept working hard on his letters after he got his Phonics Book in November, he played a lot, and he has some pretty great friends.

In a total Mom Fail, I completely spaced on the day of his Spring Conference.  The other kids were at school, it was on a Tuesday (which was his typical day off), and honestly, I just forgot.  Fortunately for me, I was up and dressed and on my way to Target when his teacher called and asked where I was :).  His conference was great, I learned that he was doing really well, and that overall, he's just a really nice kid.  The funniest thing about his conference though, was his answer to his name:

Because that isn't his middle name.  His teacher and his teacher assistant both even asked him if he said Brian or Ryan, thinking he may have been named after Brian.  Nope.  He was like, "RY-AN.  RY-AN."  Totally made up his own name,  When Reese asked him why, he said, "Because I can't say Ellsworth!"  Except, he totally could.  CRAZY kid.

He even managed to snag a reader near the end of the year.  I was so happy because it was ALL he talked about.  He only had it for a handful of days, but he wants to stay on top of it this summer.   And Reesie is a really great helper when it comes to his reading lessons!

And here he is on the last day of school.  He grew up so much this year, but I can't believe that it was his last year with days off during the week. Next up?  Pre-K 5 days a week next year!  He is unbelievably excited, crazy kid!

Basketball Season

Wyatt, Reese, and Hudson are all playing basketball at the Y this season, and they are all on different teams.  Add in Wyatt's indoor soccer schedule and it makes for some crazy Saturdays. 

 

Hudson usually starts our mornings with his practice and game at 9AM.  His age group practices for about 20 minutes and then they play a game.  He was stoked to be on the court!

 



He scored 4 points in his first game!



 

Reese's game was next.  She is having so much fun!  She hustles up and down the court.

 We missed her first two baskets when we were getting Jeter, but Mimi and Baba were there to see them!

 Wyatt is playing his fourth season and he is having fun learning new skills (he learned a lot at basketball camp last summer, too.  Apparently I didn't include that on the blog.  So behind.).

 BUT, he's lost two games and tied the third.  This is how he handles losing.  He hopped up off the bench with a huge smile on his face when they ended in a tie.  I think he was just happy that he didn't actually lose!

Fortunately, his indoor soccer team has been winning by double digits, so that softens the blow of the basketball losses.  Ha!

Hudson's Birthday

Hudson turned 4 this month.  Like, 25 days ago to be exact.

We celebrated his birthday at Red Robin, and he had his birthday party last weekend.

He was so excited to have a "Dusty party" at the zoo.   The morning started out overcast and rainy, but we ended up with a nice day!

These two were very interested in the animals.  I love that she picked the spot right next to her biggest brother.

Petting the bunny!

Hudson and his friends (and Finley) checking out the bullfrog,

I can't believe that Finley touched the turtle!

The rest of these are pretty self explanatory...just Hudson having fun with his friends petting some animals!

He had such fun at his party, he is still talking about it constantly!

Hudson's Pumpkin Patch Parade

Since the two big kids aren't in preschool anymore, we only had one Pumpkin Patch Parade to attend this year.

How cool is this tough guy?

 Captain America spent a lot of time in October practicing his songs.

 Fortunately for him, he has an older sister who was eager to help him remember words when he forgot them!

 After the singing was over, he moved on to the parading.

  He is having the best year at school.  When I ask him who he plays with, he always says, "My old friends Fletcher and Mason and my new friend Noah!"

A Little More Tee Ball

Hudson has had the best time playing tee ball at the Y this summer.  I love that it's first thing in the morning on Saturdays, so Brian could easily work coaching him into his schedule.  I know he didn't want to miss that experience with Hudson!

 He is definitely in the running for one of the cutest little boys I've ever seen play tee ball.  He's obviously in a tie with this his big brother.  Sigh.  Little Wyatt.

 He's got a pretty strong swing.  You can tell he spends LOTS of time watching his older siblings play.  

It's almost time for the big kids to start their sports seasons again!  Reese is pretty determined to stick with tee ball, and Wyatt is going to play baseball and soccer again this fall.  He's super excited to be on the same soccer team as last spring!

I just looked at the date and realized it's August 11th!  In three weeks school will be starting AND I'll have a six year old girl, too!  Time.  Slow down a bit.  Seriously!

Now Batting, Hudson!

Hudson had to sit out from sports in the spring because there was just no way to fit his games into our schedule.  He was signed up for soccer, but they moved it from Monday nights to Saturday mornings, and that didn't work with our already overlapping schedule for the Talls.

When we saw that the Y had a summer tee ball league for three year olds, we signed this boy right up!

 His first game was June 14 - the same weekend as Wyatt's first All Star tournament.  Fortunately there wasn't any conflict, so everyone got to see him play.

 Can you tell that he gets in a lot of practice at home?

Little brother swings!  Someone asked Brian what he did to teach Hudson his swing.  The answer is that he just watches Wyatt.  A lot.  

Wyatt said that Hudson shouldn't be standing like this, and ran over to adjust his stance on the bag.  He's been serving as Brian's "First Base Coach" ever since.

 He had to end the game on a sad note.  He didn't get to touch the ball or get an out, so he was feeling a little sad.  Obviously.  Ha!

Hudson and the Stitches...

Or as I like to call it, "(Not so) Happy New Year!"

*I should warn the queasy and faint of heart that there ARE actually pictures of the cut and blood.*

On with the story. On New Year's Day, we had Steph, Dave, and Natalie over for lunch and presents.  The kids were playing, the grown ups were talking, and we were all having a great time.  

Wyatt, Reese and Natalie were upstairs playing with the Rainbow Loom in the room over the garage, and Hudson and Finley were downstairs with us.  I think the words, "Where is Hudson?," had just come out of my mouth when I heard the screaming.

Loud, loud, LOUD screaming.  I ran up the stairs (through the open kitchen gate that we always shut) and found him at the bottom of the staircase in the room over the garage (it's about 5 steps) with blood coming from his forehead.  I knew immediately that it was going to need stitches. We were able to apply pressure and get an ice pack on it for a little bit (the house was stacked with two former lifeguards and two lifeguard trainers.  Appropriate first aid execution was not a problem.)  Steph and Dave were so great to stay with the other kids while my sister and Stevie made their way over to take over child watching duties.

Allow me to say that I took this way worse than he did.  I was panicked.  Obviously, most of this is "mom instinct."  You see your kid is sick or hurt (vomit, blood, etc.), and you worry.  But you also jump into the "what can I do right now to make my baby better?" mode.  Fortunately, I was able to hold back the tears until later in the day, and we were able to get him where he needed to be.

Hudson did so, so well.  The entire time.  He barely cried, and he sat pretty quietly and nicely the entire time we were in the ER.  

His hair basically covered up the entire area.  We still don't know exactly what happened.  He was laying at the bottom of the stairs when I got there, so I think he tripped and hit his head on the wooden banister.  Reese's description of the incident is, "I told him he was going to kill himself playing on the stairs, and then he fell."

Thanks, kiddo.

(Netflix is a lifesaver.)

We were at the ER for about two hours and forty five minutes.  He did so well when they stitched him up.  He was restrained, but he only cried when they numbed it (and there was a little whimpering thrown in there).  He was such a good sport.  We were so proud of him!

He kept the stitches in for 6 days.  I just can't say enough about how wonderful this guy was.  I was sitting there feeling awful for him, but was also kind of in awe of his bravery and trust.  He's an amazing little boy!

He was not a fan of getting them taken out, but we made it through.

So we've survived our first experience with stitches, and we're hoping for no more!