My little Momma

This is a long overdue post in recognition of our newest family members, Baby and Big Baby. If you are one of my facebook friends you will most definitely recognize their little plastic faces because I rarely get a photo of Hudson without including one of these two adorable (?) little babies.

Our first clue that Hudson had a baby obsession was when we went to see Toy Story 3, Hud's first real movie. I was worried that he wouldn't sit still the whole time, but one character got and held his attention for two solid hours. The baby, who for most of the movie was kind of a villain and looked pretty scary. Not to Hudson, whenever the screen cut away from the baby shot Hudson would yell out, "My baby! Where go?" At the end of the movie, Connor leaned over and said, "Mommy, I'm kind of scared of Hudson's baby he was mean." Hmmm that should have been a giant clue.

We got Baby at the beginning of the summer on a whim, we were shopping for a little girl birthday present for one of our friends and we ventured into the all pink baby doll aisle, a place totally foreign to my two sons. Connor showed a glancing interest but was much more into the superhero aisle. Hudson, however, fell in love. Matt and I watched in shock as he slowly made his way down the aisle kissing every box and baby he could get his lips on. So I turned to Matt, expecting resistance to my request to buy him a baby of his very own. But my husband never ceases to amaze me and readily agreed that we should get him his own little baby. Hudson has never been prouder, he cuddled her and forced strangers to look at her in the checkout. It was the most adorable thing ever. We kind of thought that he would forget about her after a few days because lets face it, a long attention span is not something Hudson is known for. But he was smitten. She started going everywhere with us. He smushed her down under the straps in his carseat, squealed whenever his brother dared touch her and threw her onesie at the washing machine repeatedly when he thought she was dirty. Whenever I rock Hudson at night, he spends several minutes arranging Baby on my other shoulder before he can settle down and relax. I know a lot of dads might not be thrilled with their little boys being obsessed with a pink clad baby doll but Matt is awesome about it. Every night at bedtime he is the first one in line to kiss that baby goodnight (Hudson requires that of his family). Nothing pleases Hudson Hill more than seeing his family love on his baby.

This had gone on for quite a while and Baby has really lived a lifetime of adventure in just a few short months. She had been to libraries, waterparks and the home depot. Any adventure Hudson embarked on, he was sure to take her along for the ride. It was all such an interesting and unexpected thing to watch. Hud is about the most rough and tumble boy I have ever come across and he is always diving head first into danger (or a mud puddle). His legs are always bruised and scraped and he has a perma-knot on his forehead that is always rewounded before it completely heals. Yet, he is gentle and kind to a little baby doll. He sings little nonsense songs to her and puts her in the bath every night and by bath I sometimes mean toilet. I love it. I don't understand it, but I love it. Matt says it is because he wants to be like a big brother (no you sly devils....he will never be a big brother). But Baby is his oppurtunity to love the crap out of something and unlike real babies (which he also loves) Baby doesn't squack when he tickle scratches her or kisses her directly on the eyeball (sorry about that one baby Paige).

Enter onto the scene, Big Baby. My mother, for reasons unknown, felt like she wasn't strong enough to resist the fit Hudson threw when he spotted Big Baby at the store. So after spending one night with Mimi, Hudson came home a father of two. Big Baby is just that, big. He is almost as tall as Hudson and comes with his own accessories. We are in absolute heaven. Like most parents, there might have been a moment where we didn't know if we had enough love for two babies, that one might get the proverbial shaft affection-wise. But no, there is enough Hudson love to go around to both baby dolls. In that tiny boy's body, I dare say, he has enough love for 1000 babies. Now, Big baby kind of freaks Matt and I out. He has pearcing, unnatural blue eyes and eyelids that open and close. Or at least they are supposed to, one is kind of wonky so he always looks like he is giving you the stink eye. This freaky imperfection is beautiful to Hudson, his parents just try and avoid direct eye contact.

I can't imagine how long this love affair with odd looking babies will go on at our house, but I just want to say I am all for it. I love the glimpses of compassion and tenderness I see in my little boy. He is always too busy running and climbing now to sit and snuggle for any amount of time with his mommy, and certainly not the hours I would like to spend every day, so it is a special treat for us to see him be so sweet and nurturing to those crazy babies. Every night Hudson prays a seemingly endless prayer of gibberish, with his chubby little hands tightly clasped. But every night I can always make out the following words, Mommy, Daddy, Connie and Baby. Oh and boat, but I have no idea about that one :)