Daddy's Back!!!!

Hello everybody!  After three weeks in Tampa with my new job, I finally came back home to Ohio last week to a completely different family and a completely different baby Hudson....he has changed so MUCH!!  When I left for Tampa, I had a calm and content little boy; he was fed every three hours and had just learned how to roll over onto his back.   But once in Tampa, the phone calls started coming - "Your son is acting like a brat!"; "Hudson is never satisfied but for a few moments.  And he is always HUNGRY!!";  "Huddy is always whinging!  He is such a handful now!!".   And then came the part that I had been waiting to hear since Angela and I got married.   In an almost sighed resignation, Angela told me on the phone, "I'll admit it Chris.  You are very helpful with Hudson, and I wish you were here right now to help."   Woo hoo!!!  And I went even further to interpret that as also saying "Hudson really misses his Daddy!".  Despite all the bad reports, I couldn't wait to get home to see my Huckleberry.

When I came home last Friday, the first thing everybody told me was that Hudson now had changed yet again.   He had started his first week of daycare, and know he was a totally different baby - a calm, cool, content, happy baby!!   I'm not sure if I believe it, b/c all I know is that he was a calm, cool, content, happy baby before I left and when I came home he was again a calm, cool, content, happy baby.  Nobody in the Kemp household knows what happened to Hudson while I was gone and why he acted out the way he did, but from where I'm standing, it's as simple as Hudson really missed his Daddy!!!!

Hudson meanwhile, has done a fantastic job at adapting to the daycare schedule.  I was a little hesitant to do daycare at first, given how expensive some of the places were, but after seeing him firsthand come home from daycare completely wiped out, I can tell you that daycare is worth every penny!!!   And this week, Daddy finally caved and got him ready for daycare and dropped him off.   Angela makes it look so simple, but it really isn't that easy of a thing to do!  You gotta make sure you dress him properly (which has always been a struggle for me...I'd say I've got about a 45% success rate of dressing myself in matching clothes, so thank the Lord most baby outfits come in sets!); then you have to make sure all his gear is packed (bottles, diapers, etc.); then you gotta put him in the car seat and make sure he has toys, pacifiers, blanket, et al. to occupy him.  Then you gotta drive him to daycare and pray Hudson doesn't start crying from the way I drive (which I've come to learn isn't the preferred way of driving a car).  There's a lot of little things in that list that can go wrong!   Thankfully, I got Hudson off to daycare without a hitch - though it did take me 30 minutes longer than I had planned and I had to go back to daycare b/c I forgot to pack something.

On Saturday, we went to the Newport Aquarium with Shannon, Andrew and Anderson, and Angela's friend Bonnie and her husband Kris.  Hudson loved it - he immediately wanted to get out of the stroller so he could look at all the different fish-ies and all the tropical colors.  I've never seen Hudson move his head so fast!   Right, center, left, then right, left, right, center, up, across, down......his head was going everywhere!!!  Cousin Anderson also enjoyed himself quite a bit, and it was near impossible to hold that boy still for long enough to get a picture with him!

Anderson would not stay still!

Yes, this is one of the better pictures at the aquarium!

 There were also a couple of spots at the aquarium where you could actually touch the fish.  This scared cousin Anderson half to death (no surprise!),  and he wasn't going near the starfish to touch it.  Hudson though, touched it without incident, albeit with Daddy's help.  There was even a shark tank that you were allowed to stick your hand in and touch!   Hudson was moving his little ol' legs and would get really excited whenever he saw a shark swim past!  I couldn't get Hudson's hand close enough to the sharks to touch, but I let Huddy watch as his brave Daddy touched every shark that swam past.

We had a blast at the aquarium and Hudson enjoyed himself....it definitely wore him out!   On the ride back home he slept the entire way and then when we got home he was STILL asleep, so we just let him sleep in the car seat, which if you know Huddy, he's not a big fan of the car seat.   

That's all this week.   I'm glad to be back home with my family and the Huckleberry, despite the fact that I now have to help out in feeding him in the middle of the night.  Huge bummer.   But Huddy's worth it!   See y'all soon!

     

Halloween, Swings and Rice

Hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween week! Hudson was full of giggles and grins as he got to wear his police officer outfit again. He's already outgrown most of his 3 month clothes so I was glad I could get one more use in. We went to Aunt Shannon's house to watch Anderson trick-or-treat and then pass out candy. Hudson sparkled in his officer outfit; Anderson, however, had a tough go in his Elmo costume. It took two adults to get him in that thing. But once he was outside and saw other kids, he liked walking around to the houses.

"Why can't I eat the candy mom?"

Officer Hudson

This pic was taken right before Anderson was told he had to put on his Elmo suit.

Poor Anderson. Lolly thought this was soooo funny!

He eventually put on the hat and was a happy boy. It was pretty cute, trust me.

Hudson was also introduced  to his Jump-n-Go swing. He's still a tad small for it and I had to put a pillow behind him, but he lovesssss to be standing. He seems to get frustrated that he can't walk and even more frustrated that he can't sit upright on his own yet. But once he realized he could push off the floor, he'd do a couple bounces....and then he had to rest and suck on his hand. Standing up is tough work!

                                        

And another big milestone this week. Not only did Hudson hit the ripe age of 16 weeks, but I also started rice cereal. My boy was eating over 32 oz a day and still seemed hungry. With all his moving, kicking and squealing, I figured he was burning too many calories and needed an extra umph. I was hesitant and anxious to start rice cereal so early, but after he grabbed the spoon out of my hand, I figured he was ready.

"More please!"

And he still loves his Exer-Saucer. It's a surprise every time he gets in it. He can't even control his eyes he's so surprised...

Anderson helping Hudson push all the buttons.

Next week is a big week! I start work and Hudson starts daycare. I'm already dreading mornings and trying to figure out how I'm going to muster up the energy to mentally perform for a full day. But as long as we survive the crazy week, we'll get to see Chris next weekend. Three weeks in Tampa and I'm ready to not be a single parent anymore. I hope Chris is ready for some cold weather. And I hope he's ready to see a bigger, more energetic baby boy!