thankful

I'm thankful for a little guy that is finally really happy in our home.  I don't think he's cried at bedtime or during the night for two weeks.  I can't remember a day when he's thrown himself on the floor in frustration over... and over... and over.  He plays nicely by himself with toys, mostly cars.  Hannah and Hudson play  wonderfully together 90% of the time.  Hitting, pushing, and grabbing of toys is rare.  We kiss.  We hug.  We sing songs.  We share treats.

We've found solutions on how to make him feel less frustrated because of our communication barriers.  He used to scream and throw himself on the floor at breakfast time because he was hungry and didn't think I was getting him food fast enough.  I'll set him on the counter top and have him watch me make breakfast and sometimes help with tasks like putting bread in the toaster or pushing buttons on the microwave.  He can SEE that we're working on breakfast, he isn't being denied food, and he likes to help.  Kevin does things like gets the kids playing together in the living room before he starts making breakfast, so Hudson isn't thinking about "Where's my breakfast?!?!?" during prep time.

Hudson's receptive vocabulary has grown by miles.  We can tell him to do things like pick up trash on the floor and put it in the trash can, and he does it.  He can help pick up toys when asked, and will come to us and tells us "peepee" or "poopoo" when he'd like a new diaper... and will run to his room when we say "let's go get a new diaper."

He feels badly when Hannah is upset.  If she's in trouble and has to stand in the corner... (usually with tears streaming down her face), Hudson will run to a nearby corner and sand there in solidarity with Hannah.

When I dreamed of having a daughter, I imagined taking my daughter to singing and dancing lessons... and being a swing choir mom when she was high school age.  Hannah is very shy and doesn't like strangers looking at her.  I don't think singing and dancing will be in her future.  Singing and dancing are favorite activity of his... right after playing with cars and trains.  We sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Happy Birthday, Wheels on the Bus, and Old McDonald together.  He loves to shout EIEIO repeatedly and make animal sounds, especially "ssssssss!" for the sound of the snake on our farm. :)

We are having some issues with hives on his chest that come and go.  I've never seen him itch them or look uncomfortable because of them.  I suspect a food allergy, but perhaps a food that he's been eating frequently.  Hudson had some hives the day we met him and I chalked it up to anxiety.  As he's become more comfortable in our home, we're getting more hives... so I don't think that is it.  I've made an appointment with an allergist to see what he thinks, and I'll be bringing all of my iPhone photos of these mystery hives.  I'd like to know what the source(s) is/are so we can avoid whatever it is rather just scratching our heads and giving Hudson antihistamines.  Also looking forward to getting a weight on him next week.  He's getting heavy to carry.  We're on our 3rd size of shoes with him, and moving from 24mo to 2T pants.