Fourth of July with The Ewing Clan

We headed to Portland for the 4th of July - it was fun to get down there after having a sick May and a busy June. And lucky us, there was actually nice weather for once! This is the second year that Tutu and Papa Andy have hosted the Fourth of July/Grandma Mac's Birthday party (I believe this was birthday 93 - how impressive is that!). Hank always loves going to visit and calls their backyard "the park". You know you have a nice yard when a kid ranks it up there with a park! 

Doing some last minute 4th of July shopping at Fred Meyer, where they  have THE BEST carts! I could  get a lot of shopping done if I could keep them both contained and happy like that!

Smooching in the wine aisle :)

Party Time!!

Bret and Hudsy

The Ortolano Family - that's Hank and Hud's new cousin, Liam!

Auntie Alice and Tutu

When Hud woke up, we set him on Grandma Mac's lap and he was happy to just hang out there. I started to worry that she'd lose feeling in her lap-hehe.

Hank and Papa Andy playing badminton

Auntie Anne (Papa Andy's twin sister) and Hudson...and Hudson's belly :)

I loved this - Bret's younger cousins (high school) brought their friends and they were the best kid entertainers EVER. At one point, I turned to look for Hank and he was in the middle of the whole group of them...holding court. He loves the ladies!

Cam's picture of Hudson...he was trying to teach me how to use our new camera. I just sat and threw around words like f stop and aperture and tried to sound like I knew something...I don't (and he knew-hehe)

Cam and Hudson

CAKE TIME!!

Cake came out and Hank was THERE!

Grandma Mac showing Hank all her candles

BLOW!!!

FIREWORKS!!

Cousin Amanda helping all the second-cousins get their sparklers going

Hank wasn't so interested in the loud "grown-up" fireworks, but he loved the sparklers!

The rest of the trip...

Lunch and some good times with GG

The boys drove us home

It took a little longer, but it was nice to sleep in the back (hehe)

Hud's First Haircut

6.28.2011

Hank got to go first and show little brother how it's done. Thankfully, we're finally past the screaming haircut stage...but he still doesn't like the "zzzz things"...those are clippers to you and me.

He doesn't look thrilled, but he never is when I HAVE to take his picture

And then it was Hudsy's turn. I don't really think he knew what was happening to him (the upside to getting his first haircut this early). He did great and looks so stinkin' little boy adorable!

Getting started...just a little hair over the ears...didn't even need to do the front!

Uncomfortable

Looking tortured

The big reveal!

Hud thought he deserved a sucker too...Grandma did a good job of just sitting and smiling!

75, 85, 95...That's my boy!

At Hud's 9 month appointment, here were the stats...
75% for height
85% for weight (23 pounds! What the heck would 95% be?! We know what 3% looks like...that was our Hank at 16 pounds)
95% for head (lots of brains...lots and lots of brains)

Love that you can see a few rolls on the side here :)

He melts us with that smile!

More Tools!

This is TOTALLY safe, I promise-hehe

Potty Time!

Yes, we're finally starting the potty training process with Hank. The kid has been going on the toilet since before he was two...I guess since he's almost 3, I should get my act together and actually follow through! We're going slow and steady with all the trusty rewards to make him want to put on the undies (Yo Gabba Gabba and Diego - to be exact!). Yes, there are M&M's...
He's so excited whenever he knows he has to go - his face lights up and he starts running to the bathroom, yelling, "I GOTTA GO, I GOTTA GO!" Today, he went while we were out at the mall and he came running back to see Grandma, yelling, "I DID IT, GRANDMA! I WENT POTTY! I WENT POTTY!" Grandma and EVERYONE else in the mall was very excited for him - haha.

He's now an expert at standing at the potty - good training, Dad!

Crawling!

As of Saturday, June 18th, our big boy, Hud, is an official crawler - woohoo! I swear, watching kids hit milestones is always amazing; it doesn't matter if it's early, late,or if it's the second time you've seen it...there is something so amazing in watching them put together all the steps that it takes to do something that we don't even THINK about when we're older. And I know some people say, "Watch out, as soon as they crawl, it's all over!" But I LOVE when they're mobile - even if it means having to move them away from the DVD player 1,000 times in a day, it's still so fun!
Our favorite thing Hudson would do as he was learning to crawl was, what anyone who has taken yoga would call, "Downward Facing Dog":

How much better is it that he's only in a diaper - eee, I love those knees!

Then, he learned how to sit up on his own...

And, now...drumroll, please...our CRAWLER!

Happy Father's Day...

I'm trying so hard to be tasteful with the name of this post, because how much did I want to call it, "All I Want for Father's Day is a Bag of Dick's!" (giggle, giggle). Okay, I got it out...there are so many more, but I'll stop there in the interest of keeping this tasteful!

B's special treat was a trip to Queen Anne to eat at Dick's and shop for music at Easy Street. The drive usually sucks from Renton, but we did it anyway and had a good time. You'll notice that the boys were all too happy to sample our chocolate shakes. Hud's already getting a taste for the good stuff (Hank was lost long ago...as he is often heard saying, "My favorite thing is CHOCOLATE!").

Happy Father's Day, Daddy. We love you <smooch>

Yes, Yes...I think I like this...

Don't you dare try to take it away! I will fight with all my might!!!