Hudson – 10 Month Update

Hudson is already 10 months old! For so many reasons, I wish I would’ve taken the “jump” on this blog when Hudson was younger. While many of you follow via Instagram and Facebook, having a blog fills in the color around our lives! Since I’m not doing a baby book (because I could barely keep up with my pregnancy book), I’m hopeful this blog will serve as a type of ‘baby book’. But since I launched in February when Hudson was 9 months, I will not have captured the previous 9 months in the way that I hope to share the rest!

WHOOSH (yes that’s the sound of time passing by), he’s been out longer than he was in 🙂 Over the past 6 months, I have been following a blog called The Massey Spot written by supermom Amber Massey. I’ve watched her little one Brady grow (since he’s only a few months older than Hudson) and love reading her monthly posts on his development. I’d like to take some inspiration from Miss Amber and do something similar here.

This blog is an open place to share and document our little boy’s journey. Everyone with Down syndrome moves at his or her own pace. While Hudson may not meet some of the “traditional developmental milestones” at the same rate of a typical baby, I want to share his journey and path so that you can cheer him on as he develops on his own timeline.

UPDATES

• Hudson is one of the happiest babies! So often people will comment on how ‘chill’ he is, how content he seems, and how he just knows how to go with the flow. Our lives are ever changing – with my crazy work schedule, David’s insane traveling, the kids’ schedule between two houses, soccer, volleyball, gymnastics, Project Change – Hudson by force has to be laid back but it is such a wonderful blessing!
• Hudson loves to chew on EVERYTHING. We even bought him a vibrating teether to give him additional input in his mouth. When he doesn’t use that toy, he also loves my Quip toothbrush.
• Hudson loves our Shih Tzu, Chewie…unfortunately Chewie doesn’t reciprocate his love at the same level as Hudson. Chewie is patient with Huddy, but after a few grabs of the tail and chasing him on his tummy, Chewie is ready for a nap.
• Hudson is wearing 9-12-month or 12-18 month clothes depending on the brand. We got some new cute clothes from Cat & Jack as well as Gymboree this past month!
• No stranger danger for this boy. Hudson loves people and is very in tune with emotions. I haven’t noticed any separation anxiety either. I can leave the room and he wouldn’t notice!
• Hudson is learning to dance. It comes in the form a headshake ‘no’ but I choose to believe he’s just grooving to the beat. I can’t wait until he’s dancing more as he gets bigger!
• Bath time – OH MY GOODNESS. This one breaks my heart. Hudson used to love the bath; over Christmas break, while we were at G&G’s house, he was able to sit in his own on the tub and loved trying to grab the water. For whatever reason, Hudson HATES bath time. It’s not the temperature, there was no negative experience, and it’s not a lack of toys or attention or singing! He cries, screams and even shakes (which is the saddest part). I have been told this is a phase – fingers crossed!
• Hudson loves to be tickled, especially by Daddy. Under the armpits, on his feet, his neck and sides – it’s the cutest little squeal and we are soaking it in every single time.
• He loves to open mouth kiss, pull on hair, and grab collarbone and neck skin – mommy’s favorite.
• Keep your laptops, remotes, iPhones, and iPads away from this kid – he’s obsessed. Which is weird because he doesn’t spend much time looking at any of them…but maybe he sees us on them and wants them too? I think it’s also the lights, noises, and size that add to the appeal.

EATING

Adapted Baby Led Weaning

• Thank you to our amazing speech therapist Jill Rabin for introducing our family to Baby Led Weaning (BLW). I had never heard of it before, and she’s been a great resource for learning how to incorporate this method into Hudson’s development.
• When I say ‘adapted,’ we also use purees. Instead of offering the puree on a spoon and guiding it into Hudson’s mouth, we put his purees in a feeder and he has to guide it into his mouth. I’ll write a longer post on this at another time!
• Right around 9 months, I noticed that Hudson was spitting out a lot of his food. Not because he didn’t like it but because he wasn’t swallowing. I talked to our speech therapist and our nutritionist about this.
  • We decided that Hudson wasn’t swallowing because the chunks were too big. For instance, if we gave him a piece of broccoli, he’d put it in his mouth, swallow part of it and the rest would just fall out. We started breaking down his food a bit more and adding softer solids like Laughing Cow cheese, peaches, and mandarin oranges.
  • By offering Hudson one small piece at a time, he was now swallowing but he wasn’t chewing anything. We are constantly changing Hudson’s feeding schedule to meet wherever he is at developmentally. By not chewing anything, Hudson wouldn’t gain jaw strength – so we’ve added in grated chewing (think strips of chewy bacon, toast with hummus and baby wafers that don’t break easily).
  • Then the concern was that he was eating cheese and sugary fruits primarily – so we shifted to meatballs. I made chicken meatballs, turkey meatballs, beef meatballs. Hudson still wasn’t doing well with the texture and ejected a lot of the meat; since then, I’ve tried adding a sauce or puree to the meatballs and offering it to him from a fork or spoon. While this isn’t pure BLW, my goal is to get the food in him at this point while adding as many aspects that are baby led feeding as possible.
  • The goal is to get Hudson the nutrition and calories he needs to grow but also to have him eat meals with our family in the next few months – versus cooking and serving him his own meal.

NURSING

• I am still nursing Hudson with plans to wean around 12 months. I’ve stopped pumping regularly this month – hooray! Hudson will nurse every 3-4 hours. Now that he is taking in more solid food, he needs less milk. It’s hard to tell how much he is taking in since we don’t weigh him before and after nursing, but based on how much he will take from a supplemental bottle, I’m guessing between 4-6 ounces each feeding. Hudson rarely finishes a bottle that’s more than 6 ounces – his belly gets really full and he becomes fussy. First feeding is around 6:30 am and the last one right before bed – usually a “nightcap” before he dozes off.

TOOLS FOR EATING

• Hudson has been drinking from the Honey Bear cup for a few months now. The kid is so eager to sip the whole thing but there’s one major problem – he doesn’t know how! He sees it, gets excited, and then nothing. The honey bear cup teaches him to put his lips around the straw but I squeeze the bear to get water into his mouth. We’ve also tried a sippy cup – Hudson is also eager for this but struggles with tipping his head back. He’s doing GREAT with these noseless cups and I put my hand under his chin to help him drink.

SLEEPING

• Hudson continues to sleep through the night. Can I get an AMEN?! He has since he was 4 months old. Hudson is also not much of a “scheduled” baby – meaning, we have no bedtime routine. Depending on the night, I put his pajamas on around 7:30 pm and he’s asleep somewhere between 7:30-8: 30 pm every night. I just lay him down in the crib: he may fight sleep for a few minutes, but then that thumb goes in and Hudson is lights out.
  • During the bulk of February this year, our nightly routine was watching the Olympics! While we try to reduce Hudson’s screen time, he watched a few events this year.
  • Depending on the night’s activities (soccer, volleyball, etc), we will eat dinner around 6:30 pm. Hudson eats at the table with us. We have been doing an adapted Baby Led Weaning since he was 6 months old. Hudson will usually have a little bit of what we are having plus some of his own food (for example, steamed vegetables, sweet potato mash, etc.)
  • If he got really messy at dinner, up to the tubby he goes then into his PJs and getting ready for bed.
  • Some nights we will read books with him, play a little bit before bed, listen to music, or just rock him to sleep.

• While I’m thankful for never getting up in the middle of the night, Hudson is a TERRIBLE napper. He usually falls asleep in his car seat when we are in the car for 10 minutes, but the second we walk in the house, he wakes up or shortens his nap drastically. When I put him down for a nap, we get a lot of screaming and crying – where did my sweet ‘laid back’ boy go?! Our lack of naptime routine makes the days unpredictable and makes it challenging for mommy to get work done!

PLAYING

• Hudson has learned how to stand at his activity table. It’s so fun to watch him explore a whole new world off of the floor. Not only does this help build Hudson’s leg strength for standing unassisted and walking, but he is able to engage with his toys in a new way.
• I am the luckiest mommy for SO many reasons – but as work demands continue to increase (thus my time at the computer does as well), it’s so nice to put Hudson on the ground with his toys and work next to him. His independent play skills are fantastic! Hudson is great at pushing the buttons, moving from toy to toy, watching BeatBo do his groovy BeatBo Boogie (if you don’t know what I’m referring to – it’s the world’s best toy), and making fabulously fun messes.
• Hudson really loves his toys…
  • Hudson loves his new activity table – especially the spinning cylinder and the latch you can open and close.
  • BeatBo continues to be a favorite – we even acquired a mini-BeatBo this past month.
  • He also loves playing with this shape sorter. We put the blocks in, tell him ‘orange star’, ‘blue square’, ‘green circle’ and show him ‘in.’ Then we ask Hudson to get the shapes out and he loves to shake the bucket upside down. Oh and he loves to eat the shapes – so we have to watch that 🙂
  • Another notable toy the past month – the foam tile floor. These are not intended to be a toy but this kid loves to chew on the floor. Luckily he has no choppers….yet!
• Pat-A-Cake with Emily is his new favorite song/game to play. His smile gets so big, he brings his hands to his mouth and cannot contain his excitement! While he doesn’t clap along yet, we keep trying to show him and it’s a great way to help him identify who is who and letters…mark with a T and put in the oven for Tyler and me (while pointing to Tyler).
• Hudson is moving everywhere. His Physical Therapist said he’s a fast army crawler, but the biggest problem with this new skill can lead to little motivation to ‘regular’ crawl (a skill that is harder and makes him go slower). Some kiddos don’t crawl at all; some walk and then go back to crawl; some crawl right away! All I know for now is that he is B.U.S.Y. and moving all over our house on his tummy. We have to watch out for trashcans, wrappers, dust bunnies, and shoes because he will find them.

COMMUNICATION

• Since Hudson’s tube surgery in early January, the past month has been full of new sounds. He’s always loved music and is now much more responsive to it. When we clap, he startles. We actually had to invest in a pair of soundproof headphones for him to wear to the kiddos’ sporting events with those loud buzzers.
• Hudson has been great at turning to sounds this past month! He definitely knows his name and even variations of his name (like Huddy, Huddy Buddy, Huds of Buds). Hudson will babble – definitely knows dada (although not in sole recognition with his father), ba noises, ga noises. We hope our sweet boy keeps chatting it up – he’s been quiet this month but I can also tell he’s observing and taking in a lot of what we say. Raspberries are a huge hit for him!

We love this little dude.

Hudson’s smile lights up his entire face. Like Emily says, “He smiles with his eyes” and she is so right. He is curious, motivated, and joyful. I am grateful to be home with him for the past 2 months and I can’t wait to see what he’ll continue to do!

Some additional fav photos from the past month