Dear Hudson,
I honestly cannot believe another 365 days has come and gone, and it’s been three years since you forever changed our lives. At the same time it’s sometimes hard to remember the days before you were around because we’ve become such a unit of three that life before you seems like just that, another lifetime. A lifetime where tantrums and middle of the aisle Target breakdowns didn’t exist. A lifetime where my pottery barn console didn’t have purple and red crayon streaks on it. But also a lifetime in which the greatest joy of my life didn’t exist, so for now I will deal with those breakdowns in the best way I know how. Bribing you with a Starbucks cake pop.
This year if I nickname you one thing it would be the negotiator. You are constantly trying to negotiate your way to five more minutes (Scotty McCreery’s new song could be you theme song, I swear), whether it’s at the park, putting off nap time or bedtime, or cleaning up your toys. You try to negotiate ice cream for breakfast, and when that doesn’t work, at least ice cream before dinner. You try to negotiate wearing sweat pants to school on picture day. Even at this very moment, you are trying to negotiate your way to a pancake breakfast. You have a future as a lawyer, so just remember who made you those pancakes in the shape of Mickey Mouse.
You started the year terrified of going to school, and now you don’t even look back at me when I drop you off. Pretty sure that’s because you have a crush on Miss Candace, but we won’t tell her that. You love playing with other kids at the playground, you have an affinity for Batman, even though you’ve never seen the cartoon, you’re obsessed with all things trucks, cars, and planes, and love to use your tools to fix things including the neighborhood playground. It took us a while to explain to you that Halloween is only one day of the year, as you asked us for weeks to go trick or treating around the neighborhood. You went from saying a few words to full on sentences, hence those negotiating skills, and even say your own bedtime prayers now. You pretty much made potty training such a breeze, that we can deal with the fact that the transition to your big boy bed has not been quite as smooth. If I am completely honest, as hard as it to wake up in the middle of the night, or as much as I say I don’t want to lie down with you or let you crawl in our bed, that would be a lie. Because I’m secretly dreading the days when you don’t want to do those things. It’s a double edged sword watching you grow up because I know it means the days of you needing me in certain ways are slipping away. I’ll never know the last time you’ll reach for my hand when crossing the street, the last time you’ll need me after you fall down and scrape your knees, or the last time you’ll actually want to crawl into my bed, so for now I will hold onto them while I can.
In a few weeks, your biggest transition to date will happen, when you become a big brother, and while I can’t wait to see you with your baby brother, there’s part of me that will always hold onto the days when it was just you and me against the world. (Technically daddy too, but surely I get some kind of mom badge of honor for staying home with you full time.) Because you are my world, Hudson Theodore. And watching you grow up is my greatest joy in life. And no, you cannot have ice cream for breakfast.
Happy third trip around the sun.
Love,
Mom
You saw history happen here in Charleston during the total eclipse of 2017.
And you continued to charm your great grandparents.
You found out you were going to become a big brother…
… A job you started taking seriously right away… and started telling me I had, “a big old belly.” 🙂
You started the 2 year old class at Hibben…
…. but didn’t hesitate to tell us how you really felt about it. 
Events at Boone Hall quickly became your favorites.
And Leon became one of your new best friends.
In March you met your new cousin Angelina, who you call Angelina Ballerina.
And took advantage of your last few weekends as an only child. 
The world is yours to go after, Hudson Theodore, and we can’t wait to see you do it. 
**Beach photos by Palmetto Rose Photography**
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