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12.06.2012

AND NOW FOR A POST ABOUT HUCK


to accompany these amaaaaaaazing photos that i just unearthed on my computer from way way back over the summer, here is a little bit about our man huck at almost 26 months old.
  • good heavens above we have ourselves a talker. he talks and he talks and he talks and he talks and he taaaaaalks. i understand maaaaybe 30%* of it but a lot of it is definitely english. talking with him is so good i sometimes want to fall over dead in a puddle of proud goo. this boy!! 
  • best words these days: mee-kaka (mickey mouse), dahn-dut (donald duck), choo choo day! (the subway), bow-eye! (brown rice), pee-po? (is the pizza still too hot or can i eat it now?), chaud-no (chocolate milk. it can also means marshmallows), noooo tado! (he doesn't want a taco). 
  • appears to have called a stalemate on eating marshmallows straight off the christmas tree, but that hasn't stopped him from requesting marshmallows from the jar for every meal, most days first thing in the morning. but really, who keeps a giant jar of mini marshmallows around and doesn't expect their toddler to become obsessed with it. i'm obsessed with it. that marshmallow jar sees us coming and it goes, "oh, you again."
  • is suddenly shy around people. not real shy. fake shy. dramatic shy, with tightly shut eyes and arms draped over the face and emphatic "noooooo!"s when people look at him when he's not in the mood to be seen. similarly, trader joe tim, his favorite person ever, is now public enemy number one. i try to walk that fine line between respecting his feelings and forcing him to be friendly because, really kid? kind grocery employees? these are your people!
  • has successfully weaned himself during the daylight hours. it kind of makes me emotional.
  • pays absolutely no attention during playschool whatsoever
  • eats noodles like a professional.
  • still loves his "bapa" best of all (his grandpa lovin).
  • doesn't approve of my constant singing around the house.
  • loves his daddy most except for the hours between 8pm and 8am, in which it is MOM TIME ONLY. no daddy. MA-MA. it feels good, and also it's exhausting.
  • give him something tall to stand on and he will re-enact the entire alex the lion scene from the beginning of madagascar.
  • to get henry holbrook to eat his dinner willingly, you put the food down in front of him, and don't make eye contact. back away slowly. hold your breath. usually that works.
  • the facial expressions on this kid! i could just watch him all day long. this dude is a ham. not a thought crosses his mind that doesn't also cross his face. and bless him, he just wants to communicate and love and please. he is a pleaser. as his mom it's going to be the most important thing i ever do to show that his efforts at pleasing me are noticed and appreciated, but not at all required. i never want to take advantage of his desire to be good. i never want him to feel he has to earn or prove a single thing to me. i only want him to know that he is my everything, all on his own. no matter what. 
oh, huck.
good heavens but your mama loves you, you stinker. ;)

*i probably should have been more clear about this, and i'm sure this hardly needs pointing out but it's been on my mind all weekend so i'm going to anyway. thirty percent (and that's not exactly a scientific percentage, by the way) of what he says is english. one hundred percent of his english is understandable. huck is a very intuitive speaker. he mixes solid english with his old baby gobbledegook to get his point across to us. his english is clear and understandable, but rather than solely using words he knows, he fills in the rest of his "sentences" with his really rad baby language. you should hear it, it's adorable. he's rapidly replacing his gobbledegook with solid english the last few weeks and it's sad for me to see the baby talk go. thus, the favorite words i shared are my favorites because they're so funny sounding and remind me he's still a baby. he has plenty of words that sound just like they're supposed to. but those aren't my favorite. they're not nearly as cute. i really, really appreciate the helpful comments. you're always welcome to chime in! it's very valuable, not just to me but to everyone reading, and i certainly respect your motives and opinions. if i disagree, it's because there is more going on than what i can possibly (or should have to) share on a blog. because this is just a blog for pete's sakei assure you his development is my top priority. but you all knew that ;). thanks!

46 comments:

  1. This is so cute. I have loved reading from your Idaho days to now when you finally get to have all the mama moments you always dreamed about :)

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  2. He is the perfect mix of you and your hubby! So, freaking, cute!

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  3. He is one cool kid- even at 2!

    Just back away slowly with the food... haha! I completely understand!

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  4. Okay, this?

    "[...] i never want him to feel he has to earn or prove a single thing for me. i only want him to know that he is everything, all on his own. no matter what."

    KILLS ME DEAD.

    Sniff!

    You guys give me the warm fuzzies, big time!

    Also, the fake shyness is too cute, and "public enemy number one" made me chortle, hahah. Poor Trader Joe Tim!

    Beautiful photos, beautiful boy!

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    1. I was thinking the same thing. I love the posts about Huck. He's probably my favorite child in blogland. :)

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  5. I love this. The second photo down should be framed as quickly as possible! :)

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  6. I simply die from his cuteness. He is absolutely adorable and you're interpretation of his character and personality are priceless.

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  7. This is the sweetest thing!! And those photos! You're right. Dead.

    xo

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  8. adorable. picture number #2 is the tops!

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  9. "pee-po" and "no tado" are my favorite things. he is just adorable!

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  10. dude. my 2 (in 2 weeks) year old also loves to nurse all.night.long. We're also pretty well day weaned, but nights are rough around here. I tried to cut out nights first and she cried like I was pulling her toenails out. hang in there. it's rough!

    Good thing they're cute.

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  11. "i never want to take advantage of his desire to be good. i never want him to feel he has to earn or prove a single thing for me. i only want him to know that he is everything, all on his own. no matter what."

    -this is awesome. please tell me more. srsly tho. i'm pregnant and FREAKING OUT about being my mother.

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  12. That child. KILLS me every time.

    You are such a good mama, and you're going to be so thankful that you capture all of these moments of this little man later on.

    molly
    http://alwaysamrsforeverakidd.blogspot.com

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  13. Love the part about the marshmallow garland. I have one on my "toddler safe" tree. My back was to my 16 month old and all of a sudden I hear a very happy and satisfied mmmmmm. I turned around to see a half eaten marshmallow on the strand. How do they know? He has never had a marshmallow and I don't even think he had seen one before I put them on the tree!

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  14. Let's just be honest- your kid is adorable and your love for him is apparent. But I would really consider seeing someone about his speech. The words you listed aren't really even rough approximations, and you should be able to understand more of what he says. Even if your son doesn't have a language delay, early intervention is NEVER a bad thing; he can only benefit from it. Like I said, it's very obvious how much you love your baby, so I would think you'd want to help him succeed in every way possible...

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    1. hi dizzy, your concern is so sweet. we've been in to see his pediatrician recently and she's assured me that he is very much on track for speech development for his age. the important things in his stage of development are his efforts to communicate and his ability to understand when we communicate back. so while i do appreciate your sentiment, it's probably never a good idea to attempt to diagnose delays in children one doesn't know in person.

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    2. Hi, Natalie. I appreciate you taking the time to respond to me (though I won't pretend I didn't notice the snide tone, but I suppose I'd behave the same way if I were you). I wanted to apologize if the intent of my original comment wasn't clear (as I suspect it wasn't). I wasn't attemtping to diagnose your child. You mentioned his speech, I told you what I think about it (ah, the internet; isn't it amazing how you open yourself up to the opinions of others when you post online?). And I certainly was not trying to be malicious or rude.

      All I'll say in response to you is that, while your pediatrician did offer you a valid point, a pediatrician is not a speech therapist. Speech-language pathologists specialize in the field of language. If you are truly concerned about your son's language development, you should talk to an SLP, not a pediatrician. Language development is not their area of expertise. If I had a nickle for every time a pediatrician assured the parents of children with language delays or fluency disorders (stuttering) that their kids would "grow out of it," I'd be rich. This is your son's communicative abilities, so seeing an actual specialist instead of someone with a general (and sometimes incorrect) grasp of language development/communicative disorders is something you should probably consider.

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    3. Dizzy you are right, although there is no call for feeling offended on either side. Two children in my family have had the same problem - little real speech recognition by age 2. It took a lot of convincing, but both moms took their children to speech therapists, received "needs help now" diagnosis and have seen great strides in their children's speech. Age two seems to be the watershed. Now we have another one coming up without clear speech. Sure hope that mom remembers how convincingly she talked before about other children's speech!

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    4. What a very strange comment. Nothing like telling someone else how to raise their child via internet comment, and then accusing her of being "snide" when she (very kindly) defended her child and her choices. I suppose she should have ran to an SLP..claiming "DIZZY SENT ME LET'S DO THIS"

      Yikes Dizzy, Yikes.

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    5. Hi, Andrea. Did you notice my comment above in which I apologized that I was not clear with my original comment and that I honestly meant no disrespect? I also clarified that I was not diagnosing anyone, nor was I telling anyone how to raise their child. And her tone WAS snide, I'm not sure how one could argue with that... but, like I said, because my comment was unclear, I can understand why she reacted so defensively. Thanks for your reply.

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  15. Love Huck so much and love hearing all about him!! This probably sounds crazy but in these pictures I think he looks like my little man so much! You probably get that all the time because he is so darn cute haha but it was almost like looking at my dude in that first pic of him! Love you Nat and jealous of where you live haha what an adventure everyday!
    lots of love
    CaraLoren'

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  16. he's too much! love the pics!

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  17. His faces are hilarious! He's got such a great sense of humor!

    Theresa
    http://bomamma.blogspot.com

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  18. Too freaking cute! Little kids are cool. :) (Love his Ramones shirt!)

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  19. What a frigging cutieeeeeee! & speech problems comment above? puh-lease, he's 24 months old!

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  20. Love the pics - but (have wanted to comment on this for a long time) your font is soooooo small I usually give up trying to read everything. : (

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    1. it had been bugging me too, so i went in and made it larger. thanks for the comment! it finally got me off my bum to take care of it!

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  21. the first picture of huck's hair flying in the wind....i mean, what could be more serious than downing a crusher anyway?

    mylettchronicals

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  22. i started reading your blog a few months ago and have absolutely fallen in love with the holbrook family (in a completely non-creepy way, of course)! love all the pictures today :)

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  23. These posts are my favorite. Little Huck is soooo cute!

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  24. aaawww this has got to be one of my favourite posts! And the photos of Huck are too adorable :)

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  25. love this post...and huck is so cute, you must be one proud mama.

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  26. LOL at how you get him to eat! And I love his little 2 year old language!

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  27. Just fantastic. I read "Raising Our Children, Raising Ourselves" and it really tackles the idea of how to successfully communicate the real unconditional acceptance bit you're referring to up there. He's a doll and a ham and you're one primo mama. :)

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  28. I LOVE these bullets about Huck...and at 26 months in! You go girl. I'm trying to do the same (for the idea from you!) and I'm already behind (and um, my daughter's only six months. Thanks for the regular inspiration to document all the details I love about her. You're my favorite blog!

    Kelley
    Kdiaries.com

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  29. Huck is so cute. I really love this post. My Blog

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  30. That second photo is priceless :)

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  31. Cute pics! Love the shirt! My son has the same shirt, but it no longer fits him...he's three. There was something about wearing the Ramones shirt at the age Huck is wearing in which made his personality even more rambunctious! Weird, but fun! Have a great week with your two favorite boys!

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  32. Oh my ovarieeeees! Henry is unreal. He is so flippin' adorable. You are one lucky mama. I can't wait till I have my first kiddo.

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  33. Natalie!, Bless that little huck of yours. I too have a very animated little dude. Oh my goodness he is a one man performance!! Thank you for sharing as much as you do with us. As a mama of two littlies i can apprciate those funny little dramatics. It really makes my day.

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  34. PS: Hubby brought home a sweet as pair of antlers he found whilst hunting last weekend, and i immediately thought "Natalie would love these". Lol.

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  35. I love those cute words and I hate that you had to add an adendum. (did I spell that properly?)

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  36. This is so, so precious. Your son is adorable. My niece, Brooklynne (we call her Birdie) is eighteen months old and I could just watch her interact with life and her toys and herself all day long. My favorite Birdlish words are "pah-me" (pardon me...said mostly to the dogs when they are eating her food) and "hewp yoo" when she needs help. These little humans are incredible.

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  37. 1. Sheesh, Huck. He is just the sweetest little piece of pie! I hate every second that flies by in my 6 month old daughter's life, but at least it appears to stay amazing over the years!

    2. I'm dying reading through all that jazz about his speech in these comments. It's funny (no, not funny at all) how mothers want people to trust THEIR 'mother's intuition,' but then they feel prettttty darn good doling out unsolicited advice to other moms. I mean, come on. I'm getting super mad for you- but kudos for handling it thoughtfully :)

    3. You're a cool chick, super honest, and by golly, I internetly love you and you posts, Natalie Holbrook!


    happy sunday!
    jessie
    http://www.horneymomtellsall.blogspot.com/

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