Dinnertime can be pretty fun around here!
Hutch loves giving high fives (to anyone and everyone he meets) and he is pretty proud of his high ten as you can see! The sound of a dog (or a train or a motorcycle) in the distance will draw his attention immediately. He loves making animal sounds. A few of our favorites are his elephant, dino and owl… a few that, unfortunately, were forgotten in this video. I guess we’ll have to make another video of those soon.
We had Hutch’s 15 month doctor’s appointment this week. And, he is doing great… not that we needed to go the doctor to figure that out… but still it is nice to hear!
He is growing. He has grown an inch since our last appointment almost 3 months ago and has gained 3 pounds. He is long and lean… maybe a bit like his dad. He is in the 90th percentile for height at 32.5 inches, and the 50th percentile for weight at 24.8 pounds. We’re not exactly sure how he stays so lean with all that he eats. A few mornings ago he ate almost 3 eggs plus half of an english muffin, half of a banana, and a small dish of oatmeal!!! That seems to me like a big breakfast… especially for a 15 month old! He doesn’t seem to have any trouble burning off all those calories… but he may also be burning a hole in our pockets!
He got shot… twice. Once in each leg. He didn’t like that at all! He cried with each poke. Shots always seem to make the little guy a bit more sleepy than usual. He took an extra long nap that afternoon but woke up with as much energy, appetite and spunk as ever.
The doctor asked if he had 3-5 words in his vocabulary… I told her he probably had around 20. She was very pleased with that amount at this age… she said she would expect that amount closer to 18 months. Then I started thinking that maybe I had exagerated a bit. So on our walk that evening Derick and I decided to start listing and counting the words that he regularly and consistently says on his own. We flew past 20 and made it to at least 40.
Now obviously, not every word is properly or always fully pronounced, but these are words he regularly uses without prompting and consistently pronounces the same way. Papa is always whispered and it is the most precious thing to hear! It definitely endears Hutch to his Papa! Bock-bock is also always whispered, but I don’t think the chickens love Hutch any more because of it.
Hutch also has a ton of words he loves to repeat when prompted. A few of those regularly repeated around here include: oatmeal, amen, Jesus, doctor, ocean, Ernie; and thanks to the prompting of friends: tattoo, minion, and dude.
This word learning phase has been one of my favorites. It is awesome to see his little brain soak up and repeat everything he can. It blows my mind that just a year ago, all he did was just lay there and look around. And now… he can understand us and we can understand him (at least some of the time)! I love this experience of watching our little boy learn to communicate!
Ho-hum-i-ness
Leaving husband at home for our quick trip north! Sad for him. Very sad for me.
Trying to travel with a toddler and all of his stuff (which includes a large bulky carseat), all of my stuff, and a baby bump… I am sure we are quite the site! And I am quite tuckered out.
The full-body pat-down (yes, baby bump and all) that I received at the airport. As I if we needed an additional challenge!
The neckline of my dress… Tried it on real quick before I packed it… seemed fine with a quick glance in the mirror as I stood still. Not so good with any movement, especially dancing as I found out once I was surrounded by people. Sorry to those who saw more than I would have liked! Embarrassing!
Happiness
A quick 24 hour trip up north where Hutch got to see his Grammie and his Uncle Ron.
How good Hutch was sitting on my lap on our flight! We got lots of complements on how good he was… even from the man who got stuck sitting between us and a very large man. He seemed pleasantly surprised. So blessed to have such a good little guy!
Watching two dear high school friends celebrate 10 years of marriage! Congratulations Jeremy and Emily! So happy I was able to celebrate with you.
Seeing other old friends.
Dancing with my best high school girl friends.
Dancing with a big belly… awkward and embarrassing, but in a fun way!
A half empty flight on the way back home… which meant Hutch and I each got our own seat.
Ending our flight by watching a beautiful sunset over the ocean (and a tiny island).
Seeing dad at the airport! Yay! We’re home!
Happy New Year everyone! Not only is today the first day of the year, it is also my birthday… that’s right, I am a New Year’s baby. Today is the first day of the last year of my twenties! Whoa! And with only a few hours left to this first day of 2012, here is my very first post of the year. I asked my mom, Cathi, to write a little bit about that New Year’s Day twenty-nine years ago when I was born.
This photo is from the front page of the January 2nd, 1983 edition of the Auburn Journal. This photo was accompanied by an article announcing the arrival of the first baby of the New Year in Placer County, CA: Rebecca Ariana Hutchinson, born on January 1, 1983 at 5:23 AM.
Our little girl came into the world without too much difficulty. She was our fourth baby and an extra special blessing. She was an answer to prayer following the birth of her brother Joel who was born with unexpected heart problems. Unfortunately, these heart problems cut short our time with Joel to only six days.
When the nurse first brought Rebecca into my room, she said that there was a problem with my baby. My heart dropped, remembering our experience with Joel. The nurse went on to tell me that Rebecca’s body temperature was a little low and that I would just have to hold her and snuggle with her to keep her warm. You can’t even imagine how relieved and overjoyed I was. I snuggled with Rebecca for hours and just couldn’t keep my eyes off of her.
She was an answer to prayer and a bright little light for all of us on that New Years Day and has continued to be so all of these years.
I am over half-way through my pregnancy. I can’t really believe it. This pregnancy has gone by so much faster than my first. Perhaps it is the little boy that keeps me distracted, or perhaps it is everything else that we have keeping us busy, or perhaps it is just that I am a little more familiar with pregnancy this time around. There are certainly positives and negatives to the rate at which this pregnancy is flying by. I am excited to meet this new baby, so I am happy to have the time fly by! But at the rate that this is pregnancy is passing, I haven’t taken as much time to document the various milestones or the comparisons to my first pregnancy.
So far my two pregnancies have been fairly similar. A few minor differences throughout the first trimester. For one, I never had any specific cravings during my pregnancy with Hutch. I felt like such a disappointment to so many people in this area since it is one of the most common questions I received during pregnancy. That and “Is it a boy or girl?” to which my answer most often disappointed people since we decided to wait until Hutch was born to find out. And a third disappointment was my response to the question about names since we decided to wait and surprise people with this news at birth as well. But this time I have at least one answer to one of these common questions. This pregnancy I have craved meat… specifically red meat… a burger, a hearty steak… yum! And sweets, not so much, which is certainly abnormal for me!
I haven’t really had morning sickness during either of my pregnancies the way many people experience it (meaning, no throwing up). I’m a blessed girl in that! In both pregnancies, week 7 & 8 do make me feel a bit yucky and nothing sounds good to me other than ice cold ginger ale. During weeks 9 & 10 I feel much better but then the yuckiness hits again for weeks 11 & 12. And then starting week 13, the hearty pregnancy eating can begin! Fun, until the acid reflux begins. Oh the pregnancy joys! : )
My body has felt a bit different this pregnancy for a few reasons. First, since I only had nine months of non-pregnancy, I don’t think my body ever fully recovered. So this time I think I started with a little less muscle and a little more chub. Second, last pregnancy I did a great job of staying active! I ran up until well into my seventh month.
(I never finished writing this, so it is incomplete… but still has some things I’d like to look back on and remember. Maybe someday, I’ll finish it. Maybe.)
Some friends of ours coined the name “Baby Z-quel” for baby z #2. It’s a pretty fun name!
I am over half-way through my pregnancy and little z-quel is growing! I am 22 1/2 weeks now and I haven’t posted any pregnancy photos. Ridiculous, I know! But don’t worry, we have at least been good about taking them every week.
Here are a few from my first trimester… Weeks 7, 9 & 12. I know there’s not much belly but there’s a tiny baby in there!
November 27, 2011. 18 Weeks: I really started to pop right after Thanksgiving. Perhaps it was caused by the growth of baby… or more likely, by the holiday feasting. I guess that’s one benefit of being pregnant over holidays… I can blame the weight gain on baby! Nice!
December 4, 2011. 19 weeks:
December 11, 2011. 20 Weeks: Halfway there!
December 18, 2011. 21 weeks:
Christmas day is here! Really it’s less than an hour from over but it is just the beginning of our celebration. Tonight is our Christmas Eve with Derick’s family and in a few days we will celebrate with my family.
We have so much to be thankful for this Christmas! We have been blessed with so much joy and laughter and love this year. We are thankful for our little boy and so thankful for our baby on the way! But we are even more thankful for the little baby that was sent to this earth so many years ago to bring us salvation.
Alleluia! Praise Him!
It seems like everyday there is something new and fun to love about Hutch… too many too list! But here are a few that we’ve been enjoying this past month.
The way he makes “yum” sounds when we give him his food… especially when it’s something he really likes (like peas). He takes after both his dad and his Grammie in this area! Noisy eaters. And, when he is really excited, he growls!
His dance moves. He really loves moving to the music!
The way he picks up a book and pretends to read it to himself making up all kinds of words… I’m sure he must understand his funny little noises, but then again probably not.He also enjoys reading them upside-down as you can see.
His cute teeth… two on top, two on bottom… and the way he sticks out his tongue when we tell him to show his teeth… sometimes he’ll smile, but usually we get the tongue.
How excited he gets to see us out the car window… and play a quick game of peek-a-boo from behind his sun shade.
His car and animal noises. He loves to make his cars go “vroom!” (though it does sound more like a long low growl). He has also been learning to “moo” like a cow lately and sometimes he seems to be starting to catch on to “baa” as well. But his little “moo” is precious enough for the time being!
The way he laughs just to get people’s attention. There couldn’t be a much better way to try get attention. And the way he laughs just to try to get us to laugh. It works almost every time. I love that he loves to laugh.
The way he has picked up signing lately. He’s been signing “all done” for everything for 
months… “I’m all done eating this food, I want something else,” “I’m all done being hungry, feed me mama,” “I’m all done not being held, please hold me,” “I’m done being sleepy, put me to bed,” “I’m done sleeping, get me out of my crib.” A bit confusing for all us, I sure am glad he’s picking up some new signs. His recent signs: please (photo), food (please and food usually go together), more, thank you, night-night, and he loves blowing kisses. His “please” usually has so much passion behind it, it is hard to resist and hard not to laugh at.
The conversations he has with himself when we are driving. “Ba ba daa, ma, doh oh oooh, da du da, ba.” And then he’ll get quiet and then laugh. And then it starts all over again.
The way he is learning real words. One of his favorites right now is “duck.” I didn’t expect duck to be one of his favorites, but there you go. Some other favorite words: mama, dada, ball, owl, balloon, papa, nana, moon, yum.
How much he loves to cuddle with his blankets when he is sleepy. He’ll grab them, pull them in close, hold them tight, and roll all over the place.
How crazy fun he gets in the evenings a little before bed. I don’t know what comes over him but some evenings he just gets wild, and laughy, and squealy, and just wants to play and climb all over us!
His kisses and how he just voluntarily offers them to us, especially before bed. He loves kissing all of his little animals, too (see video, an older video but it shows his loving kisses).
How happy and loving he is! We are often overwhelmed by just how much fun he is. He loves life and makes us love life so much more. And his love for us makes our hearts feel so full and happy! We knew that we would love Hutch… but we never expected to feel so loved by him so soon. Almost every night when we go to bed, one of us usually says something like… “He’s so cute!” or “He’s so sweet!” or “I love him!”
Confession #1:
Sometimes Hutch plays in the bathroom, naked.
We don’t like to let Hutch play in the 
bathroom. Obviously it’s not the safest, cleanest place to play! But sometimes when I shower, I let him come in to keep him happy and so that I know what he’s up to and that he’s safe. Some days, he’ll just play by the side of the tub throwing as many of his bath toys into the tub as he can. But then some days he likes to explore every part of the room that he can and make as big of a mess as possible. If I let him play naked, then I 
can grab him and wash all of those yucky toilet germs off at the end of my shower.
I am sure left with a mess to clean up… but at least he is safe and happy! : ) Maybe someday I can figure out how to get him to clean up the mess?!
And sometimes we forget to close the bathroom door and within minutes Hutch can destroy the place. I think it’s time I turn the toilet paper roll the other direction!
Doesn’t he just look so guilty?!
Confession #2:
I toasted a magnet.
Hutch is getting tall… which means he can get into more and more stuff. Recently when I was cleaning the crumbs out of my toaster, I discovered this melted magnet! Uh-oh! Good thing I decided to clean out the toaster. I think the magnet was only toasted once and thankfully nothing bad happened. Now, I always check the toaster before I put anything in… and the other day I found a stack of cards… blockbuster card, old gift cards, my old biola id card. And it looks like it’s time to find a new home for the toaster!
When we put Hutch to bed, we lay him down on his back in his crib as we sing to him. Most nights, he immediately pops right up to standing to give us kisses and walks the length of his crib a few times. But before we leave the room, we lay him on his back again and tell him “Night night, Hutch. We love you.” And then we leave the room.
Some nights, he falls asleep immediately. But many nights he crawls and rolls and wiggles and plays for a little while before he closes his eyes. He makes cute little happy noises as he plays in the dark. Sometimes we think he looks forward to his night-time playtime, that’s how happy he is when we put him in his crib.
When we started to realize that he loved a little alone playtime in his crib, we started putting some of his little stuffed animal friends in with him at night. And bonus! We found that when he has little critters in his bed to play with, in the morning when he wakes up he will sit and talk and play with them for a while which gives us a little extra sleep!
In Hutch’s crib time, one toy in particular has always made it’s way into the crib… this little Woodland Friends Tree Stump. We love this one! My mom got this for Hutch before he was born at a fun, eclectic little shop called Yuba Blue in the cute, historic downtown of Grass Valley, CA. We were excited because it was around only $15 for five little friends! Great deal. And it has provided hours of fun and lots of tiny hugs and kisses.
Every night before bed, we tuck the little critters into their little home. Every night when we check on Hutch once he is asleep, his little friends are scattered all over the crib and oftentimes he is holding one as he sleeps. And many mornings when I peek in at his playtime, I find him holding a critter, looking at it and making cute little noises as if he is talking to it.
Hutch has loved his little woodland friend even from his early days. As a matter of fact, in those early days it was not uncommon for his friends’ faces to be constantly wet… he loved biting their little noses.
But now he is much more grown up and serious about playtime…
“This is my bear!”
In case you are interested, I found this and other similar items on Amazon.com. The product is by “Unipak.” It’s not as cheap as the one I purchased in store… and it’s a little different… it comes with an owl instead of a chipmunk and the raccoon looks much scruffier!
the orange blossom 