The Hudson West Coast Tour ... it took me two months to recover; sue me

This expression about sums up our trip -- frantic and wild-eyed. Hudson was a trooper throughout his first vacation, which lasted nearly two weeks!

[December 27 - Sorry that it's been two months since we last posted, but we'll be much better from now on! Below is a recap of our October trip. Skip it and go to the next posts if all you care about is the pictures. I can relate to that.]

October 30 - It's hard to believe the trip came and went so fast, but our "Hudson West Coast Tour" was well worth the expense and exhaustion that went into making it happen. We're both so lucky to have families we love so much -- and who return the sentiment. It was tough to say goodbye, but that heartwrenching feeling is always mitigated by the sense that we're so blessed to be able to feel that way about our families; it sure beats the alternatives of having no family at all to visit, or of counting down the minutes until the dreadful visit is over, as you hear about and see so often in the cliche in-law situations.

Rachel and I were nervous about Hudson's first plane flight. Everyone who's flown has been on a flight -- or if you're unlucky, more -- with someone else's screaming baby and, though we all might know that there's little or nothing the mother can do about it, deep down, we blame the parents and secretly wonder if we can have someone ready to arrest them upon arrival at the gate. You can't help it. You're a prisoner in small quarters and babies seem to scream at a frequency that interferes with human reason, so you react emotionally and irrationally and tell yourself that, yes, the death penalty should be expanded to include pettier criminals. We were worried about this, worried that Hudson was going to force me to knock the rolling eyes and dirty looks right off the faces of one or more of our fellow passengers. (Or maybe it was just me who was worried about that. I had even rehearsed a few witty and scathing things to say to folks as I walked past them toward the bathroom with a screaming, flailing, poopy baby in my arms.)

Boy, were we relieved. Hudson was a dream -- all the way to Salt Lake, on both flights. He fussed for perhaps a total of 15 minutes throughout the five-plus hours in the air.

Our first stop on the Hudson Tour was Utah, where we were able to spend a great deal of time with the M-I-double-L-I-G-A-N-what's-that-spell?-Milligan! side of Rachel's family for the bulk of the week. We flew in Friday afternoon, and that night, Grandpa and Grandma Milligan had us over for some wonderful spaghetti-and-meatball fare, bookended by several hours of in-depth political conversation -- the consensus was that (a) Democrats suck and (b) it's going to be a good year for Republicans -- and fascinating family reminiscences over photo albums. I got to meet Colleen, Rachel's aunt, for the first time, and had a blast getting to know her better. Rachel relished in stories about and old pictures of her mom.

After dinner, we went over to Patrick (Pat, Rachel's uncle) and Kaye Milligan's home in Farmington, where we ended up staying the entire time we were in Utah. The original plan was to bounce around for the week, so as not to overstay our welcome in any single place, from their home to a friend of Rachel's home, and then to a hotel, but Pat and Kaye were such gracious hosts and put us up in such nice digs, we never were able to bring ourselves to leave! We loved spending time with them and their son Brian -- and even their dog, Copper, who reminded us often of how much we missed our own dog Charlie (particularly quiet moments in the car, throughout the two weeks we were gone, were often punctured by one of us crying out at random, "Charlie!" -- kind of a funny tradition we have of reminding each other how much we love that little booger).

Saturday morning, though I woke up with a terrible headache that stayed with me all day, we headed out to a local high school to play some touch football with Rachel's uncle Mark; Mark's son, Ryan; Pat; Brian; Rachel's uncle Mike; and a couple of Ryan's friends. Since I'm in miserable physical condition, it was painful (after several long runs with the ball, I needed to drop to the ground and just lay there till I was damn-well good and ready to get up), but since no one took the game too seriously, it ended up being good fun, too. Though I had to use my hands to lift my legs into and out of the car for the next few days, it was a good reminder that this old fat guy needs to get his butt back in gear so he can keep up with the young'ns on the ol' grid iron. (But have I done a single push-up or jogged a single half-block since? Nope. Lesson not learned, looks like.)

That night, Mark and his wife Dianme hosted a barbecue at their home and invited all the Milligans in the area. Rachel's sister Becca came up, as did her sister Holly with her family, and her brother Jeremy came by later in the evening. Wade, Rachel's eldest bro, and his wife, Christy, who drove out from Denver to spend the week with us, also came out with their three kiddies.

Sunday night, we went to Rachel's dad's house in Eagle Mountain, where Jim and his lovely wife, Margaret, prepared a tasty Italian meal. All of the Hardie kids were accounted for, and I got to meet Margaret's kids for the first time as well. Best part of the evening: Worst. Allergy. Attack. Ever. They have a couple cats, which meant I spent most of the night miserably, and in record time, working my way through a roll of toilet paper in between five-minute escapes to the front porch to take in some clear, dander-free mountain air. I sure had a great time seeing everyone -- and Rachel had a blast with her little nieces and nephews. Jim and Margaret were wonderful hosts and we can't wait to see them again soon!

So, those were the big Utah family events -- we spent another five days there, and I'm not going to bore you all with a thorough travelogue, but I'll summarize the rest of the week quickly: picnic in the American Fork Canyon with Wade & Co, Holly & Co, Jamie (Rachel's little sister) & Co, and Char (one of Rachel's best friends); Beto's burritos with Mike and Seth; and Rachel did a couple of nice bike rides in the hills above Salt Lake with Jane Alfandre and Char, and had a picnic with her friends Traci and Melissa.

Friday morning, one lightning-fast week later, we hopped on a plane to Los Angeles. Dad picked us up, and after a few hugs and squeezes -- he laughed his characteristic you're-so-cute Wayne laugh when he saw Hudson, his newest grandson -- we were on our way to Valencia.

By this point, we were both already spent from travel -- and yet we had almost a full week left on the road! Rachel was coming down with a solid head cold, so we weren't starting our California portion of the Hudson Tour on the best footing. We did our best to rest up that afternoon before family started coming in from all over the western United States to meet Hudson and be there for his blessing the next morning. Aunt GiGi and Grandma Ginny were the first arrivals; Rachel had not yet met my grandma, and has been talking since we got married about how much she wanted to do so. It was great to finally connect them. Doug, Pam, and Daniel arrived later that night, but Rachel and Hudson had already hit the sack, so they unfortunately weren't able to catch up until the next day.

Check out the list of Boyack Clan luminaries and VIPs who came out for Hudson's big day: Brian, from Arlington, Va.; Nate and Lisa Boyack and their kids, from Las Vegas; Alan Boyack, from St. George; Joe and Sandy Brazier, from Agoura Hills; Jessica and Dennis and their kids, from who-knows-where in the LA area; Doug and Pam, from Sonora; Josh Brazier, from Utah; Seth, from Salt Lake; GiGi and Grandma Ginny, from Santa Rosa; and Merabeth Brazier from who-knows-where in the LA area. What an impressive crowd! We loved having everyone out. If there was one conversational theme of the weekend, it was that we need to do it more often. Couldn't agree more. We missed Megan terribly, and talked of her often, and we also missed Hannah. But just about everyone else was able to make it. I blessed Hudson at around 10 a.m. -- we were nervous that not everyone would fit in the circle, but they did! -- and then we spent the rest of the day eating and chatting, two of my favorite activities (see previous reference to being in "miserable physical condition").

The rest of the week in California was spent in relative leisure -- by design, that, because we spent the entire week in Utah racing around from one thing to the next. (As you can tell from the nearby pic, Hudson was perfectly content to kick back and contemplate life under the warm California sun; he was tired from all the chasing around, too.) But we did motor up and get over to the beach one day, which was a fun adventure. Malibu is a beautiful area -- a good first experience in the ocean for Hudson!

We loved seeing our nieces and nephews again -- and meeting a lot of them for the first time: Melanie and Marshall's Madeleine and Kate and Jason's Lucas! We're reminded all the time, but especially when we get back home to Utah and California, how much we'd love to live closer so that visits aren't so few and far between. It's sad that we only met Lucas for the first time when he was six months old, and Madeleine when she was almost a year! Same goes for Wade and Christy's little guy, Preston, who we met for the first time in Utah, and Holly's two new additions. But someday soon, hopefully within the next couple years, I'll start looking for a good career out west. Till then, more trips, more often, home to Utah and California!

Till next time we post, which I plan to do more often, enjoy the pics from our Hudson West Coast Tour (which I'm putting in the next several posts).

Where have we been lately?

He's got that saucy hair style I used to have (and am growing back). And my ears (poor kid).

I know, I know. We've been really bad about updating this with good pictures of me. Er, Hudson. Well, here's one of both. We'll add a bunch more soon.

The quick update is that Hudson -- who I've nicknamed Little Monster -- is worlds better these days. He's mostly sleeping through the night, though after almost a full week of doing so, he grew stuffy and fussy and spent the next week or so waking up a couple times a night, which was a fun (by that I mean not at all) reminder of the first 10 weeks of his life.

He's awake a lot more these days, and luckily he's generally in a good mood -- that is, as long as we hold him up and bounce him around and give him interesting things to look at. He's too curious about us and his surroundings to stand for being left laying on the bed or couch for too long. I always start out during such moments with the best of intentions and grandest of declarations, too: "I could stare at you and play with you all night when you're in this good a mood!" After about 10 minutes, I'm like, "So, Rachel -- you wanna hold him, or -- ?" Anyway, there's still about an hour or so, sometimes longer, every night -- some call it "the witching hour," others the "unhappy hour" -- when he fusses and fusses and fusses, no matter what we do. Last night he cried and whimpered and nagged for almost an hour before finally relenting and falling asleep. Go figure.

He loves staring at us (can't blame him, can you? Rachel's beautiful, and when he looks at me, he probably feels a lot like he's looking into a mirror), and he's turned into quite the smiler and coo'er; it feels like he's very close to figuring out how to laugh. When we tickle or tousle him, he does this face where he looks like he's trying to smile, yawn, yell for the police, and take a bite of a big hot dog -- all at once -- which I think will very soon turn into a charming guffaw.

More soon. And better pics.

A rare break from the colic, photographic evidence

We've finally admitted that Hudson is colicky. We were hoping we were doing something wrong, that perhaps there was some way to feed him or manage his sleeping a little better, but it turns out the little guy has colic. That said, colic isn't categorical; it's a continuum, and he seems, thank heavens, to be on the less extreme end of it. It's not like we're up for hours at a time with a screaming banshee. We've been giving him some supplements that seem to help, and the doctor told us he was overeating, so we've slowed him down a little; also, we know with colic that it's just a matter of time -- probably another six weeks or so -- before he turns the corner and he finally learns what it's like to feel good all the time when he's awake.

Tonight we had a rare couple of hours when he was awake and content. When he's like that, he stares at us and makes a wide range of faces -- maybe he's trying to figure out which one of us he looks like, or perhaps just what on earth we are? -- and, as you can see in the pictures below, he likes looking at the lights, as well as pictures on the wall and out bright windows. He enjoys being in the car, too, though he gets a little fussy when we stop at traffic lights. Guess he likes soaking in the sights and bores easily! Rachel is convinced he doesn't like our dark apartment, and I think there's something to that, too; he is a lot more relaxed out in the open and in his Aunt Jessie's home (which I worry might be structurally unsound with all the friggin' windows it has; we're jealous). Anyway, he likes the great outdoors, so far, which is a great sign.

The pictures below are a little dark, I know, but I guess that iPhone thingy isn't all it's cracked up to be (oh, that's just me being jealous again). We'll put more pics up soon from Rachel's camera, taken by the pro herself.

But first, Hudson's profile pictures below reminded me of Hitchcock's logo.

A walk in the park

I've joked that Charlie is the perfect-size dog because he's too big to fit in your lap (which means I can walk him through the -- let's call it "socially diverse"? -- Pentagon City area without being eyeballed and sized up more than usual by other men), but too small to drink out of the toilet (which means Rachel doesn't have to break out a baby wipe every time Charlie licks her hello). And I've recently learned he's just right for the Pentagon City park's water fountains. I don't think many folks these days even know how to use a public park's water fountains, they've been drinking their Vitamin Waters for so long, so I wasn't worried about upsetting anyone; one may have even looked up and patted herself on the back for working a bit harder every year so that The Man could install "doggy watering stations" in her local parks.

And here's Hudson, who happens to match his stroller, holding his pacifier in like the good boy he is. Sleeping peacefully.

And here he is again, dukes up, not too pleased to have been awakened.

Surfside

We went to Surfside Friday night, one of our favorite restaurants, located in one of DC's nicest neighborhoods, up just past the Vice President's residence and Embassy Row. The food is great (I guess you could characterize it as a bit ritzier than Baja Fresh), and the rooftop deck, where you see Hudson and me, provides a fun ambiance. There are far too many pleated, salmon-colored, mid-thigh-length shorts held up by woven leather belts at this particular restaurant -- clearly a hot spot for the Georgetown types who don them -- but hey, it makes for fun people watching. I would have liked to catch a pic of one guy I saw wearing such shorts with a pair of leather loafers, sans socks; I almost reminded him that he's 23, not 63, but then I realized I'm the fashion oddball in these here parts.

Hudson seems to have finally emerged from his womb-induced coma. Though he still sleeps a lot, when he's awake, he prefers (and by that I mean he screams like a pterodactyl until one of us gets the point) to be propped up, as he is in this picture, so he can soak in the sights (though at this phase in his early development, I think that means he enjoys the bright lights and fuzzy, indecipherable shapes and colors that move just beyond his little eyeballs' capacity to truly see; in this picture, he's looking up at the flatscreen TV right above Rachel).

Heading to the pool

Not really, but Rachel wanted to try on his board shorts anyway. Clearly, they're still a little big.

Four to a couch

I'm the only one who makes it all the way through movies these days. As you can see, Charlie's taking this one in with me, but he never lasts long, either; before you know it, he's either giving himself a bath (getting primped and ready for the next of his 3-4 daily walks), or throwing a tennis ball around the house to himself -- invariably throwing his head back proudly every third or fourth toss until he makes eye contact with us, as if to say, "You can get with this, or you can get with that; you can get with this, or you can get with that ..." Sometimes we take the bait and toss it around with him, sometimes we don't. Oh, oops. Right. The point here is: Awww, cute picture of Hudson and his mom sleeping!

UPDATE: You can't see Charlie watching TV in this pic; Rach had me replace it with this one. Better angle, she tells me. Oh well. Take my word for it -- Charlie loves watching TV with us (the weirdo).

Photo session at the Casillas home

Aubrey, one of Rachel's lifelong best friends (she's in the last picture below), came out from Utah a couple weeks after Hudson was born to spend time with Rachel and help her with him. They went out to Jessie's one day, where Aubrey, a professional photographer, did a bang-up job snapping pics of Hudson with his hot mama and aunt. Oh, and Cooper; there's a pic here of Cooper with Hudson, too. Who may or may not be "hot," but I'm worried if I say either way, he might slug me the next time I come over.

First two pics are of him at one week; the rest are of Hudson at two weeks

Rachel's a pro (as in, professional photographer), as the pics below clearly demonstrate.

Hospital pop-ins

Below is a bunch of pics of folks who came to the hospital to visit Hudson. Rachel has some great ones of Jessie, who helped us through the birth, and of Jessie's mother-in-law, Jill, but I don't have those yet (as soon as I get them, I'll update this post). Otherwise, I think all are accounted for.

Merry, Conwey's awesome kid sister. Before Hudson was born, she gave Rachel a nice list of names to consider, including Jaffy, Sammy,

Cousin Jackson -- a couple of handsome devils here, no?

Cousin Hunter. I'd call him a handsome devil, too, but he's more like a handsome monster. He's not yet 16 and he's bigger than I was my senior year in high school. He'll take good care of his little cousin.

Aunt Becca! We were so glad she came out here for the summer from BYU. She's been a big help since Hudson was born.

Julie, a mutual friend of Jessie's and Rachel's. And there's Hudson, working on his Blue Steel look.

Brian was so anxious to see Hudson, he didn't mind coming all the way to the hospital knowing he would probably only be able to see him for just a few minutes in the hallway (since Rachel was asleep). I'm glad his shirt matched the painting, by the way, and you can tell he is, too.

Rob, a good friend of ours, holding Hudson; and Mike, in the background, also a good friend of ours -- perhaps an even better friend, since he at least had the decency to practice his baby-holding form before picking up Hudson.

Mike!