Seriously, chilly.

Both a statement of the current weather in Illinois and two words Hayden now says! Christmas is only a few short days away and we cannot wait for Hayden to open his presents. Granted it isn't for the first time, however, he's a little older and can somewhat appreciate what he is receiving from Mom & Dad, and Santa. We hope everyone has a merry Christmas and a happy New Year!!!

Talking & Dancing

Hayden seems as though he may soon be talking! So far, unless you speak cave man you probably cannot interpret much of what he tries to say. Lately he has been gibbering much more. Things he has been saying such as "mama" and "dada" he is enunciating a little more. He has also been trying to say new words and sounds.

You can tell he understands much of what is said now as well. Asking him yes or no questions results in much more enthusiastic responses now. For instance, his "yes" answer is comprised of an energetic head nod and a hilarious sound that's hard to describe.

As an aside, Hayden has taken to doing the mambo! He will first move his arms and then follow that up by shaking his booty. It's one of the funniest things ever.

Happy Halloween!!

My little train engineer wasn't feeling too well this Halloween... darn teething!  Jake took him out after we both came home from work to trick or treat, while I stayed behind to dish out candy.  Although, he didn't really get the point :), he started to get excited to see what was put in his pumpkin.  He also liked seeing his carved pumpkin lit up with a candle!! :) 

18 Months

We had a busy, yet fun weekend. To start, Hayden had his 18 month doctor visit. I can't believe it is already a year and a half. He finished all of his vaccinations until Kindergarten... WOO-HOO. Aside from his diaper rash, everything is fine!! He's grown A LOT!! Birth-- 8.3 pounds and 21 inches long. 18 Months --- 30.3 pounds (90%) and 35 1/2 inches long (97%) Also this weekend, Hayden received his first pet... a Beta fish. For the past few months, everytime we go to the grocery store, Hayden gets soooo excited when we pass the fish tanks. So, we thought, why don't we buy a fish for home. That night, Hayden was ecstatic to have a fish, but the excitement didn't last too long. The next morning, he didn't really care about it, Go figure. Jake and his creativeness, helped to name the fish... Blue. :) Something else we did was visit Lyon's Farm Fall Festival. Hayden enjoyed all the antique tractors and firetrucks. He also really liked feeding the farm animals at the petting zoo. We also bought Hayden a few new toys. We are trying to expand Hayden's interests, since he seems to be obsessed with Trucks. We purchased some plastic dinosaurs, a cleaning kit, and a shopping cart. He wore himself out running around the house pushing the shopping cart around, I think he even managed to take out a few of my toes.

Almost a Year and a Half

I can't believe how FAST time goes by! Hayden has grown in so many ways. A few of his new favorite things are Ketchup (yes, he is part Mezger:). For his first time eating Ketchup, instead of dipping his chicken nuggets into it, he used his spoon to eat just the Ketchup. Another favorite of Hayden's is climbing onto the couch. He really likes to stand on it and scream, but he knows when he gets the "mom" look from me, he needs to sit down. He still really enjoys reading while sitting on our laps, too. One of his other things he enjoys is dancing. It has to be one of the cutest things I have ever seen. He will move his little tush, put his hands and arms into the air, and every now and again, he will add a spin or two into it :). His vocabulary is beginning to increase a little more, and consists of Daddy, hi, which is now Hiya when he walks into a room, ug (hug), yaya(mommy), and cup. Hayden is still very into making the sounds for everything, such as trains, dogs, ducks, firetrucks, lions, owls, and my cellphone :). Hayden is adjusting really well to daycare. He has two weeks behind him and seems to really enjoy it. He has been able to experience many firsts there. The daycare provider is more brave then me, and lets him have popsicles(which he refuses to hold by the stick), playing with play-doh, and visiting the "swamp" (wetland near their house). Today, I taught him something new, which I will probably regret, but he is fascinated with flushing the toilet. There is something about the silver handle and the sound, that makes him giggle and keep doing it. :) I must say, I have LOVED this age, and I can't wait to see how he continues to change and grow!!!

Daddy's Birthday Weekend

This past week, Jake turned 31. Happy Birthday!!! We spent his birthday at, where else, but Chuckee Cheese! Hayden enjoyed the pizza and his first bite of Chocolate cake. Hayden really enjoyed riding on the tractor and truck. With our 40 tickets, we purchased glasses w/ a moustache. Although, Daddy enjoyed them the most, we all laughed while we took turns wearing them home. Also this weekend, we visited Brookfield Zoo again. Hayden really liked the monkeys at Tropic World. His favorite thing to do was to just run around in the open areas (while Daddy chased him and Mommy took pictures :)) Hayden experienced fireworks for the first time too! He was such a good boy while we sat and waited. We put him in his p.j.'s before we left, and sat in chairs while playing with his truck toys. Once the fireworks began, Hayden really liked them, but seemed bored after 5 minutes. He then began to play peek-a-boo with the fireworks. During the grand finale, he put the blanket over his face!

Hayden loves Summertime!

Hayden seems to be enjoying his summer, especially since he is able to walk. His new thing is to get his shoes from the front door, walk to the back door, and point to his sandbox in the backyard. He LOVES to play in his sandbox. He also enjoys playing in his pool (after he gets use to it), and going to the park. Although, the park days tend to scare Mom. He is a little dare devil. He runs around, and climbs everything. He seems to enjoy it, so Mom will just have to get use to it.

Walking

For the longest time Hayden would cruise around furniture, walls, window sills, etc. without any help. Up until a few weeks ago he would walk provided someone gave him at least a pinky to hold onto.

As of this past week, he is able to walk unassisted. Granted he's a little wobbly and doesn't handle cornering well, but what do you expect after just a week!

It's the cutest thing seeing him learn to walk. He doesn't keep his arms at his side yet. He keeps them up high using them to help keep his balance. He also gets the silliest look on his face. A mixture of being happy, excited, scared, and proud all at once.

Both mom and dad have never been more proud of him. We both have never been more aware of his surroundings watching out for hazards. He's already bumped his head a few times, but that's to be expected when your learning.

On another note, Hayden continues his unprecedented growth. He's by far the biggest kid in his class at Gymboree. He's at least an inch taller than other children his age. We've read the growth rate slows down drastically after the first year, we'll see.

Hayden is ONE!!!

I can't believe our little man is one!!! This year has gone by so fast. I can still remember bringing him home. I don't think I have ever been so happy, excited, scared, and overwhelmed all in one day!! Just looking back at the blog posts and pictures, reminds me how much he has grown in this past year... he is no longer a baby :(. This month, Hayden has definitely become more aggressive in his crawling! The minute I turn around, he is in another room. He also loves to climb the stairs. He gets so excited, and turns around to make sure someone is watching him accomplish the climb! I think his favorite activity this month has to be using his walker. He has managed to control his speed with the walker by using his knees if it gets too fast. This is the first time, that if we take his walker from him, he will cry! He can't seem to get enough of the assisted walking. Jake and I think that the month of April is going to be the big one... walking... we shall see! A few other activities that Hayden has grown to like, are standing at the window, gripping the windowsill, while watching the cars zoom by. He also wants to point to everything. If we ask him where the balloon, tree, light, dada, or mama are, he will show us by pointing and grunting! His independence is beginning to show, especially during feeding time. He wants to use the spoon to "feed himself". He is moving on to eating many more table foods, his favorites being cheese/bread, yogurt, and pancakes. He is also down to two bottles a day. Mostly drinking whole milk and juice/water from his sippy cup. Although Jake and I are sad that his first year is over, we are so excited to watch him grow into toddlerhood :).

Happy 1st Birthday, Hayden!

Wow, I can't believe his first year has flown by so fast! :(  We had a fun family gathering to celebrate Hayden's first year.  After playing a Hayden trivia game, and adding what everyone brought to put in Hayden's time capsule, we enjoyed a Hayden picture cake. :) Hayden enjoyed his #1 smash cake that Jake and I made using applesauce!

Crawling is a Whole New World

Hayden is 11 months old and is officially a crawler. Now that he knows how to get around, I don't think he has stopped. He LOVES being chased and is a fast little guy. In a matter of seconds, he will move from the family room, to the kitchen, then into the living room. He is so curious about everything; the hard wood floors, the kitchen cabinets, the fireplace, the fake plants, basically everything we don't want him to be into :). Needless to say, Jake has been spending a lot of time babyproofing the house. Hayden is fascinated by lights. He has discovered a light in our bedroom that turns on by touching it. Once it turns on or off, he lets out a jolly laugh, it is so cute. He also gets excited when we let him turn the light switch off when we leave a room. This month, Hayden has tried an array of new foods. Knock on wood, he seems to like everything he has eaten. Although, he didn't seem to enjoy eating spaghetti noodles as much as we thought he would. I think more noodles ended up on the floor, then in his mouth. Hayden's new favorite seems to be Gold Fish crackers. He also seems to favor Gerber's Mac and Cheese, I think it makes his gums feel better. Speaking of gums, he has 8 teeth and two more making their way through. We think he might even be getting his first molar. Back to eating, he has shown interest in feeding himself. Hayden has been practicing how to eat with a spoon. He does a great job bringing it into his mouth, we just need to work on what happens after he takes it out. A few other favorites of Hayden this month, are watching us blow bobbles with gum, he tries to eat them. He also likes watching us snap our fingers. He will look at his fingers, but can't figure out how we do that. We also have a ball pit for Hayden and he will crawl in and out multiple times. His eyes are full of pride everytime he is able to make it in or out.

Adorable!?!

Hello everyone!

Please note that although the last post shows that I added the post, it was in fact written by "Mommy". Just to make sure no one thinks I am referring to myself as "adorable"...Yikes!!!

Our little man is 10 months old!

This month, Hayden has been working very hard with his mobility. He is getting sooo close to crawling. He still prefers to roll everywhere, but he is beginning to do the army crawl when his toys are out of reach. Every once in a while, he will push himself up on his hands and knees. A few times he crawled backwards a little, but then he went right back to rolling. Hayden's new fixation seems to be pointing at everything. He won't stop pointing until you have named every single item he points to. Another new past time of his, is mimicking our laughs. If you laugh like the Count from Sesame Street, he will copy you... pretty darn funny! My personal favorite, is after nap time when we go into his room to get him, he has learned to pull his bumper down and peek his cute little head over it. Puts a smile on our faces every time. This month, he also experienced his first ear infection. It started off as the sniffles, then turned into a horrible cold. We took him to see the doctor, and found out he had a mild ear infection. The doc. said we caught it just in time, but he wanted to put him on antibiotics just to be safe. If his ear infection wasn't enough, he also has two more teeth breaking through, which puts the grand total of pearly whites at seven. Hayden also received his first "big boy" haircut... by accident. I purchased a baby clipper set to try to tame his "crazy hair". Unfortunately, my first attempt went a little overboard which equaled a buzz cut. Although I miss his crazy hair, he looks more like his papa...adorable.