Happy 1st Birthday, Fumble!

A year ago today, we were "crazy" enough to adopt Fumble, and welcome him into our home.  Although there are times that Jake and I question that decision, I don't think Hayden ever has.  For the most part, I think Fumble likes "tolerates" Hayden.  For example, when Hayden is in one of his hyper moods, and running around the house, Fumble will chase him and wack at/bite his ankles.  Fumble also lets Hayden play "wrecking ball" with him (taking a cat toy on a string that you are suppose to drag on the floor, and use to tease a cat, Hayden enjoys using it as a wrecking ball while Fumble is the building).


Some of Fumble's other past times are:
                                - Scratching the bottom of our box spring
                                - Standing on his hind legs, looking into the toilet after it has
                                   been flushed (don't ask)
                                - Chewing on Hayden's Foam bath toys
                                - Ignoring his brand new scratching post, and using the walls instead.
                                - Taking his cat toys and dropping them into his water bowl
                                - Kicking all of the litter out of his litter box
                                - Scrounging around Hayden's high chair, after dinner, hoping for
                                   leftovers
                                - Preying on Hayden's feet under his train table


Aside from that, Fumble seems perfectly content laying on his chair, or leisurely looking out the window in his home.

My Little Snow Bunny

Hayden loves playing in the snow! We took some of his sand toys; shovels, buckets, trucks, etc. outside to enjoy the snow. The cold didn't seem to bother him one bit. He would have spent all day playing outside with his trucks if I would have let him!

Yodelayheehoo!

Judging by Hayden's excitement of his "freshly organized" playroom, it seemed like Christmas morning all over again!  I unwrapped some of his Christmas presents, and rearranged some of his older/untouched toys, which are now like new toys to him.  His favorite toys this morning were his white board easel, which he immediately drew a dumptruck on ;), and his new hand mixer and "percolator"(word of the day for Hayden). 

Later in the afternoon, we took advantage of Jake using his last vacation day of 2009, by going to the library and lunch.  His favorite books that he checked out from the library are Winnie the Pooh (he loves Pooh, ever since he saw the Christmas special) and a Lobster book after Christmas Eve dinner.

We finished the night with a game of Candy Land, that Hayden modified to his liking, dancing to a few Jim Gill songs, and watching Toy Story 2.  I can't believe how much Hayden LOVED that movie!  As he was going to bed, he kept saying, "Yodelayheehoo!!"

Day of Organization and a Night of Family Fun!

Today we spent the day organzing Hayden's playroom and making way for all of his new Christmas goodies! Actually while he was napping we went through all of his old toys (to avoid tears); two bins packed up for the basement and a large bag for Goodwill, made a small dent in his mountain of toys. Of course after cleaning so many things out of the room, I realized the floor needed to be steamcleaned, so EVERYTHING was emptied out.

Then after Hayden went to sleep tonight, Jake and I added some of his new presents to his playroom, as well as rearranged some of his furniture. So it will be exciting to see his reaction in the morning when he sees his freshly cleaned/organized playroom. :)

Because the entire downstairs was full of his playroom, we went out to eat at a new restaurant called Choo-Choo Johnny's in Naperville. Hayden LOVED it, of course, considering dinner was served by a train. Even though we have been to a place like this already, you would never have guesssed it, because he stared in amazement everytime the train rolled by. The highlight of Hayden's day, however, was learning how to use a train whistle. It was very cute at first, because he was so proud of himself when he figured it out. But after a half an hour car ride home, it wasn't so cute ;)

The Day after Christmas

Today was the perfect day (considering the 6 inches of snow) to stay home in our pj's and play with all of the new toys! Hayden enjoyed playing with his new kitchen, monster trucks from Grandma, and racetrack from Grandpa/Grandma Rutherford. My favorite part of the day was Hayden playing with this trucks and singing... " I'm dreaming of a white dumptruck"... LOL!

Merry Christmas!

Today was a fantastic Christmas Day! Hayden was so excited to see if Santa stopped to visit our house! After waking up and seeing the tree, his smile said it all! After opening gifts, we had some family over for breakfast and open more gifts. After naptime, we went to my mom's house to celebrate with the rest of the family. Although, Christmas wasn't the same without Dad being there, we still followed through with traditions he started with us many years ago.

Before bed, Hayden asked to sit by the tree and "talk". Super cute! He said his favorite part of Christmas was being with Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, and Cousin Roary :)

Christmas Eve

It's Christmas Eve and Hayden is still not asleep. He is talking to his Wonder Pets in bed, very excited for Santa! Before bed we put out cookies and milk for santa, and carrots for the reindeer. Hayden also put his good boy chart in his stocking for Santa to see! The presents are wrapped and now under the tree, stockings are stuffed, and Jake is almost done with putting together Hayden's toy kitchen. I can't wait to see his face when he comes down the stairs in the morning!

New Blog

I am sooo excited that Hayden's blog is up and running again! Thank you, Jake :). My goal is to post a few times a week vs. a few times a year, but we shall see. Hayden is now 2 years and 9 months today! His speech is continuing to skyrocket. For example, this morning when we came down stairs he saw that the flowers on the kitchen table were starting to lose their petals. He said, "uh-oh, Mommy, the flowers are broken. Please fix them!" Too cute... he has a little zu-zu from It's a Wonderful Life in him :). He is also in the middle of potty training. He loves wearing his pull-ups with Lightening McQueen on them, and makes sure that he doesn't go pee-pee in them. We went to Gymboree last week and he picked out big boy underwear with diggers, firetrucks, and pirates on them. Mommy also picked up a new carpet cleaner to be prepared. We are going to try the underwear this week... to be continued! The biggest event obviously is Santa and Christmas! He did a great job visiting Santa a few weeks ago. We are starting many holiday traditions which is such a wonderful experience to see how excited he gets. Can't wait until Christmas morning to see the look on his face when he sees the presents under the tree!