Happy 7 months beautiful!!

I can't think of who could possibly be a better team mate, a better buddy, than you!  You are so fun and cool to be around and I am almost getting tired of people telling me how "absolutely beautiful" you are!  Haha!  People at Walmart, the gym, my friends, Circle K, everywhere we go.  But you are.  Absolutely beautiful.  I'm so glad you got your Daddy's looks! 

I also LOVE your personality.  You light up a room!  Today, when I came back to get you at the child care area of the Y, the girl that was holding you asked me "you are done already?" - and I had taken an 1:15 today!  She said that all of the parents and the staff were talking about what a "smiley" baby you are and how happy you look.  I'm glad you are so happy and that you have fun in a social setting.  That is so important!

My strong girl, you are PULLING up on things so that you can try to stand even though you haven't even crawled yet.  I am wondering if you are going to be like your Daddy and skip crawling all together.  You hold yourself up when we put you next to things and you are doing excellent monkey walks on the wall of the pool at swim lessons!

You are slowly becoming more interested in purees for your "solids" but definitely prefer to pick up pieces of food instead.  You seem to really like peas and green beans (that's MY girl!).  And you are ok with watermelon right now.  You really like the "puffs" but I am hoping you will steer more to the veggies and such that I make so that we can steer away from the preservatives.  You will get enough of that junk when you get older.

I am so proud of you...your smile, your social graces, your mild mannerisms.  You are an amazing person already and I am so proud to be your Mommy (and Daddy feels the same).

HAPPY 7 MONTHS NUGGET!

Ahh Ms H.  What a nice Sunday with you.  Of course, saying goodbye to Daddy was tough - as it always is.  But we did have a good, relaxing day together full of laughs and fun!  I love the way you look at me.  I truly see love in your eyes.  More than I have ever seen before.  It melts my heart.  I love it.

You love to stand while supporting yourself on the playpen or the ottoman.  Of course I monitor your booty dance so that I can catch you if you sway too far one way or another.

You are really trying to get the pincher grab down.  You want to eat your own food.  You get frustrated when I try to feed you a piece.  You want to do it.  Unfortunately your thumb and forefinger are not friends yet.

I made you another sweet potato tonight and gave you small pieces instead of a puree.  You liked it better but you are still lacking enthusiasm.  That's ok.  We will keep working up to it.

By the way, you slept through your first extreme monsoon storm last night!  Good for you! 

All my love!
Mommy

My buddy

Little H, you are such my little buddy.  You helped me get to the gym FIVE days this past week!  And no one said anything but wonderful things about you!  How you always smile.  How social you are.  How much you love interacting with all the other kids.  I could even hear you laughing yesterday as I made my way to the room.  I am so glad that you are so social and such a "people" person at such a young baby age!  You totally get that from me!  ;)

We had two swimming lessons this week - your first one I have already documented.  Last night was our second.  You went under water FOUR times and always came up with a smile on your face (and your tongue sticking out a couple of times).  You even did the frog crawl out of the pool without even knowing how to crawl yet (well, with some momma help).  I am so proud of you!  Ms Annie couldn't get over how beautiful and "happy" you are (she doesn't say it to the other two babies - HA!).  I hear that a lot.  And it makes me beam!

Your sense of humor really came out today when we went to lunch.  You had a great hour and a half nap before we left the house which made it a late lunch for mommy and daddy but made it a happy lunch time for you!  You sat in the highchair like a big girl and tried to do your special noise by putting your hand to your mouth while making a sound.  It was cracking the little girl up behind us.  You guys were talking baby talk and laughing at each other.  It was awesome to see you interact with another little being.  You are going to be like your big sister - a social butterfly...I love it.

Tonight you were a bit on the grumpy side.  Granted we made three stops after lunch (one being the grocery) so I am sure you were a bit over it.  But one thing did make your night!  You might be almost 7 months old in age but you are 6 years old in your mind!  You really enjoy standing (you have for months now) and are now standing only partly supported while holding on to things - your playpen, the ottoman, etc.  And your love for the laptop is growing deeper everyday!  Especially since I found some fun baby games I can call up so that you can bang the keys without me worrying that my computer will combust! 

Take a look:


Tomorrow will be a fun day!  We have been invited to our friend's house who just had a pool put in!!  We will be swimming and having a BBQ!  Your big sis will be with us as well as their two kids (one who is your cousin's age).  I am bringing your float but also plan on practicing with you - kicks, bubbles, back float and going under.  It will be such a great time! 

I sure love you, my sweet Hayden Grace.  You are such my little partner in crime!  :)

First Swim Lesson

My little platypus!  That's the first swim level at your swim school...platypus.  You did GREAT today!  Ms. Annie was our instructor.  It was all girls in our class - an 8 month old and a 9 month old.  Both were crawlers so they were able to do the "get out of the pool (elbow, elbow, belly, knee, knee) better than you but we did our best.

You went under the water TWICE and did awesome!  Came up smiling!  And you learned to "be safe" when I helped you into the pool off of the side and then flipped you to your back and helped you back to the wall.  You learned to kick, kick, kick and how to float on your back! 

And the songs were fun...ending the lesson with the Hokey Pokey.

I was so glad that Daddy could make it!  He was our photographer on the sidelines.  Let's take a look at your first day...

Getting excited about your first lesson (and meeting your new classmates)




Playing Hokey Pokey with Ms. Annie


Floating on her back




Someone is watching her classmate instead of listening to Ms. Annie!


Ms. Annie showing Ms. H how to blow bubbles


All three babies failed at blowing bubbles but they all stuck out their tongues to taste the water!  =P


"People on the bus go up and down..."


More fun song and dance




Good job, little platypus!!

It's been a long time...

My sweetest Hayden Grace.

Sorry I haven't posted in quite a while!  I even missed your 6 month photo and well check - in 13 more days you will be 7 months!  Wow.  NOW I feel that time is flying by.  It slips through my fingers so fast, it is hard for me to grasp it long enough to sit down and blog! 

A lot of my time is being with you.  Watching you grow.  Observing you observe your world.  Learn new things, hit new milestones.  I am so fortunate to be able to be home with you all of the time.  Let's give Daddy a HUGE thank you for all of the hard work he does to make our home and our lives so comfortable!  THANK YOU DADDY!

Let's start with your six month pictures:






Your 6 month well check went...WELL!  Your stats at 6 months:
Weight: 16.10 = 50-75%
Height: 28" = Above 97%
Head Circ: 44 (not inches) = 90%

The doc always comments on how tall, thin (but not underweight) and smart you are!  You make us so proud!

This past month you began sitting on your own!  You still topple over when you get distracted with something behind you or when you are tired in the evenings.  But, otherwise, you are sitting like a big girl!

Here you are sitting on your own for the first time with your first sippy cup!


You began saying babbles with consonants - I am proud to say the first one was "mamama".  Then "babababa." You definitely have your own vocabulary!  Although many will say you don't know who "mama" is...your Daddy and I think you actually do.  When you are upset or wanting something, you reach out to me and say "mama" not "mamamamama."  You know, don't you? 

As you saw in the picture, you get a sippy cup of water once a day (unless we are outside a lot, then I give you more).  You really like it and I LOVE these non-leaking sippy cups that can be held upside down without a mess.  What will they think of next?  Oh, plenty.  You'll see!  I will post when I get a few new gadgets I ordered a couple of days ago!

We have also started you on "solids" which basically consists of a slop called "oatmeal" and homemade purees of sweet potato and butternut squash.  You are VERY slowly taking to it.  Definitely not a huge solids fan but we must keep practicing.  I think you will get it when you are ready.

Fruits don't seem to be your faves yet.  Maybe because they are so sweet.  You may be like your momma - no sweet tooth at all (except when I was pregnant with you).  And, like your momma, you seem to enjoy veggies better.  Still, not a huge fan of solids in general but you fight me much less with veggies than you do with fruit.  You'll get there! 

I love making your baby food and can't wait until you enjoy it more so I can make even more yummy dinners for you.  It's nice because I can introduce you to a lot of different flavors by adding herbs and spices (and to my family who knows what I usually mean by "spices," I am talking more about cinnamon, nutmeg, etc.  No habaneros...yet).

I ordered you a playpen like the one Grandma has for you at her house.  You love that thing and I will love letting you play in it while I try and get a few things done around the house.  You have become quite the independent player but still love to play with others as well.  You are so social! 

Daddy and I joined the Y.  We thought it would be a great environment for you to grow up in.  There are so many activities offered and you seem to really like the girls in the kids room while mommy works out.  Not to mention the VERY cool pool with the slide, mushroom sprayer and water jets!  You loved being in the pool last Saturday so I am excited for you to have all of this available to you as you grow up!

Speaking of pools, tonight is our first night of swim lessons!  It won't be much but it will get you even more used to water, which I feel is very important.  Plus it will be fun bonding time for you and I.  They teach you how to jump in (with me holding you, of course), turn and swim to the wall, float on your back and I hear there are fun songs we sing.  I can't wait!  And, fortunately, your Daddy is in town so he will be coming with us to see your first lesson!  So you can be sure there will be tons of pics and video!

You took your second flight to Louisville.  It was a full week with a lot of family loving on you.  You did GREAT as you always do.  You saw lightening bugs for the first time as well as fireworks!  You LOVED it!  It was dreadfully hard leaving your grandparents behind when we had to come home but they are both going to come out and see you in a couple of months!  Yay!

Well, I may be missing a couple of things but I will keep this caught up daily (as much as I can) from here on.  I don't want to miss a thing! 

Now off to the gym with my nugget in tow!

Love you big girl!