You made a new friend today at the Y.  Her name is Candace, she looks to be about 2 years old.  When the nice lady was bringing you over to me, she was following closely talking softly up to you.  The lady brought you down to her level so that you both could say goodbye.  You girls hugged and she kissed you sweetly on your forehead.  Your crazy, obsessive, anti-germ mommy wiped you down from head to toe with a wipey when we got to the car!  But it sure was sweet!

I was worried today when I saw Erin, your favorite girl in the child care area (just like your Aunt Erin!), come walking through the cardio section of the gym.  I instantly had a knot in my stomach that something was wrong or that you were upset.  But she never came up to me.  When I mentioned my reaction while picking you up, she said "are you kidding?  Hayden is awesome!  Always smiling and having a good time with the other kids!"

We saw a prairie dog on the way to the car after the gym.  They are everywhere out there and don't mind people at all.  We stood and watched him hang out.  You seemed quite fascinated.

We looked for a walker of some sort for you over the weekend and didn't like anything we found - I will need to find something online.  But I did pull out an old toy of your big sissy for you to try out.  Take a look!



That upper tooth is coming in...and letting you know about it too.  You have had such a tough time with this teething business.  I feel so bad for you.  I hate when you are hurting and there isn't a whole lot I can do - however, I am fully loaded with Ibuprofen, teething tablets and Orajel.  But you still have a tough time during the night.  And, as a result, so do I.

But the good news is, Grandma will be here this weekend and Grandpa isn't too far behind!  He will be here in the middle of the month!  This is a great month of catching up with your Louisville blood!  I am very excited and I know you will enjoy seeing them outside of the box!

You tried some pineapple today in your mesh feeder...you weren't totally thrilled but you didn't hate it either.  So far, not big on fruit.  I think you have my NON sweet tooth.  And that's not a totally bad thing.  But you do love your puffs and your peas.  You also love whole wheat bread!  And you get super excited when I start to bring your sippy cup over.  It's the little things in life, right?

Tomorrow you will be hanging out with Aunt Erin while I hit a couple of meetings and a huge grocery trip.  Thursday you will be hanging with Daddy and Aunt Erin so that I can get the house super awesome ready for your Grandma! 

Love you sweetie!
Mommy 

My dearest H,

I can't believe it has been 20 days since I last posted on your blog.  Tonight, this comes to an end!  I am going to post daily or at least a couple of times a week so that I can keep up with you!  You become more and more grown up every day and I don't want to miss a BEAT!

You completed swim lessons and received a certificate (my little platypus) and your underwater pics.  I still have to scan them so that I can post them but they were so super cute!  You did a great job and I need to make a note to call them tomorrow to hopefully sign you up for the September classes.

In the meantime, you have become little Ms Y!  You love going to the Y and have made friends in the child care area - babies and adults alike!  You also love the pool!  I sit you on the ledge and you seem to remember our froggy dives from lessons because you lunge for me without a care in the world!  You LOVE the water!  I LOVE that you LOVE the water!

You definitely have a tooth on the bottom right and it looks as if your upper right is following suit!  I thought the one next to it would be next but you are proving your uniqueness by having that upper right come in next.  It has made for some tough nights but I understand and hate that you are in pain from it.  You do seem to be handling this one better though so maybe it will be ok.

You are still a little slow going with the solids.  Your favorite foods right now are puffs (other than banana - you are NOT a fan of anything banana), peas and broccoli.  You had ramen noodles with tomato sauce the other day and seemed to like that pretty well!  Especially the messiness of it.  It was quite the clean up but well worth every minute - as are you.

I almost peed myself (you know how that goes) when your Steelers outfit arrived!  You wore it tonight and I couldn't take my eyes off of you.  And you had so much fun watching the game at Buffalo Wild Wings.  You laughed and played the whole time - and it was close to bed time!  Daddy and I were teaching you how to give the potato and you would just laugh and laugh!  Everyone in the place was talking about you and your cute outfit.  Heck yeah!  Ain't she the best??

You are still not really sleeping through the night.  You wake up at least once or twice...sometimes A LOT more.  But you are teething and growing like a weed so I am very patient and understanding of the wake up calls.  Sometimes I just stare at you because I am amazed at your awesomeness.

You are saying Momma (which you have for a while but now you are saying it more to me), Dada, Me me me me ("It's all about who H?" "Me, me, me") and baby.  You got your very first baby doll yesterday and, when I gave it to you, you pointed to her and said "baby."  You wave to baby in both mirrors at the end of the night after your bath (that baby would be you) and you say "baby, momma, baba" when you are hungry and/or tired!

Here are some other fun facts:
1. You love your turtle book - especially the turtle in the back (I need to re-attach his fin).  You help me turn the pages to get to the turtle in the back!
2. You hate to be strapped down in a seat - especially in the car.  You are getting so mobile (at least in your head), you get bored easily.  So I come equipped with a ton of toys I can hand you along the drive.  It works.
3. I am confident you are going to skip crawling.  While we were skyping grandma today you were sitting on my leg and literally stood up ON YOUR OWN without using my hands or anything else.  And you stood there for about 3 seconds before swaying forward.  8 months and standing??  GO GIRL!
4. You love bath time, water, being outside... A LOT!
5. You are now doing two hour naps (sometimes less) during the day...once during the day...which is a big change.  No longer do we drive around after the gym so you can nap.  We can get home, play some more, get you some snacks and then put you down.  I'm so very pleased because that gives me time to shower, work and clean.  Thank you nug!

I am sure there is so much more.  But Mommy is tired and I am just anticipating a wake up call soon from you.  So I will sign off but promise to be back in the next day or so with more exciting updates on your life.  Here are some pics for fun!

Big girl standing!


8 months!






Lovin' your skirt!








Your first baby!




Go Steelers!!!!  Your first game (via TV - third preseason game)

My sweetest Hayden Grace.  I haven't had a chance to catch up on your blog due to many nights of limited sleep (which means I am super tired by the time I have a chance to type...well, with two hands).

Since the last post, you have just grown even more.  We are still a great team.  This is the last week of our 5 week swimming lesson session.  You do pretty well...other than when you had a stomach bug (unknown to us before we went to swim) and you vomitted in large quantities in the pool!  Ha!  It is funny looking back on it but I was pretty worried about you and wanted to be sure you were ok.  Unfortunately, the bug held on to you for a couple of days but you pushed through and your body is now even stronger for it!

You LOVE to swim!  You do pretty well at lessons.  I think if Ms Annie would hold off letting you play with the toys you would do even better.  Once the toy hits your gum line, you are history!

You also love swimming at the Y.  We were just there Saturday with Daddy, Tay and Amber.  You splashed, kicked, went under water and even jumped toward me off of the wall.  You had such a great time until you absolutely crashed.  You slept hard in the car!

Daddy and I are wondering what is going to happen with your crawling.  We both think that you are going to be more like he was as a baby and skip crawling all together.  You LOVE to stand and are already pulling yourself up on your own...with minimal help from me.  Whatever you start with, however you do it, whenever it happens...it's all good to me.  I love watching you learn and seeing how strong you are!

Yesterday we had a sighting of a tooth!  Lower right front tooth...it is definitely making its appearance.  I am thinking, by the time the weekend rolls around, we are going to have a good look at your first tooth.  And it couldn't come a moment too soon.  You have had quite a time with it.  I can tell that it hurts like crazy.  My usual happy-go-lucky, laughing and smiling baby girl has been crying out in pain at night.  I hate it!  But we have found that Infant Tylenol (generic) and Baby Oragel works wonders.  Even though you have still had some restless nights, at least you aren't in total pain. 

As much as I am going to miss your gummy smile, I can't wait to see your smile evolve. 

You are SLOWLY enjoying solids a little more.  You are becoming an expert at picking up your food and getting it to your mouth.  Of course Jackson has had quite the treats lately.  With all of the puffs, peas and green beans that have fallen on the floor!  Easier on me though...less to clean.

I just can't believe how much you are growing up.  You are such a little person with the best personality.  You laugh ALL THE TIME!  I have never seen a baby laugh as much as you.  It's awesome.  You are very aware of Skype now and, whenever I sign on, you stare at the screen waiting to see who we will be visiting.

Needless to say, I am very proud of you and love you so much!  Can't wait to see that tooth soon!

Sweet dreams sweet girl.

Love,
Your Momma

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!!