On Friday we took Hayden and Hadley to the Santa Breakfast at the Junior League holiday market. They don't allow strollers, and parking is a nightmare, so we had Gegah (my dad) drop our crew off right in front of the events center. Then we proceeded to wait in line for the hour or so to get our turn with Santa. Hayden and Hadley were angels waiting in that line--especially since Hadley desperately needed a nap and Hayden has trouble standing still for even 5 seconds. They looked cute in their holiday outfits at least. First we put Hadley in Santa's lap and she started screaming her head off...Hayden wouldn't get in his lap at all. Finally Santa grabbed ahold of Hayden, and they got some pictures with Hayden in mid-escape and Hadley still screaming with a red face, and Santa looks....catatonic. He is frowning and his mouth is hanging open. Very odd indeed. All of the other moms there looked beautiful with their hair blown dry and fancy outfits. By the time I had hauled Hadley in her carrier back out of there and we cajoled Hayden into the car I was dripping with sweat and my pants were falling down. But we got that picture with Santa, and I will never ever forget that experience.
Hayden's new thing is his piggy bank. He asks anyone who comes into our house for "momey", which is money. Our little entrepreneur. I usually give him two pennies and a dime, and we go back to his room and get down the very breakable bank. He puts the money in one piece at a time, and then he likes to tell me what is on the bank, which is his name, a fire truck, an ambulance, and a police car. Then he picks it up and shakes it. Then he usually asks for more money. Hayden also has invented his own little language. He speaks English fine, but he jabbers to himself in the car and while he is playing. It is sort of half-singing, but it is really funny to listen to him. Hayden did have a major fit last Wednesday...he wanted to play outside and I wouldn't let him, so he held his breath and went bonkers. I noticed he all of a sudden had freckles, which was weird since he and Hadley both have Drew's perfect and non-freckled skin. That night I realized that it was broken blood vessels all over his checks...the doctor said it was from him holding his breath and it would probably go away in a couple of weeks. Of course I have cried over that a bunch of times this week. Anytime anything happens to your kid's face or otherwise it is pretty upsetting for the mommy. But he is going to be ok, and he can't always get his way I suppose. I have just started letting Hayden watch a little TV. I am one of those mean moms who made him wait until he is about 2...but he now gets to watch a little Elmo and he loves it. He mostly just likes the song at the end, which is always the same to the tune of Jingle Bells. He adores that song and wants us to rewind and replay the song over and over while he does this little dance. His favorite episode is about pets so he asks for the "kitty" one alot.
Hadley had her first bottle ever yesterday! I know it sounds weird since she is 6 and a half months old, but Drew gave her a bottle yesterday afternoon, and she did very well with it. She had another bottle today, and Drew is off work tomorrow (yay), and he is going to give her a bottle while Hayden is at school so I can venture out on my own!! Hadley has been my little appendage since May, so it will be strange to leave her, but I am excited. I am going down the street to get a pedicure--I know, very decadent of me but whatever. I am going to be alone. Alone as you can be in a room full of people getting their nails done I guess. Hadley is doing great with her solid food, she likes squash, sweet potatoes, banana, pears, applesauce, etc. She likes the biter biscuits too, so of course Hayden wants them when she has one, and I give him one and then he realizes that they are pretty gross and don't taste like much and just make a mess. Hadley can sit up really well and is getting so big. We had her 6 month checkup a week or so ago, and she is in the 75th percentile for length. She has been wearing 9 month clothes ever since I noticed that her 6 month pants looked like pedal-pushers and stopped below her knees. Hadley is finally sleeping a bit better for us and only gets up about once in the middle of the night to eat. Big improvement!
Drew is off work all week for Thanksgiving holiday--hooray! His parents arrive tomorrow afternoon for the week, and we are thrilled. Then next Saturday is Hayden's 2nd birthday. I will no longer have 2 under 2! Hayden is having a little party with the neighborhood kids at our house. The theme of his party is basketballs and footballs of course. He is getting a basketball goal for his gift from Drew and me. It adjusts from 3 to 6 feet in height, so we can make it pretty low so that Hayden can dunk and shoot without being lifted. We have been practicing singing Happy Birthday..then we all yell "yay!" and cheer "two two two two". One week to go until my baby is 2!
It has been a busy week here...Tuesday was not only Election Day, but it was also Dentist and Haircut day for Hayden. We started out at the dentist (Hayden's 2nd visit--he went a year ago for his checkup too) with the whole crew, and both Hayden and Hadley were fairly well behaved in spite of the 30 minute wait in the waiting room. Hayden actually tore up the waiting room during that time..our dentist has huge lego blocks, and Hayden had a blast throwing them all over the room. He did not like the nurse or dentist poking around counting his teeth, but we came out of there in one piece, so I chalked it up as a victory. In the afternoon we went for the haircut, and I figured that would be the big war, but it was really so much better than the other 2 times. He sat in my lap and let the poor lady cut his hair, but he wanted nothing to do with her buzzer or the hairdryer, which was fine by me. His hair is shorter and that is all I really cared about. Again, Hadley just sat quietly in the stroller and watched the drama unfold.
We spend almost every afternoon out in the front yard with the "girls" (Amanda and Jessica from next door who are in Kindergarten and 4th grade). Jessica got her soccer ball stuck up in a tree and Drew came home and knocked it out with a football, so now that is the big activity--trying to get balls stuck in trees so Daddy can get them back down.
Hadley started on solids, and she only likes to sit in her chair and eat if Hayden happens to be eating. She does not like to eat alone, she would much rather watch Hayden. I push her right in front of him and they get each other laughing and spitting. It is fun to watch!
We have been spending so much time outside the past few weeks. Hayden loves to be in the driveway mowing and going on his little nature adventures. Last night we were all in the driveway and our next door neighbor came and told us that those pretty red berries that we were looking at (and that Hayden likes to pick and throw on the ground) in her yard are in fact poisonous. I yanked Hayden up and we scrubbed his hands in the kitchen. Now the red berries fall into the same category as motorcycles for Hayden--"dangerous", one of his favorite words. Last weekend Hayden and I were out front and I saw a snake right by our front door, so I screamed for Drew and he came and hit the bushes with a shovel trying to scare him out of there--the whole process terrified Hayden. Then this morning there was a shed snakeskin on the porch! Not to be confused with the 2 tarantulas we saw on the porch earlier this summer. All of this nature is a little too much for me.
We have been going to the library on Thursdays in addition to our regular Tuesday Toddler story hour. Thursdays are for Baby story hour! Hadley and her little friends get to sing songs and see books just for little ones. Hadley loves the library as much as Hayden does. Hayden has learned most of the basic colors now--he really likes to color with crayons and will tell us what color everything is!
We are transitioning Hayden into my old wooden highchair from when I was a little girl. His regular highchair is going to "disappear" for a month so he can get used to the "new" one. Then the plastic one will magically reappear for Hadley to use when she turns 6 months and starts on rice cereal and baby food. She isn't able to sit in the old wooden one, it is a little stiff for a tiny baby, and her face wouldn't be over the tray part. We'll see if Hayden will fall for our little trick.
Hayden and Hadley are so sweet together. They both squeal and laugh at each other and they sound exactly alike. They both look so much like each other and like Drew and his mother, it is amazing. Hadley looks even more like my mother in law as the days go by. This weekend we are going to try to make it to the pumpkin patch for a few pictures...I'm guessing I'll take at least 50 pictures and maybe 1 will come out decent, maybe. It is impossible to get them both to look at the camera!
Hadley got her two bottom teeth the last week in September finally! They are really coming in now, and they are sharp. Hadley and Hayden crack each other up lately, she likes to stand up and he gets in her face and they both laugh until they usually both get the hiccups. Hayden likes to hug her and give her kisses on the head, but he has a tendency to lick her instead.
Hayden really is into bathroom air freshener spray, he likes us to spray his room, the hall, the bathroom, everywhere. Hayden has been putting his toys in jail (Drew's office) for fun. He likes us to put them in jail and then take them back out over and over, even when he hasn't done anything wrong with them. He also puts himself into TimeOut for no good reason, and then he laughs and wants me to carry him away from TimeOut on my shoulders. Hayden is very good at remembering things that happened a long time ago. He'll point to a certain specific place on the carpet and say "Barf?" and I'll say, "Yes, that is where Abby barfed a hairball two weeks ago" or whatever. Then he'll go around and point to the other places where she has barfed a hairball. Helpful!
We have been spending alot of time outside since it has cooled off to the high 80s. We go to the park alot and also hang out in our driveway blowing bubbles, writing with sidewalk chalk, collecting acorns and sticks, and, of course, mowing. Hadley loves being outside as much as Hayden, but luckily she isn't old enough to put up as much of a fuss as Hayden does when it is time to come inside. We went to toddler story hour at the library this past week and were so relieved to see the regular librarian, Ms. Suzanne. She is way better at Wind the Bobbin than the substitute librarian was, even though the substitute librarian did play Make New Friends But Keep the Old on an accordian in true Girl Scout fashion.
We are anxiously awaiting baby news any day now from friends in Dallas and in Kansas City! Can't wait to meet babies Carson, Parker, Ryan, and Avery :)
