Today Hayden had his first official haircut. Nannie and I took both kids to the mall this morning thinking that it wouldn't be a big deal, but we were so wrong. Hayden desperately needed a haircut--I don't want him looking like some gypsy hippie--but he was not pleased about it at all. He has never pitched such a fit in his life...I had to hold him screaming and flailing like a maniac in my lap while the woman tried to keep from stabbing us both with her instruments. It was the longest 20 minutes I can recall. A crowd gathered outside the window with Nannie and Hadley as they stood watching. There was a policewoman, a dad and his two girls, and an elderly woman watching the show from the outside, so at least they missed the audio. When we were finally finished, Hayden and I were both scratched and bruised from our fight with each other--he is quite strong and wasn't holding back a bit. He is napping now and has been for some time...surely he wore himself out. He looks much better now, but I have serious doubts about when we'll go back again...he's only going to get bigger and stronger, and I'm just getting older and more tired. I will say that as soon as we got out of there he was fine and dandy eating his goldfish and cup of water, so no permanent damage was done.
On a different subject..one of his new words that cracks us up is "squirrel". He makes this funny face when he says it, and it is hilarious. He likes to stand at the back door and look for squirrels, bugs, and birds. Another new favorite word is "eagle", but we haven't seen any of those as of yet.
I hate to even say this for fear of jinxing us, but our little princess is now only waking to eat once in the middle of the night. Last night she went down at 7:30PM and did not wake until 2AM for a feeding, and then she slept until 7AM--and wonder of wonders, Hayden slept until 6:45AM, which is his latest wake up time in a long while. I told Nana that she is our lucky charm, as she is here for the weekend from Oxford. We have had a great visit with her; Hayden loves to read books and play with Nana, and Nana even got Hadley quiet (practically to sleep) the other afternooon. Yesterday Nana, Hayden, Hadley and I went to the PetSmart to see the doggies--Hayden went crazy as usual. He loves those doggies, and the nice lady who was working the doggie daycare brought the little dogs up to the glass so Hayden could see them up really close. I feel so sorry for the poor dogs outside who are up for adoption--the high here in Austin today is 102 degrees, and it seems cruel to keep those dogs outside.
Hadley is growing up so quickly. She and I read some books this morning (Madeline and Princess Baby), and she seemed very focused on the books and was quiet while I read to her. Hayden loves his books too of course, and he makes us laugh when he finishes a book and then says "bye-bye" to it and chooses another. He can go and pick up a book if you tell him which one you want him to get--Nana will tell him to get the Baby Animals book, and he'll go and fetch it. Drew took him last weekend to have his 18 month picture made (Daddy of the Year for even attempting that), and they came out very cute. Most of the pictures have a football or basketball in them of course--Hayden's obsession. Hayden is also obsessed with Abby right now, unfortunately for her. He chases her around with this random green knitted infant cap that a nun made in Albany (I guess they give those to every new baby at the hospital there) and yells "MEOW MEOW" at her. Abby puts her ears back and either gives Hayden the Icy Glare or hisses at him. He is smart enough to be afraid of her some of the time though and will make one of us hold his hand so he can pass her in the hallway.
Back to Hadley...she loves to lay in her play gym and listen to the music, and she is liking the swing more and more I think. She mostly still likes to be carried up on my shoulder so she can hold her head up and look around at everything. Our big adventures are things like going to the grocery--I have yet to figure out how to get both kids into one cart, so it takes two adults with two carts to make it happen because of her infant carrier and because Hayden would hit her or poke her. He especially likes to point out her eyes and say "EYE" and then poke her eyes for emphasis. She doesn't like the Baby Bjorn yet since she can't look out, so maybe that will work for us when she gets bigger. Until then...two carts, two adults, two kids, one balloon.
Drew finished his first session of school this summer...session two begins on Monday. He has done so well managing full time school and full time work plus everything he does for us at home and with the kids. I'm not sure how he manages everything! Hadley will be two months old in 4 days...time is flying by.
Only this time it was not (pregnant) me...it was my poor mother. Last Monday, Nannie was here helping me with the kids and had been saying she wasn't feeling well. Just as I had both kids down for naps around 1PM, Nannie was in excruciating pain, and I called 911. The EMS people came in with a stretcher and started an IV and then took her away to the hospital--I couldn't go with her since somehow both children slept through all of that and I don't think they would let all of us ride in the ambulance anyway. So Drew left school early and stayed with her until my dad got there from his house in New Braunfels to help her. They did a surgery on her on Tuesday, and she was out of the hospital on Wednesday. Kidney stones are miserable miserable miserable, so we are glad she is feeling much better now.
Today she and I loaded up both kids and attempted to run errands using the double stroller, which is a must with 2 under 2. Unfortunately, as soon as they were loaded in the stroller at the shopping center, Hadley started screaming bloody murder, so we had to dart out of the store. She quieted down a bit so we thought we would go down to the Petco and look at the doggies, Hayden's favorite activity. There was a massive German Shepherd on the loose who came right up in Hayden's face, so we quickly made our way into the store and saw a bunch of kitties up for adoption, which Hayden became fixated upon. Then Hadley started screaming again, so we started to leave, and of course Hayden started screeching about leaving the kitties. We bolted back to my LandRover (which, incidentally, my mother is calling a minivan although it is two automatic sliding doors shy of a minivan in my opinion--I have no problem with minivans, I am just not convinced that I own one right now!) and re-loaded both hysterical children and got out of there in a hurry. We managed not to buy or even look at anything really!
Hadley is so funny and smiles for us all the time. We love to play little games with her--she is so strong for such a little girl. Hayden is saying all kinds of funny words, and he is very into imitating my actions all day long. If I am kneeling on the floor next to baby, then he is kneeling on the floor next to her too, and he pushes me out of the way to do so. He especially likes to put on my flip flops and walk around in them, too. Pop is here from North Carolina, and Hayden had a grand time showing off for him the other night. He managed to barf up some yogurt and one green pea for Pop after a vigorous horse ride on Thunder after dinner. Hayden waves his arms Lane Frost-style on his horse which is very entertaining.
Thursday is our 4th wedding anniversary...the years have passed by in a hurry it seems. Five years ago we met at our friends' wedding, and in no time here we are in Austin with 2 kids, a mean cat, a house, a "minivan", and we have lived in 3 states. I cannot imagine what the next four years will bring!
It has been a busy week at our house...Drew has been incredibly overloaded with school and work, and Hayden has been home with me, Hadley and Nannie all week. Hayden is such a sweet boy, but he definitely gets into mischief and keeps us on our toes constantly. His vocabulary seems to really be expanding quickly--he gets Nannie and I laughing when he yells "Whoa!" and "Wow!". Another (slightly annoying) word favorite is "basketball". He can't get enough of the huge (flat, autographed) basketball in Drew's office, not to mention all of his basketballs. His menu is expanding too...I broke down and gave him some leftover Tombstone cheese pizza the other day and he gobbled it up, along with a banana, which I had bet Nannie lunch that he wouldn't eat. Go figure.
Nannie is teaching Hayden who family members are in a big picture from my Grandfather's 90th birthday party. He can name Gaga (Drew), Nee (Nannie), and Mama, although he points to my sister Ashley sometimes instead of me--ha! Hayden is also doing really well with naming farm animals on his flashcards and in his books. He adores playing with a crate of Matchbox cars that were Drew's that Nana saved all these years. There are a ton of them, and Hayden can say "firetruck" and plays with the ladders on the firetrucks. "Car" and "truck" are some other favorite words these days. Hayden insists on playing Ring Around the Rosy many times a day, and he really likes the part where "we all fall down", although mommy is the only one who falls down, and I am usually also holding Hadley. A very interesting game altogether....
Hadley is doing very well--she sleeps great for us at night in general, especially compared to Hayden when he was little. She holds her head up like a gopher and is most happy when she is up on my shoulder looking around at the world. She hates to be carried in your arms, I'm guessing because she can't see everything laying on her back. Hayden was put in time out yesterday because he hit her, but I really don't think he was being malicious; he just doesn't realize how gentle he needs to be with baby. He likes to try to wipe her mouth and pull her socks off and give her (hard) kisses on the head, feet and tummy. Hadley went with me to the doctor yesterday and was a very good girl...she even stayed awake the whole time and then took a big nap once we got home.
Drew is cranking out papers for school in typical Drew fashion--fast!! He is an excellent writer and has the gift of speed-writing, which will come in handy for him since his schedule is so packed. As Nannie would say, he has been busier than a one-armed paper hanger this week, and next week looks to be more of the same. He is amazing and manages it all somehow!
It was 101 degrees here yesterday, and most days it is over 100 so Hayden's time outdoors has been very limited, which is a challenge since he loves to be outside. Our house cooks up to about 77 in the afternoons which makes us all a little crazy! Hopefully Austin will cool off a little in the near future and give us a break and maybe a little rain!!
Yesterday was Drew's first day at UT for his doctoral program, and he said it went really well. Our new schedule/routine will probably take some time to get used to, but we are on our way! Nannie's birthday was also yesterday, so we celebrated her big day as well. Granddaddy came on Sunday to help us celebrate, and Kimmies also came to visit in the afternoon since she was in town for a wedding. Kimmies got a haircut and it looks amazing!!
Hayden keeps us all entertained these days. He is big into holding our hand and leading us around to do various things. His latest bedtime routine is funny--he likes to take my hand and walk me back to his room for bed...then he wants me to pick him up at his bedroom door and carry him to the bed and put him in it. Then he looks up at me and waves bye-bye and dimisses me! He tries to be sweet to Hadley and kisses her tummy or head; he is generally very gentle for an 18 month old, but I usually hold my breath wondering what is to come when he comes racing towards her. You never know...
This is going to sound crazy, but we think Hadley has actually smiled a couple of times. I know she is young for that, so I thought I was seeing things when I saw her do it, but then yesterday she smiled for Nannie! She is so strong (reminds me of Hayden so much when he was her age) and has always held her head up very well for such a small baby. She can really push with her feet too and is a little Houdini in the swaddle. I consider myself an experienced swaddler since Hayden loved being swaddled and we swaddled him forever, but Hadley can break out of her swaddle when she puts her mind to it. She has been in her 3 month clothes since she was about a week old because she is so long in the torso--I can barely snap the snaps under her diaper in the 3 month clothes now! I am done with the newborn diapers as well even though they go up to 10 pounds. We're going to graduate to the bigger size 1s. Hadley is so active on the changing table that it is too much of a struggle to try to wiggle her into the tiny newborn diapers.
We are so glad to have Nannie here! Hayden calls her "Nah", and he LOVES her apartment. She has a little fenced-in yard in the back that he likes to play in. Nana is coming from Oxford to visit us this Thursday, and we are all very excited. We get to have her for the whole weekend!!
