When doves cry outside the bedroom windows, it wakes up small children at around 6:30AM...every day. First it wakes me up because it sounds like babies crying. Then it wakes up Hadley and then Hayden soon after. I went to Houston on Saturday night to help babyproof my mom's house and set up the crib for our visit next weekend (yay Lanie's wedding!), and in the very short time I was gone, Drew did some redecorating. He was not happy about the 6:30AM wakeup time, so he hung red sheets in our kids' bedroom windows. It looks pretty ghetto, but their rooms are pitch dark now. Unfortunately, they still wake up at the crack of dawn, but their rooms sure are dark. He also bought Hayden a little baseball beanbag chair and a navy book bucket...which live in Hadley's bedroom! She might be the only one year old girl on the street with a baseball chair in her room, but it actually is effective in keeping Hayden under control while I try to give her a bottle. He sits in his little chair and reads his books some of the time. The rest of the time he climbs my legs, kisses Hadley's arms, yanks on her feet, or screams at the top of his lungs.
Hadley has more and more of her brother's personality...she knows what she wants and she screeches to get it. I will say that she is just as sweet as she can be though. When my kids are separate (like when Hayden is at school), they are as good as gold. When they are together it is a free for all including biting, attacking, and something that is a bit like dueling banjos but they do a high-pitched squeal back and forth and then laugh hysterically. Hadley loves to be a big girl and sit on the couch or in the dining room chairs and drink out of her straw cup.
Hayden's new favorite word is "new". He wants the new cup, the one with a straw in it, the new Nillas (they are real, the store was out of generic Nillas, very fancy), the new park and all. Both kids love to be outside, but the quickest way to convince Hayden in is (this is mean) to tell him that the mosquitos or the bees are coming.
Hadley has been saying dada now in addition to mama, which we are all very happy about. Hayden was never big on dada and still isn't--he has always called Drew "gaga" and/or Daddy. Hadley is into clapping her hands to If You're Happy and You Know It, which also happens to be one of Hayden's favorites. Hayden is big into Ring Around the Rosy, and he sings along and spins in a circle. He likes me to sing it about 8 or 9 times in a row, but luckily he doesn't ask me to All Fall Down with him. Hayden also loves counting to 10 and practicing the ABCs. He always knows where we are going in the car and when I skipped the exit off Mopac for our house the other day because we were going down one more exit to shop for shoes he was pretty adamant that I had gone the wrong way and he was not happy about it. It is amazing to me that he knows where we are all the time from the backseat of the car. He cranes his neck to look out the front window to make sure I am not screwing up the route.
Hadley is so much like Hayden, and her little noises and talking are the exact pitch and tone and cadence as Hayden. She'll kind of babble to herself and then squeal and he'll copy her and if I'm not looking I'm not always sure who is making the noise. But then Hayden screeches and I know exactly who that is. They continue to tussle over random little plastic toys, which is baffling if you are thinking as an adult. In my adult mind I have a hard time understanding why anyone really wants Mr. Potato Head's pink ear at all, and not the other ear but that particular ear, even when there are two ears. If I turn my back for a split second to pick a mashed goldfish out of the carpet, Hayden will have tackled Hadley face-down to rip the Potato Head ear out of her little hands. Her face has taken a beating this month but she is tough and will go right back at him for whatever he takes from her. She loves to carry her "purses" around, which include a binkie-pod that has a handle, Hayden's Sports Bag from Ebes, a jackolantern from Halloween, etc.
When Hayden was little and still on bottles he would go to the couch and whine for his bottle, because I fed him the bottles on the couch. Hadley, although she has the same idea, goes to the kitchen and begs near the dishwasher because I make the bottles on the counter there. This is not all that terribly interesting, but I just thought it was odd that he went to where he got the bottle and she went to where the bottles came from. Somewhere there is probably a very smart psychologist who wrote his/her dissertation on why kids do what they do.
We are ready for Easter this weekend, Hayden is having his Easter party at school right now as a matter of fact. This will be Hadley's first Easter, and since she loves to carry things, I'm sure the Easter basket will be a big hit with her!
Our trip to Oxford was so much fun! We have so many pictures that we will post hopefully this weekend. It was wonderful seeing our family and friends there...Drew's parents did so much work to prepare for our visit and we appreciated it so much! Hayden and Hadley love Nana and Pop. Hayden and Pop invented a very fun game called Hidey Hole. I'm not sure I totally understand the game but it involved them taking the shopping cart back into the sun room (the Hidey Hole). Hayden adored Booser (Boo Boo) and Baby Girl (aka Hope), the kitties. Pop let him feed the kitties, which he loved.
Phillip and Jamie came from Greensboro (and they were a big hit with the bubble maker and other toys!). We all went down to Amy and Ryan Hadley's house in Raleigh to see them and baby Brayden, who is so cute and looks just like his daddy. We also got to see Ben and Ginny, Amanda, and John and Anderson. The Hadleys were so nice to host us at their beautiful home.
Highlights from our trip (for Hayden) were our visit to the Oxford firestation and our visit to the farm to see the horses, peacocks, kitties, ducks and all. Sheldon and Brent the firemen were so nice to let Hayden sit in the firetruck. Hayden even wore his new firetruck shirt from Nana.
Many thanks to all in North Carolina who made our visit so special. We have alot of pictures to upload!
Last night while Drew was in class I finally gave the kids a bath together. I have been reluctant to do that for no real reason except that I was worried that Hadley would get hurt or peed on or worse. I put her little blow up tub inside the regular tub and put water in both so that Hayden had his spot in the real tub and Hadley was sort of safe in her little raft. They loved it, but it was a little tricky convincing them to get out, and then Hayden demanded her towel instead of his towel.
Hadley said Mama yesterday finally! She has said "muuum" before but not an official mama. She is eating more real food these days--waffles are her favorite. She doesn't like to pick up slimy stuff like bananas or carrots. She is all over the place walking everywhere and climbing everything. Hayden likes to direct her around the house and he gets really mad when she doesn't comply. He tells her to walk into his room and she'll walk into her room instead and he'll pitch a fit. Every day is a struggle over toys, snacks, and cups. Hadley only wants whatever Hayden has and she attacks him for whatever she wants. Hayden mostly wants whatever toy Hadley has and he gets mad if she knocks over or messes up his stuff. He likes to line up his toys, trains and blocks and she likes to bulldoze through everything.
Hayden and Hadley now sit next to each other in the grocery cart. We used to get those carts that have a bench for Hayden and Hadley would ride in the cart seat. They love to sit together but they push and shove the whole time. Hayden likes the balloons but they freak Hadley out a bit when they get in her face. People stop us alot to ask their age difference, especially in produce.
