Hayden is really into Finding Nemo. I am not sure when that movie came out but we have the DVD, and he adores it. Hadley will watch it too, but she loses interest after about 2 minutes and will head off to play with her toys. Nemo is a nice break from Sesame Street, which honestly can grate on one's nerves after repeated viewings.
Hadley is saying all sorts of funny things lately. Her vocabulary is expanding so quickly, I can hardly keep up with my list of her words on the fridge. Hadley is also really into potties. Now I am not a big proponent of early potty training at all--obviously I am not pushing Hayden to potty train, I just let him go when he wants to go and don't get worked up about it. He is perfectly capable of going pp and poop in the potty, but he is pretty selective about when he wants to do it. Fine by me. Hadley though.....when kids are close in age, they want EVERYTHING that the other one has or does. So of course Hadley wanted a potty since Hayden has a potty. She would pitch hysterical fits when he got to go on the potty and she didn't. So finally, finally, I caved and bought her a tiny potty so she can sit on the thing while he is going and she won't be left out---heaven forbid she be left out of anything! Of course they fight over the potties, but at least there are 2 potties and last time I checked they each only have one bottom.
Everyone survived our first ever weekend away from the kids! Drew and I have never been away together for even one night where neither of us was there in the morning when the kids woke up--that is 3 years in case you were wondering! We went away for a weekend back in August of 2006 when we visited "Kellermans" on Cape Cod. This time we went to Phillip and Jamie's wedding in Snow Camp/Greensboro, NC, and my mom took care of the children here at our house for two nights. Nannie did a fabulolus job of course. And the wedding weekend was beautiful, and we had a blast seeing all of our friends and family. When we finally made it home Sunday, Hayden and Hadley ran into my arms yelling "Mommy!" and it was one of those moments that I will never forget.
Hayden and Hadley are having a ball these days at school. They love their teachers and friends. I see them coming and going while we transition from playground to the gym, to the playroom, etc. and they always are happy and don't fuss about seeing me rather quickly. Hayden and I started back with Sportball last night with Coach Mo again...they are going to do 3 weeks of soccer and 3 weeks of T-ball. Hayden absolutely loves Sportball and Coach Mo. And thank heavens it has cooled off a bit since it is outside!
Hadley was given a very special gift yesterday--our sweet little neighbor Amanda who just turned 8 gave Hadley her Cinderella Vanity, which is a little pink vanity that talks when you push buttons and when you put the plastic lipstick, perfume, and mirror back into place. It has a little stool to sit on and drawers to put things in. Of course my kids fight over it but they both will play at it independently, opening and shutting things and rearranging everything. Hadley is really into Chapstick and brushing her hair and pulling out hairbands, so the vanity is perfect. It is one of the only true girl toys in our house. Yay!
Just in case anyone is wondering why there are so many Hadley pictures this month...she asks me to take her picture all the time. She usually asks for her hairbow, so I put it in, then she wants me to take her picture but usually she has ripped out the bow before I can get the camera turned on. Then she wants to hold the camera, and I let her because I am very trusting (read: insane).
What a busy couple of weeks it has been. We had Nana visit, then Nannie came the following Thursday to help me with the kids while I had training for work last Friday and Saturday. Saturday Nannie watched Hadley while I took Hayden to swimming and Drew was off giving a speech. Then I dropped Hay with my mom and went to work, then Hayden, Drew and I went to the circus that afternoon! I met the boys there and by the time I arrived Hayden had gotten used to the noise and was transfixed. He really perked up when Drew bought us popcorn and a pretzel. The popcorn was a huge hit as was the little light up whirly-thing Drew got for him as well. Hayden loved, loved the elephants, tigers, and horses. Sunday the kids and my mom and I set off for Houston for a few days to give Drew a chance to write on his dissertation uninterrupted. We went to Nannie's mall and rode the ever popular carousel. We also went to the Childrens Museum which is newly redone and wonderful. We even got to have dinner with our friends the Finans and their beautiful daughter Ciara.
Yesterday the kids came up to the church with me so that Ms Cristen and I could prepare our room for school this coming Monday. They were very well behaved while Cristen and I organized and pasted things to the wall. Ms Cristen was Hayden's teacher last year and I so hoped Hadley would get her this year (Hadley has Ms Cristen on Tuesdays for bible study), but lucky me, I got her for myself! We will have the 18 month old children and got to meet them last night at back to school night. They are all precious and adorable. Drew took Hayden and Hadley to meet their new teachers and they made themselves right at home--Hayden didn't even want to leave and Drew had to drag him out.
Hayden and Hadley are quite a handful these days, they say and do the wildest things and they pick up on everything. Hadley is into asking for her hairbow and then she asks you to take her picture with the bow on her head. She usually does the bow/camera routine about 6 times a day. She loves to go through her repertoire of animal noises and is cutest when she does "lion" and makes a teeny roar with her paws up. They both do a Cookie Monster imitation that is funny as long as they don't have any actual food.
Hayden and I have a running conversation every morning. It goes something like this: Me: Do you know what today is Hayden, today is Wednesday! What are we going to do today? Hayden: No bible study Mommy. School today! New school. No swimming lessons Mommy. Baby no swimming lessons at the big pool. Baby swim in Daddy's pool outside. Hay swims in the BIG POOL. No gym today Mommy. School! Hayden also has a way of acting like a complete maniac,climbing on couches, acting awful and then he looks innocently at me and says "Mommy happy? Mommy happy! Hay's happy! Baby's happy!". And all is well in Hayden's world.
Today we were walking up to the Kids Club at the gym and the kid in line in front of us barfed all over the floor. Honestly, my first thought was thank you, thank you for not letting it be my kid. I really felt bad for the child and the mom, really I did. It wasn't us this time, but I know we'll get our turn one day. But today wasn't our day, hallellujah!
Just as a follow up, Hadley's 15 month checkup was great (no shots!), although my kids terrorized the packed waiting area. They were playing chase around the children's table, screaming, and climbing on tables repeatedly. While Nurse Trina was weighing Hadley, Hayden was running up and down the halls shrieking "I want. more. kleenex. NOW. MOMMY. PLEASE!" He opened and distributed an entire package of kleenex from my purse in mere minutes. It was actually kind of like a wedding, and Hayden was the flower girl only throwing kleenex. The nurses, doctors, and mommy all threatened "no sticker" if my offspring didn't tone it down, which ultimately worked with Hayden.
Anyway, Hadley got a wonderful report and didn't put up a fuss about being inspected!
