Taking Steps

I know it has been a few weeks since our last post. For that we apologize, the only time we get to ourselves now days is during nap time and in the evening after my class is over at 8:00. Jon is getting close to finishing his AIT, only one more month of hours the comes the board tests. I have three classes lined up this semester, one is another baby/parent class that I am taking again with Hayden.

In the class are 14 babies, most of them are around Hayden's age, so it is good he has a few playmates. There are actually more boys in this class then the last. I have only been to the class once, we have it today at 12:30, but it was fun to watch all of the babies crawling around playing with each other.

I do have some bad news, Hayden is growing up too fast. He has been taking a few steps, the max has been two, but still I think it is too soon. I miss my little cuddle buddy. The nights have been getting better, but ever so often he wakes up at 2:00 am and won't got back down until 3:30 or so. Yes this happened last night, and I am not sure if it is because he is getting a few more teeth, or why it only happens every 5 days.

Anyway, things are good here. Still trying to keep Hayden out of things, he is a handful when he wants to be. He sure knows how to test his boundaries. You should see the little smirk he gets when he knows he is into something he shouldn't be. It is vary similar to Jon's "I didn't do it" or "I don't know what you are talking about" look. You all know what I mean. Well, we miss you all and hopefully we can make it back to Wisconsin before the year is up.

First babyless weekend

This weekend was our first without Hayden. We dropped him off at Grandma Melissa's and headed to a suite right on the Pacific ocean in Lincoln City, OR. Despite initially being worried and sad, it went good. Hayden behaved himself with Grandma and even slept better than he does at home.

Us, on the other hand, had a much needed 2 days of relaxation. Friday night we got into town at about 6; headed for some dinner checked out an car show and had some drinks on our patio listening to the waves. We ended up sleeping on the pull out couch with the patio door open so we could hear the waves all night. Saturday morning we woke up at 6. I know I thought we would sleep in, but no. So we headed to breakfast and then to Newport Beach. We were walking down the historic Bay port and decided that we wanted to go whale watching. While we were waiting to head out, we found a Sea Lion hang out and watched them for a while.

OK, back to the whale watching, Amanda and I have both wanted to go for a while, just never have. Boy, am I glad we did. About 15 minutes into the hour and a half trip we spotted a gray whale. Really all you an see is the water shoot up from their blow holes, and their bodies as they swim. We got quite the treat when the whale decided to breach (jump out of the water). I guess it does not happen very often with gray whales and it was amazing to see. I even got a picture!! We named the whale Jerry, and I decided I should work for National Geographic as a photographer.

Well that was about all the excitement of the weekend. It was great to see Hayden again when we got home, but decided maybe we need to take a weekend twice a year just to get away. Hope everyone had a great weekend as well, and feel free to come visit!!

Baby to Boy in a matter of weeks

I can't tell you how amazing it is to watch Hayden grow. Jon and I have decided we no longer have a baby that likes to be held, cuddled, and kissed; rather we have a little boy that loves to play, crawl, and get into as much trouble as possible.

Staying at home with Hayden has been a challenge these last few weeks. The other day while cleaning up a bit I swore Hayden was playing with the cat in the tunnel (which can keep him distracted for hours), and the next thing I knew he was gone. What do you know he found the bathroom and the toilet. Lets just say we are going to keep the bathroom door closed from now on. Yesterday, I was making Jon dinner before he came home and Hayden was helping by playing with the gobs of Tupperware all over the floor. The next thing I knew Hayden was chewing on something. He had grabbed a hand full of cat food and stuffed it in his mouth without me noticing. I got the majority of it out, but I think he got a few pieces down.

He is starting to stand by himself for longer than 30 seconds now, and is even attempting steps. I am not encouraging this, but I guess he is ready to grow up, even though Jon and I aren't ready. He has learned how to give "high-fives" and can even chase the cat around at a pretty good pace. The cat is handling it pretty well, but he sure runs when Hayden spots him anywhere.

But from day to day when I look at him I smile to myself and think of how lucky I am to be blessed with such a wonderful boy. He is becoming a handful with shorter naps, wondering crawling adventures, and sleepless nights, but he is truly a blessing. It makes me wondering how long it will take until he is just like his father. Which by the way does everything Jon does, he is teaching him some pretty sneaky stuff. So watch out Grandma and Grandpa, next time you see Hayden he may just remind you of your own son.

Home at Last

Well, it has been a busy past couple weeks. I have been in Colorado and I am sorry for taking the camera, but I didn't want to miss anything if Hayden were to do something new.

My grandma is doing great, she is at home and doing the best she can with what she has got. Hayden got to meet some new people. All of my cousins and aunts, plus his great grandparents, and great uncles. He loved Ethan and Owen my cousins on my Aunt Shelly's side. He couldn't resist playing with Ethan's hat.

Also he found his shadow and isn't quite sure what to do with it. He loves my grandma's piano and I have a video of him playing it. I don't know where he learned but he would also turn the pages of the music and then continue playing. I only got him playing on video, but I do have a few pictures of him turning the music.

Finally Hayden met a new friend at the airport, he would crawl and crawl to him it was really cute, they even hugged. I almost forgot to mention. Hayden is crawling at full force, he follows me everywhere, which is good because when I leave the room he is starting to get upset. So now he can follow me around the apartment.

As you can see from the videos and pictures, Hayden is a good size boy. In fact we bought him a new car seat Saturday when I got home because he had out grew his infant car seat. He is growing up too fast.

Also I found the most amazing scrapbook store to ever lay eyes on. This store is in Ft. Collins, Colorado and it is call the Treasure Box! It is huge I only made it though about half in 2 hours. Lets just say it is about 5 times bigger than the one up North when we ate breakfast. We might all have to take a trip to visit it some time hahaha.

Well enjoy the pictures and videos, love you all!

No pictures

Well I planned on updating some pictures today....but Amanda took the camera to Colorado. Sorry!

Leaving daddy behind

Yesterday Amanda and Hayden flew to Colorado for 10 days to visit 2 more of his great-grandparents. So that means in the last month he has been to Racine, WI; Rhinelander, WI; Olympia, WA; Sacramento, CA; and now in Colorado he will go to Denver, Greeley and Fort Collins. If babies could get frequent flier miles he would be set!!

I am getting closer to finishing my AIT, the end of October cannot come soon enough!! That means hopefully by the end of the year I will be assigned a facility to run, and we will have an answer to the famous "where are we going to live for the next couple years" question. Amanda finished her internship and loved it so much she is probably going to to it again this fall. She made a scrapbook for Brooklynn's first birthday and it turned out amazing!! Now she is on to her next project and took it with her to Colorado; I'd imagine by the time they get back it will be done.

Before Amanda and Hayden left I was looking at him in his crib...he is getting so big!! I think he has to be over 24" long; but is finally starting to lean out. The baby fat is leaving him. (You can ALMOST see his wrists!!) When I get some time this week I will post some pictures while they are gone. That's all for now...hope everything is going well with everyone!!

Home sweet home

Well we have been home for almost a week. I never thought an apartment could feel like home, but now since Hayden has been sleeping better my guess is he is glad to have his own crib back. Sunday and Monday nights he slept great only waking up once and then twice Monday night. I thought it was going to continue, but unfortunately I think teeth are starting to make there way in again. He has be restless and naps have been an issue these last two days. Last night we woke up crying every couple of hours, poor little guy I think he still has a while before those teeth pop through.

Other then teething, Hayden has made vast improvement standing. That is all he wants to do now is stand. He can crawl regular now, but if there is anyway he can get to his feet he would rather walk. He has been walking along the couch going from his walker to the couch, back to his walker to the chair. It is amazing to see him let go and then grab back on when he knows he isn't balanced. He has crashed a few times (one I got on film) but he is a trooper no tears.

Just the other day he started doing this pity cry when we put him down for naps or to go to bed. He now stands up in his crib where he has plain view of the door and wales until someone opens the door and then is all smiles from ear to ear. I got that on film too, not so much the crying, but when I put him down for his nap all I heard from the room was DADADDA DADA DAADDA, really loud too, it was as if he was calling for someone to come get him. It was pretty funny because I found him standing in his crib just waiting like he has been. Now of course it is the screams because if we go in their too often he gets the wrong idea. Today it only took 30 minutes for him to go down. He took a hour nap earlier in the car, I went down to see Jon and on the way home Hayden passed right out. I didn't want to wake him up so I drove around for a while, of course when I took him out of the car he was wide awake ready to go again. It seems now that he is moving he doesn't think he needs a nap because playing is more fun.

Next week Hayden and I are taking off to go to Colorado. My grandma had a triple bypass today, she is in recovery and the surgery took two hours less than expected. She is a trooper that is for sure, so my mom and I are going to be heading there for 10 days to help out. I don't know what I will do without Jon. It will be the longest we have spend apart sense Europe over a year ago. Anyway, my class is almost over for the summer, so I will have time to update more often. I have pictures to upload and will probably get time tomorrow to do so, just wanted to update everyone today. Miss you all! To bad vacation couldn't last forever!