Spring fun

One of the great things about springtime in NC is the weather...when it cooperates! In early May we had some really beautiful days that made for some great family time! Lake Higgins is right up the road, so we took Hayden for a walk around the water. He loves to see the water on the way to and from school every day, so we thought it would be fun to see it up close. He had a blast! We walked around and saw the ducks and trees and flowers, and even a tiny snake! A few men were fishing and one let Hayden see what he had caught. We had a great time and can't wait to go back for a picnic!

One of Hayden's very favorite things to do is walk Oscar. He's getting really good at it, and because Oscar is pretty well behaved we don't worry too much about him running off with Hayden holding the leash. We took a nice long family walk one evening, which was great for all of us. When we got to our pond, Hayden threw a few sticks for Oscar and we let him off the leash. To our surprise, Oscar went chasing after one of those sticks right into the pond! He had a good swim and Hayden squealed and squealed. What a fun evening for all of us!

Growing, growing...

My new favorite thing is to watch Hayden eat. He has developed this amazing independence which will not allow me to feed him anything other than yogurt or the occasional apple sauce for breakfast. All other meals are nearly impossible to get through without a spoon in his wee little hand. Meal times are now mess times and require more constant bathing, but I love it! He has gone from this a baby to this assertive, confident little boy who wants to do things for himself. He loves the spoon, and requires it for all food, even bread. However, when eating rice he holds the spoon in one hand and eats his rice with the other hand. I love this developmental stage and I love watching him be so proud of himself when he can do it all on his own.

He is also starting to enjoy coloring. He does pretend to eat the crayon about every 30 seconds so that I'll say excitedly, "Don't do it!". Then he giggles, colors a little more and then repeats the process. I love watching his little hands move, and the fascination on his face when he's created something. I'm not one of those parents that sees his first drawing and declares him Picasso, but I gotta tell ya...it melts my heart to see little scribbles on a piece of paper courtesy of my very own probably-left-handed baby boy.

He is also terrible smitten with his dog as of late. He wants to hug him and hold him and lay on him, none of which are much fun for Oscar. He takes it in stride, but I find myself having to separate them at least once a day by putting Oscar on the other side of the baby gate to get a break. Hayden means well but sometimes Oscar can't take all the poking, prodding and pulling. He's a good sport.

On the mend

Well it has been a long road since this weekend! Hayden had low-grade fevers off and on and was completely messed up on his sleep schedule. He can't help it of course, so I obliged him with 2am playing sessions and food whenever I could get him to eat. For a few days the only thing he would eat were Spaghetti O's or Chef Boyardee. He pushed away all his regular favorites and didn't eat much when he did. Bless his heart!

He started to act like himself on Sunday but we are just now back to normal eating and I'm hoping the sleep will follow suit! He's back to napping normally but goes to bed much later than I'm used to (after 1030pm!) and even last night he woke up at 4am. I gave him some milk and let him hang out in the bed with me in the dark for awhile. Since he's feeling better, I don't want him thinking he gets to decide when playtime happens! After about a half hour he went right back down. It's amazing how much a few days of being sick can change a little one.

He is getting much better at the walking but doesn't cooperate much for videos. I got a short one that I'll post later. He is so curious and determined and loves to explore and test his limits. He's very giggly and silly lately and loves to be tickled. It's fun to play with him but it's even more fun to watch him play with Oscar. They are learning to play together even though Hayden can still be a little rough with him, but Oscar handles it well. I love my little buddies!

Hayden and Oscar

Hayden has been dying to play with Oscar, and they're finally starting to work together. Hayden has a very distinct laugh when he's playing with Oscar; it's this very excited squeal laugh. Today I dropped some Cheerios on the high chair and walked over to pick something up off of the floor. I heard the "Oscar laugh" and turned around. Hayden has figured out that if he shares food with Oscar, Oscar will lick his hands and play with him. He thinks it's funny now, but wait until he starts stealing his chicken tenders like he did with the Fleming girls!

Last night I dropped Hayden off for our girls night. Normally he does really well but I've never dropped him off at night. As soon as I put him down, another little girl stepped on his fingers so I picked him up to calm him down. After that he didn't want me to leave, but mom needed some girl time! When I left his had two big tears rolling down his cheeks, so I was definitely worried about him. When my phone didn't ring at dinner, I figured he was fine. We had a great dinner and played a LONG round of Uno that was cut short when we realized it was time to pick up the kids! Hayden was STILL awake at 11:30 but they said he did great. He was very curious about all the toys and the other kids, and was happy just a few minutes after we left. He fell asleep in the car on the way home and even slept through me unbuckling him; he woke up long enough to get inside the house and get a diaper change, but then went right to sleep. He had a long day!

New fun with Hayden

We have a lot of fun in the Rogers house, and Hayden is usually the source of that! He's learning to wave, but he prefers to wave to himself in the mirror as opposed to actual people! He did wave bye-bye to dad the night before he left, so that was a fun treat. We tried a few cheerios the other day and Hayden loves them! I was a little nervous about a new, small food but he gobbles them right up. It's fun to watch how his motor skills have progressed. When we started the Lil' Crunchies he was using his whole hand to pick them up; with the cheerios he uses his little baby fingers. His vocal abilities continue to develop, and lately he's been doing lots of squealing to test out his pipes. Hayden really likes playing with the doors lately, and unfortunately has learned how to unfasten his diaper! As a result, he doesn't spend much time without his pants!

He has also discovered Oscar's basket of toys, which seem to be more entertaining than all of his own toys. He and Oscar are learning to play together and it's a ton of fun to watch. Hayden is dying to play with him, but Oscar is skittish now that he is mobile. He looks to us for permission first, and is very gentle. Since Jay is gone this week, Oscar has become very protective of us. He gave a tall flower a good barking-to yesterday and stays very close to us when we go outside for walks. He is also sure to alert every one of our neighbors to his presence when they come in the front door to go to their own apartments. It's nice to know we have a furry bodyguard to look after us.

Last weekend we went to Anessa's birthday party and had a blast! Hayden is getting really good at the parties, especially the cake part. We let him have a little bit of ours, and Anesssa's Sponge Bob cake was blue so his mouth was pretty funny looking. The babies all played together and Hayden napped in the middle of the party in his stroller, with Oscar guarding him. We also opened Flag Football season for Jay with two games. Hayden had a lot of fun watching his dad score three touchdowns in the first game! The second game got a little heated and Oscar was concerned but it was diffused pretty quickly.

This weekend we're having a girls' game night, thanks to our Child Development Center's "Parents Night Out". We're going out to dinner to celebrate two grown-up birthdays and then playing some card and board games while the kids enjoy an extended playdate. We have another 1st birthday party to go to on Saturday, and our friends Sam and Carson are coming over for dinner on Sunday. That will end our first week of Jay being gone, and it's gone by fast! My mouth is healing much faster from this wisdom tooth surgery than the last, and Hayden and Oscar have been very cooperative. I take advantage of Hayden's naps and early bedtime when I can, and the weather has been gloomy so we haven't had much outside time. But today is a beautiful day and we have a date at the Wildpark with some fun ladies tonight, and my boys deserve a little treat for being so helpful!

Life at home

Well we've officially survived our first week at home! What a week it's been though. Hayden still prefers to sleep during the day and be awake at night. But now his awake time at night is a little quieter. He's alert but not crying, so we'll take it. We move around, from the bassinet to the rocker to the bed to the swing downstairs, depending on what kind of mood we're in. We have NO schedule to speak of, which is made easier by Jay's 10 days of paternity leave (thank you, Army). He signs back in tomorrow, just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday, so when it's all said and done he'll have had two whole weeks with us. And the Christmas holiday is just around the corner!

A big thanks to Leigh, Amanda, Judy and Megan who were Hayden's first visitors in the hospital! Since then he's been lucky enough to meet the Meyers, Millers and Pollards, but most importantly, Oscar! Everyone has been asking how Oscar is doing with the baby, and truthfully he just kind of tolerates him right now. He likes to sniff him, understands that we need to give the baby lots of attention, and is fine as long as we share some of that attention while the baby sleeps. I think once Oscar can lick him and play with him, he'll be just as smitten as we are.

So far it's been a busy life for little Hayden! We have survived our first sponge bath; took our first trip out of the house (in the snow!) to visit the commissary and the Pollards, which of course included our first round-trip in the car; we've tested out the swing and come to love the bassinet-level of the playpen; and mommy even managed to cut and file his nails without a tranquilizer (for me!). Hayden's umbilical cord stump fell off rather quickly, as did his plastibell cover from his circumcision, so we're ready for our first real bath! We're also learning the tricks of the trade to avoid getting peed on, but he can be tricky. I did have to wake Jay up in the middle of the night once this weekend to change Hayden's clothes while I changed the sheets in the bassinet.

Next week starts our rounds of paperwork to get Hayden firmly entrenched into the military system. This week, however, we're still just relaxing and looking forward to Thanksgiving with our Army family!

Moving around

It still startles me every time I feel Hayden move. And he is an active little fellow! He's very responsive to Jay, who likes to poke and push to make him move around. His favorite time of day is of course, whenever I lay down. I thought it was only at night, but Jay and I took a nap today and discovered that as soon as I'm laying down and still, he takes the cue to start bouncing around in there.

It's so hard to imagine that in a few months, this little guy that does all this moving will be our wiggling, breathing little boy. But it gets more exciting every day.

Oscar is definitely more protective these days, accompanying me every time I go down the stairs and especially the basement. He used to be content laying at the door, waiting for me to come back; but now he likes to trot ahead of me and look around. He's my little shadow, until Jay comes home and then he's attached to Jay. He's doing well roaming the house outside of the crate, except for a few mishaps with socks and tissues today. But overall, he's acting like a grown up!

Congratulations to Bryan and Elisabeth, who welcomed Camden Anthony Watts this week! He made his debut a few days later than expected, but I'm sure it was worth the wait!

11 weeks and counting!

Nothing miraculous to report these days. Changing my diet up helped considerably with the overall yuckiness. I have gained a pound, which Jay is very excited about. Still experiencing some marked fatigue and a few issues with sleep, but nothing that can't be fixed by a beautiful, busy day to wear me out and put me to bed early!

I am starting to understand the in-between-ness people talk about concerning clothes. Where your normal clothes start to get a little tight, and you don't want to buy bigger clothes because soon, you'll actually need maternity clothes. It's amazing that even though I haven't gained much weight (I'm still at -2 since I lost 3 pounds early on), things seem to just be shifting around.

Oscar continues to be very protective. He barks at strangers, which he used to do only if they had on hats (what a weird dog) or were walking dogs. Now he even barks at women, which he's never done. He still doesn't see kids as a threat, so that's good.

Now we're just counting down the days until Jay comes home! He should be home right around my five-month mark, which puts him here just in time to find out the sex. Exciting!