Winter already?

It would seem so in Germany! All of a sudden last week it got terribly cold out but for the most part the sun still comes around. This weekend was a fun, lazy family weekend for us. We were celebrating Jay's 25th birthday (which was Monday) and enjoying the time together. We are big fans of games, so we've been playing a lot of Uno and the Amazing Race DVD game. We rented some movies, cooked some of his favorites and went to the Schiesshaus for dinner on Sunday. The Schiesshaus is a traditional german restaurant with HUGE schnitzel and Jay hadn't been there yet so we went for an early dinner. Hayden enjoyed some of my jagerschnitzel (the kid's size!) and some of Jay's regular schnitzel as well as our fries. Germans are typically not too fond of little ones in restaurants (it's often said that your dog is more welcome in the restaurant than your child) but Hayden is undaunted. He would take a bite, and turn around in his high chair while chewing to look at the people around us. He would continue to look at them until they smiled, and then he would break into his million-dollar Rogers grin. He is irresistable, cultural barriers and all! We also took some family pictures this weekend and can't wait to see how they turned out!

Yesterday was the second round of the flag football tournament, and the high was only 44 degrees! Good thing we just bought Hayden a snowsuit. We went to a Discovery Toy party at 5 and then headed to the field for Jay's game at 6. Talk about torture, Hayden got to see all these fun toys but then had to give them back. I bundled him up in his snowsuit and mittens, and then put him in his "sleeping bag", a wonderful stroller sack that keeps him warm and cozy. He's never been so bundled up, so he wasn't quite sure what to do for a long time. He likes to chew on the top tab of the snowsuit, and often loses his pacifier which is troublesome to recover with those mittens! It was a tough game especially with the referees, but we emerged victorious and play again tonight. Good luck Jay!

11 months old

We are getting more and more lax on updates! Things are in full swing around here and life is keeping us busy. We can hardly believe Hayden is 11 months old! He has four teeth, just had his third haircut today and is not yet walking. Which we are fine with :-) He's still an expert crawler and is really working on standing lately and cruising from furniture to furniture. He is into absolutely everything, which means we have installed a new, sturdy baby gate downstairs and blocked his entry from the kitchen as well.

11 months means we're now busy preparing for his first birthday, which I can't believe. Time flies! Jay is still playing flag football and the weather has taken quite a cold turn this week so we have to bundle up a bit more to watch him play. This last week it just got too chilly for us towards the end of the game, so Hayden and I packed up and got the car nice and warm for dad when the game was over. Monday is the semi-final game, so we wish him lots of luck!
We recently took a trip to Ramstein Air Force Base to visit the mall and it was huge! We've lived in Germany over 3 years now so seeing an actual mall is a little overwhelming. It's basically a giant PX with a ton of other shops, but we picked up a lot of things we aren't able to get close to where we live. Mainly things for Hayden, a little Vera Bradley for me and some combatives gloves for Jay. We also got some American chinese food (we miss it the most) and stayed long enough to enjoy dinner at Macaroni Grill. It has quickly replaced Chili's as my favorite place to eat at Ramstein.

Hayden is in his big boy car seat now, since he was just not enjoying his rear-facer anymore. We ordered it from Amazon and to our surprise it was here in less than a week! Hayden is much happier now that he can see what we're doing, and it's also a lot easier for us to get to him when he needs something (usually he wants his shoes off). In his Nikes and his big boy seat with his new hair cut, he barely resembles the tiny infant we brought home from the hospital last November.

We also recently went to Hayden's friend Gabe's birthday party. He's 7! Hayden enjoyed a lot of good dad time while mom socialized, and even got to test out the bouncy boxing ring a little. Mainly he was sitting on the outside where he can just kind of bounce around on his baby butt without being knocked down by kids, but he loved it. He has become quite the birthday partier, and will be in for a big surprise next month when he gets to eat his own piece of cake instead of sharing with us!

We're still here!

You'll have to excuse my two-week hiatus from blogging. When Jay got back from his field training exercise, we started to realize how quickly our time together is running short. Jay will be deploying late this fall, so we've been spending as much time as possible with our little family. Jay has been very busy at work and getting home later than usual, so Hayden and I try to make the most of our time with him. When Jay first got home from the field Hayden was still in mommy-mode and didn't want to spend much time with dad alone. But two weeks later, we feel like he has a baby-sixth-sense that dad is leaving soon for a long time, because he's grown increasingly attached to him.

We are constantly surprised at how bright our son is, and how many of our traits he has acquired already. He is stubborn like his mom, sneaky like his dad and very intelligent. He's a climber and is fearless. Lately he's gotten very good at waving and mimicking the sounds we make. He is into absolutely everything, and already tries to evade us with his sweet smiles and big blue eyes while doing something he isn't supposed to. He is also enjoying more people food, including a giant piece of chicken he gnawed on at a BBQ last weekend. He's standing for just a few seconds on his own, and is showing definite signs of wanting to walk. Our little boy is growing up!

This past weekend Hayden and I hung out at home on Sunday while Jay went to Oktoberfest in Munich. We decided to give him a little boys time while we relaxed at home with Oscar. Hayden is also growing more and more interested and what we're eating and drinking, particularly the cups out of which we drink. So we end up having to down our water pretty quickly and give him the sip that's left in our cup. He loves it! He also enjoys cold bites of our freezer pops even though he makes the funniest face when the frozen treat hits his mouth. It probably feels pretty good on his teeth that are pushing their way through.

Now that Jay is back, flag football is back in business! Hayden and Oscar love to be out at the field for the games. Oscar gets to run around a bit and play with the kids, and Hayden enjoys crawling all over the ground and off of his sheet. Hayden gets very excited when everyone gets loud and claps and cheers, and he joins right in with the clapping.

We have a lot of fun stuff coming up so we're taking every opportunity to relax and do a lot of nothing! October is going to be a busy month with birthdays, long weekends and Hayden's first Halloween. Soon our little boy will be turning one, and we just don't know where the time has gone! It's amazing what a unique little person he's turning into.

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!