Missing my Salem girls

On August 25, Lila and I went to Salem to be an alumnae (and future student) presence for move-in day! She wore her sweet Salem shirt and was in a sassy mood of course! We arrived early, and greeted students, parents and staff members. After we hung out at the tent for awhile, we took a walk with Monique down to Gramley. Ah Gramley, my old stomping grounds for two years. Where I first lived as a college freshman, and again when I moved rooms as a freshman, and once again as a sophomore. That place is so full of memories for me I'm not sure how it doesn't burst. So much has changed (the key card system, the way the lobby is designed, the furniture) and so much is exactly the same (the smell of the stairwell, the old carpet and doors you can see as you walk down any hall way). Now they have A/C window units on each floor to keep a little air moving, and the rest of the college has central air. I can't even talk about that.

In an instant, it all came flooding back. Meeting Jen Pounders with her fish cinder blocks. Meeting my roommate in real life for the first time. "Man on the hall". Standing with Susan as we were separated into orientation groups. The excitement and sheer terror that comes from moving into a place, not knowing how it's all going to turn out. And then the fun. The late nights in the hall. The trips to the club. The Christmas party, complete with Christmas in the bathtub portraits. The friendships, and the memories I hope will last my lifetime.

When we walked out of Gramley (after seeing all three of my rooms!), imagine my surprise to find that Lila bean had cut her first tooth! Right there in front of Gramley, my home for two years, the place I hope she lives in 18 years. When we took a walk in between Gramley and Babcock and I got my first look at Babcock "beach" in years, I was overwhelmed. Here came the memories of meeting Sara and Cassels for the first time, slowly navigating my way through those first days of classes hearing about this girl named Lizard. And then the memories of the people I'd come to know later in college, who I didn't know that well because they lived in Babcock as freshmen.

There is a giant piece of my heart that Salem will always have, and it seems to shatter into a million pieces whenever I step onto that campus. I want to be back. I want to stop every girl I see, and tell her how lucky she is to be there. I want to tell her what to do, what not to do, and then I want to stop myself...because I want her to figure it all out for herself. Mostly, I want her to love it as much as I do when she's back on campus, eight years after she graduates, twelve years after she first set foot there.

Do I want Lila to go there? Of course I do. But like her mom, she'll make her own choices. People ask, how do you know it will be the same when she's a college freshman? Well I know. I know because of the alums I know from the 40s, the 50s, the 60s, the 70s, the 80s, the 90s, my sister classes above and below me, the girls I recruited and the girls I know now. I know because Salem is special, and it always will be. Even if traditions come and go, new buildings are erected and professors retire, it will always be special. And if you weren't a Salem girl, there isn't really a way to explain it to you, other than the two ways the C'04 can...

You think you know, but you have no idea.
In the end, I want to be standing at the beginning with you.

Hayden updates

I can't seem to blog fast enough to keep up with him! The most exciting thing right now is his new babysitter, Tylor. She lives in housing on post, and has a german shepard named Jax that Hayden adores. He went over there almost every day this week (except for my day off) and it seems to be working out really well. They go on lots of walks and luckily we've been having sunny weather, even if it's cold.

Hayden is also really enjoying his newfound skill...brushing his own teeth! I haven't gotten it on camera yet, but it really is the cutest thing. He puts his toothbrush in his mouth and moves his head back and forth to brush his teeth, instead of moving the brush. I love it! It really is my favorite part of the evening, when we brush our teeth together and then read books for bedtime. He's growing up too fast.

Because of his fully mobile status, he doesn't enjoy being strapped into carseats, strollers or high chairs much anymore. He needs to go, go, go! This makes daily activities and driving a little more challenging, but I really love all his energy and curiosity. He continues to be the happiest baby anyone has ever seen.

Jay bought Hayden a wagon and it finally arrived last week. It took me a little while to put it together, but Hayden really enjoys climbing in and out of it. We can't wait for warmer weather to come around so we can actually use it outside!

Quick recap

The short of this week is that I broke a shoe, thought I lost my ID twice, got lost multiple times, broke my keyboard andgot very little sleep. I also replaced said shoes, did NOT lose my ID at all, finally found my way and got extra snuggles with Hayden. Hayden had a slight fever, popped through two more teeth, locked my cell phone, threw up six times in two days this weekend, and woke up with what I thought was pinkeye today. He also learned to blow kisses, had a blast at daycare, hasn't thrown up today, and made me two delightful pieces of artwork at school.

A two-week course with a baby in a hotel is not easy, but we are making it through. My instructors and the staff at the CDC are extremely helpful and understanding of our situation, and really what matters is that Hayden is doing very well and my class is going well. We are one week down and one to go, we can do this! Today Hayden had some yucky stuff in his eyes so we went to the hospital to check it out. Since our clinic isn't open on the weekends, we have few options but Leopoldina is a good hospital. Typically we're in and out in no time, but today we were there for three hours. It's not pinkeye, thankfully, and is hopefully just part of his little cold.

Tonight is laundry, packing, cleaning and hanging out with my little buddy. We are already looking forward to next weekend!

Back to the working world!

Well, one week ago today I started my new job as a customer service rep at Community Bank. We are the overseas division of Bank of America but are merely governed by them; i.e. a BOA account doesn't translate into a Community Bank account. But you can use the ATMs without fee with either card! So. What do I do?

My first day I read. And read. And because I read fast, they ran out of reading for me so I filed. Super, since I already knew how to do both of those. My schedule is pretty sweet; most days I'm in from 11-4, some days 12-5. Everyone starts out part time with a later option to move to full time. It's perfect for my first job after Hayden's birth. I'm only gone from him about five hours a day and he sleeps three of that. Right now our friend Cassandra is watching him AT OUR HOUSE, which is about the sweetest setup you can get. They have a really good time together and he gets to be in his normal surroundings and stay on the schedule he's used to. Day one was a little crazy since we had to do a little car swapping so Cassandra could get her tire fixed (finally!) but since then he's done really well.

Day two I started learning my actual job, which involves everything from figuring out why an ATM card won't work to opening new accounts, account maintenance and bill payments. I really like it! The challenge, as with any job, is learning the system and how everything works. There are lots of new things to learn every day and it's a ton of fun to use my brain for things other than scheduling meals and changing diapers. I love being a mom and a wife, but I needed something that uses my brain even if it doesn't use my degree.

My first week went really well work-wise, but it was the after-work activities that wore us out! We had something to do every day after I got off work and seven inches of snow between my first two days. The weekend was also busy but we are getting into the swing of things and figuring it all out. Hayden has THREE new teeth, two on the top and one on the bottom. That brings our total to seven. Wow!

We also finally got our webcams set up and working so we can see Jay! On Friday he had his but we didn't have ours, but Hayden got to hear and see his dad and he immediately knew who he was! He pointed at the screen and said "dada" and then just started jabbering to him. He squealed when Jay talked to him and laughed and laughed. Oscar seemed to recognize the voice too. It's amazing the joy a pixelated, dim picture can bring to your life during a deployment.

In two weeks I go to training about two hours from here, and luckily they were able to accomodate Hayden in their child development center while I'm there! That means we'll have our mornings and nights together and he'll spend his days at the CDC hanging out with other kids his age. It will definitely be an adjustment for him but he'll get through it! And if anything, it will probably help him sleep better at night. Two weeks in a hotel room will be an adventure but we are up for it!

Hayden has also turned into a full-fledged monkey, climbing on anything that sits more than a foot off the ground. He is pretty good at it, just like his mom was as a baby. He likes to take the toys out of his box and make a spot to sit in, and then park it there for a few. He is getting into lots of mischief, which is to be expected at this age. I love his determination and his awareness of what will get him in trouble. Those blue eyes and that smile only get him so far!

Another haircut!

That's right, Hayden has had his fourth haircut. The third one was just prior to his birthday, which means he's going a little over a month between them now. Yikes! Dad took him to get the last one since mom was getting her own hair cut, so I knew this would be interesting. I took him in and only waited a few minutes before she was ready, which is pretty rare on an Army post. He liked the booster chair and didn't mind the cut itself, but he does not care for the cape! He was very upset about it and cried a lot. I tried playing with him under the cape, but he was still unhappy. We finally took it off and he was fine for the end. A few days later when I was able to talk to Jay, he told me that last time he pulled Hayden's hands out from under the cape and played with him. I think it freaks him out to not be able to see his wee baby hands. So now we know!

His hair is nice and short, so hopefully we'll be able to go a little longer between cuts. Haircuts went up on post again, so it's $10 even for a kids cut. They were around $7.25 when we first moved here, so that's a huge jump over three years.

Hayden also has a whole slew of teeth ready to come through, which makes for a sad and cranky boy. He officially has a fifth one that has poked its way through and about three more on deck. Bless his heart! Motrin, orajel and snuggles are the best we can do, along with some cold washcloths. It's hard being a baby! He is still in his screaming phase, so any advice on dissuaging that would be appreciated! He screams often times for no reason, which is hard since there's little we can do to stop it. Sometimes it's obvious he's just testing out his voice, other times it's just plain loud for no reason! I keep tylenol on hand these days.

We met Jenn and Addie for one last lunch at the Wu on Friday. They fly out on Monday to go back to Maine for the deployment, and we're going to miss them so much! Hayden and Addie have done a lot of growing up together, so we can't wait to see what they're like when they reunite next year!

On Friday night, Hayden went over to the Bakers where he was greeted with a new baby gate and a Little People farm! Steph just couldn't help herself. I can't tell who was more excited--Hayden or the girls! Everyone has such a good time when they're together, it's fun! I had a Christmas party to go to where I had some fabulous german food, fun with friends and an ornament exchange that had us laughing for most of the night. When I picked Hayden up he was sound asleep after an exciting evening, so we made a quick trip home in some light snow (!) and tucked ourselves in. We cram a lot into our days!

Well we made it to the BBQ with our deviled eggs and macaroni, and Hayden had a blast playing on his neat sheet. He and Carson played with the toys and barked at the dogs and even ate a little BBQ food. After the BBQ we came back for yet another nap, and then headed to Megan's house for dinner. We ate and Hayden explored all the things he isn't supposed to touch, but Megan loves him too much to mind.

We had a busy week of meetings and mommy-stuff, being out and about and hanging out with our friends. Hayden enjoyed a little time at daycare on Friday while I went to a baby shower for our friend Adrianne. She's due with her second girl in October, so we had fun celebrating her yet-t0-be-named baby girl's arrival. Friday afternoon we headed to post to make a banner for Jay. Which means of course, Hayden got to hang out with Leigh and I got glitter everywhere.

Saturday morning we made a spur of the moment trip to Kreuzberg after Jay requested some of the beer made by the monks. It was a quick trip up there, and a beautiful cool day for a stroll. Hayden loves to be out and about and didn't even mind having socks on or his hood up. What a compliant little guy! That night we had a mexican food night planned with the girls, and Hayden enjoyed terrorizing Heather's bulldog, Cali. He tried to "bark" back at her, but it comes out more like a yell. He and Carson played a little in the playpen together but mainly wanted to go up the stairs, push furniture around and try to eat dog food. Luckily we're a little faster than the babies!

Sunday morning we were up and out bright and early to go see Jay! The 173d brigade was in the same place for the first time (we have units in two cities in Germany and one in Italy) so they invited the families down for a little food and fun. We hadn't seen Jay in three weeks, so it was great to see his face! We spent most of the day enjoying the weather and hanging out, watching sports and letting Hayden have some daddy time. Hayden cut a top tooth yesterday, and he also clapped for the first time! It was exciting especially since Jay didn't miss any of it. He loves to clap now, especially in the car because he can see himself in the mirror. He's working on the waving as well but still prefers to do that only in the mirror.

We're both excited for Jay to come home tomorrow and just hang out and be lazy for awhile! We have tons planned in October and November so I'm looking forward to some down time with my boys.