So last night we decided against our trip to Madrid. It was snowballing into more money than we had intended for our weekend excursion. Our decent flight plus a moderately priced hotel plus taking Oscar to the farm plus parking the car for the weekend plus meals...that's a lot of pluses! I'm a little bummed, but a little relieved because I was pretty stressed out about flying with Hayden. I know I'll have to do it eventually, but just not this weekend! So maybe now we'll just enjoy a long, relaxing weekend at home and hope for some sunny weather to break up the rain, snow and cold!

Well we had a busy week while Jay was gone, so not much time to write to our public! We had lots of projects around the house, errands to run on post, and my biggest hurdle was getting Hayden out of our bed and into his crib at night! I love to snuggle with my little buddy, but he and Jay are both bed hogs so it was not conducive to good sleep for mommy. Hayden is also a very loud sleeper, making all kinds of baby noises and gassiness that are also not conducive to good sleep, but for Jay. I don't notice them much but they kept Jay awake. In the beginning we put him in our bed because we all seemed to get more sleep that way. But lately it looked like we were all getting LESS sleep, so I started working on it when Jay left. Unfortunately, the cold that creeped up on me early last week slowed us down a little.

But I'm happy to report that last night, Hayden slept in his crib the whole night! He still wakes up to eat normally every 2-3 hours, but this week I think he's going through a growth spurt because he's eating much more often. So last night he woke up about every two hours to eat, but every time went right back to sleep in his crib with no three-ring circus. Victory! Daytime naps in the crib were no problem but night was tricky. We are definitely making progress!

Jay got back on Saturday morning after a week-long certification a few hours away. Hayden was a little confused, because he's used to only hearing my voice and so Jay's loud man-voice was a little scary for him at first. But he's back to being smitten with daddy, so all's well that ends well. I got Jay's new work car all registered Thursday, and today it's at the car place getting new tires. He's excited to have a car that he can toss his stuff in and I'm excited to have my car back!

Hayden is getting bigger and more alert every day! He's holding his head up and getting better at putting himself to sleep, and is very "talkative" with his baby babble. It's amazing to me how much he's grown and changed in 12 weeks. I'm a little nervous about his first flight this Friday, but excited as well. It's a short flight to Madrid, but just enough to give us a taste of what it will be like to fly overseas this spring. Oscar spent a few days at the farm and will be going back on Thursday. He is still exhausted after being there from Thursday to Sunday.

Hayden is starting to pay more attention to the television, so we're going to start getting baby DVDs to stimulate his little baby neurons. In a few weeks I hope to start some of the sleep training I've read about, once we're solid in crib-sleeping and once he isn't eating so often. Wish us luck!

Well we dropped Jay off at 7am yesterday and have been on our own since then! We haven't done a whole lot, but I'm slowly crossing things of my to-do list while Jay's gone. I rearranged the basement yesterday, which is way more exciting than it sounds. I hate not being able to get to everything and not knowing where stuff is, so I made quick work of it while Hayden was napping.

What's really exciting is that I booked our plane tickets to Madrid yesterday! We were looking for somewhere to go during Presidents' Day weekend and I found some super cheap tickets. A quick call to Jay to make sure it was okay, and I was booking Hayden's very first flight. I'm so excited, and can't wait for our adventure in Spain! When we went to Italy we didn't get stamps in our passports; there wasn't even a customs agent anywhere to be seen. This time we're flying in the middle of the day, so surely someone will humor me and give me baby's-first-passport-stamp. I love living in Europe because I can run off to Madrid...for the weekend.

Diaper woes

I've been a little worried about little Hayden this week. He hadn't pooped since last Friday, which was quite abnormal for my three-to-four-times a day little guy. I read and read and everything I read said breastfed babies tend to slow down on the bowel movements as they get older, maybe only going once a week! I thought for sure this would not be my baby, since he was so "regular". I was giving it until tomorrow before calling the doctor. I have a fear of being an overworrier, and he had no fever, was eating well, is gaining weight and had plenty of wet diapers so I was just waiting it out.

This morning he was in his swing and was ready to get out so I picked him up. I went to put him down and felt something wet. I looked down and realized he pooped! Never in my life have I been so excited to see baby poop. I unzipped his 'jamas and realized this was no ordinary poop. This was six DAYS worth of poop, coming out of everywhere the diaper would allow it. Seriously, I've never seen anything like it. Clearly not a job for the wipes, so we headed upstairs for a bath. I called Jay, who laughed hysterically at us. It was pretty funny, albeit filthy. But now everyone's all clean and my blood pressure has gone down a few notches.

Yesterday we got Hayden's baby quilt in the mail! My friend Donna did a Salem t-shirt quilt for me a couple years ago and I recently remembered the quilts she had done for her daughters. They were cute and durable and I wanted one for Hayden. I sent her a pair of my favorite of his newborn jammies to incorporate into it. When we opened it up yesterday it was just perfect! It's so soft on the back and feels so comfy; I can't wait for him to be old enough to know that it's his special blankie. Right now it's in the wash so we can start snuggling him up in it tonight!

We're making progress in the crib department, and hope to make lots while Jay is gone for eight days. We have a long list of things to do in daddy's absence, let's hope we can get it all done! We have a four-day weekend coming up over Presidents Day weekend, which also happens to include my birthday. It's always exciting to have Jay home for a couple days during the week.

Congratulations to Joe and Eve, who welcomed baby Cameron last week!

World's cutest baby

Hayden's cuteness factor increases exponentially, almost every day. Late last night, he was up so we came downstairs. He was hanging out in his bouncy seat and all of a sudden, it's like he realized he had feet. He looked and looked at them, and ended up staring at them for about fifteen minutes. This morning he touched them a little with my help, but wasn't quite sure what they were. It's so funny to watch him discover new things!

Today, we were all upstairs watching tv. Hayden was propped up on a pillow in our bed and we started to make the grocery list. I looked up after a couple minutes, only to see that little man had slumped over to his side and was fast asleep. It was the cutest thing! Not only that, it's the first time he's put himself to sleep on his own. We moved him to the crib where he slept for a little while, so we're making progress!

We picked out his portraits on Saturday. Good thing Jay was there, otherwise I would have ended up spending a fortune. It's not fair, the way they take these terribly adorable pictures of your baby! We wanted about ten of them but ended up narrowing it down to two poses. Jay had to talk me out of the third and it wasn't easy! This time we took his pictures at the studio on post, but we're going to check out the photo studio in our little town to compare prices and packages for next time. Dear Germany, get a "Picture People" why don't you??

Hayden is getting slightly irritated when he's swaddled lately, so I think he's outgrowing it. How will we ever get him to sleep now?? We are getting a second car from a couple that is moving to a new duty station. They were given the car when they got to Germany and are "paying it forward" by just giving it to us. How awesome is that?? It's a 1986 Mercedes and it's automatic. Perfect! This will make life much easier for all of us, and will make losing baby weight a little easier on me! Hayden went to the gym with us today and slept right through all of it, allowing Jay and I to get a good hour-long workout.

Jay's working late a lot here lately to train his soldiers; they have a certification for their job coming up Jan. 31-Feb. 7. That means Hayden and I are on our own for about a week while he's gone, so we're going to try some new sleep strategies. It's hard because Jay has to be up at 5am, so I don't like to let Hayden make a lot of noise in our room or his room (it's just across the hall). So we end up downstairs a lot! Hayden is a little young for most of the "sleep training" I've read about but we're going to do our best! This past week he's gone back to not wanting to sleep as much at night, so we are a tired bunch! We're having some diaper issues that are hopefully nothing to worry about; I'm trying to not freak out so we're waiting until tomorrow to see if it's something that we need to call the doc about.

Right now we're waiting on Hayden's Social Security card to come in so we can file our taxes. We're curious to see what all the excitement is about when you have a child. We hear from our parent-friends that it's a much more exciting refund.

Busy day!!

Hayden was such a little trooper yesterday! We got up early and he took a daytime bath for once, so he'd be fresh and clean for his first photo studio pictures. We dropped Jay off at work and headed to the studio for his 1:30 appointment. He was fairly cooperative for a little fellow his age, as we moved and positioned and clicked and flashed for a good half hour. The photographer was repositioning him at one point for a new background, and I realized he had hit his limit. So we called it quits and packed up. We have an appointment on Saturday to go over our proofs and pick our favorites for prints. I can't wait!

Afterwards, we headed over to the clinic for his shots. He got one oral vaccine first, which was super easy. I think it tasted good, because he gobbled it up! We moved into the little room, and Bob got the needles ready. It was my job to hold his hand, so I didn't have to watch the needles. When Bob stuck the first needle, Hayden was surprised and then angry! He screamed and turned red and howled until he ran out of air. Meanwhile Bob was sticking needles two and three, and I had Hayden's pacifier ready so when he took a breath, I popped that in his mouth and he was content. So we're done with shots for two months. Hayden was a little warm last night but not quite fever-status, so it looks like he's reacting well.

Those two events went so quickly we had time to get the car inspected, run a few more errands and check the mail. Good news...his birth announcements have arrived! We had time to kill before Jay got off work (man I can't wait until we have a second car!) so I stuffed them into their envelopes while we waited. Today I've addressed and stamped and licked (gross) and they are on their way tomorrow when I go to the mailbox. Jay never remembers to go to the mailbox when I give him stamped envelopes, so I'm just waiting until tomorrow when we have another round of errands and appointments. Last night Hayden slept off and on most of the evening, so I had time to do a little scrapbooking. I'm on a roll, and might be caught up sooner than I thought!

2-month check up

This morning was Hayden's 2-month check-up. He woke up early, around 7 and wasn't quite ready to go back to sleep so we headed downstairs. We watched a little Sports Center, and I realized little man needed a diaper change. I picked him up and found that he had leaked out a bit, so I took off his onesie and changed his diaper. I put him in his bouncy seat in his diaper and socks so I could wash my hands. By the time I came back, he was fast asleep! Silly boy.

We went to his doctor's office, which is in the hospital where he was born, just around the other side. We checked in and headed to the VERY full waiting room. There were about 12 kids in there, so Jay headed outside and around the corner to get a doner (our favorite downtown snack, sort of like a gyro). We waited about a half hour before they called us in. Hayden is up to 12 lbs 8 oz, 22 inches long and had a normal temperature. She poked and prodded, squeezed and examined, and he's good to go! He's holding his head up well and his reflexes are all appropriate for his age. They are definitely matter-of-fact here in Germany, which is maybe why Europeans don't seem to have the same sense of entitlements and whatnot that Americans do. They didn't tell me his percentiles, which they do at the clinic, but everyone wants to brag about numbers it seems in the states. As for Hayden, he's healthy and normal, and that's all we need to know! He doesn't seem to mind the rectal thermometer but throws a fit when you look in his ears. I could have told her that, we fight when I clean his little outer ears after a bath. Picky boy.

Next up, shots! No one is excited about them. I did decide for his next check up I want to take him in a bubble. So many germy little kids! For the most part the kids looked pretty healthy, but they were all over the floor and playing in toys, hands in mouths and whatnot. And there was one kid who kept scratching his head pretty furiously so I was certain he had lice. But Hayden seemed to come through just fine, in fact, he slept through the loud wait and didn't wake up until I took him out of his car seat to be examined.

We're still working on the sleep thing, but he did sleep about five hours the other night without waking up to be fed. For a baby that wakes up every two to three hours to eat, this was a welcome surprise! He seems to be going a little longer between feedings now, but still growing so I think we're getting the hang of it.