Happy Easter!

It's Hayden's first easter! It's a quiet one since we fly tomorrow, and since he can't hunt for eggs or eat chocolate yet. But he liked his basket!

It was bound to happen

I have been thinking about this moment for approximately five months. I thought about how I'd tell people, how long it would take, how I would feel when it happened. Since I live in Europe, I thought about shouting it from the top of the Alps, but that somehow seems insufficient.

Last night, Hayden slept for SEVEN hours. It wasn't "through the night" but it was a far cry from "up every two hours". I put him down around 8:30 last night and I went to bed around 10:30. I fully expected him to wake up at 11:30 to eat. So imagine my surprise when I woke up after 3 this morning and realized he hadn't woken up yet. I checked on him to make sure he was still breathing, and went back to bed. He woke up a little later for a feeding, and went right back to sleep as usual. He woke up around 7, his normal wake-up time and is already back down for his morning nap. The time between naps gets progressively longer all day, but he's still a good day-sleeper.

Maybe it was because of our fun day yesterday! Hayden and I went to a BBQ at our friend Nina's house for Hayden's first outdoor adventure. Armed with sunscreen, shorts and his Carolina hat and blanket, Hayden had a blast! He loved the sunshine, even though it was a little bright. He played with other kids, rolled around on his blanket, even napped in his stroller for a bit. We stayed outside for a good few hours and I think Hayden is going to be hard to keep inside once he's mobile. Which is great because we have lots of fun plans for the spring and summer!

Today we're doing laundry, cleaning, taking Oscar to the farm and PACKING. Our big trip is just a couple of days away and there is still much to be done. We can't wait!

Parenting

To me, about 95% of parenting is subjective. I mean, the general ideas of not letting your kids play in traffic or run with scissors are universal. But how to feed them, how to diaper them, how they sleep, how they play, how you communicate with them...it's all subjective. There are theories and trends and patterns and suggestions but when it comes down to it, parents do what works for their babies and themselves.

Which is why today I received one of the best compliments I've ever gotten. I got to baby massage class a little early and talked to our instructor, Heidi for a few minutes. Hayden was slowly waking up from a catnap in his car seat. As we talked about babies and parenting, Heidi said to me, "You look like you just love being his mom." She was absolutely right. But it was one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me. We're always going to have opinions on how to raise our children and therefore how other people raise their children. But at the end of the day, I just love being his mom.

Getting ready to go home

Our week started off with the Tarheels' win in the NCAA Championship! It came on at 3, but Hayden woke me up just in time to see the end of the game and what a sweet victory it was.

Our usual busy days have accelerated greatly this week! We're trying to get everything in order to go home while cleaning and doing our regular busy routine, and it's wearing us both out! We got some scrapbooking done and made dinner for our friends Jenn and Addie on Monday evening. I can make things like spinach lasagna when Jay is gone! We ran LOTS of errands on Tuesday, including a crazy car swap for an oil change on the Fusion and went to Kelly's for our weekly scrapping party on Wednesday. Today we had our last baby massage class since we'll be gone next week, and Hayden played with Jenn and Addie while I got a haircut. We're hoping for a quiet weekend to get packed and put the final touches on cleaning. I can't believe we get on a plane Monday!

Hayden has started sucking more vigorously on his fingers, and has taken to sucking his left thumb. Jay and I both think he's going to be left-handed like his daddy. He is pushing up and back a lot on his arms and "scooting" backwards, so he's pretty mobile. I think crawling is just around the corner! We're working on sitting up; he likes me to sit on the floor with him and support his back so he can see everything from a sitting position. He loves to play "airplane" and spends time in his exersaucer playing with the toys. He's outgrowing some of his baby gear, like the swing and bouncy seat, but enjoys a little time in them every once in awhile. This week it seems like he's grown so much. He's such a little man!

Hayden laughing

This video is a few weeks old, but it's Hayden laughing. His laugh is my favorite!

Hayden meets the Easter bunny!

The Easter bunny was hopping through the PX while we were shopping today, so Hayden and Addie got to meet him!

Spring has arrived!

We had a fabulous weekend with daddy home, getting ready for school. The weather was beautiful and has stayed nice all this week. Once we turned the clocks forward last Sunday, it has started to stay light out until almost 9 pm. Quite a change from dark at 5:30! We got some cleaning done while daddy packed, had steaks on the grill and went to the international bazaar on post. We got wine and cheese from our favorite vendors, and Jay's gummi bears. Hayden got very used to all the attention from both of us, so he was reluctant to have his usual independent time on the quilt or in his exersaucer. We went bowling with some friends, and for once I broke 100!

We watched "Slumdog Millionaire" and loved it! The weather was nice enough for Jay to play a little golf before he left, which he enjoyed with his new clubs. He left very early on Wednesday for school, and Hayden and I have been busy ever since! We're working on the house and making our plans for our trip home and trying to get everything in order for that. On Wednesday we headed over to Kelly's for our weekly scrapbooking get-together with some fun ladies and their babies. We always have fun scrapping with them. That night, Jenn and Addie came over to scrap some more. Addie had a diaper malfunction, and needed a bath so the babies enjoyed back-to-back baths in Hayden's baby tub. They played with most of Hayden's toys, made use of the playpen and the swing, and let us get a little bit done!

Thursday was another infant massage class. This week we learned arm and hand massage, which is very similar to legs and feet, and also chest massage. The babies did really well, considering how much longer it was once we added the new sequences. The class is fun because after we learn massage techiniques, we discuss other relevant baby/parent stuff, and this week it was about spoiling and bed-sharing. We all had our own experiences and opinions, but it's fun to talk about it in a group and discuss the current research.

Yesterday we helped decorate for the "Breakfast with the Easter Bunny" fundraiser, but slept in this morning so we didn't actually go. No worries, because the Easter bunny will be on post this weekend so Hayden will still get his picture. We've just been going and going all week and Hayden has started developing a slightly different sleep schedule. He's getting much better at sleeping 3-4 hours at a time during the night and is still napping well. He has found his toes and loves to play with them, and is pushing off on his feet while he's on his belly. It's not a crawl, but he has managed to scoot himself about 5 feet on his belly without rolling.

We have a giant list of things to get done before we fly next Monday, but I'm pretty sure we can do it! This week we have appointments and massage class and scrapping dates, and actually packing everything we'll need while we're home. We have our rental car reserved, our hotel booked for Reunion Weekend and our plan is slowly coming together. We can't wait to see everyone!