Keeping the ER busy!

Well it's been awhile since I've updated! Mainly we've been busy as usual, but we added to visits to the emergency room to our normally fast-paced life! Last Sunday Hayden took a little tumble and was bleeding from his top gums, between his gums and his lip. The bleeding lasted awhile, so we packed him up and headed to the ER to make sure he didn't need stitches. The ER here is much more calm (and quick!) than those in the states, so we were in and out in 30 minutes. That's right, one-half of one hour. We parked, went in, filled out ONE sheet of paperwork and waited five minutes. A doctor took a quick look, assured us he was fine, gave us some follow-up instructions and sent us on our way.

Last night Jay had a softball game and called us on the way home. He told me not to freak out, but that he needed to go to the emergency room because he thought he had broken something in his shoulder. We packed up once again and headed out, this time at 9pm. Our wait was a little longer this time around, but was still under two hours altogether. Sure enough, an x-ray showed a small fracture in his shoulder so he's in a good amount of pain. Unfortunate, especially since we were so excited yesterday that he had just gone to the promotion board and done extremely well! It's not the ending to the day we'd envisioned, but that's why they call them accidents!

Other notable accomplishments in our blogging absence include Hayden sitting up (with help) for longer periods of time, still sleeping through the night, and he attended his first child's birthday party! He's getting good at holding a cup, and held his own bottle for the first time last weekend. We're so proud of our little boy, he's growing up too fast! He continues to do really well with his fruits and veggies, and is such a curious little one. Let's hope this coming week is a little less exciting--we need a break!

Well Jay is back home and life is returning to normal! Hayden is officially sleeping through the night, and that means a lot more sleep for me! Jay got home Saturday evening. While he was on his way back, we made a quick trip to Kreuzberg, home of the best beer in Germany and some say the world! It's brewed by monks in a monastery about 45 minutes from where we live, so we decided to take a ride up there on Saturday. It was a beautiful, cool day and quite a hike up that hill with the stroller and Jay's three-liter container to be refilled, so we got a nice workout! We dropped off the empty containers and walked around the grounds for a little while. It's a beautiful place, nestled between mountains and trees. There is a great view on top of the mountain, which is impossible to see with strollers so next time we're leaving the babies with the boys and taking a hike up all those stairs.

I was still getting over my stomach bug, so we stayed home Saturday evening and enjoyed being all back together again. We had a fun weekend, grilling out and showing Jay all Hayden's new fun tricks. His personality develops so rapidly, so it's fun to show off his new quirks. Oscar was very glad to see Jay, as we all were! Hayden tried applesauce and LOVED it, and has moved on to bananas which he doesn't like quite as much. He tried his sippy cup for the first time and is making progress with it!

Hayden had his six-month shots yesterday and was a champ! He only let out one good yell and then he was fine. It makes me sad to see those little band-aids on his legs, but now he doesn't have to get more for another six months. He's getting so big!

Hayden's pictures

We had his six-month pictures taken, and they turned out great!

My turn!

It seems as though somewhere in the cleaning up after and taking care of Hayden's stomach bug, I got it myself! I woke up around 5:30am on Thursday not feeling so great. I hung out in the bathroom for a few minutes, waiting for the inevitable vomit, and as soon as it came I immediately felt better. I made a mental note of everything I had eaten on Wednesday, and decided to clean out the fridge just to be on the safe side. When I woke up, of course! That turned out to be an hour later, when Hayden woke up to eat. I fed him and as soon as I put him back down, it was back to the bathroom for me. It was then I decided it wasn't something I ate; but the dreaded stomach bug that we all seem to be passing around.

In the Army, we get used to spending extended periods of time away from Jay. Hayden and I usually handle it pretty well, but it's pretty hard to have a stomach bug when you're the sole caregiver for a 6-month-old and a dog! Unfortunately every time I picked Hayden up to take him either upstairs or downstairs, I had to put him down and run to the bathroom. I matched him nap for nap, sleeping every time he did until my bath during his evening nap. I tried crackers, Sprite, water, dry toast, Pepto Bismol. Nothing worked unfortunately, and it had to run its course. Oscar and Hayden were both pretty understanding but it was quite a miserable day!

The good news is that Hayden has finally realized he's a baby that needs to sleep 10 hours at night! Three nights in a row he's slept 10+ hours through the night, which is making life much easier. He's still napping well during the day, and this weekend we're starting some fruit! He doesn't love the oatmeal but he still eats it. Today we're taking it easy and getting ready for Jay to come home this weekend! We have missed him and can't wait to see him. I need to get my stomach back in working order so we can have chinese food when he gets here!

No pictures for this post...you don't need to see what we looked like yesterday! Baby Hayden stayed in pajamas all day, and I was a sight.

Doctor's Appointment and stomach bug

Well we had a fabulous weekend as usual! We went to our friend Misty's softball game, had Hayden's six month pictures taken, went bowling and had a barbeque at our house. It was my first time grilling, and it was fairly successful! We had a ton of people at our house but Oscar and Hayden didn't seem to mind all the extra bodies. Hayden was a little sniffly and stuffy, so I kept giving him saline and wiping his nose (much to his dismay). He woke up super sniffly on Monday but I knew we had a doctor's appointment Tuesday so I didn't worry much.

Last night I went in around 11 to check on him, just to see how he was breathing with all the stuffiness. Imagine my surprise to find the crib covered in vomit, and my baby, sleeping soundly, completely soaked head to toe in said vomit. It was EVERYWHERE. Which meant waking up my peaceful baby, stripping him and his bed down, a second bath of the evening, washing everything in the crib and hanging out with Hayden, who seemed to feel much better. He was smiley and happy, despite the mess he'd made in his sleep.

Today we went to the doctor, and Hayden seemed to be feeling fine. He weighs 16 lbs, 7 oz and is 27 inches long. Man is he growing! His bug was a 24-hour deal (we hope) and neither the doctor nor I were too worried about it. He's right on track with development and entertained the doc's office with his tippy-toe push ups. I took pictures, but I let a friend borrow my camera cord so they'll be up soon! We've also moved on to oatmeal after all the veggies passed with flying colors (no pun intended) and we'll test out the fruit by the weekend. Just in time for Jay to come home!

Where does the time go?

Hayden is six months old today! I can't believe how fast time goes by. He is half a year old and has had so many adventures already. We can't wait for the next six months!

We have almost successfully completed a test run on all the vegetables (we finish up with carrots tomorrow) and then we're testing out oatmeal. Since he's hit the six-month mark, we're also going to try out the cup! Hayden has a doctor's appointment on Tuesday so we can see how much he's grown, and get ready for another round of shots. He's doing really well on the bottle and formula, and we're getting into a really good schedule. His sleeping habits have really improved since we've been back home, and that makes life a lot easier! By the time Jay gets back from the field, we hope to be on a solid feeding and napping schedule that will make things run more smoothly around here.

We've enjoyed keeping everyone updated with Hayden's growth and progress so far. I hope the next six months are just as much fun!

Jump jump!

Here's a video of Hayden jumping...after some encouragement from mommy!