Swim swim

We've been spending more time at the pool recently, since Germany has finally caught on that it's summer! We have a great pool just a few minutes from our house. It has indoor and outdoor facilities, so when it's a bit chilly we stick to the inside and let Hayden play in the bathwater-like kiddie pool, and test out the big pools to help him learn to kick and move his arms. On the warmer days, we enjoy the outside kiddie pool, the freeeeeezing big pool and the heated jacuzzi-like pool with jets, fountains and seats under the water to enjoy the sun and warm water. There's also a big slide and diving boards, Hayden has tested the former but is far too small for the latter!

He was definitely skeptical at first about the deep water, but instantly took to the water where he can touch the bottom and see his feet. The inside kiddie pool has a small slide and a fountain and blocks to play with, so Hayden is in kid-heaven once he sets foot in it. He gets a bit more adventurous in the water when dad holds him and swirls him around, and took the big slide like a champ! He loves to splash and play, and even cooperates when it's time to put on more sunscreen. The pool here spoils us, with all the room and inexpensive snack bars and grass to lay on, umbrellas to lay under, not to mention the multitude of pools to choose from. I think we have ourselves a water baby!

Party on the potty!

Hayden has been showing some signs recently that he's ready for the potty, so we decided to encourage it. He tells us when he's had a bowel movement, he can hold it for a long time and he understands what we're doing in the bathroom. We had just decided the other night that this weekend we would invest in some potty training aids, when we had ourselves a teaching opportunity.

We put him in the tub and he looked like he was about to have a bowel movement, so I pulled him out of the tub and put him on the toilet. I said, "Hayden do you need to poop?" and he said "Poo". So we waited about five seconds when voila! We struck toilet gold! We were so proud of our little man, using the big boy potty!

Today we went to a store near our house to search for the potty trainer I wanted. I am violently opposed to cleaning a kid potty unless I absolutely have to, so we found a little stepladder with a kid seat attached that fits right over the toilet. We snatched it up, along with a new puzzle for our little rockstar. We got home and Jay put it together in no time. We took Hayden upstairs to try it out, but he wasn't interested in the potty just then. So we came back down and tried again at bathtime. We started the water, helped him get undressed and put him on the potty. Imagine our surprise when he was peeing in no time! His favorite part is the wiping, mainly because of his fascination with all things trash lately. He pointed to the toilet again after the tub so we obliged, but I think he just wanted to pull the toilet paper off the roll again, so no luck on that one.

I'm surprised he has started getting the concept of the toilet so quickly but we're excited for this new step in baby Hayden's life! We certainly don't expect any overnight potty training, or even anticipate buying underwear soon, but it's nice to start moving forward with such a big accomplishment!

Something that will definitely improve his chances of potty training is that he made the move to the toddler room at school this week! He's been in a classroom that goes from 3 months to 18 months and that has been tough. He comes home with bite marks almost daily, mainly we feel because the caregivers are too busy with the infants to pay enough attention to the toddlers and stop incidents before they start. Hayden also is reprimanded for "stepping over the babies", to which I reply, "Why are there babies in the middle of the play area for him to step over?" I've been asking for some time to have him moved up to the bigger room but they kept telling me there just wasn't room, which we understand. But finally, there's a spot and I can see a huge difference in Hayden in just the one day he's been over there. The big kids have a much more detailed and learning-centered schedule, whereas the other room was basically just getting through the day with their short staff. Hayden's new room encourages self-development, they play outside all the time and clean up after themselves. They're encouraged to use the potty if they are ready, and I feel like he's really going to benefit from the change. Big steps for my little guy!

June already?

We are so busy these days, so I apologize that blogging has fallen to the wayside. I am working full time, which means the little spare time I have is spent with Jay and Hayden, and trying to keep up with the mountain of laundry we seem to accumulate.

We had a spectacular weekend in Paris planned last week, but as things often do in the Army, those plans changed. We spent about 18 hours there, saw the Cathedral de Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower, but unfortunately the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, Versailles, Normandy and a whole host of museums and monuments will have to wait for another time!

Hayden's independence seems to grow by the day. He loves to brush his own teeth, take off his pants and diaper for the bath, wash himself in the tub and of course, feed himself. He is learning new words, new climbing techniques and new ways to give mom a heart attack! He is defintely attached to dad, and loves to have him around for everything. His new favorite things to do are put things in the trash ("tass") and to sweep with his Hayden-sized Swiffer.

Jay is back at work from 9-5 starting last Monday, and is due for a post-surgery check up at the end of this month. He's recovering well and is definitely not missing the pain he was in for the better part of two years.

June is my favorite in Germany because that means the fest is here! The volksfest is across from on-post housing, so it's a short drive to fun for us! Ferris wheel, rides, beer and FOOD! We've been twice so far and I anticipate at least one more trip because I haven't gotten ice cream yet! My favorite is the slushie place, followed closely by the "schweinsteak" or pork steak sandwich. Hayden is a big fan of the bratwurst and the crepes. Good choices, I think.

In July, I go back to part-time working and I can't wait! I'm ready to go to the gym, run errands, clean house and have time (and energy!) to hang out with my boys. Working full time has been nice, but I'm excited for my five-hour schedule again. Right now I'm battling a sinus and ear infection, so a few hours a day off will be a welcome treat come mid-summer. Hayden got his 18-month shots last week, which means no more shots until he's FOUR! What a champ.

Mothers Day

I got to spend Mothers Day with BOTH of my boys for the first time this year. Last year Jay was in the field but we were lucky to get to be together this time around. I had two cards and a massage at the Spa on post waiting for me, but mostly I was just glad to spend the day with the world's most wonderful and adorable son, who loves his mom so much. We had beautiful weather, so what else can a girl really ask for?

Well. That's done.

Jay's surgery was a success last Thursday, and as usual we've had little time to update the blog! We went up to Landstuhl Tuesday evening for his Wednesday am appointment, while Hayden got to have a little getaway with one of his favorite families, the Bakers! Jay took care of all his pre-surgery stuff while I got to sleep in a little (!) and then we spent the day at Ramstein. We had a fun lunch, we shopped, we GOT TO SEE A MOVIE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY.  For most of you, this doesn't mean much. But for those of you that live here in Germany and NOT at Ramstein, you know how special this is. First off all, with both of us working usually the only thing that happens in the middle of the day is just that ...working. And the occasional lunch date. Also, our movie theater is open Wed-Sun, and only has day time showing on the weekends. Those day shows are typically for the kids, so the fact that Jay and I could watch the remake of Nightmare on Elm Street at 130 on a Wednesday is just amazing. It's the little things :-) We also followed up the evening with a wonderful dinner at Macaroni Grill, where we split a steak and lobster ravioli. We kind of forget what it's like to be able to have a whole day to ourselves, and to have a date!

Thursday morning came too soon, and Jay had to be at the hospital at 615. We checked him in, and he immediately was called back to prep. Unfortunately in the Army climate of "hurry up and wait", his prep didn't actually take place for two more hours. Then he had ANOTHER two hours to wait for surgery. Waiting, for the record, is awful. I will say I didn't shed a single tear...until they actually wheeled him back for surgery. It was set to last over 2 hours, so I headed to the KMCC to shop my worries away. I picked up lunch, some things for Jay and Hayden and even myself (!) and went back to the hospital. I finished one book and started another whilst in the waiting room, since the surgery took over three hours.

Finally someone came to get me and tell me Jay was in recovery and that I could see him. He was a little drugged still, but feeling good. We spent the rest of the day hanging out in his room, watching movies and relaxing. I finally left him around 10pm to check in my room, which was a disaster but I made it through the night, no thanks to the hotel staff. Believe I got my room comped, after a hotel employee expected me to sleep in my room with the KEY STUCK OUTSIDE IN THE DOOR. Where any crazy person could come in and kill me in my sleep. Garbage. Housekeeping also gave me a rude awakening at 7am by walking in and turning on the light. Did I say she knocked? Because she most certainly did NOT. Nevertheless. I survived.

Jay started his discharge from the hospital at around 9am, was up and walking around well, but we didn't get on the road until almost 4pm. What a long few days we had! But we picked up our filthy dog, our sweet baby boy and headed home sweet home.

We're back to adjusting, this time to dad who isn't supposed to lift more than 10 lbs and Hayden who does not care for this new rule. Everyone is doing well, Oscar included. Work is crazy because we just launched our new, paperless system for customer service. It's AWESOME but almost like starting over, so I've learned a lot this week. Hayden has unfortunately picked up the dreaded hand-foot-mouth from the daycare center, but is a happy little guy as always.

We go back to Landstuhl for a 10-day follow up on Monday and a six week follow up at the end of June, but for now Jay just gets to relax and heal! We are so grateful that he is not returning to Afghanistan and will have time to fully recover from an injury that should have been taken care of two years ago.

Weekend getaway

The week after Jay got home, we had a spouses retreat scheduled down in Garmisch. He got to come with us! So while I was in the sessions and Hayden was hanging out with the other kids, Jay got to relax and even get a massage! He and Hayden spent one of the morning sessions together, which was fun for everyone. Since we had so much free time built into our schedule, we got to do a few things I'd been wanting to do for awhile.

Our first stop on Friday was Munich for lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. The place was nearly empty, so the kids got to play and have balloons and eat fun food. We had a nice relaxing lunch before getting back on the road to Garmisch. An hour later we were checking into our hotel and enjoying another weekend down in the Alps. Traveling is always more fun with friends, and Amber and the kids and Mandie made the road trip down with us. We went to our evening session and were done and enjoying some time together by 930.

Saturday morning we had our sessions and then finished up in time for lunch. We headed to the Linderhof palace to see the gardens, which weren't really in bloom yet but we did get to see the fountain! I had been in December 2007 but it looks so much different in the winter! We bummed around and enjoyed the beautiful weather before heading back for dinner. We tried to go to the pool but Hayden was not too pumped about it. He spent most of the time wrapped up in a towel sitting with me, but he did test the waters a bit. Hopefully some more pool time this summer will clear that anxiety right up!

Sunday morning we had more more session and then lunch and back on the road! This time we made a pitstop at the Herren Chiemsee palace, King Ludwig II's summer palace modeled after Versailles. You have to take a boat to get to the island, which was a ton of fun. We spent a couple of hours walking the grounds and admiring the work put into this place! Hayden of course went straight for the stairs, up and down, up and down, but how cool that he spent his weekend climbing in the footsteps of kings at two royal palaces!

We had a great time, as we always do down in Garmisch, and learned a few things as well. We could not have asked for better weather, or better traveling buddies!

Well it's been awhile! Jay got home to us on April 15th, and things have been a whirlwind ever since. The next morning I had to work my first Saturday at the bank, so Jay and Hayden enjoyed some boy-time at the house and met me for lunch after work. Hayden was so excited to see Jay but was still not ready to relinquish his mom-ties, but boy was Oscar glad to see his dad!

This is a busy time at work so I haven't had much time at home to spend with Jay and Hayden but that's given them some time to each other. Hayden likes for his dad to take him to school and pick him up, and dad lets him do a lot more fun stuff than mom does; walking everywhere, eating messy stuff outside of the house, playing in the grass with Oscar. It's nice to have him home!

Next week he has surgery, and this few weeks that he's been here has flown by. Thanks to everyone for being so supportive and helpful! We have a long road ahead of us, but for now we're just grateful to be a family again.