Potty progress, and other things Hayden

I swear Hayden grew 3 inches while I was gone! I was in Mainz Kastel for training for my job and Jay & Hayden were left up to their own devices from Sunday to Friday. I came home early Friday afternoon, stopped by the house and Jay & I went to the commissary and to pick up Hayden. While he recognized me and hugged me immediately, it was clear that I had missed out on some serious boy bonding time as Hayden ran straight to his dad. It was strange to be without either of them all week, and school was exhausting so it was nice to get home to my boys.

Hayden is making leaps and bounds in the potty department! He went poop on the potty every day this weekend and is getting really good at telling us when he needs to go. He usually pees at least twice a day at home, and sometimes at daycare. We are so proud of the progress he's made and are continually amazed at what he can do.

He's working on multi-syllable words, phrases and practicing what he already knows in the vocabulary department. He's got "not nice" and "go 'way" down pat; we tell him something was not nice when he's being ugly to Oscar or us for instance, and he tells us to go away when we're keeping him from getting into trouble, also known as something he wants to do. Typical toddler behavior, but man if it isn't still cute! He gets better by the day at using utensils to eat and big boy cups in his chair. Where did my baby go?

Last weekend we took Hayden to "his" first movie, as in, one that was for him and not just one he tagged along for. We went to see Toy Story 3. Hayden has a Toy Story toybox and dinosaur flashlight, so we figured he'd recognize the characters. I think he enjoyed about the first 45 minutes, shouting "Ah-guh" (Oscar) when he first saw the dog. After that he just wanted to play in and out of the doors, crawl on the floor, etc. so we left a little early. But not bad for our first attempt at a movie with our almost-two-year-old. He loved the popcorn though!

Channel hoppers

Last weekend we took our very first visit to London! We were excited to get away for the weekend, especially to somewhere they speak English! We flew Ryan Air for the first time, which is one of Europe's low-cost airlines. Not a bad way to travel for three of us, definitely saved us about $200 on tickets. We headed out early Friday morning to drop off Oscar at the farm and head to Frankfurt Hahn. We arrived, in the rain, and found parking after about 20 minutes. 20 euro for the whole weekend? Yes please! Only because the 10 euro lot was full. We headed in, checked my bag (hey, it was for me AND Hayden, I couldn't carry on), checked our passports and got through security seamlessly. An hour-ish wait and we were on the plane!

Hayden was a lap child for this flight, and did very well in his special seatbelt attached to daddy's. One quick hour and we were landing in London. Most excitingly, they still stamp passports in the UK so Jay got his first stamp (!) and Hayden and I got one as well.  We figured out the train pretty quickly and took the 40 minute ride to London proper at the advice of some friends that had flown into London Stansted before. Thanks Jaime! Once at Liverpool Street station, finding our hotel was a bit tricky but as usual we prevailed. By 4pm we were checked into our hotel and unpacking. Well, two of us were; one of us was jumping on the bed. Three guesses.

After our long day of travel, we decided against much sightseeing and opted instead for dinner across the street at a cute little pub. I had fish & chips, Jay had chicken and a Guinness and Hayden had a blast! We got in bed early and woke up early to our little alarm clock (Hayden) at 5am. Breakfast was a wonderful event in the hotel and Hayden enjoyed baked beans with his breakfast. Silly Brits. We took the Overground to the Underground to get our train tickets and soon were on our way to Salisbury in southern England.  While waiting for our train, we did get our first glimpses at the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, the Thames river and the London Eye. The weather in London was gloomy and wet but we were pleasantly surprised by the sunshine in Salisbury.

Our first stop was the bus stop, literally, to Stonehenge! We rode through the town of Salisbury on a bus with commentary to fill us in on the history. We were dropped off at Stonehenge and fast-tracked through the line to get in. What a magnificent place to visit! Hard to imagine that these stones have been around for thousands of years and are still in pretty good condition. Hayden enjoyed a little run through the grass and took our audio guides to talk on the "whoa" or the phone. After taking as many pictures as possible we headed back to the bus and went to Salisbury.

Salisbury is home to a 13th century cathedral and also the best of the four surviving copies of the Magna Carta. We weren't allowed to photograph it, but it was amazing to see. The cathedral has the tallest spire in England, and the spire itself is actually leaning 29 inches to the west! No worries, it doesn't look like it will fall any time soon. It was beautiful inside and out, and the grounds were full of people just enjoying the August sunshine.

We awoke early Sunday to take our trek around the city. By then, we were pretty good at the Underground even with its construction and re-routes. We headed to the Big Bus to take the tour, and Hayden fell asleep in about 20 minutes. We toured London and Westminster with another set of audio guides, and got to see most of the big sites. We stopped off at Buckingham Palace to see the famous guards, but missed the changing of the guard as it only happens every other day from spring to fall. We went to the Hard Rock for lunch, and headed to the Tower of London. There we saw the 1000-year-old White Tower as well as the rest of the fortress. We also got to see the Crown Jewels of the royal family and boy was I disappointed that this was another photography-prohibited site. They were amazing! Glittery and sparkly and gold and jeweled...my kind of place!

After the Tower we headed down to the pier to take a cruise down the Thames River. We saw some great views of Tower Bridge, the London Eye, Shakespeare's Globe Theater and much more. We were heading to see Westminster Abbey when Hayden got a little sick, so we decided to end our tour for the day and head back to the hotel room.

For our last morning, we got up and packed and ate breakfast and headed to the nearby Abbey Road, made famous by the Beatles. I walked across the intersection along with the rest of the tourists, and that made our trip complete. Soon we were making the return journey back to the hotel, the train station, the airport, the parking lot and finally, home! We had an amazing weekend and I wish we had enough time left in Europe to go back!

A trip down memory lane

Normally, my blogs are about the recent past. But today I'd like to talk about the not-so-recent past.

Ten years ago this weekend, I moved my stuff into Salem College. More correctly, several cheerful and helpful orientation leaders moved my stuff in, and all I carried was my purse. I remember about 100 things about that day, a day that would literally change my life. Two months ago, I didn't get nostalgic about the fact that I'd graduated high school ten years ago. I feel like what really made me who and where I am today started ten years ago this weekend.

I remember Jen Pounders, carrying her purple cinder blocks with the fish painted on them. I knew instantly that was someone I would be friends with.  I remember Monique Farrell and the rest of the seniors, looking impossibly grown up and thinking there's no way I'd look like them in four years. I remember meeting my roommate for the first time, and seeing Kelly Delaney bounce from person to person, introducing herself. I remember the first look at my new dorm room and wondering how I could share a room so small. I remember meeting my "hall advisor"(now known as RA's) Piper Williams and feeling instantly comfortable. I remember meeting Shirley Southerland and thinking wow, this old lady does not know what she's gotten herself into with all these wild girls.

I remember standing on Clewell patio with Susan Jacobs, the one person I knew on that campus other than a girl that I went to high school with. We stood and talked, and met a new friend, Courtney Barron. Courtney was pissed that her mom made her wear a skirt, and after that day I only ever saw her in Abercrombie running pants and a ponytail. Susan still had her long, multicolored hair and years later I would find out that the sight of us terrified Heidi Schneble. I remember meeting Nan Tilley, the sweetest and most wonderful lady that would guide us through our first year. I remember being in awe of the amazingness that was Staci Lewis, a feeling that I would get for the next two years every time I saw her.

It seems impossible that this happened ten years ago, because I could swear it happened yesterday. I knew instantly that to be a Gramley girl was going to be something special. I had no way of knowing that, even with all the people I'd met, I hadn't yet met Liz Smith and Katie Burge, and how important that would be. I didn't know Lizard, but I heard she won a dance contest in her first 24 hours on campus. My roommate and I didn't work out but seven years later, we reconnected and became friends again. Girls came and went, for a semester or a year. Eventually we all moved away from Gramley (some of us after a second year) and one day we were all seniors, wearing caps and gowns and saying goodbye to our dorm rooms for the last time. But it all started ten years ago this weekend, and I can't imagine where I'd be today if a single thing were different that Saturday morning.

"And sing we of Salem ever,
As proudly her name we bear..."

Dancing baby

Daddy teaches Hayden how boys are "supposed" to dance, and he shakes his dragon tail!

Up, please!

My little sponge

Hayden is changing so much, it's hard to keep up with him! We've really noticed a change in him in the past month or so, and I think part of it has a lot to do with his new room in daycare. He's the youngest, so he sees all these kids doing big-kid things, and hears so many words that he just seems to crave learning. I can't keep track of all of his new words, but some of his favorites are: mom, dad, trash, dog, bubble, Oscar, bink, please, out, go, up, bed, bite, juice, milk, ow, uh-oh and my favorite, hello (ah-whoa) when he picks up the phone. Last week he learned "mine" and "no" at the same time, which has been pretty funny.  He is working on 1-2-3, and will follow along up to "D" when we sing the ABC song. His very favorite song is "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and he requests it by doing the "spider" hand motion that goes along with the song or by saying "it-ee".

He has also gotten really good at identifying his body parts. He has head, ear, nose, mouth, foot, toe and belly down pat; he gets a little confused with "eye" and "hand", I think because they sound so similar to "ear" and "head". His motor skills are really developing and he loves to color. His very favorite thing, other than jumping, is to read. He loves to grab one of his books and carry it around and stop to look at it and turn a page. He's very clear when he wants to read, and when he wants to be read to.

He's also starting to really come along on the potty. We still aren't in full-on potty training mode, but he knows when he needs to go and knows how the whole process works. We can get about one good pee out of him a day on the toilet, but not much on the poop. He's grasping the concept though, as he always squats now to get a little help from gravity! We did buy some pull-ups for when we're ready to start, and even picked up a few pair of big boy underwear! He is resistant to keep a diaper on sometimes, so we figured the underwear would be a logical step. He wore a pair to bed the other night over a pull-up, because it was just too hot here for pajamas.

He is absolutely a creature of habit, and requires a few things every day. He must have his cup of milk first thing in the morning, and he likes to pick out his clothes for school. He will not go to bed without a bath and brushing his teeth first, and makes a big production of throwing pup-pup (his sleep buddy) back in the crib when he gets up in the morning. He hates dirty hands, and loves to help us do anything. He loves to blow bubbles, and we have a hard time getting them away from him! He has also started to make "the face" when he doesn't get his way. It's a face he definitely gets from me, drawing his eyebrows way down and pursing his lips together. Despite his intention of looking fierce and angry, it's terribly adorable.

Out at the lake

The great thing about where we live is the proximity to fun, free stuff! There's a lake about five minutes from our house, and it's a beautiful spot to visit. We went last weekend just to take a walk somewhere different. Hayden had a blast exploring all the different playgrounds and new sights. He is such an explorer, and quite the fearless adventurer! He loves to climb and crawl over things, go up high, look down low and jump. Boy does he love to jump! He is a little weary of the sand, since it's an uneven surface and makes it difficult for him to go fast. We didn't venture into the water this time, but maybe next time!

This time we spent most of the visit exploring the little log cabin-like structure for kids to play on. Hayden made a little german friend and tested out the seats and the steps on the wooden playground. He ran around and watched the bigger kids try the skateboard simulator, and tried to escape from us more than once. He can be so insistent when he wants to go a certain way! We're hoping to go back soon on a nice day for a picnic, and so Hayden can do some more exploring.