Doctor Mommy

Hi Everybody! It's me, Hayden! Mommy said I could write a blog entry about our big weekend last weekend when she got a special piece of paper that says she is a doctor of philosophy. So now I call her "Doctor Mommy" when I want to butter her up.

The weekend actually started off on Friday morning for me. I woke up and instead of just having Blizzard greet me, there was another dog that was very licky and fuzzy and blond. Mommy said her name was Dooley and that we met before. I didn't really remember her but I liked her a lot. Especially when she let me climb on top of her!

To show how much I loved her, I gave her a hug while I was sitting on her. And then when she got up, I followed her and sat on her again. This time I might have gotten on the wrong way. OOPS! I even followed her one more time to try again but then Mommy told me I should stop sitting on Dooley. But I might try it again because Mommy was laughing hard when she said it, and I like it when Mommy laughs. On Friday, I went out to lunch with Mommy, Daddy, Grams and Poppop but no Dooley or Blizzard. We got a great seat over looking Allen and College but I was too busy squirming and trying to get down to explore the restaurant to notice. Afterwards we went to the Farmer's Market to buy peaches and tomatoes, and then to Rita's where Grams fed me some raspberry Italian ice. YUMMY!

Then Saturday was the BIG day. Mommy disappeared during my naptime and the next time I saw her, she was far away and wearing this funny outfit. We waited a long time, while listening to lots of names, to see her walk across the stage and shake people's hands. Daddy said that's when she became a Doctor!! It was a little bit boring waiting and listening but luckily Daddy, Grammy, Granddad, Grams and Poppop were around to keep me busy. Finally they played some more music and all the people in funny costumes started walking out. Daddy pointed out Mommy to me and she looked up with a little smile. She must have liked her funny outfit.

When I finally got to see Mommy up close, I thought her outfit was really weird. I didn't want to smile at her or anything. I just stared. There were a lot of people around too; I didn't want to smile at them either, even when they said hi to me.
But that didn't stop Daddy from taking a picture of me and Mommy. Aren't we cute?
THEN they made me try on the silly hat Mommy was wearing. I ripped it right off. It didn't match my pretty pink dress and the tassle tickled my nose!!!There was a LOT of picture taking last weekend. Here's one of me and all my Penn State aunts. (Aunt Brittany, Aunt Megan, Mommy, Aunt Lori and Aunt Lindsay). Some of them have moved away and I will miss seeing them!! They were always so excited to see me!

After the big ceremony, when we were finally done with picture taking, we went back home and set up for the party that Mommy and Daddy were having out our house. I got to just wander around, check things out, and have people smile at me. Can you find me in this picture? I found cool treasures like an old tennis ball! I tried to share my treasure but no one seemed to want it. They were too busy eating chicken and barbecue and cake.
Another treasure I found was called a keg! I liked touching the ice that was around it but Daddy said I wasn't allowed to drink what was in the keg until I am older, like 7! Oh well. Water is my beverage of choice anyways.

It was such a long day that I went to sleep easily, even as the party continued! When I woke up the next morning, all the guests were gone, even Dooley. Only Grammy and Granddad were left. We went to brunch where I ate LOTS of fruit - honeydew, cantaloupe, mango, papaya, etc. And then we came back and played in the yard. Blizzard came outside too and she looked so comfy in the sunshine, I wanted to pet her. She is my favorite dog, even if she doesn't let me sit on her back like Dooley.

And of course, there was some photo ops with Grammy and Granddad. They really like to take pictures with me!

The best part of the weekend was Sunday night when I got to eat ALL the leftovers, like the black bean salsa and pasta salad! I think Clem's barbecue is tasty!! Do you think I have my mouth open wide enough?

The food was SO yummy, I got kind of silly and crazy. I might have rubbed baked beans all over my face and hair. I might have put my cup on top of my head. I might have pulled my shirt up and pointed out my belly. I really can't remember! Hopefully there isn't any documentation... Uh-oh! Looks like they took pictures!! AHHH!

All in all, it was a great weekend. I had lots of fun with all my visiting family and friends. Congratulations Dr. Mommy!!! Daddy and I think you're superwoman! Why else do you think I've started walking around like a superhero? I'm trying to be just like you!

Thinking Outside (and On) The Box

Hayden has had a real fascination with boxes lately. It started with one of her birthday boxes, which she used to help her climb into a chair. Then, one recent rainy day, when I was watching Hayden and Noah together, we decided to play with a BIG box. They had a lot of fun going in and out and moving the flaps.


Two babies in a box!



And later that day, Hayden decided she needed to carry a shoe into the box. (notice that the door to the box has been enlarged -due to user error or enthusiasm...)

Lately Hayden has loved playing with the box that our Ergo came in. (highly recommend an Ergo!) These pictures were all taken within a short span of time.



First she climbed ONTO the box...

Then she LAY on the box...

Then she SNUGGLED with the box (who knew boxes were good to cuddle?!!)...

Then she PICKED UP the box (such a strong girl, she is!)...

Then she STEPPED ON the box (only one year old and ready for step aerobics!)...

Why is it that we buy her actual toys???





She's also recently been interested in bubbles. She always asks to carry the little bottles of bubbles around. (Little bottles of just about anything fascinate her). And after Marianne introduced her to the joy of bubbles (see the series of photos below), she just LOVES when we blow some for her.

What is this bubble? I have never seen such a thing before.

I will reach out and touch the bubble. It looks like fun!

Hey! Where did it go!?

HAHAHAHAHAHA! Bubbles make me giggle! (does that make me bubbly?!)

The One Year Update

So this is a little bit late timing, but I thought it would be good to post. I sent out a little picture card for Hayden's birthday to some friends/family and wrote up a little update to go along with it. I thought it might be nice to include on the blog, for those of you who didn't receive the card in the mail. And of course, had to include one picture, with Hayden showing off a huge toothy grin (She has 12 teeth now!).

So here's the update...
It’s hard to believe, but Hayden is now one year old! We celebrated her birthday on the big day (July 12th) in high fashion with a mini-foods party. We had mini everything it seemed like – mini turkey burgers on mini buns, mini hotdogs, mini bananas, mini goldfish, mini pretzels, mini Pringles (which are awesome if you’ve never had some!), and of course, mini-cupcakes. Hayden had a good time at the festivities (8 adults, 3 children), even as she was dealing with a molar coming in. Despite her tooth issues, she enjoyed eating the mini-cupcake –she’ll definitely be ready for a normal sized one soon!

When she’s not teething, Hayden is a good eater – we think she may even turn into a gourmand. She loves things with flavor: taco meat, pepperonis, and marinated chicken are just some of the things she has enjoyed. One day recently I was making pesto and she wanted a bite. I thought for sure she’d spit it out but she smacked her lips on it and then requested more! She loves any kind of fruit and will eat it with great gusto, stuffing as many blueberries or grape pieces in her mouth as she can get. She also loves meat and has loved the burgers and hotdogs that we’ve been grilling lately. She is not as interested in vegetables but we’re working on that.

Even though she’s a good eater, she’s certainly not packing on the pounds because when she’s not strapped in her high chair, she is on the move! Within the past couple weeks, her walking has completely taken off. She toddles all over the house now, picking herself up when she loses her balance, and delights in her new form of locomotion. She still prefers to hold onto our fingers in new places or on new surfaces (i.e. grass, sand, etc) but at home she now independently goes from room to room quite easily. It’s fun to see her cruising all around but now we have to take baby-proofing to the next level!

We are also amazed by her developing language abilities. We’ve been using baby signs with her and she really uses them to communicate – dog, airplane, baby, music, more, all done, cold, eat, and drink are just some of the signs she uses on a regular basis! Plus she’s sort of starting to talk too – she says dada in relation to Jason, and seems to say duck, hat and balloon in some capacity when she sees those objects. And she’s starting saying woof for dog and mimicking our silly elephant noises! She surprises us all the time with how smart she is. The other day she was done with eating, but still had a piece of pancake left. Jason made the offhanded comment, “if you’re done, just give it to Blizzard” never dreaming she’d take the piece and turn to the side where Blizzard was waiting patiently and hand it over! Blizzard was one happy dog. J And last night, she very intentionally, with no prompting from us, picked up Blizzard’s toys and put them into Blizzard’s toy box.

All in all, Hayden is a terrific little girl! She’s generally very happy and her smile just lights up her face. She loves making friends with people when we’re out and about and we often get incredulous comments of “is she always this happy?!” She’s even started being silly –like tickling my neck when we’re out for walks and I’m carrying her on my back and running over to Blizzard to give her a big hug. She’s so much fun to be around; we can’t wait to see what the next year brings!

Hayden's Birthday - #1!

On Saturday, Hayden turned one! In honor of this momentous occasion, we threw a small party for her, with a theme of "mini-foods that Hayden likes". Here Hayden helps Daddy put the liners in the mini-cupcake pans. She's standing on the new picnic table Brittany and Megan gave her. I bet they didn't know it could double as a climbing toy!
During her party, Hayden was not in the best of moods - and not just because we made her try on a silly party hat! She has a big ol' molar coming in up top and has been out of sorts for a few days. She (mostly) rallied for the party and did have a good time.

We started the party in the front yard, chilling in the shade and chatting. Hayden liked sitting in Mommy or Daddy's lap watching the action.
There were regular lawn games for adults (ladder ball, bocci) and bubbles for the kiddies! Gabe, Noah and Nat chased bubbles blown by Mike (Gabe and Nat's dad).

For grub time, we moved to the back yard. Hayden watched quite contently as everyone got things set up for eating.

Hayden got set up at the "head" of the kids table where she mostly watched as Nat and Gabe chowed down. She wasn't too interested in the mini-turkey burgers or mini-hotdogs (cuz of the molar probably - usually she scarfs burgers and hotdogs) but she did point excitedly at the mini-bananas and then eat one enthusiastically.

Then Noah got corraled next to Hayden but they soon had to be separated because they are doing too much interacting and too little eating. :)

And then it was time for the cake, made out of homemade chocolate mini-cupcakes iced with buttercream frosting (and lovingly decorated!). Betcha can't eat just one!

Behold the cake montage....

What is this mini-cupcake thing? Does it taste good? Hmm, must shove in.

Where did it go?

After cake, Hayden was in a pretty good mood. She enjoyed sitting at her new table. And walking around it, laughing at Aunt Lori making vacuum noises.

It was a great party! Happy Birthday Hayden!

Hayden's First Fourth of July Weekend

So Hayden's first Fourth of July Weekend started with a pre-party "long foods" barbecue with Mandy, Scott and Noah on Thurs evening. (MSN were headed out of town the next day - very few people eat grilled meats for breakfast!). Hayden and Noah enjoyed turkey hotdogs and homemade popsicles (banana-mango!) while the grownups had grilled corn and brats. Hayden also did some power-lifting, complete with grunting!

The next day, there was some photo op-ing with a cute flag onesie. Yay America!

Even Blizzard got in on the fun, as Hayden practiced her "where is...?" expression.

And then, strangely, after the photo op, Hayden decided the grass felt weird to sit on, so she kept one leg lifted for a LONG time until finally the strain knocked her over. :)
For the evening festivities, we headed over to Lori's to eat pizza and sundaes. At the appointed hour, we headed up the hill to take our front row seats on the track for the 40 min, set to music, fireworks show that State College does every year. (it's awesome, you should come check it out!).

Hayden was awake at the beginning, tucked into the wrap on Momma's front, but after the first few minutes, she decided sleep was better. That's right, she FELL ASLEEP while watching fireworks. Silly girl!

Then on Saturday morning we headed to Columbus for some family time with Grammy and Granddad.

They threw a wonderful early birthday party for Hayden complete with presents and cake!

Hayden says, "I LOVE CAKE!!!"

We even managed to have a nice family photo taken out on the front porch on Monday before we headed home. Happy July Fourth everyone!

Walking!

We have big news. Hayden is walking!!! Yes she's taken a couple steps here and there. Yes she can stand, without support, and squat down, and stand back up, still without support. But she still hadn't done much walking.

However, after a weekend of walking around with Grammy's fingers, she must have finally built up enough courage and strength to take it to the next level - take the next step if you will!

After dinner, when she was in a super good mood, Jason and I decided to see if she'd walk between us. Sure enough, she did!! At least 4 feet, multiple steps, with her arms held up high for balance and with a BIG grin on her face as she toddled from one to the other.

It was AWESOME!!! She especially enjoyed diving, hands first, into our laps when she made it across. Below is a series to show her progression - not the best quality but you get the idea.

She still hasn't decided that walking is better than crawling, especially since she's been dealing with a new molar coming in up top, but she did walk and we are so proud!!! Here comes trouble!