Finally!

When Hayden started crawling, he became my independent baby.  If his needs were met, he was not interested in being held.  Sometimes I wonder if he would even notice if I didn't follow him.  At the beach, he will crawl towards the waves with no fear.  Even when the water comes towards him and the wave (if you can call it that because it is only the last bit of water, an inch deep, that comes up on shore) hits him, he does not stop and squeals with delight.   At restaurants, he will crawl away from our table and not look back.  I love his independence but sometimes I think I might find a little hesitation comforting.

Looking at his record, I don't think I will be finding that comfort anytime soon.  When learning to crawl, Hayden was determined.  Not even his multiple faceplants on our tile floors discouraged him.  In the books, they call him the "accident prone baby."  One day at Devin's house, I left Hayden to go upstairs to get Devin after he woke up from his nap.  On my way out, looking down from the hall, I could not see Hayden in the living room.  In just a few seconds, he had found his way half way up the stairs (the gate had not latched correctly).  I was terriefied, running all the terrible scenarios through my head.  Hayden just looked up at me, so proud and with the biggest smile it was like he was saying, "Look at me mom, I'm almost there!"  His confidence and determination makes me so proud, he is such an amazing little baby.

In the past few weeks, Hayden has become interested in cuddling again.  He will bring a book over and sit in my lap while I read it 10 times.  Or sit at my feet raising his arms to be picked up and rest his head on my shoulder.  He will lay there quiet and still for a few minutes.  Then, he pops his head back up and reaches down and after I set him back down he crawls away and goes back to being independent baby.

Photo takes August 19, 2008

Out with the old

Unfortunately, I was never able to take official before pictures of our nonfunctional box they called a kitchen, but here are some pics from our insurance inventory to give you an idea.  

We opened up the wall where the TV was to make room for a breakfast bar, moving the refrigerator to the opposite wall.  Then extended cabinets into the dining room to create more storage space and bring the two separate spaces together.   We mounted our new TV (happy father's day Jeff) above the fireplace and added a new love seat to our living room furniture.   The old lighting that looked like it belonged in a classroom was replaced with recessed lighting.  The box for the old light in the dropped ceiling was dropped a half a foot, made into an octagon and finished with crown molding (I cannot think of how to accurately describe this, but it looks beautiful).

We could not be happier with the result, it is a completely different house from when we moved in just over a year ago.  I cannot believe this all started with a wet spot I noticed on the sidewalk outside the kitchen.  It has been a long and stressful six months that will be over today when our hardware is installed.