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.

While the house was under construction, Hayden and I spent many of our days at Devin's house.  For those of you who don't know, Devin is 2 months younger than Hayden and I take care of him 3 days a week.  When I started taking care of Devin, I never could have imagined how attached the two would become.  Everyday, they are so excited to see each other.  They squirm out of our arms to start playing each morning, so cute!  

Being in a new house meant new toys and new places to get into trouble.  Devin had a stuffed dog that would play music and each time a song came on, Hayden would start dancing.  I did my best to get it on video, enjoy!

With fall just around the corner, that means Hayden's first birthday is almost here.  I cannot believe it, this past year has just flown by.  When he was first born, I would look at him and think about how I never wanted him to change but looking at him now, I feel like he was always this way.  Our time in the NICU seems like a lifetime ago, looking at pictures, I cannot believe that was less than a year ago.

Photos taken October 9-10, 2007

I cannot believe summer is over and it has been a busy one!  We have just finally settled back into our new kitchen.  We are almost done with the remodel, only missing the cabinet doors and a few finishing touches.  Having open cabinets filled with items that are very tempting to a curious baby have kept us busy during Hayden's waking hours.  

This combined with not being hooked up to the internet for 2 weeks while we were out of the house have kept me from keeping up on postings.  So I have lots of pictures to share.  

Summer for us consisted of as much time outside as possible, at BBQ's with friends, concerts in the park, days at the beach and tasting lots of sand, grass and the like.  Throw in some wine tasting and croquet and summer is complete.

Photos taken July-August 2008

a future olympian?

Hayden has just finished his first summer of swim lessons and is a natural in the water.  He took a 5 week class with other infants and toddlers and loved it!  He never cried once, even when dunked under water.  Considering the fact that he crawls toward the waves at the beach with no fear or intention of stopping, I should have known he would love swim lessons!  My favorite part is when we dunk him under water, he comes up with his eyes as wide open and looks at me in shock, as if he was asking me, "Why did you do that to me and when can we do it again?"  

Photo taken August 16, 2008