Hayden

14-month Portraits

Isn't he a cutie?

Hayden's First Joke

Hayden: Knock Knock

Me: Who's there?

Hayden: Knock knock

Me: Knock knock who?

Hayden: NO KNOCK KNOCK WHO!!!

You're just now noticing?

Hayden has been potty-training this summer. For the first time all summer, it occurred to him to look behind the shower curtain in our downstairs bathroom. (He always takes his baths in the upstairs bathtub.)

Hayden opened the shower curtain, and shouted, "WHOA! Cool bath!"

First Sentence

"I wan' TIZZA!!"

Yeah, Hayden's gonna fit RIGHT in with this family.

Bentley

My mom just got a new puppy - a black standard poodle that she named Bentley.  He's about 10 or 11 weeks old now.

She brought him over on the weekend to introduce him to the boys and our dog, Brandon.


Bentley and Hayden took a special liking to each other. They both appreciated having someone to play with that was their own size. Bentley maybe enjoyed it too much, as he pushed Hayden down, flipped him over, and attempted what my mom now refers to as "Brokeback Baby".

Yesterday morning, when Hayden woke up, he said "Ga-ga. Woof woof." It's the first time he's put two words together like that. He woke up thinking about Mr. Bentley. Too cute.

The Wiggles - Revisited

Today something dawned on me... Hayden is at the perfect Wiggles age. So, for the third child, I got out all the ole' Wiggles favorites, and turned the stereo up.

For the first 30 minutes it was great fun - like reuniting with an old, familiar friend. I knew all the words, all the hand motions.

Now it's been an hour. Hayden's still loving it. And I'm ready for him to outgrow the Wiggles age.

I must be so proud.

Hayden had his first swear word last week.

I was changing a very loose, runny, smushy poo. I held Hayden's feet together and up with my right hand. I used my forearm to block his poop-smothered penis, which is the first thing he reaches to tug on during a diaper change. My elbow was blocking his grabbing hands and reaching arms. I was hunched over his body, protecting the poo. My left hand reached for the wipes. I already had the wipe box open and one wipe sticking out. You have to be prepared going into these things. I grab that one wipe and pulled. The lid popped off and a string of 30 wipes went flying.

"SHIT!"

I had everything so perfectly planned. Now he was going to grab his pooey manhood as I fumbled with the wipes. He caught the lid of the wipes, and proudly showed it to me: "Shit!" He said. Proud that he had learned what that blue lid was called.

"Shit, shit, shit." He practiced perfecting his new vocabulary.

Now when Hayden has a poopy diaper, he walks over to the changing table, points to the wipes, and says, "Shit!"

A Close Call

So, I think every parent can relate to those "close calls". Those times where you think, "Oh my God! I can't believe my child didn't die!" And how thankful you are that someone must be watching out for the little guy.

Well, Hayden just had what I consider to be his second close call. The first close call, for those of you who remember, was when I believe he was nearly kidnapped at the hospital a year ago when he had croup.

This close call happened night before last. Hayden was down for his afternoon nap. It was time for me to start making dinner. Usually Hayden is awake before I start making dinner. He wasn't awake yet, though. When he wakes up, I can usually hear him plaing, talking, laughing or crying from anywhere in the house.

I thought, "Now would be a great time to start dinner, with him still asleep, and me not having to juggle him and the dinner." But, the wise little voice in my head told me to go check on him.

As I was nearing the top of the stairs, I could hear him screaming and crying. But, it was so muffled and smothered, that I had to be at the top of the stairs to hear him. I flung open his door, and didn't see him in his crib. Had he fallen behind the crib? Was he stuck?

When I got to the crib, I could see that he had pulled the sheet and mattress cover off one corner of the mattress, and burrowed in. The other three corners were still snug, and he was pinned underneath. His legs, on the loose corner end, had wrapped up like a burrito, so he was unable to move backward. He was completely pinned.

I have no idea how long he'd been that way. Did he sleep that way? Did it just happen? I pulled him out of there, and he was dripping with sweat, he felt 105 degrees, and his little body was bright red.

After comforting him, he was in a great mood, and though his body was still very hot, he wasn't lethargic or anything.

The whole thing was so scary. What if I'd made dinner first? At almost 20 months old, you don't worry about your kid in their bed. They're too old for SIDS or any of that other scary stuff. The crib is supposed to be the safest place in the house.

Hayden always pulls that corner off his mattress, and when I come in to get him, he always points to the corner, says, "Uh-oh!" and laughs. That night when I put Hayden back to bed. I was poking the corner, saying, "NO! No! No!" And we would point and say, "no! no! no!". I would poke it again and say, "Bad! Bad! Bad!" He would poke it and say, "ba! ba! ba!" Of course, he still pulls that corner up everytime he wakes up. So, now I have to check on him as often as I would check on  a newborn.

New Words

Hayden has really started talking up a storm this last week. Of course, it's the kind of talking only Mama can understand, but he'll copy and imitate any thing said, noise made or gesture made. And did I mention this is my favorite age??

Newest words:

"All done!"
"MORE!" = FOOD!
"Wah" = Water
"Doo Doodle DOOOOO!" = Trumpet Fanfare
"Ooo ooo aaahh aaahhh" = Ooo eee ooo aahh aahh, ting, tang, walla walla bing-bang.
"Shirt" = Shirt, Coat, or pants. They're all "shirts".
"Sock"
"Shoe"
"Bell Butt'n" = Belly Button
"Teenis" = His favorite toy during diaper changes.  :-)
"Boober" =  I think you know.
"Cah" = Car
"Block"
"Baby" = Pictures of babies, his reflection in the mirror, or, most importantly, the Glow Worm that he sleeps with.
"Bye Bye"
"Hmmmm mmmm" = How you say "no" without opening your mouth, except in Hayden's case it can mean "yes" OR "no". It's pretty non-committal.
"Two!" = What we say when the brothers are in trouble, and Mom says, "One".
"MEEEEEE!!!!!" = The answer to any question that starts with a "who". ("Who wants lunch?" "MEEEEE!" "Who's cute?" "MEEEE!")