Happy Mother's Day

December 2011

I always imagined what being a mother was like, but I never really got to experience it until Hayden was born. Parenting is hard work and it not always fun, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. Sam and Jack made me a mom, but Hayden made me a parent. He makes me want to be a better person and has shown me what real beauty is. I fall in love with him and his crooked smile every day. I just love him so much and I'm thankful he chose me to be his momma. 

Happy Mother's Day to all you fabulous women out there. To those of you who will be celebrating with your mothers and children this Sunday and to those who are missing them. I share these flowers with you. 

Hayden- 6 months old;  Monica- about 5 years old

Love, Monica and Mini Me (aka Hayden)

Happy Cinco de Mayo

~From The Burrito

Hayden's New Tricks

Hayden turned 8 months old on Tuesday and along with his new age, he has also acquired a few new tricks!  

• He's on day 3 of crawling- Basically he drags himself on his belly from one point to another. He's still pretty slow, but he's getting there. He pushes with his toes and pulls himself forward with his hands. It's pretty cute to watch. 
• He isn't much of a sitter, because he'd rather be standing or rolling than anything else, unless he's sitting in his high chair or on my lap- he loves that. But when it comes to sitting up on his own, he straightens his back and throws himself back. This week, though, he has been doing so much better. He only lasts a few seconds before he tips over, but he's doing it without support. 
• Hayden has also figured out how to spit and blow bubbles and thinks it's especially funny while eating. 
• As of yesterday he also now has a fake laugh. He and my mom were playing together and he started "fake" laughing at her. 

• Hayden is related to Houdini. Ever since he was teeny, I've swaddled him. At first it was in a swaddle blanket but he always managed to break loose and pop his arms out, which would wake him up. We gave up on the swaddle blanket and I switched to a blanket and just wrapped him tightly in that. As he got older, bigger and stronger that quit working as well. I bought a Dream Swaddle (see this video) and that works really well. A little too well I think, because he can't move in it at all and that pisses him off then he wakes himself up from grunting and tossing back in forth in attempts to free his arms. He can go to sleep without being swaddled but he doesn't stay asleep. Anyway, last night, he kept pulling his right arm out and I kept tucking it back in. I finally just left him alone and let it stay out of the blanket, after all he was asleep and it didn't seem to be bothering him that way. Not five minutes later he was awake again and Mr. H went in to check on him. He not only had the other arm out, but he had managed to pull it out of his pajama sleeve! He thought it was the funniest thing ever and just laughed about it, so I turned on the light and took pictures, which of course made him laugh even more. He's so goofy. Did I mention this was at 4:30am?

• Hayden loves watches! It doesn't matter who is wearing the watch, what color it is, or how big it is. He is just so curious and wants to touch, play with and eat it. 
• He's also discovered Daddy's chest hair. Hayden sits on Daddy's lap, pulls his tank top back with his left hand then attacks the hair with his right hand and rubs his hands through it trying to figure it out. 
• He shakes his head back and forth really fast. If he's laying on a flat surface, he does this in addition to moving his legs up and down and shaking his whole body. He's a nut!
• I read that babies experience "separation anxiety" at about 7 months old and boy are they right. I can't leave the room or go out of Hayden's sight without him whining for me to come back. As soon as I come back, he's hunky dory again. It's kind of funny, but annoying at the same time. 
• He's working on cutting a tooth on his lower right side. I can feel a little lump on that side so I know it's coming any day now. 
• He's about 27 inches long and 19 pounds. 
• He's eating rice and oat cereal, carrots, sweet potato, peas, pears, apple, banana, squash, sweet potato with corn, and pear with pineapple. He eats two "meals" and drinks about 3-4 bottles a day. 

That's about it for now, but he learns something new everyday. 

7 Months Old