Pint-Sized Picaso?

July 23, 2008

We were entertaining the thought of
possibly, one day, getting a new coffee table.
Apparently, Hayden thought that should happen
sooner than later.

This is the "piece of work"
I discovered when I came downstairs...
(having left him alone for all of 5 minutes!)

My reaction?
"OH MY GOD?@#!"

I know my favorite color is purple,
but NOT in the form of permanent Sharpie
marker on my wood coffee table!!
And his Poang.
I almost started laughing, to be honest.

What are the odds?!
I shudder to think what my living room
would have looked like
if I had gone for a shower!!

Don't you just love(?) that he only colored the wood?!
Not the carpet.
Not the new leather couch.
Not the walls.
Not the cat.

What could I do?
What's done is done.
He had a time out for being a "bad boy"
(his words, not mine).......

.......and then I put him to work!

Toothpaste is supposed to take permanent marker
off of wood surfaces.
Meh.
Now my table is smudgy-purple and minty.

Goof-off works better,
but I feel a bit high from the fumes,
and it's not totally out.
More elbow grease?

OR

New coffee table?

.....from Hayden's piggy bank!!


P.S. My Mom saved the day, as she often does,
without even knowing it.
As per her suggestion,
a Mr Clean Magic Eraser did the trick!

I think she just wants to save her Grandson's hide.

Strike a Pose!

July 21, 2008

Hayden has INSISTED that he put on

"big boy underwear"
the last few days.
(Tow-Mater from the movie Cars is his current fave)

My philosophy....if he wants to potty train this way,
I'm okay with the extra laundry
I will most certainly encounter!
I'm sure I must have asked him a million times
if he needed to go pee.

Hayden made it 3 hours without an accident!!
And then....
Poor Mater.
Mommy got to clean up a nice big poopie.
Pretty gross.
If he weren't so attached, I probably would
have thrown Mater in the bin!!

Hayden was pretty upset.
He's such a sensitive little guy.
I just kept telling him that it was okay,
we would clean Mater,
and start again.

Game Over.
He wanted a diaper.

Guess we'll try again tomorrow!
No sense rushing these things.....
we'll just work at his pace.
I think it's pretty good for a two year old!!

Zoo luck!

Tessa and I ventured
out to the Zoo this morning
with Brody, Sienna and Hayden.

The lovely thing about having a season pass,
which I highly recommend,
is that you don't feel guilty if you only stay
for a few hours each time.
And with toddlers....
seriously.

Some highlights of this trip:

Starbucks coffee.

A VERY close encounter with a giraffe.
(We were so enamored, we forgot
to take a photo....duh?!)

Richard the turtle who was out for a stroll.

The baby peacocks that joined us
in the line-up for a hot dog.

The hot dog.

And our very OWN monkeys!!

And, we peeked in on the baby elephant.
So cute you could take him home.

These two were cute enough
to take home too!

Gotta love being a mommy.
Spent another day in the sun while
Daddy is stuck in the office.

And, we made it home before the thunderstorm!
That's one thing I have....
good zoo luck!

A million calories, anyone?

The worst thing Keri could have done
was relinquish her
homemade Oreo Cookie recipe.....
she's evil.
But, still I love her.

And the best thing about them
is the cream cheese ICING.
(I make way too much on purpose.)

Hayden, of course, likes to help....

....by licking the beaters!!

Hayden has graduated.....

....to a BIG BOY BED!!

Monday, July 14th, 2008
marks Hayden's first night in his new bed.
And he did awesome.
My child never ceases to amaze me.

Just another shining example of
"like father, like son!"

Hayden helped put the "ladders" inside
his new bed.
He also helped hide the bolts and screws.
I use the word "help" very loosely.
But, he was so excited about the whole process,
you couldn't be bothered about it.

The sensitive boy that he is, Hayden kept his lion
aware of each step taken toward having a new bed.
He kept saying "it's okay buddy,"
so I'm not sure who needed the convincing.....

Hayden couldn't wait to get in and try it out!
He announced that, it was in fact, very "comfy."
He looked like such a big kid lying there
all tucked in.....
and I'm grateful I don't have to lift
my 34 pound big kid in and out of his crib anymore!!

The trial run was a success!!
He actually spent the next half hour
playing in his bed....I was hoping that would be a
good sign for the real thing at 8PM.

We did pretty well.
After about 45 minutes of negotiations,
Hayden was sleeping soundly.
I wanted desperately to take a picture
(there's a shocker!?) as he slept.
He looked so sweet.
All grown up.
But, I didn't want to risk waking him with the flash.

I had visions of going into his room and finding him
quietly playing with his toys at 11PM,
wide eyed and rebellious,
but he surprised me.

I'm not naive enough to think we won't
have our challenges, he's only 2 after all,
but I think we'll do just fine.

Incidentally, after45 minutes,
mommy won the nap-time challenge too.
Maybe that will be our magic number......for now.

It's Stampede time again!!

July 11, 2008

Yee-Haw....
from the little urban cowboy!
Now that I see this photo, Hayden looks a bit
mis-matched....and the hat
makes his head look HUGE!!

I should start a blog-poll.....
I think my husband looks so hot in a cowboy hat!
He is about the farthest thing there is from being a cowboy
but I think he totally pulls it off!

We met Keith, Jadyn, Jen and Cameron
at the lineup to meet Dora & Diego!

Hayden has been talking about meeting
Dora & Diego all week.
I think he thought Friday would never come.
After over an hour in line, and discussions
of what would happen when it was
finally his turn.
He wanted to give Dora a kiss,
and give Diego "knuckles."
He managed that part.....

.....then, HE FREAKED OUT!!

He was the only child in the whole crowd
who lost his mind when I turned him around for a photo!
Are you serious?@#!
(It was like meeting Santa Claus
for the first time!)
I still can't figure it out....he LOVES Dora!

We had our customary, and super healthy,
Stampede lunch of Corndogs and fries
while Hayden & Jadyn
nibbled on their snacks.

Then, it was ride time for the kiddies!

Don't they make a cute couple?!

We had a pretty great day.
The weather cooperated, we shared the company of good friends,
had mini-donuts, played Whack-a-Mole,
and experienced all the sights and smells of Stampede!

Hayden only had a few mini-meltdowns
over wanting to ride "again, again!"
It's hard to teach a 2 year old to be patient
and wait his turn, but they made it on
4 or 5 rides so that's not bad.

I think he enjoyed the C-Train ride the most!!

.....Huh??

July 10, 2008

Hayden has a pretty great vocabulary.
He can even put words into little sentences.

I'm aware that some of the things he says
need a bit of Mommy interpretation.
And since I'm with him every day, I figure this is normal.
Overall, he pronounces things very clearly.

There is one word that cracks us up.
Ask him to say vacuum, and he comes out with;
"gumper."

I have no idea where that came from,
but I laugh out loud
every time!

They sure don't put THIS in a baby book!

It's Baby's First......

BLACK EYE!

Hayden was running into the living room.
Lost his footing.
CRACK.
Face first into the coffee table.
Instant screaming.
I scooped him up and held him, almost
in tears myself, and set him up on the
kitchen counter to have a look.

Blood gushing out of his nose.

I'm silently freaking out for the next few hours
while I'm in mommy mode......
is his nose broken?
should I let him nap?
what if his nose starts bleeding again?
is he bleeding internally?
does he have a concussion?
he seems sleepy.
why is he lying on the floor like that?
does he have brain damage?
will he forget his ABC's?
Seriously.

Over the last few days, we have the remainder of a very fat nose,
a scratch under his nose (where I assume he hit the table)
and a multi-colored bruise
under his eye.

Poor thing!
He looks like he has gone a few rounds
with Rocky Balboa!

Oh, and the spot on his cheek.....
a mosquito bite.
They love my child, and feast on every inch
of skin I haven't sprayed with skin-so-soft.
Buggers.
They even bit him twice on the
back of his head!

My, what a BIG deck you have.....

July 5, 2008

Construction has begun on the new deck!!
Hayden enjoys projects as much as his father, so he
was out there "helping" like crazy.

He knows exactly what he's doing!

"Hayden hammen-in'!"

Check the dinosaur rubber boots....
the best $10.97 I ever spent.
he LOVES them!

Safety First!
Or not.....he put his goggles on
when he got back inside!!

Just For Fun!!

July 1, 2008

We had a TON of fun today at Calaway Park!
The weather was a bit overcast, but still pleasant.....
we were there for 4 hours and no nap!!
I was very impressed by how many rides Hayden
could go on all by himself.
(He was past the purple height marker and into the orange,
which means my baby is almost 36" tall!!)
He looked like such an independent big boy.
The adults sure had fun too!!

Henk, Eveline & Ralph flew solo for this ride....

I went with Henk & Eveline on the rollercoaster....
we're in the second car....
and screamed in Henk's ear the whole ride!

These swings were more Hayden's speed...
still too scary for mommy!

"WHEE!!"

Maybe we are sadistic parents,
but we took Hayden on the log ride!
He was really excited until after
the first "mini" drop.
If you look closely, he has his hands over his eyes!!

Our log boat is under all of that water....

I think we may have scarred Hayden for life....
but we sure had fun doing it!
He was laughing a few moments later.
We asked him if he wanted to go again but the
answer was a definite "NO!"

A lot of excitement for this little guy!
He power-napped for 45 minutes on the way home.
Daddy won him the kitty
(and the bumble bee tossed to the side)
which made a great pillow!