Going, Going, Gone!

I have heard that most babies will drop their morning nap sometime around 1 year.  Eli is 10 1/2 months old and has decided he no longer needs two naps a day.  He refuses to nap before 11 am and only sleeps for an hour when he finally does go down.  He has been taking one 1 hour nap a day and staying up until 8pm.  Let me just tell ya’ that 8 hours awake at this age is waaaay too long for both Eli & Mama!!!! 

Eli’s one nap a day finally caught up with him the other night.  These pictures were taken at 6:30pm.  Eli never ever falls asleep this early.  Too cute and too funny!!! 

   GOING…

 

GOING…

 

GONE!!

These giggles are priceless!

There are days when this dog drives us nuts! Then there are days like this when I appreciate Jack's existance. Eli loves Jack. Jack is constantly licking him, chasing him, and making him giggle. These giggles are just priceless. Just when I think Jack is headed for the pound he is saved by Eli. :)

Hangin’ Around

Eli has a little buddy named Harrison.  Actually, these two are best buds.  They met at storytime and were immediate friends.  Funny how that happens with babies the same as it does with adults.  Luckily his Mom, Whitney, and I have become good friends as well.  Like myself, Whitney was a teacher before staying home with Harrison.  Harrison and Eli were only born three weeks apart which is great because they are reaching their big milestones together.  Eli and Harrison hang out on a weekly basis and have recently joined Gymboree.  They now hang out at the “gym” working on their strength, balance, and definitely their agility (throwing balls happens to be one of their favorite activities).  Harrison introduced Eli to the swing at the park and it is now one of Eli’s favorite outdoor activities.  He loves it so much that we have added a swing to our front porch! 

Here are the boys enjoying life together!

 

We go to the park to play and all they want to do is mess with their strollers and sippy cups!

This is Eli’s first time on the swing at the park.  The smile is priceless!! 

Now we get to swing everyday instead of driving to the park all the time. 

 

Gymboree is so much fun!  Harrison is getting really good at standing alone.  Eli loves playing with the musical instruments.  If only I could get Eli to participate when it’s whole group time.  He is totally uninterested in music.  He would rather chase after the same ball for an hour than play in the group and sing with the teacher.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The boys had so much playing in the pumpkin patch.  They were literally playing in the vines laughing and exploring all the textures.  It was too warm to stay in their Halloween costumes for too long but boy were they cute! 

I can’t wait to see what other fun adventures lie ahead as the holidays and first birthdays approach!  Life is good!

Careful what you wish for!

I love going apple picking in Michigan in the fall.  I also love pumpkin patches.  So now that Eli is here I am even more excited about doing these things!  Two weekends ago Milan and I decide to take Eli to the pumpkin patch.  It’s only 5 miles away and not a big outing for the day or anything like that.  We leave the house and it is 80 degrees outside.  We arrive and it is so sunny and warm that it just feels wrong to me.  My northern roots were screaming this is not fall weather!!  It’s sort of like going to Florida at Christmas time.  It just seems wrong.  We ended up not picking any pumpkins because it felt fake to me.  I took Eli’s picture.  He is wearing shorts and a t-shirt.  Who wears that to get pumpkins?  We leave and decide we will wait a couple of weeks and try again.  Hopefully it will be cooler outside by then.  

Thinking I am clever I decide to look online for something to do in the North Georgia mountains.  Surely it will be cooler and more fall like up there.  I find a pumpkin patch and apple orchard for us to go to.  I am thrilled.  I mean so thrilled I am like a little kid.  So the big day rolls around.  I look outside and it is pouring rain.  The high that day was 47 degrees.  You’ve got to be kidding me!  Guess what?  We went anyway.  We bundled ourselves up and drove 2 hours to get there.  It drizzled the whole way there.  Inside I was thinking why did we bother?  On the outside I was smiling and optimistic.  We arrive to the apple orchard first.  There must have been 500 people jammed into the store/barn.  You couldn’t move.  Eli was not happy about this at all.  So here we are trying to juggle a baby, buy apples stuff, stand in the long line to pay, and drink apple cider.  Are we done yet? 

Here are the pictures taken that day.  I usual take 50 and this day I end up with 4.

Next stop…. the pumpkin patch.  We drove all the way up here so we are still getting a pumpkin, right?  Umm, no.  Eli was sound asleep by the time we got there.  But that really didn’t matter because the field and parking lot were swamps.  It was way too muddy for a stroller.  So like I said..

Be careful what you wish for.  I wished for fall weather and I got it alright.  Maybe I should have been a little more specific.  Like, Dear Mother Nature, please make it a sunny 60 degree fall day.  Thank you. 

We are going back to the pumpkin patch by our house!  We will end up with a pumpkin one way or another and won’t be coming from the bin at the grocery store! :)

Happy Fall Ya’ll! 

How the Hayden’s Spend their Sundays

Now that football season has arrived we no longer need to have the conversation of “what do you want to do on Sunday?”  Milan decided we wouldn’t get the NFL ticket this year which means we need to go out to watch the game.  This used to be a good idea back in Kansas before Eli came along but I was a little leery of how it was going to go with a 10 month old.  Eli did awesome!!  He sat in the highchair smiling and laughing the whole time.  We stayed until halftime.  In we I mean Eli and I stayed until halftime.  Milan of course stayed for the remainder of the game and made friends with the other Steelers fans who were at the bar.  Gee imagine that.  It always amazes me how many Steelers fans there are all over this country. 

   “Is it just me Tata or do these refs not know what they are talking about?”

“Hey Tata, did you just see that amazing pass Benny just threw to Heinz Ward?”

“Those two are the best!”

10 months today!

 

               1 month                                    2 months                                  3 months

               4 months                                   5 months                                   6 months

                                                  

                  7 months                            8 months                                       9 months

                10 months

Only 2 more months to go until the big birthday!  I think the biggest changes were between months 1 and 2 and 9 and 10.  What do you think?

(I can’t find month 8’s picture on my hard drive.  I am very stressed about this!)

9 month recap!

Well here we are again with another month flying by.  I’m pretty sure I blinked and September was gone.  I can’t believe Eli is 10 months old.  10 months, really?  Month 9 was quite fun as are all the months that have passed.

Let’s see surely there are lots of things for me to brag on Eli about!

1.  Eli now has 8 teeth!  4 on the top and 4 on the bottom.  Teething is not fun just for the record! 

2.  Eli is standing on his own without any help.  Now it’s only for 3 or 4 seconds at a time but I am so excited about this accomplishment.  I start cheering and saying “Yay Eli” and suddenly he falls.  Maybe it’s me making him fall when he hears the cheers?! I’m sure he is thinking I am so obnoxious. 

3. Eli has been saying da-da for a while and he just recently started saying ma-ma.  I was convinced he had no idea who da-da and ma-ma were until one night at 2am when he woke up yelling MA-MA and crawled towards with all his might.  I bet the word milk will be next! Ha ha

4.  Eli has been working on drinking water from a sippy cup for a while now.  He basically thinks it’s for chewing and might get some water by accident from time to time if he’s lucky.  I decided one day to let him drink water from my glass and voila he drinks from a glass like a pro! 

5.  Eli experienced being sick for the first time this past weekend.  I was sick the weekend before and thought he would catch it for sure.  Nope.  Then suddenly he started acting different and that same day he threw up three times at night and had a fever!  My poor little guy.  Seriously, is there anything worse than your child being sick?  I’m pretty sure there’s not.  He’s doing much better now and back to his sweet little self again.

I absolutely love watching Eli grow and change and reach new stages every month.  Sometimes it feels like everyday something new happens.  What did I do with myself before this little boy came along?? 

Getting myself ready in the morning is quite the chore with a 9 month old crawling around.  He gets into everything!  Apparently he thought he needed to take a shower too!

This the “jail” face.  “Please let us out Mama!”

This is how you know when it is time for a new toy.  Eli is much more interested in being under it than in it!  Too funny.

Just hangin’ around!

“Passin’ time playing with my stroller at the wedding.”

      “Please let me in there with you Tata.”   “Ok fine, I will find something else to do!”

This is the Cheerios smile.  This kid, like all kids, loves his Cheerios!  Mama loves them too because they are life savers when we are in a restaurant or store. :)

I have been saving this toy in the garage for the day when Eli needed something new.  It’s like his stationary exersaucer except the seat spins around the outside.  This is the coolest toy ever.  Eli literally runs around in it while Jack chases and licks him.  It has provided us with hours of laughs. Thank you cousin Paula for such a neat gift!

“Home” Again

It’s funny but whenever I say the word “home” I am always referring to Chicago.  So if that is “home” then what is this place where I live?  Home away from “home” I guess. 

The Hayden’s ventured up North again last week for another trip “home.”  As usual we were on the go keeping super busy squeezing in all of our friends and family.  One would think 12 days would certainly be long enough to see everyone and spend adequate amounts of quality time together but we always seem to run out of time.  This trip was also another reminder of how hard it is to live so far away. 

Anyway, here are some pictures of our adventures while we were home.  My camera is usually glued to me but for some reason I didn’t take as many pictures as I usually do.  So if anyone reading this has pictures on their cameras from our visit please email them to me!

We stopped about half way and got a room in Tennessee.  We grabbed a few much needed hours of shut eye before hitting the road again.

 

            Eli’s first formal occasion.  Kuma Chelsie’s Christening.  Toes in mouth as usual!

Milan and all the guys went to see the Bears vs. Steelers game.  Mama and Eli went to Grandpa’s house to watch it on the big screen. 

          Eli and Aunti Cooper!                  Grass: Eli’s tailgating snack of choice.

Aunti Beth had us over for a playdate with cousins Lukie and Samantha and Kum Sammy and  Kum Gino.  Don’t ya’ love how they all sat still and posed so nicely for this picture!  This was such a fun day! 

Next stop: Uncle John’s & Aunt Ju Ju’s house.  Eli got to hang out with his cousins Tommy & Samantha.  I thought I took a pic with Uncle John but I guess I didn’t. Sorry about that!

  Eli and his Baba at her 60th surprise birthday party!

It was really funny that night because Eli kept insisting on going to Beth and Luke.  We determined it had to be because he was getting them confused with Milan and I.  Obviously being brothers Luke and Milan resemble each other but in a way Beth and I do too.  Beth told me once that Lukie was pointing at a picture of me in a photo album and saying Mama.  I guess maybe we do look alike!  Too funny!

Our trip ended with the wedding I was in.  Unfortunately I left the camera in my diaper bag and Milan had it with him all day.  So here are the two pictures taken with my camera.  Eli was an angel all day!  Check back for more wedding photos.

Catching some much needed zzzz’s in a hotel in Indiana.  

Milan and I have concluded that we need to live in Nashville.  It’s about half way between Atlanta and Chicago.  Of course moving “home” would be ideal but I have trained myself not to think about that.  So in the meantime we will continue to trek back and forth from the South to the North by car.  Eli may be a little stinker when it comes to sleep but he sure is a trooper in the car!!