Categories
Kids/Parenting

Hayden’s Four!

It’s Hayden’s birthday! For someone who has talked about his birthday for six months, he’s not that excited. I told him he was four this morning and he said, “Wight now?”

When Rebecca got up, he told me to “Tell her what I have now.”

I correctly guessed he wanted me to tell her he was four. Hayden came to stand over her, and Rebecca grunted at him to go away, using her sign for “all done/all gone/no more.”

“See wants my fee years old back,” Hayden explained.

Feb 2010 002small

Birthday boy needs a haircut


And to catch up with the kids:

Just a few of the inventions Hayden claims are in “his car” (the red Honda we haven’t driven in years, but still have):

  • wings, so it can fly to Nana
  • guns (that go “pew! pew!”)
  • a machine that makes purple monkeys with sad faces and happy faces
  • two ovens
  • [added later: bathtub]

Some words Hayden puts his personal spin on:
woo — you
wuze — use
Werbecca (still)
foon — spoon (and all other words beginning with sp-, sm-, etc.)
[added later: DVDV (“divvydivvy”) — DVD]

Words Rebecca can say (at 18 months, in the order she learned them as best I can remember):
des/dah (yes/yeah)
dat (that)
Dada (this was a long time before the next ones)
Mama, Nana, Papa
Beebe (baby, sometimes Pinky)
Deesa (Jesus)
oooh (no)
oosh (shoes or juice)
[added later: mmmmooowa (more, which came after Dada), boo’ (book), ba’/bap (bag), ba’ (ball), hi, bye]

Words Rebecca can sign:
more
shoes
cookie/treat
Jesus
milk
apple
cheese
Pinky
Hayden
baby
cracker
clean
no more/all gone/all done/FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY STOP CHANGING MY DIAPER!!!!
[added later: hi, byebye, please, thank you, bread, excuse me]

Body parts Rebecca knows:
Hair
Head
Eyes
Ears
Mouth
Nose
Chin
Tongue
Cheek
Neck
Knees (sometimes)
Feet
Toes
Fingers
Hands
Belly

Categories
Kids/Parenting

Happy, happy birthday!

Last week (almost two weeks ago, man), we celebrated Rebecca’s first birthday with my in-laws. She got some fun toys, a couple adorable outfits and a cute towel set (which is doubly good, since she’s never had any towels of “her own.” Poor deprived kid.).

We had angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream. She ate almost her entire piece!

july-2009-063

(That’s my hand at the bottom telling Hayden expressly not to blow out the candle. Not that I thought Rebecca would/could, but man, give her a chance! Going through the ~125 photos on the camera to find this one, though, I found enough pictures by Hayden to complete his photographic introspective, The World from Waist-Level.)

July was a crazy-busy month for us. My family was in town for a family reunion and extended visit, and then we rushed down for another family reunion. (10+ hours in the car each way. Have I ever mentioned that the kids don’t sleep in the car for more than 45 minutes a day?) I hope things will get more normal for us now, but as much as I like the new-found quiet, it’s sometimes a little empty.

What are your favorite parts of your family visits? Least favorite?

Categories
Random

It’s okay, go ahead and say it

Today’s my birthday, no April Foolin’. Feel free to share your birthday wishes here! Thank you!

(And before you ask, I’m 26. I don’t mind saying, but asking is just soooo tacky, don’t you think?)

Categories
Kids/Parenting

Grandma’s ninetieth

Yesterday was my grandma’s ninetieth birthday. My angel aunt flew Grandma out and arranged a surprise party for her with all of her grandchildren in the area (there were grandma, one of her kids, five grandkids, three grandsons-in-law, one date and two great-grandchildren there).

waiting for grandma to arrive
Waiting for grandma

birthday princess
The birthday princess, tiara and all

cake--yum!
The delicious cake—no, that’s not 90 candles. Also pictured: said angel aunt, one of four women named Rebecca in the room (the others were me, my daughter and my cousin’s date, Becky)

baby rebecca and great grandma
Rebecca with her great-grandma

A wonderful night—many thanks to Aunt Janie for throwing a wonderful party!

Categories
Random

For the boy who has everything

Okay, so maybe Hayden doesn’t have everything, but the kid’s got it pretty good. He’s got dozens of toys and only his parent to share them with—and a birthday coming up.

What do you get a little boy that doesn’t really need more toys for his birthday? (Great toy suggestions are, of course, welcome, too.)

I had a couple ideas:

  • Outdoor furniture. (No, really—I saw this cute plastic Adirondack table and chairs set at the store and thought that would be fun for Hayden in the summer. Not now with our six+ inches of snow, though.)
  • Books. (When shopping for friends, you may want to get suggestions for their library, just so you don’t get them something they already have.)
  • Art supplies/crafts. (Even Hayden loves to color. Especially nice—something they can do together as a family.)

What else will make a kid’s life complete?

Categories
Random Ryan/Married Life

Better than it started

My birthday ended better than it started, which is pretty good, considering how grumpy I was yesterday morning. Not only did Ryan surprise me by coming home from work at 9:30 (his work day starts at 7) and baking me a cake and straightening up the house, but he stayed home the whole day (hurray!).

I’m afraid I didn’t use our time very well 🙁 . But it was really nice to have an extra, extra long weekend and to have him home with me. Hayden wasn’t as grumpy as I’d feared, either.

Ryan got me a very sweet card and a pair of books with parenting coping strategies (which I know I need; I was very happy to get them!).

I sent him out to get rainbow chip frosting for my cake. A few minutes after I left, my sister arrived at my door. She came in and we talked for a minute before she said, “Well, go get ready.”

“For what?”

“Ryan’s taking you out to dinner. Surprise!”

Indeed. I felt like eating at Happy Sumo, so we did. I was sorely tempted to get what I did last time we were there (Fuji Chicken), but I ended up getting something different.

Before we left, we realized that the last time we were there was nearly a year ago—my belated birthday celebration. Should we make it a tradition?