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Travelogy

Well, we’re finally home after three weeks of being on the road. It’s so nice to be in my own bed again—I hope Hayden thinks so, too! And of course, it’s wonderful to be with Ryan again!

Here’s what we’ve been up to the last few weeks:

  • Ryan’s brother’s wedding in Louisville. Very fun, very event-filled. My parents & youngest sister drove out to visit with us (and help wrangle Hayden during the ceremony).
  • 10-hour car trek with an almost-18-month-old from Louisville to my parents’ house in North Carolina. Surprisingly, Hayden did very well on the car ride. He even fell asleep twice in the car (he hardly ever does that).
  • The museum we always went to when I was little. Hayden liked playing in one of the space ships—it had buttons that he could push. He also liked playing in the small children’s play area, but by the time we’d seen the baby bears playing, he was waaay ready to be home.
  • The lake we always went to when I was little. Mom said my first trip was when I was about Hayden’s age. I loved it. Hayden, not so much. We bought him a little floaty, but he was too scared to stay in it. However, by the time we left that night, he was completely fearless—and very frustrated when mean ol’ Mom wouldn’t put him down in water that was up to her chest.
  • Hayden on the carousel

  • The carousel at the mall. Hayden liked it for the first few turns—he even held on all by himself at his peak (and we even got a picture!)—but after that, he was too upset to even go near one of the horses. Much more interested in the gate around the carousel. But we did get him some cute flip flops.
  • Lots of family time. We had “casual” and “formal” family times—a big family dinner to just visiting and hanging out.
  • Sickness after sickness after sickness. Between Hayden and me, we had to go to Urgent Care three times and get four different prescriptions—in three days. Hayden had a double ear infection, then either a bad reaction to the infection or the medicine. The doctor didn’t know what was wrong with me, but gave me medicine anyway.

It was great to see my family and spend time with them—but I’m glad to be home with Ryan!

Categories
Kids/Parenting MetaBlogging

Hayden’s secret identity

I came across this on a post about personal vs. professional blogs today:

I don’t personally think I’d trust a blog about parenting if the blogger revealed the names of their children! I’d think that blogger was exploitative. But someone else might think the opposite — that blabbing about your kids to virtual strangers is the only way to earn trust and develop a connection.

From time to time, I do regret using my son’s real name on my blog. (Or at least I’ve let you all think it’s his real name, Mwahahaha!) On the other hand, I’m confused as to why this would be “exploitative” (that would be pretentious-ese for ‘exploitive’). I once called my son by his “real name” in front of a complete stranger. That’s gotta break some law, right?

On the other hand, calling my son by his name has nothing to do with earning trust and developing a connection with you guys (no offense). I pretty much do it because when I started blogging it was all about letting my family know what Hayden was up to. But really, if you think about it, isn’t “blabbing about your kids” at the heart of almost every mom blog?

In fact, if I don’t see some mention of a blogger’s children somewhere, whether real names, pseudonyms or the stupidest nicknames I’ve ever heard, I’m pretty unlikely to trust his/her parenting advice. We all remember what it was like to have no kids and all the answers.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. And do you think that this:
hayden hatted
is less exploitive than this?
hayden sunglasses

I obscured his identity…

Categories
Kids/Parenting

Happy Fourth!

In honor of the Fourth of July, Independence Day, I have some recent pictures of Hayden evoking Betsy Ross.

Okay, it’s an excuse to post photos of Hayden in a hair net.

exultant scream

 

bonnet what?

 

tall bonnet!

Enjoy the holiday!

Categories
Kids/Parenting Fulfillment Contests

Dear Hayden,

Smiley guyThere are two things that I really do want to tell you.

The first: please don’t be embarrassed by the things I say about you and the pictures and videos I post of you. Ever.

I understand that you’ll be a teenager, but really, I promise, not every teenager has to go through the “everything my parents ever said, touched, did, thought and were is SO STUPID, I’d rather die than be their offspring—maybe I’m adopted?” phase. Or the “MOM!!! NO ONE IS SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT I BATHED NAKED AS A BABY!!!” phase. (But if you do get to be a teenager and are really embarrassed about these photos, we could see how embarrassing a photo of you fully clothed in the shower would be, yes?)

You are a very cute baby little boy. I know I tell you this every day, but you are pretty much the cutest boy ever in the world. Everyone agrees with me (except other moms, but that’s only because I’m too polite to ask them to confirm it 😉 ). I love to take pictures of you. In fact, we had a fun photo shoot just this morning, even though you were more likely to stick your tongue out than smile.

come hitherAnd to be honest, some days, I’m just too lazy (or too far behind on the laundry, which is a product of reason 1), to dress you—especially when I know you’ll just be dirty within minutes. Please just accept that you were a cute baby. I’ll try not to force your baby pictures on all your (girl)friends—but if they happen to come across them on the Internet, totally not my fault.

Speaking of the Internet, on to the second thing I want to tell you: please don’t think I don’t love you just because I sometimes talk about how difficult motherhood has been for me. First of all, in many ways motherhood is getting easier every day. Or almost every day.

I’m sorry that some days I’m not a very good mom. I’m sorry that I’m not patient. I do try—but sometimes that effort doesn’t kick in until after I’ve yelled at you or tried to set you somewhere far away from me so you’ll leave me alone.

But I do love you. And the difficulty of motherhood has only made my love you more. I’ve had to work so hard to get to this point, and sacrificing for and serving you has only made me love you more. I love you. I love holding you. I love being with you. I love watching you play and marvel at the games you invent.

tippy toes

The other day, I picked you up out of your crib. You’d been standing in there and were ready for me to come get you. As I picked you up, your little body remained in a rigid standing position. I pulled you close to me and thought, “I own a small human.” Because you are—you’re a small human: your own person—and you’re mine. At least for now. And I’m grateful to have the “now.”

artsy

Love,
Your mother

Categories
Kids/Parenting

The further adventures

Just some fun stuff from our house lately!

Hayden rides again:
Hayden wearing dad's socks
Sock it to me!

 

A couple weeks ago, the wake of destruction:
destruction

 

Hayden gets a little Huck Finn
hat

 

Hayden playing with an Automoblox X9 SUV. It’s actually a really interesting toy, though Hayden did spend about as much time with the box as the car.
automoblox
This was our prize from the Classic Kids Games Writing Project—thanks again, guys!

Speaking of Group Writing Projects, have you submitted your entry to ours yet?

Categories
Kids/Parenting

Call him ‘Chip’

Warning: this picture is a little scary.

Hayden's chipped tooth

Ahh!! A huge giant mouth!! Ahh!!!

Okay, seriously, this is to show that Hayden has chipped a tooth. (The one on the upper right/his upper left: inside bottom corner.) 🙁 He’s only had that tooth for 5 months. At least it’s just a little chip. (It looks bigger when it’s in focus…)

Not sure how that happened. He likes to fall off stairs, chairs and couches… Don’t know.

[tags]wordless wednesday[/tags]