Walking

3/12/12
The weather has been beautiful! The grass is greening up and the days are getting longer! So in an effort to get back in shape I decided to take the boys for a walk after Jason went to work. This proved to be something of a challenge, however. I have a double stroller but it has a flat tire that needs to have the tube replaced. My next idea was to put both boys in the wagon and pull them behind me. But the carseat wouldn't fit in the wagon. So I decided to put Hayden in the stroller and put Tucker in the front carrier. The front carrier had an added bonus of putting Tucker to sleep!

Hayden is really starting to become a conversationalist. Throughout the entire walk Hayden had to point out every item we saw: pine cones on the ground, the various types of trees, squirrels, cars, fire hydrants, stop signs. If he knew what it was he was pointing it out! Ok he was pointing out everything whether he knew what it was or not - even pointing at people walking down the street!

Halfway into our walk Hayden announced he needed to go potty. He's pretty well potty trained (his only problem now is over night and he still wears a pull up at bed) but I thought that he might be ok until we got home. Thankfully the hospital is right at that halfway point. While walking past the back side of the hospital Hayden repeats that he needs to go potty. And repeats it and repeats it and repeats it and damn near screams it! So I picked up the pace a little bet and walked around to the front of the hospital. Thankfully there was no one in the ER waiting room when we walked in (would hate to explain why I was walking into the hospital with a kid in a stroller and one in a front carrier). I ushered Hayden to the nearest bathroom and left as quickly as we came in!

The end of our walk came just as the last bits of sun were sinking past the horizon. It was still fairly warm out with only a little bit of a breeze so the boys and I sat on the steps of the front porch enjoying the night. Hayden loves to point out the moon whenever he sees it. Tonight there was no moon but the stars were bright enough for us to count them which Hayden did quite well - even saw a few before I did! Love nights like these!

tucker's first sick call

2/13
Had to call the doctor for the first time for Tucker :(

Over the weekend Tucker started coughing. Wasn't anything new or that sounded too bad until Sunday night. The cough became louder and it sounded like he was wheezing a little bit when he did cough. I was really hoping it was nothing since he wasn't running a fever and he was still taking his bottle like normal! But when it was still the same the next morning I decided I better call.

It was a good thing I did! For as happy as he was he had a bronchial inflammation and an ear infection! So Tucker got his first round of amoxicilin and to use a nebulizer. The first time I gave him the amoxicilin from the dropper he took it quite well. The second and third times were a disaster - he'd just spit it out all over his clothes or the burp rag. After that I just put it in his bottle or in with his cereal. The nebulizer was another catastrophe! I had to hold the end so it was right in front of his face and he hated it! If he was asleep it was no problem but if he was awake he would fight it!

Hopefully this is the last time we have to call the doctor for awhile!

star wars weekend

2/10
Star Wars Episode I came out in theaters in 3D this weekend! At poker night Bri and I had been talking about how we'd like to see it and how awesome it would be to watch all six movies in order from Episode I through Episode VI (or Return of the Jedi for those of you familiar with the original theatrical release titles!). So we made plans to watch them this weekend since she had Friday off of school.

So Friday I made plans to meet Gaga Vickie in Newton to pick Bri up for the weekend. Since I could only take a half day off work and we were meeting at 12:30, they were planning to stop at McDonalds on their way out of town. The only problem with this was that the McDonalds in Augusta had been demolished in order to rebuild it in a slightly different location! Fail. Not to worry though because there's a McDonalds in Newton! Fail again. The McDonalds in Newton was closed for renovations. So Bri had to wait til McPherson to get McDonalds.

10 chicken nuggets and a fast trip to Wal-Mart we started our movies at about 2 pm. Jason had worked the night before so missed all of Episode I. Then he started to feel ill and went back upstairs in the middle of Episode II. He stayed upstairs the rest of the evening so after Tucker fell asleep after we started Episode III, I let him hang out with Jason. That left Hayden, Bri and I to finish Episode III by ourselves. I've always thought that Episode III was the most intense of the six movies because it shows Anakin Skywalker's final descent into evil and becoming Darth Vader. The music throughout the entire movie is very dark and intense and there is a lot of dark undertones. Hayden's only been able to sit through this movie once or twice but not without burying his head in mine or Jason's side. So I wasn't sure how well watching Episode III was going to go this time especially because it wasn't going to get over until 10:30-11:00. My concern was short lived, though, as Hayden fell asleep well before the extremely intense part where Anakin and Obi Wan Kenobi fight in the lava pit.

Saturday morning Tucker was of course the first person awake. So he and I went to the living room to feed him his bottle. The next person to come to the couch? Bri! She hadn't been able to sleep very well the night before because I was a moron and had forgotten to get the comforter out of the dryer before we went to bed so she was freezing most of the night! I felt horrible! But everyone getting up early worked out in our favor because we were able to start and end Episode IV (A New Hope; and my personal favorite of the 6) before lunch! Bri, Hayden and I finished the last two movies by ourselves as Jason still wasn't feeling great.

This weekend also happened to be the weekend Breaking Dawn came out on video. So because we finished Return of the Jedi around 5:00, Bri and I decided we needed to watch Breaking Dawn and Jason needed to watch it with us. Before we could start it though Jason decided we needed supper first. This stalling allowed Hayden the chance to realize that The Lion King was on the Disney channel. Once that movie started he refused to move from the couch in the living room. So we left him there and started our movie in the basement.

Jason was not impressed with the movie at all. In fact he spend more time on his iPad than he did actually watching the movie. Hayden never came downstairs either. But we weren't really surprised. He hadn't taken a nap all day and when we came back up after Breaking Dawn ended we found Hayden passed out on the couch. Jason took him back to our bedroom and the two of them went to bed. Bri and I weren't done watching movies though. Our goal was to watch the other 3 Twilight movies that night too. We only made it through the original movie before we were ready to go to bed. However, we did note that Bella blinked rapidly at least 163 times throughout the movie! That girl has some issues!

applesauce

2/6
Tucker tried applesauce for the first time! The first bite he took did not go over well. The second bite ended up all over the bib. By the third bite he was crying and I gave up!

2/7
I tried the applesauce again - refusing to give up! This time instead of feeding him the applesauce straight, I mixed about half the jar with the usual amount of rice cereal. The bowl was gone before I knew it and Tucker probably would have eaten more if I wouldn't have been nervous he was going to spit it up all over his jammies!!

everyone better

2/5
Superbowl Sunday everyone was feeling better (Jason and I each got a touch of something) and we got to enjoy the Superbowl as a family for the first time in 3 years!

Tuckers has started a new trick - blowing bubbles!

Hayden also had a first this weekend - a soapy mouth.  Somewhere along the way he added the word "dumbass" to his vocabulary. I honestly couldn't tell you where it came from as I know Jason and I are both guilty of saying it (and Gaga Brown too for that matter). While hanging out before we needed to get ready for the Superbowl, Hayden was playing with his Star Wars guys. The figures were "hitting" each other and Hayden was making them have conversations with each other. Next thing I know one knocks the other down and Hayden says "dumbass". I corrected him and told him we don't say that word. He grins at me and says it again. I got more stern with him and told him if he said it again he was getting soap in his mouth. He kept on grinning but went back to playing. Not even three seconds later he said it again. I put Tucker down (which didn't impress him) and took Hayden by the hand to the bathroom, screaming the entire way. I put some soap on a washcloth and tried shoving it in his mouth. It barely touched his lip and the front of one tooth and the tears came pouring! I quickly got his teeth brushed with some toothpaste and let him rinse it out. I felt bad but at least he hasn't said it again!

Poker night

1/28
Because it had been 24 hours since Hayden had thrown up last we decided to make the trip to August for the monthly Poker night!

As always Hayden and Delaney were very excited to see each other and had a blast all night. Their new game was to pretend they were jumping across "water". They had also dumped the dinosaurs out of the buckets and dancing with the buckets on their heads while watching their reflections in the front door.

Even Tucker had a good time hanging out with his cousins! We laid him on the floor to change his clothes/diaper and Nate came over to say hi.

Hayden's disease

1/27
Hayden's only been truly sick one time (besides ear infections) and that's when they thought he had the "swine flu" when he was just a little over a year old. He had never thrown up and never had diarrhea.

Until last night that is...

The boys and I were asleep in our bed (Jason was at work) when something woke me up. Took me awhile to realize it was Hayden! He'd been using his pillow pet as a pillow lately and now the pillow was covered in vomit as was the back of my shirt and the sheets on the bed. I have no idea how he managed to miss Jason's pillow but I know he was glad he had!  Poor kid was sobbing, vomit all down the front of his jammies and down his chin. After getting him cleaned up, fresh jammies on and the bed stripped Hayden and I went back to sleep.

An hour later I get woke up by Hayden pushing on me and telling me he needed to throw up again. I got him up and rushed him to the bathroom telling him to "go in the toilet" the entire way. He got to the toilet but didn't lift up the lid and ended up throwing up all over the lid. At least it wasn't all over the bed again though!

Hayden slept the rest of the night and was actually in a good mood the next morning. So because he didn't act like anything was wrong, I got him dressed and took him to daycare. I should have known he wasn't 100% because he was clinging to my legs when I left daycare. He hadn't done that in months. I left anyway. Then I got a phone call while I was nearing the outskirts of town that Hayden had thrown his milk up all over the table.  Oooops. That was the last time he threw up that day but he was pretty happy to get to spend the rest of it at home with Daddy!

18 weeks

Well, Tucker contracted his first ever child-hood disease: hand-foot-and-mouth disease. I guess last week another child in his room at daycare went home with a fever and the next week developed the blistery rash. Wednesday morning I got a call from daycare that Tucker had the rash on his hands. If he'd had a fever it was so low we never realized it. The rash started out mainly on his hands but by mid-afternoon he had some behind his knees and next to his boys parts and then later in the evening he had a few on his face. He was still as happy as could be though!

The blotchy blistery spots were all pretty much gone by Saturday and he was back to his regular, spitty, smiley self! Now, just hope Hayden doesn't get it as well!

17 weeks

Now that Tucker is 17 weeks, his sitting up has gotten even better! He still leans forward a little but he sits for longer and longer periods before falling over!

Another new trick Tucker has discovered, is that he can find his feet! He loves to grab on to them when he's sitting up and when he's laying down he kicks them up to his head as high as he can! Maybe he's trying to imitate me doing Jackknives on the Wii Fit! Probably not...

Tucker sitting up

Tucker is getting bigger and has learned a new trick!

After his bath one night, I had him sitting in my lap, wrapped up in his hooded towel, while I was running Hayden's bath water. For a good three minutes he sat there by himself, slightly leaning forward but not using me for support at all! He was drooling all over himself and the towel but he was definitely happy!

Won't be too long and he'll be sitting straight up all by himself! Makes me a little sad he's growing up so fast! :(

;)

Daddy's "Beer"d

Jason's never had great luck growing facial hair (which is just fine with me!) but occasionally he does let a little stubble accumulate on his cheeks and chin. One Sunday, after having let the stubble go for about 5 days without shaving, he finally cleaned it all up before he went to work. The next morning had been an especially trying morning with Hayden not wanting to get up or get dressed at all! A little influence from Daddy, though, got the ball rolling and after Hayden finally calmed down and got dressed, he laid down in our bed next to Jason and was watching cartoons. For whatever reason, Hayden had his hand touching Jason's cheek, lightly stroking it.

Jason says: "Hayden, did you like my beard?"

Hayden says: "Yeah-NO! I don't like beer! I like pizza and apple juice and candy!"

Hayden's first Christmas program

The preschool that Hayden goes to holds an annual Christmas program every year. This year the program was scheduled for December 20th; however, because of the weather the program got rescheduled. (the weather was supposed to have gotten really bad with lots of snow and ice but all we got was a thin layer of snow and some crappy cold wind!)  Starting since just after Thanksgiving, Hayden had been singing Jingle Bells non-stop. In the car on the way home, in the bathtub, while trying to get ready for bed, it was Jingle Bells almost every waking moment!

The program was finally rescheduled for January 9th and I was very excited! I just knew Hayden was going to do great because he had been practicing for so long! Boy was I wrong!

When the boys and I got to place the program was being held at, Hayden went right back  to the "green room" where all the other kids were preparing for the night. (I have to say I was a little surprised that he was so willing to go by himself since Tucker and I were going out to the main part of the building. The building was the clubhouse at a housing development on the south side of town.) Tucker and I sat down in the audience with my parents and Grandma who had come up to share in the event.

After a few short minutes the entire group of kids walked out to the "stage", each one holding a small bell in their hands. Hayden was all smiles and I was excited for him. Then Ms Meghan (his teacher) started  the kids singing and Hayden immediately looked down at the bell, studying it and refusing to say a word. After Jingle Bells was over, the preschool adult helpers took the bells away from the children and a new song started. While most of the kids were at least making and effort to sing the songs (whether they remembered the words or not), Hayden just looked at his shirt, playing with the buttons and would not even say a word.

Apparently public speaking and/or entertainment is not his thing!

Sampson the Wonder Dog

Sammy is the most interesting Pug I've ever met. Jason got him when he moved to Kansas City in 2001 when we moved there for medical school. A pug wasn't his first choice but according to him it was the "manliest dog he could get that wouldn't get over 30 pounds!" Sam lived with Jason for two years in Kansas City and then moved to Augusta when Jason's training took him back to Wichita to an apartment that was pet free.  In 2004, Jason got a job at Hospira, a pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in McPherson, and moved Sam with him. At this point Sam had the run of the house - no kids, no other pets.

In 2005, Jason and I got married and when we got back to Kansas from our Honeymoon we did something that rocked Sam's world - we got another puppy. When we brought our new German Shepherd, Jager, home the first night he was about the same size as Sam, maybe a little smaller, and nothing but a ball of fluff. Sam's dominance immediately reared it's ugly head. Jager was forced to wait until Sam was done eating to begin on his and was chased off from any "treats" that happened to fall to the floor. Until Jager arrived, Sam had been known to randomly tear through the house at top speed until he wore himself out and  lay down in the coolest spot. He tried that one or two times after Jager entered the picture and when he found out that the rapidly growing ball of fluff would chase him down and tackle him Sam gave that up for good.

Hayden came into our lives in 2008, further disrupting Sammy's once cushy lifestyle. In fact, the first time Hayden cried the day we brought him home, both dogs barked at him because they didn't know what else to do! After the first few days, both dogs pretty much dismissed the baby and left him alone. That was until he became mobile. Sam quickly learned to stay away from the munchkin as much as possible.

Jager is about as good of a dog as anyone could ask for. He knows basic commands, he's good with kids and his bark is loud and gruff enough to scare off anyone. (The only problem with the dog, other than the shedding, is that he does NOT play well with other animals) Sam really doesn't have any good tricks, especially now that he's gotten older and almost completely blind. He does have one unique talent, though, and that is yodeling.

I don't remember how Sammy's talent came about exactly but I do know that Jason's brother Scott was the first person to get him to do it. How do you get a dog to yodel? you ask - that's easy! In an incredibly  high pitched, slightly off-key tone yell "wanna go outside?" Drives the poor dog nuts! He starts howling and yodeling and it's hilarious! Well, hilarious to everyone but Tucker. This is Tucker's response to Sammy's talent:

I guess not everyone's a fan!

New Years Resolution

So I've made a lot of posts today and I really hate that I got so far behind! But with the holidays and everything that's been going on I just haven't had the time that I'd like to spend recording the little accomplishments and funny things Hayden says along the way!

Now that Today is Monday and the second day of the new year I'm hoping to get started on the right track and keep this thing going on a much more regular basis!

Happy 2012 from Mr. Tucker!

Last Cowboys Game of the Regular Season

Hayden knows his mom is a huge Dallas Cowboys fan and he's such a good kid that if you ask him "What do we say when we watch football" you get a very emphatic "Goooo Cowboys!" That being said,  I thought Hayden would be super excited to watch the game with me Sunday night! Especially since it was the last game of the regular season, the 'Boys were playing the Giants (who I despise) and the winner of the game go to the playoffs!

The problem started after lunch. He'd slept in until 10 so he was NOT wanting to take a nap. Jason even tried taking him downstairs to watch Star Wars Episode 1 The Phantom Menace. For 15 minutes before they go down he repeats over and over "Star Wars The Clone Wars". (We recorded a couple episodes of the cartoon on Cartoon Network and now anything Star Wars is "The Clone Wars").

After the movie the boys came back upstairs (Jason was surprised that both of them stayed awake throughout the entire thing) and found me mixing up some guacamole to have for supper that night while we watched the game. During the end of the Chiefs game, the network displayed a bracket of the teams in the playoffs in the NFC. They were already listing the New York Giants as the division leaders and I started complaining because it wasn't guaranteed that New York would be in (and I was personally hoping they would lose the game in horrible fashion!)! Jason (who always has to be the opposite of me!) replies that because they beat the Cowboys a few weeks ago they were automatically division leaders. To which I retorted "bullshit" (and yes I'm also 15 years old!). Hayden had been dancing around the kitchen eating a small bowl of candy (his reward for going poop in the potty). He happened to be standing right next to me when I let the word slip and of course he repeated it. The first time we couldn't understand it though because his mouth was full of candy but then he kept saying it over and over. Jason starts laughing, unable to stop, while I try and correct the poor kid! He stops finally and I chuckled and said "Hayden I love you!" Hayden looks at me, says "bullshit", grins and walks away.

At 7:30, after a long bath, Captain Sassypants Hayden was too whiny for either of us to deal with. Jason told him that if he laid down in our bed he'd let Hayden watch Dora. Five minutes he was out cold and slept all night long.

And the game? Let's just say it was a huge disappointment. So for next week I will be a Falcons fan!

New Years Eve

With Tucker only being 15 weeks old, we weren't planning on anything too exciting or extravagant for New Years Eve. Being the puss that I am, I didn't feel ready to leave Tucker with someone else over night. Hayden was seven months old before we left him over night (even with grandparents) and it may be that long before we do the same with Tucker! So this year we offered to host a small get together with the Millers and the Shaws and Jason invited another couple who live a street over and also work at Hospira.

Hayden and his hat:

The night was pretty uneventful - the adults talked and had a few drinks while the kids ran around screaming, laughing and playing. Tucker fell asleep about 8:30 and we finally laid him down in our bed around 10. At 10:30 Hayden started getting whiny, accusing the other kids of "not sharing" and just otherwise indicating he needed to go to bed. So I asked him if he wanted to lay down with Tucker and go to sleep. He said yes so I turned the t.v. on and hoped that he would go to sleep.

No such luck. The other two older kids were in and out of our bedroom as well as Hayden getting up and down and at one point Chris even tried laying down in our bed with Brayden to try and get him to go to sleep. At 11:30 Jason went back to our room to use the restroom and found Hayden standing in the hallway. Don't know if he was waiting for someone to scare or what.

Midnight came and the 3 toddlers were still awake and pretty crabby at this time. Ten after twelve our guests had packed up and gone home and we were left with  lots to clean up. We put Diego on our t.v. and had Hayden go lay back down while we loaded the dishwasher. We still had the baby monitor on from early in case Tucker woke up and the only sounds that were coming from it was that of Diego. Jason says "what do you bet he's asleep?" We quietly walked back to the bedroom to find Hayden very much wide awake, sitting up in bed watching Diego. I think he takes after his mom!