Boo(mer) Sooner

I grew up in a Kansas State Wildcat household but at some point throughout my childhood I jumped ship and became a Kansas Jayhawks follower. However, in the past couple of years I've stopped becoming a die hard fan of either team. I'll watch them when they're on t.v. and definitely support them over other college teams they play but I don't claim one team more than the other (but don't tell my boss that - she thinks I'm a fellow KU fan in the rivalry at the work place!).

Today K-State faced Oklahoma University in Manhattan. It was kind of a big game since KSU was ranked 8 in the BCS and OU was ranked 9 following their huge loss to Texas Tech last week. While watching College Gameday (because I refuse to watch SpongeBob anymore!) I asked Hayden, "what do we say when we watch football?" He promptly exclaims "Gooo Cowboys!" and pumps his right hand up into the air. I laughed and said "no, Hayden, today we say 'go Wildcats'!" So he repeats "Go Wildcats" with another fist pump. We both laughed and I looked at Tucker, who was sitting in my lap, and said "Boo Sooners!" Tucker was watching us and broke out into a huge smile when I said "Boo Sooners"! I know he has no idea what we're talking about and probably won't for several years but I like to think that I'm teaching him early to pick the right teams! ;)

Finally Friday

Friday marked the end of a short but good week - not only was it Friday, but it was payday and a rare jean day as well! My favorite days of the year!

When I picked Hayden up from daycare, he was outside playing with the other kids so I got Tucker loaded up into the car seat first. I didn't even have to open the back door before Hayden saw me and when he ran up to give me a hug four other kids followed and swarmed the car seat. So funny to me that all of these little kids love to see the little baby in his car seat! But I couldn't let the look for long. I told Hayden to tell his friends good bye and he waved to them. Before we could walk away this adorable little girl who's about Hayden's age with curly red hair came over and gave him a big hug! It was the cutest thing!

The weekends are my time to do some housework and go to the grocery store. Before Tucker was born, I cleaned the bedrooms and bathrooms on Friday while Jason was at work (the weekends he worked) and went to the store on Saturday morning. While I was on leave from work I went to the store on Friday mornings so as to avoid the weekend crowds. The last time I went I took both boys and regretted it the entire time. If Tucker wasn't upset and crying Hayden was throwing a fit because he had to be in the cart or running off down the aisle when I did let him walk beside me. But I decided to brave the store again, just me and the boys, tonight. This time, though, I tried a different approach. When we had Hayden, Jason's mom got us a Peanut Shell - a fabric sling you wear to carry your baby around in, like a front carrier only it's worn across the shoulder and comes in fun fabrics. I had used it last weekend to carry Tucker around in while vacuuming. He slept through me vacuuming the entire house without making a peep so I decided to try it again. I put Tucker in the peanut shell and Hayden in the front of the cart and we made it through WalMart and Dillons without any problems!

Halloween parade

Day two at work was just about as good as day one and even Hayden got to go to preschool! Though he fought Jason and I the whole way! Poor kids hates to get up in the morning - guess he takes after his mom that way.

Tonight was the McPherson downtown Halloween parade. Every year on the Thursday before Halloween, the businesses along Main Street open their doors at 5:30 and all the kids in town are welcome to come by and Trick or Treat. Like the All School's Day parade, Main street is packed with hundreds of kids in costume and their parents. I took Hayden by myself last year and almost wished I hadn't. He really didn't understand the concept of "Trick or Treat" and the side of street we were on was so filled with people he was instantly overwhelmed and refused to walk. So instead I had to carry him the 5 blocks or so we decided to go before I just couldn't do it any more and turned around to head back to the car. This year Jason was off and even if Hayden wasn't into it anymore than he was last year at least I wouldn't have to carry him the whole time!  But first I had to pick up the boys from daycare.

Our daycare is split up into a few different "classrooms" depending on the children's age. Hayden's classroom is immediately to the left when you first walk in the front door and Tucker's room is down at the end of that hallway. Usually Hayden's group is either outside playing on the playground or "downstairs" dancing to music or playing a group game. Today, Hayden was in his classroom with Tucker and the other kids from the baby room. Instead of playing with the other kids, Hayden wanted to play with his little brother! I thought it was so sweet of him!

Since the parade started at 5:30 and I was of course late getting home we had to rush getting ready to go downtown. Hayden got dressed in his Darth Vader costume (complete with black cowboys boots) and got his surprise of the evening - a light saber! I put my Princess Leia costume on only to find out that it was completely see-through! A quick addition of a tank top and shorts fixed the problem and we were on our way.  There didn't seem to be as many people downtown this year and the parade moved fairly quickly. It only took a few businesses for Hayden to get the hang of holding out his bucket and accepting candy. He even walked on his own! We walked probably about 5 blocks south before we turned and came back up the other side of Main Street but once we crossed Kansas Ave Hayden was ready to go home. Looking back we're probably horrible parents for making him go out when he probably didn't feel 100% but we just wanted him to enjoy and get the most out of his costume!

The evening was a short one with the parade taking up most of the time. But the boys still needed to take a bath before they could go to bed. Tucker is super easy when it comes to bath time and rarely cries. Hayden, on the other hand, can be somewhat of a handful. If he's not pissy because he has to take a bath in the first place, he acts like a goofball before, during and after. Tonight was no exception! I had given Tucker his bath already and was getting him dressed in the boys' room while Jason was getting Hayden undressed for his own bath. I'm guessing the three or so pieces of candy Hayden ate after the parade gave Hayden a sugar high because as soon as the last article of his clothing came off he streaked out of the bedroom. We could hear him giggling in the hallway and the next thing we knew he comes tip toeing back into the room, looking straight at us, with his hands up in the air in his typical "scary pose". And giggling he jumps forward at us roaring like a monster as he does! Then he runs back out, giggling as he goes, just to turn around and try to "scare" us again! The third time he tries it he's giggling so hard he can't hardly roar!  Crazy little naked monster! It's never dull around here that's for sure!

First day of work

My first day back to work I was facing some very mixed emotions. While I was ready to get back into the routine and hang out with my friends at work, I wasn't quite ready to be away from the boys for such an extended period of time during the day yet! I feel like this time around I'm way less ready to go back than I was with Hayden. I know that may sound odd, with Hayden being the first born and all, but there was just so much more going on at that time: making sure the house was constantly spotless and getting both dogs and the kid out of the house so potential buys could make their rounds, selling the house, and looking for and buying a new one. We did a lot in a short amount of time and I was ready to get away from it! Plus there were days when baby version of Hayden screamed all day long if he got put down and wasn't held! Tucker is an angel compared to his brother!

Another reason I was not looking forward to going back was that I would have to get up to an alarm clock. Early. Which is something I hadn't had to do (at least not very often) for the past six weeks and I was not looking forward to it! But, surprisingly, I was able to get up on time and without it being horribly excruciating! Getting Hayden up was a different story. Poor kid was still slightly feverish and when I tried to change him from his jammies/pull-up to underwear and jeans he started coughing so hard he started gagging! I picked him up and ran to the bathroom, trying to keep the vomit off the carpet at least! He never did throw up but at that point he was crying so hard I felt horrible! So instead of going to daycare, Hayden stayed at home with Jason for Tucker's first day.

My first day back went better than I ever could have expected! The patients were welcoming and there wasn't mass chaos that ensued! (probably because only one of the four physicians was in all day, Sanders was done seeing patients on time and Neuschafer was out of the office altogether!) While I was gone, Sanders lost a staff member and gained two new ones (one of which replaced another staff member that quit before my leave). New staff members can be a little nerve wracking at times. Some that we've had in the past, especially in Sanders area, have been less than ideal. But these girls seem to be quite enjoyable! Hopefully this is a good fit for the office!

As good as the day was and as glad as I was to see some of my patients, I was even more ready to get back and see my boys! Tucker's first day at daycare was very successful! The girls said he was all smiles all day long and each staff member had to take turns holding him! He's the first baby his age they've had there in a long time and they are loving it! Being a daycare center and preschool, one might be a little skeptical taking their six week old baby there or at least surprised that they accept pretty much newborns there but I've been really pleased with how they take care of Hayden and now Tucker! I had thought our old daycare was reliable (not that they weren't) but the daycare we are at now sends home a sheet that details each time Tucker eats, how many wet/poopy diapers he has and how long he sleeps! It's great to know how much he's eating, especially for when we go back to the doctor - I never know how much (ounce wise) he actually gets since I nurse him. This way I know how much he's getting throughout the day and that he's getting enough. Not that I need to worry about that - we've switched him from newborn size diapers to size ones and his legs have multiple rolls down his thighs!

Hayden had a good day at home with Daddy too, though I can't say how much supervision he had. Jason had worked Tuesday night and usually sleeps a good part of the day the next day. When Jason agreed to stay at home with the sick kiddo I really didn't expect him to be awake all day, just thought he would at least make sure Hayden had what he needed before he went to sleep. Apparently Hayden made himself at home. Jason said he had been a pretty good kid, only waking him up a couple of time to get what he needed and pretty much just staying quiet and watching the Disney channel. However, I noticed that Hayden had decided at some point during the day to rearrange my night stand. My manicure set and emery board were sitting on a tv tray in the living room, a pair of scissors Jason had used at some point were on the floor and the pair of socks that I had originally pulled out to wear but opted not to at the last minute were in the front room on the floor. Not sure what was going through his mind at the time but he sure is a crazy kid!

All in all it was a good day for everyone on Tucker's six week birthday!

Tuesday - one day left before back to work

The plan for today was to get up (like a normal work day), take Hayden to preschool and take Tucker to Hutch with me to work on some paperwork before coming home and washing the dishes and frosting the cookies I had baked last night. Wrong. Well not entirely but nothing happened entirely as I had planned it out either.

Tucker slept all night and I was able to get up when the alarm went off (unlike the day before when I tried to "practice" and ended up hitting the snooze so many times the alarm shut itself off). Winning. Hayden woke up as I was feeding Tucker and was not in a crabby mood. Winning again. Tried getting Hayden to brush his teeth while I fixed my hair. He decided to hide in his room under his blankets. Here's where the plan starts to unravel. Went into Hayden's room and realized he was burning up - had a temp of 100.3 under his arm which is officially too high to go to daycare. I could have stayed home with him but I really needed to get some scheduling done before tomorrow morning! Little did I know that Jason had a meeting at 7 so he didn't get home until 8 (I was hoping to leave by 7:15!). But he graciously offered to stay home with Hayden so I could go to work.

I only worked for a couple of hours and came home to help out with sicko. When I got back to Mac Jason was sound asleep and Hayden was playing quietly in our bed, his Star Wars guys lined up next to my pillows. The rest of the afternoon Hayden was fever free and his typical silly self. While watching Dora the Explorer he looked at me and said "Yoda". "What?" I asked him and he repeated himself. I asked "what?" one more time and this time he got right up in my face and yelled "YODA!" then he went back to the show. Each episode of Dora features a character called Swiper who's a fox that takes other characters things and hides them so the characters can't find them. When Hayden saw Swiper he playfully gasped and said "Mommy I'm Swiper". I asked "if you're Swiper where's your tail?" He looked at me and in all seriousness said "In my butt."

For weeks Hayden's been talking about Darth Vader. He's been so obsessed with Darth Vader we thought it would be fun for him to be Darth for Halloween. The costume came in the mail today and I couldn't wait to get it on him to see how it fit! But getting him to put it on was like pulling teeth! And when I finally did get him to wear it he looked extremely sad! I tried getting a picture of him in it but that was the finally straw - he chased me around the kitchen trying to hit me so I wouldn't take his picture. I finally just gave up with a single blurry picture of him in the costume. I'll try again in a couple days!

Hayden did have a new break through on pooping in the potty though. The house had gotten very quiet and all of a sudden I hear "Mommy I need help!" coming from the bathroom. I go in there and Hayden was sitting on the potty! He sat there for awhile and there was nothing in the stool but he asked for some paper anyway. He wiped his butt and the tiniest little piece of poop was on the paper. He was so proud of himself I had to give him some M&Ms! About an hour later he announced he needed to potty and went in by himself. Five minutes later there was poop in the potty! So proud of the big guy for going all by himself!

The best part of the day though came at supper time. After I fed Tucker I laid him down on the couch next to me so I could eat my supper. Hayden sat down on the opposite side of Tucker and leaned down to talk to him. I looked over when I saw Hayden's finger moving to Tucker's face. All he did was lightly touch his nose but it made Tucker break out in the biggest smile I had ever seen! Unfortunately I was too slow to get a picture of it. I think the little guy likes his big brother!

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Monday - Two Days of Leave Left

It's hard to believe that my six weeks is almost over! Seems like it just began and there's still so much I need to do! Like make a cheese cake to take to work as a big thank you and bake and decorate sugar cookies for Hayden's daycare Halloween party! But after a weekend of friends and football (including a big Cowboys victory!) it's hard to be upset!

I decided to keep Hayden home from daycare on Monday; I wanted to spend the day with both boys since it would be the last non-weekend/holiday day I would get to! So because the weather was so nice (and because Hayden had been super hyper all weekend) I thought a trip to the park would be good for all of us! The plan was to mid-morning but of course even the most well-laid plans turn into epic failures these days! Getting both boys  ready was a trial. Hayden has turned into a super-staller (he can find a million different ways to not have to get dressed) and Tucker just likes to snack (he nurses for 10 minutes, burps, and falls asleep and when you lay him down because you don't think he's gonna wake up to finish he decides to let out a high pitch whine!). Needless to say by the time both kids and myself were ready to go it was almost lunch time!

So a few PB&Js some carrots and grapes and we had ourselves a little picnic at the park! With Tucker happy in his carseat, a breeze blowing across his face, Hayden had fun playing at the playground. The fun didn't last too terribly long though before Hayden needed to go potty. Word of warning - the bathrooms at Lakeside park are DISGUSTING! Thankfully Hayden can potty standing up or I may have told him to just pee his pants! I was going to let Hayden play some more but about 3 minutes later he told me he needed to poop! Somehow I managed to convince him to hold it just a few minutes - long enough to get home first!

The pooping never happened though - not in the bathroom or in his pants (thank the lord!). But it was soo nice out I couldn't make the kid stay cooped up inside. Instead Hayden rode his tricycle around the garage/driveway (even taking his Luke Skywalker "guy" for a ride on the back step) and we played with the sidewalk chalk.

For whatever reason, every time we play with the chalk I write out all of our names. Anytime Hayden sees the letter "H" he yells "that says Hayden" - no matter what the word is! Today was no exception and as soon as I had his name written out that's what he yells. So we went through each letter in his name with him repeating what I say. Next thing I know he's writing the letter "H" with the chalk in his hand! Didn't know he knew what the letter was but was pretty impressed just the same!

After an hour of playing Hayden was ready for a nap. And mom decided to get overly ambitious. I thought it was a good idea to start making cookies (without the cutter shape I needed) and with limited time before my eye doctor appointment. By the time that was over with it was almost 6:30 and I still had to make supper! Two hours later supper was ready and cookies were all baked and the kitchen was an absolute disaster. But everyone was fed and happy (even Tucker who was a trooper and didn't start crying until I was almost done with supper)

First Football Game

Tonight I took Hayden and Tucker to the last Augusta home football game of the season. This was Tucker's first football game! (Hayden's first was last year when we took him to the Southwestern College Homecoming game which was also Jason's 10 year college reunion. He was more interested in the purple football he got rather than the actual game but that's a two year old I guess!) Tucker really acted like he was enjoying the game at first. The weather was great - cool but definitely not cold by any means and no wind at all. Tucker just looked around (probably mainly at the lights) and almost smiled even! Hayden really liked the game and even clapped when everyone around us cheered! But he was still more interested in what cousin Delaney was up to.

At half time the score was tied at 14 all (Augusta was playing the El Dorado Wildcats) and Tucker was starting to get a little fussy. But half time was the real reason we were there! Bri plays flute in the band and Alli is on the dance team. The band played a couple songs from the movie "The Incredibles" (and performed a routine that was way better than anything we could have produced when I was in band back at good old Council Grove) and the dance team performed to a song by the Ting Tings. Both girls did very very well - still seems crazy to me that they're in high school! Shortly after the start of the third quarter, we left to go get Tucker some food!

On the way home Hayden want me to see the silly faces he was making. Of course, it was too dark to see what he was doing and besides I was driving and needed to watch the road. So I told him that I couldn't turn around so that I could watch out for deer. He immediately got excited and wanted to see the birds for himself! Wanted the deer to wake up so he could see them! I tried to explain how it was dangerous if a deer popped out of the trees but I don't think it quite sank in. He still was asking to see the deer when we pulled into the Arby's parking lot. Oh well, at least he didn't get his wish to see the deer or else this momma woulda had to change her pants like we did Tucker's!

Date Night

It's been a while since Jason and I have been to dinner - just the two of us. Jason's parents just got home from a vacation to Florida and haven't seen the boys in a while. What better way for GaGa and Papa to get some grandson fix and Mom and Dad to get some alone time?!

Before leaving McPherson, we stopped to get gas and put a little air in one of my tires. With the change in the weather, one of my tires tends to get a little low which causes the pressure monitor to go off. The only way to make the light go back to normal is to put some air in the tire. This particular tire, however, is missing the valve stem cap. Have no idea what happened to it and can never remember to pick up another one when I'm at the store. I should have known when I inserted the 75 cents for air that this wasn't a good idea. The air machine only worked part-time apparently because the air coming out was very sporadic and took forever to get from 28psi to 34 psi (the monitor resets itself at 35 psi). Then when I pulled the air hose nozzle away from the valve stem, the stem itself appeared to be cracked and almost bent midway into the threads. I pushed on it and it appeared to go back into place. You couldn't hear any air coming out of it, the tire looked fine and the psi was within the normal range so we decided to go ahead and go to Wichita.

After dropping the kids off in Augusta, we went into Wichita to eat at Bonefish Grill - something new and tasty to try! The pressure of the tire in question dropped at a steady slow pace but not to the point where we were concerned. We opted to wait to air the tire up when we got back to Augusta that way if there was a problem we were only a few blocks from family. Not a bad idea in theory. However, when we got out of the vehicle at the restaurant, Jason decided to "check" the tires. For whatever reason he tried to take the cap off the valve stem of the low tire which ended up breaking the busted end of it off altogether! Immediately the tire went completely flat in a loud "woooosh"! Awesome. We decided to go ahead and eat first.

Dinner was delicious! Bang bang shrimp (lightly breaded and fried shrimp in a creamy, slightly spicy cream sauce over a bed of fresh lettuce), shrimp and scallops with mango peach salsa and ahi tuna with an Amstel light and a black cherry guava mojito to wash it all down with! Service was great and very helpful. Couldn't have asked for a better date! Then it was time to change the tire. In the dark. Thankfully Bonefish is in the Waterfront area at 13th and Webb. A very well lit and low danger area of town! We were also lucky in that the spare in my Jeep is a full size tire. As soon as everything was loaded and after a quick stop at Starbucks for a Pumpkin Spice Latte (I got my standard Mocha and as much as I love them I was super disappointed in myself for not getting the Latte) we headed back to Augusta.

Not only did Tucker get to be spoiled for awhile by GaGa, GiGi and Aunt Marcie but Hayden got to play with cousin Delaney as well! They had dinosaurs all over the floor and were banging on empty buckets with wooden spoons. Needless to say it wasn't very quiet when we got there! They also had their pajamas on. When asked if he wanted to put his jammies on like NeNe, apparently Hayden took one look at her pretty flowered nightgown and exclaimed "No! I not wear flower jammies!" He got to wear his monster jammies instead! ;)

The evening wasn't all good though. Poor Tucker was wide awake, and just like his big brother used to do, he screamed almost the entire way home. Thankfully it was in the car and not for an hour after we got home!

Just a few extra pics from the week!

Five weeks old!!

Tucker is now five weeks old and growing like a weed! He hasn't been officially weighed since his two week check up but based off of a rough estimate (using my Grandma's scale) he's close to eight pounds now! He's been awake a lot more throughout the day, making happy little noises and even smiling a little bit. I'm pretty sure he's going to have a couple dimples too!

Something else new that Tucker's been doing: he's been rolling over! Well if you put him on his tummy he holds himself up enough that he ends up pushing himself over. I think it's more luck and gravity then him actually consciously rolling over but it is pretty cute when he does it!

When Hayden was little (and even sometimes still) he used to make this face when he got really upset where his mouth would turn almost completely upside down like a cartoon frown face. Tucker has been doing the same thing! It's cute and sad all at the same time!

First visit to the farm!

Hayden loves to go to the farm and if you talk to him he'll tell you all about Papa's cows and bulls! This weekend was Tucker's first official visit to the farm!  Being only 4 weeks old I'm sure he probably didn't get much out of it but he got to meet his cousins (well my cousins) for the first time as well!

Justyn (10), Nash (7), Kenzie (8) and Kolton (6) were super excited to see the little guy! They each took turns holding him and couldn't get enough of him! I was really impressed with how well Kolton did with Tucker - he was very gentle with him and supported his head very well.

The awkward part was feeding Tucker. Tucker got fussy almost as soon as we pulled into Alta Vista; not surprising as it had been awhile since he ate last. So as soon as we got to Grandma and Grandpa Coopers I got out the stuff to nurse Tucker. Kolton was instantly curious as to what we were doing! I think he was confused because there were no bottles involved and he couldn't figure out why Tucker needed to be covered up. I ended up comparing myself to a cow to explain it too him but it did keep him from trying to peek under the nursing cape!

Saturday was a busy day for both boys. First, Hayden threw up all over himself and the car seat about 7 miles outside of Salina. I should have known something was wrong when he turned down a cherry Poptart and only took a few drinks of his Bug Juice (instead of downing the whole thing in a couple minutes like he usually does).  But since he was acting fine I didn't really worry about it! Then without warning the up chucking happened. Poor kid had to sit in it for about 5 minutes too before I could get to a place to pull over (because I was NOT going to stop on the side of the interstate!). He even told me he needed to go home in between sobs! The first stop we came to was thankfully a rest stop. I got his clothes changed and his car seat cleaned out as best I could and we loaded back up again. Hayden even thanked me before he said "ready to rock and roll Mommy?" He's such a sweet kid!

The rest of the day Hayden acted like himself (except for refusing to eat hardly anything). He was great when we went to Manhattan and sat very still while GaGa trimmed his bangs. He played with Matt and Matt's girlfriend Meghan and even got to ride with Papa in the combine. Earlier in the summer during wheat harvest he was very skeptical of the big red beast but this fall he couldn't wait to go for a ride. Unfortunately for Papa, Hayden got a little too comfortable and fell asleep.

Sunday Hayden still wouldn't hardly eat anything. Even turned down pancakes which are one of his favorite foods! Not sure if his tummy was still upset or if he was scared of throwing up again or if his allergies have flared up and his throat hurts. It's hard to get a straight answer out of a three year old! Then mid-morning he tried hiding behind the recliner, his face very serious and slightly red. It took some convincing and about three trips to the bathroom but Hayden finally pooped in the "potty potty" with some help from GaGa. Apparently the stress of having to go wore him out because a few minutes later the living room was silent and Hayden was passed out on the floor, a small yellow truck in his hand. I laid him down on Mom and Dad's bed, not even thinking that he may need a pull-up. Big mistake. Hayden came out about thirty minutes later, walking with his feet shoulder width apart, and crying. He had had an accident in his sleep and ended up with pee all over his clothes and a big puddle in the bed.

With the exception of Hayden's random bodily fluids the trip to the farm was a success! Even Tucker had a good time (I'm pretty sure!)!

4 weeks old!

Hard to believe the little guys is already a month old! He's growing like a weed! The newborn clothes are starting to fit well and almost to the point of being small! His legs are starting to get some rolls on them and he even has a double chin!!

This week Tucker's been a lot more alert and definitely has defined periods of being awake and being asleep. He's a very sound sleeper, taking 3 or 4 hour naps in the afternoons and even sleeping for periods of 3-4 hours at night! This is one huge difference between him and Hayden.  While Hayden would be inconsolable for what seemed like hours in the evenings, Tucker's longest fussy spell has been about twenty minutes. It took Hayden a week or two to get the hang of latching on/nursing; Tucker went for it immediately after birth. Even bath time is different. Hayden screamed bloody murder every time he took a bath (still does occasionally) while Tucker stays pretty calm. I knew the two of them were going to be different but I didn't realize that it would be to this extent. Makes me a little concerned what kind of trouble he's going to get into when he gets older!

It's now 11:20 pm and both boys are asleep (in my bed of course). I a still blown away at the fact that I have a three year old and a one month old. I guess I never thought that at 28 I would be this tired, happy, content, frustrated, confused, elated all at the same time! Hell, it's hard enough thinking/realizing that I'm an adult, let alone a parent! What a crazy roller coaster life is sometimes! But I wouldn't have it any other way!

Potty Training Take 3

We are FINALLY making progress!!

So far Hayden has gone all week with only having 1 accident! Well, one accident while being awake I should say.

Tuesday my friend Megan and her husband Casey came down from Nebraska to visit and meet Tucker. They stayed through Wednesday afternoon. Hayden had a blast playing with Casey! At one point he even got to talking about his birthday, which I said was "coming up" (in 11 months). He promptly walked up to Casey and told him his birthday was coming up soon. Crazy kid will repeat pretty much anything you tell him!

We've been trying to keep an eye on Hayden to make sure he doesn't go off by himself and poop in his underwear (which he did on Monday). There was nothing on Tuesday but on Wednesday he tried hiding behind a chair in the kitchen. After attempting to take him to the bathroom myself, which was a failure, Hayden asked Casey to take him. I wasn't sure how this was going to play out. Casey's great with kids but since him and Megan don't have any of their own yet what 29 year old really wants to take a 3 year old to the bathroom to take a crap? Surprisingly, Hayden sat down and a mere five seconds later had success!

Friday was another positive day of poop in the potty even though we did have a small accident. Hayden was soo busy playing downstairs that he held it too long and peed on the floor in the bathroom before he could get his pants pulled down (oops).

The weekend was spend back home in Alta Vista and we even made it all the way there and all the way home without an accident (though we did have a mess of a different sort)! On Sunday Hayden even went poop in the potty at Mom and Dad's!

So far, pooping in the potty has been a success as long as we can catch him in the act. Hopefully this trend continues - especially at daycare/preschool. I think as long as we can keep him convinced that it's easier (and cleaner) to poop in the potty and not his underwear we should have smooth sailing from here on out! Of course, that also means I need to think of a prize for a job well done! ;)

Star Wars

Anyone that knows Jason and I know that we enjoy us some Star Wars. We even bought the complete set on BluRay the first weekend it came out! Our interest in Star Wars has evidently worn off on Hayden. Every time a commercial comes on TV or we see an advertisement for anything Star Wars he gets real excited and shouts "Star Wars!" or "Look at that! Star Wars!"

For Christmas last year and his birthday this year, we've picked up a few action figures for Hayden but they've been mainly Storm Troopers and a Luke Skywalker figure. But here lately Hayden's been obsessed with Darth Vader (probably thanks to the advertising group at Volkswagon). At one point Jason and I thought it was a good idea to dress up the entire family (dogs included) as characters from Star Wars; but we had always planned on Hayden being Luke. Nope. Hayden has decided he wants to be Darth Vader. Except he says he wants Darth Vader to come to his "birthday". Not really sure what he means by that but if it makes him happy....

Our friend Chris Shaw is also a fan of Star Wars. He also has a theater set up in his basement complete with movie posters. One of these posters is from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. The poster shows a young Anakin Skywalker with his shadow being cast upon a building. His shadow is the form of Darth Vader. Friday night we happened to be hanging out at the Shaw's house and Hayden saw the poster. First, he got real excited (like always) and shouted "Star Wars! That Star Wars!". Then Jason asked if he knew who the shadow was. And in the same excited voice he shouted "Darth Vader! Darth Vader up there!"

I think we've created a monster!

Carnival!

The Catholic church in McPherson has an Oktoberfest German food/carnival fundraiser every year. I had seen the advertisement for it posted at our daycare and thought it sounded like it might be fun! We really had no idea what to expect - whether Hayden would want to play any game or if he'd just cling to one of us in terror!

But things went better than we anticipated!  The food was really pretty good - ham, bean and dumpling soup; bierocks, kalushkis (spelling? - meatballs wrapped in cabbage), german sausage, hamburgers, pickles and kuchen. The line was pretty long when we got there, but moved relatively quickly. Then came the carnival. Some of the games were a little too hard for Hayden to do and others he really didn't seem interested in. But the gym was where the excitement was! There was an inflatable obstacle course, a Spiderman inflatable and an inflatable bouncy house! So for a few dollars, Hayden got a pumpkin stamp on his arm and got to play in the bouncy houses!

Before this, however, he had a slight wardrobe malfunction. First, he put his arm about half way down his underwear trying to scratch his butt. Then when Jason told him he could play on the inflatables, Hayden tried to take off down the hallway to get his stamp but his pants, which are a little too big around the waist, fell all the way to the ground and he tripped and fell. Of course, I missed all this first hand (Tucker needed my attention) but I'm sure it was pretty funny to watch!

This weekend Hayden kept his underwear dry - even going to a friends house and being at the carnival! And Tucker got to watch his first Disney movie, and one of my personal favs, The Lion King! After the movie ended we were picking up and trying to decide what to watch next when we noticed Hayden clenching and focusing real hard on the wall. This is a sure sign he's about to poo and if you ask him if he needs to he denies it every time. The problem is that he wasn't wearing a pull-up, he was wearing underwear! So Jason picked him up and took him to the bathroom upstairs. The poor kid has issues when it comes to going number two and hates to have anyone look at him, let alone touch him or talk to him when he's trying to do his business so having Daddy take him to the bathroom was absolutely awful! But Jason told him that if he at least tried to sit on the potty he'd get to pick out the movie. Hayden agreed and after a few seconds of straining he pooped in the potty for the first time in his life! He was so proud of himself he ran downstairs to tell Tucker and I! We upheld our end of the bargain and he got to watch Star Wars! Even sat through The Empire Strikes Back from start to finish (a first for him)!

Things Kids Say

Hayden isn't shy about some things, especially around Jason and I. One of my favorite lines from him is "Dinosaurs get kicked in the nuts!" He tells us this after he makes his dinosaurs fight each other. Ask him where their nuts are at and he points to the plastic dino's chin.

Tonight Hayden had a new line. After his bath, Jason got him dressed in his pajamas. While doing so, Hayden told him that he had small "boo boos", Daddy had "big boo-boos" and Mommy had "big, strong boo-boos". What does Hayden think a "boo-boo" is? Apparently a boob! As he's telling this to Jason (and later myself) he points at his chest, then motions up over his head when talking about me. Then he lifted up his shirt and circled his own nipple with his finger. Such a weird child!

Three Weeks Old!

Today Tucker is three weeks old! Hard to believe it's gone by so fast and that I will have to go back to work in three weeks :( I hate to admit this but I think it was easier to go back to work after I had Hayden than it will be this time. Don't know if it's because there's a lot less stress this time around (not worrying about buying a house, selling a house or making sure a house is clean from top to bottom at a moment's notice!) or if it's because I've been able to spend so much time with BOTH boys!

At three weeks I think we've got a routine down. For the most part. He gets up between 7 and 8 and goes to bed around 10 or 10:30, only waking up once around 3! I have to admit, Tucker's been pretty easy so far. He eats and sleeps without a lot of trouble and doesn't scream for hours at a time! I really hope that this doesn't come back to haunt me when he gets older! The past couple of days Tucker has wanted to be held more. But I don't know if that's because he doesn't burp well and it makes him cranky or if he senses that someone else in the house needs to be taken care of too. Jason had his wisdom teeth out yesterday. He's doing very well, much better than anticipated! Only took the Lortab a couple of times before he switched to Ibuprofen. Plus he hasn't had a cigarette in almost two whole days! Very proud of him for that and hopefully he can quit altogether! I know it will be good for all of us if he does!

Hayden is still having trouble being consistent on the potty and it's becoming super frustrating. Today has been a three strike day. Strike one: this morning I woke him up and his bed was soaked - his pull-up was as full as it possibly could be - which meant his sheets had to get washed for the second day in a row. Strike two: picked Hayden up from daycare, hoping he was still in the same clothes I had dropped him off in. Success! But when I got to the playground the first thing he told me: I peed in my pants. Fail. His pants didn't look wet though so I felt the back of his pants. They definitely weren't wet but there was a giant lump in the back of them. Epic fail. Fortunately we had the diaper bag in the car (from the small exploration of the McPherson furniture scene we had taken with Tucker) so I didn't think it would be any big deal to just put a pull-up on him in the car. Wrong again. Not sure how long before I'd gotten to daycare that he'd pooped but it was all over his butt, down his thighs and surrounding his penis. How anyone, kiddo or not, can stand to have that all over like Hayden did I will never know! Strike three: after a quick bath when we got home (we ran out of baby wipes trying to clean him up at daycare so unfortunately the poor kid had to sit in a little poop until we could get home!) Jason put Hayden back into a pair of underwear and shorts. About 10 minutes after Jason left for Wichita (to look at a stereo he was all excited about - something I will NEVER understand!) Hayden peed his pants again! Maybe one of these days he'll get it...

Getting bigger...

Saturday morning was pretty much like any other day around the house lately. Except that Tucker was awake almost all morning! It marked the first day he was awake more of the day than he slept. And he was perfectly content to hang out: next to me on the couch, in his car seat or sitting in the Boppy pillow in the crib!

Thug life!

Hayden thought he needed to play with Luke Skywalker!!

Hayden is seeming more and more like a big kid every day as well - and not because there's such an extreme size difference between him and Tucker!  The things that come out of his mouth sometimes are perfectly hilarious! I asked him on Monday what Tucker was doing. He says "I don't know. Nothing." Next I asked him what he was doing. He says "I don't know. Walking."

But the cutest thing ever was listening to Hayden read to me. Lately, every time he sees the letter "H" on anything he tells us that it's his name written there. Doesn't matter what it is, he always tells us it says his name. Besides finding his name everywhere, Hayden loves books and has taken to describing the action happening in each picture of every book we read. One book that we've read a million times is the book "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?" Originally, I kept reading it to help him work on his colors (which backfired for a long time because he would tell me every animal was brown). But we hadn't read it in awhile (lately he's been on a Curious George and "Green Eggs and Ham" kick).  While feeding Tucker, Hayden really wanted me to read him a story. He first picked up Curious George but I managed to convince him to choose something else. He chose "Brown Bear". I read it through the first time and then Hayden said he wanted to read it to me. I figured he'd just point to the animals and tell me what color they were. Boy was I wrong! He read the entire book to me word for word! I'm sure it was all from memory from having it read to him soo many times, but there's nothing cuter than a three year old reading you a book for the first time!