Ear Infection Is Gone!

I had a great week this past week including I got a new tooth, number 13, on Thursday, March 24th, was the only boy in Tiny Tots (*yep me & 6 girls) on Wed., March 23rd, got to play in the sensory tub at daycare and even did a "sour" circle time that included getting to try sour stuff like sour yellow chocolate chips & lemons which weren't too bad!  We even did a spring unit this week which included making rain drops with coffee filters on Wed. the 23rd and made a kite on the 24th.  I'm getting better and better at circle time with the big kids and even stay put every once in a while.  The best news of the week was my follow-up doctor visit on Friday, March 25th with Mom.  Dr. Morris said my double ear infection was officially gone (*after only 5 straight weeks)!  I have to be put on some preventative medicine to keep me clear for my audiologist (*pre-tubes) visit in a month on April 21st however infections are gone! 

On Friday, March 25th to celebrate our good news Mom & I went to Mankato to meet our good friends the Grundens for Easter Bunny pictures with live bunnies!  I did pretty good sitting still and wasn't too sure about the little bunnies however loved the larger gray & black bunnies.  I was a little sad when we had to say good-bye however Mom said we could see them again next year.  It was fun to meet Katelyn's Grandma as she came with us and afterwards we went to Subway for my first Subway "happy meal".  I got a toy tiger and a reusable lunch bag which was army green & pretty cool.  Here are some of my Easter Bunny pictures:

 Hmmm...so this is the Easter Bunny; he's pretty soft.

 Oh my goodness he moved so I jumped back a little!

 The little ones kept sniffing my shirt which I found annoying but I liked petting the larger ones.

 Sitting tall like a big boy.

Mom was making me giggle...she's so silly.

Here's Katelyn & I sitting patiently until they called us up for our turn.  Aren't we cute?  The rest of the weekend we hung out at home and went to church on Sunday which I sat pretty good.  Still having a hard time sitting for a hour but working on it.  Have a great week!

First Tractor With Dad!

During the night on March 17th I had a hard time sleeping through the night and by mid-morning my temp was back up to 102 degrees.  Mom & I made what seems like our weekly trip to the doctor and sure enough the "strong" medicine couldn't beat my double ear infection...going on 5 straight weeks of ear infections now.  To eliminate potential underlying infections vs. just having ear problems our regular doctor and a pediatrician ran a bunch of tests on me.  This included having blood drawn out of both arms (*thus, being held down by 2 nurses and Mom), had a shot in each leg and even had to wear a pee pee bag for a urine test.  This whole experience was awful and by the end both I and Mom were crying.  When anyone with scrubs came into the room I'd actually start crying on the spot and climb up Mom's neck as far as I could to get away.  They did try to butter me up by giving me two rubber duckies, one as a "cow" and one a "pig" which I must say I do like now but didn't work then! 

The good news all my test results came back negative or in the normal ranges so we know its just my ears.  The two shots gave me an extra boost to try to kick the infection and then I got an adult dose of antibiotics.  At first it was hard on my tummy but got better after a few days.  All & all we were at the doctors for over 4 hours and then had to go to the Pharmacy too.  While we waited for my prescription Mom took me to look at toys and I fell in LOVE with the melody push chime (*like the old fashioned push poppers) sooo much I grabbed for it and even wouldn't let the clerk pry it out of my hands when Mom "had" to pay for it.  I now imitate Mom vacuuming with it which is fun.  Basically I'm on this new medication and we go back to the doctor next week to see if I'm in the clear & what our next steps are. 

Mom & Dad were so proud of me of how brave I was on Sat., March 19th Dad took me to the John Deere deader to buy me my first "dealer" tractor - not a real one but a toy one!  I fell asleep on the way home and of course Dad caught a picture.  Yes, I was pretty proud of my new tractor so I didn't even let it go during my quick nap.  It's a front loader and I love playing with it.  On Sunday, March 20th I hit two big milestones; I started to feed myself with a spoon & I was finally able to climb up on the coach without help.  I love to run across the coach but apparently Mom & Dad don't think it is as much fun as I do and always make me get down.  I've only fallen off once but Dad caught me along with some pillows.  Sure is fun getting bigger!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

This week was a BIG week for me because I spent my first full week in the Tiny Tots room at daycare!  They said I'm doing really good and even interacting more and more with the other kids, being less shy & hesitant.  I'm even particapting in "circle time" and the learning activities.  They said by April I will be in there full-time 3 out 4 days per week.  My new teachers are Mrs. Amber and Mrs. Jean (*also known as my real life Great Aunt Jean) and I love them both.  I'm now eating and napping with all the big kids, having daily gym time, which includes learning to ride scooters and my favorite is the sensory tub which is like a giant sand box.  On the 16th we even did a sour taste test so I had lemons and other sour things for the first time.  We made some pretty funny faces! 

On Thurs., March 17th we celebrated St. Patrick's Day wearing lots of green.  Here's my little tuxedo and hat outfit.  Kiss me I'm Irish!

 I started off at daycare with my hat but didn't last long.  I did keep my green Puma's on though!

After daycare we met the Hansen's at our house to celebrate St. Patty's Day.  Here's my girlfriend Addison in her St. Patty's Day outfit and her Mom and my Mom.  Aren't we adorable?

We had lots of "green" themed food including green cupcakes.  They were so good that I didn't use my hands at first and just leaned over and began to eat it!  I was too quick for Mom to catch on camera though.

Yummy!

Mom, do we have any more?

We even made a shamrock shaped fruit pizza - I loved it!  Hope you had a happy St. Patty's Day too!

16 Months!

So on Sunday, March 13, 2011, I turned 16 months and where has the time gone?  Here's a brief summary of what milestones I've reached:

• I now love to climb on anything & everything.  I even like to push smaller items up to larger ones as make shift step stools to get from one item to the next height up.  I believe this makes Mom & Dad nervous and apparently, they are now watching me like hawks.  No fun at all!
• I'm also becoming more & more independent in my play & thinking.  For example in the picture above I'm getting pretty creative as I make my dump truck into a trike to ride.  Not sure where I got the idea but did so all on my own when playing with Daddy & he thought it was pretty funny.  I pick up books & read (*well turn pages) all by myself.
• I'm now a pro at walking and climbing over things and can even walk & bend over to pick stuff up one handed.  Way better with my dexterity and even matching & pushing through shapes in my bucket through my shape sorting lid.
• I'm getting better with coloring/scribbling and have even made a few pictures.  I think I might be right handed but I do like to switch back and forth to keep Mom & Dad guessing.
• I'm getting a little more vocal if I like something and/or don't.  For example I get really excited & love to point at trucks, trains or tractors and even try to say truck & train.  If we're on a long drive and Dad & Mom put in a DVD for me, my favorite the movie Cars, I'll let them know when the credits are over with and its time to push play for the movie.  I also let them know when I'm hungry & want/need more food!
• My temperament seems to be mild & almost always happy as the other day at Daycare one of the little girls bit me as I was standing where she apparently wanted to be.  She then started to cry and get really upset but I just continued to stand there, didn't cry or get mad or anything just stared at her wondering what was wrong.  I then patted her on the back to make sure she was ok.  The adults seemed to be impressed by this but I was just concerned & didn't see what the big deal was.
• I'm now hitting the stage where I get a little sad when Mom & Dad leave me at Daycare but that means I also get really excited when they pick me up and I even run over with my arms wide open for a big hug.  They said that always makes their days.

As you can see I continue to grow and am able to more & more...pretty exciting stuff!

Double Ear Infection but I got Play-doh!

I finished my second dose of medicine for my right ear infection on Monday but still haven't been feeling well so Mom & I went back to the doctor today.  Unfortunately Dr. Morris said not only do I still have my right ear infection (*going on week 3) but now have one in my left ear too.  No wonder I haven't been sleeping/napping as too much pressure.  I'm now on the strongest medicine I can get and hope to kick this once and for all.  If this doesn't work, hopefully it does, then the next steps are tubes.  Keep your fingers crossed for me.

While we were waiting for my meds Mom and I did some shopping and I got some Play-doh!  We got green and yellow (*cool John Deere colors) and we tried it out for the first time when we got home.  I wasn't too sure of it and its texture at first...

...so I thought I would try to eat it but Mom stopped me and reminded me it was a toy not food.  You have to admit it is yellow like a banana!

Ta Dah!  I love Play-doh!

Eww...squishy but kinda fun you can pull it apart.

Play-doh is very interesting; I think I like it just too bad you can't eat it.  Maybe we'll make edible Play-doh next time.

Dad & Mom also cheered me up with some summer time tools - wishful thinking for warm weather.  I love my shovel and matching Cars bucket.  Lighting McQueen is so cool.  Can't wait to play with it outside.  I love wearing my blue bucket as a hat; yep, I actually put that on my head by myself! 

Other fun news this week was on Wednesday, March 9th I started spending 1/2 days in the Tiny Tots room at daycare.  I'm going to start going in there every Wednesday for a little bit and work my way up to more and more time with the bigger kids.  Most likely I'll officially move into the next room by May.  The best part is my Great Aunt Jean works in that room so I get even more love.  My first day was pretty exciting as I got to finger paint zoo animals.  So much fun being a big kid.  I should mention Kato has had a rough week too as poor puppy got sprayed twice by the local skunk!  He was just trying to protect our home (*& his food) and got hit.  Lots of baths for poor Kato all in one week.  This weekend will be low key & want to say thanks for all the get well wishes & hopefully I'll be back to normal soon.  Have a fun weekend! 

XOXO Love, Hayden

Disney's Princes on Ice!

Ok, ok, so its Disney's Princesses on Ice however Princes sounds way more manly so we'll go with it.  Before I tell you all about the show quick update on my ear infection.  On Thursday, March 3, 2011, Mom took me back to the doctor as my medicine ended on Monday and I still wasn't myself.  Sure enough my ear infection hadn't fully gone away so they extended my medicine and as of today I'm feeling much better & even sleeping through the night again.  Back to Happy Hayden!  On Friday, March 4th my girlfriends Ava and Addison came over to play while my Mom & Dad hung out with their parents.  We even had a mini-slumber party (*well until they had to go home!).

On Sat., March 5th Grandma Judy, Auntie Jenni, Cousin Hannah, Mom & I went to...yep, you guessed it, Disney's Princesses on Ice at the Target Center in the Twin Cities.  As you can see Hannah made a beautiful princess and I loved the light up scepter she got at the show too.  She is an awesome cousin and even gave me some bites of her snow cone which was delicious! 

Cousin fun before the show...

Camera, where? Way too much to look at...

Here comes Cinderella...

and of course with her Prince!

The Grand Finale...see Mickey & Minnie Mouse?  My favorite part of the show was the dragon from Sleeping Beauty that breathed fire and at the end there were fireworks.  Pretty amazing.

Afterwards we had a great dinner across the street at the Hard Rock Cafe. There was so much fun stuff to look and the best part was we got to jam out to good music the whole time.

Surprise!  Mickey Mouse pancakes!  We missed Dad at the show so Sunday morning we all had some Disney fun.

Then I got the giggles and thought it was pretty funny...I loved it and so did Dad!  Tasted pretty good too.

On Sunday we also discovered my new love for Thomas the Train...it happened to come on TV and I was hooked!  I think Dad & Mom are a little nervous I might get too hooked!

At Daycare today I got caught playing my new game of unplugging anything & everything that's plugged into the wall.  Even with stern talkings to I kept on doing it.  I just thought it was funny to unplug the power cord to the swing that rocks babies back and forth...hopefully they won't catch me tomorrow!  Ms. Megan said once I start doing this stuff it's just about time to move up to the next room...Tiny Tots here I come!

Knight in Shining Armor!

So yesterday at Daycare, March 02, 2011, my girlfriend Ava and I were playing with the indoor climbing mats and crawled into what is normally the tunnel (*it was turned on its side) and we got stuck!  Well, until I saved Princess Ava from the big, bad wall with my super-toddler strength and turned the tunnel on its side (& note, us on our side) so we could crawl free!  Go Super-Hayden!

Another Ear Infection...

On Mon., Feb. 21, 2011, I woke up with a temperature of 102 and not feeling so well.  Mom took me in to the doctor and I had my 5th ear infection but my first one in my right ear.  As you know the last couple of weeks I've been a little under the weather due to the stomach flu and haven't been 100% yet and this knocked me down a little bit more.  I do think Mom enjoyed the extra cuddling though.  I continued to have a mild temp all week but by Fri., Feb. 25th my medicine was working and I was almost Happy Hayden again (*my nickname at daycare).

On Fri., Feb. 25th Mom & I met Grandma Anne in Ames, IA for Mom's ISU meetings & my one-on-one Grandma time.  I had a blast playing, exploring the Gateway Hotel and having lots of extra attention.  Here's me & Grandma having a morning snack.  During my hotel explorations I made lots of friends and my favorite was the restaurant manager.  On Sat., Feb. 26th we were eating breakfast there & he even brought me my own mini-stack of pancakes which were delicious!  I felt pretty special.

As you can see my hair was getting pretty long so after Mom was done with her meetings Grandma, Mom & I had lunch at Hickory Park (*with sherbet for dessert!) and then I got my 3rd haircut.  We went to Great Clips and Jennifer was my stylist.  Here we are in the middle of my cut.  I loved the penguin cape and she even gave me dinosaurs to play with during the cut!

Although she did a good job and I looked  "good" when we were done she was a bit firm.  I think she even tried to put me in a headlock when she used the clippers on my neckline.  Well, key word is tried as Mom stepped in and saved me.  We made it through though & here's me in the beginning being not so sure...

Afterwards we quick ran next door to Hobby Lobby and Mom & I were being silly while we shopped.  Here's me wearing a flower on my head as Mom thinks she was being funny however my face says it all.  Meaning, seriously Mom?  In public?  Geez...I did get her back for when we were playing & I was pulling her face towards me I pushed her head down & she hit her head pretty hard on the shopping cart bar which left a mark.  That was really funny & we were both laughing, well, until a lady came up & asked Mom if she was ok.  That just made it even funnier.

On Sun., Feb. 27th we celebrated Grandma Judy's birthday by having her and Grandpa over for dinner.  The best part was getting to blow birthday horns, which they teased me with, and eating more ice cream.  We played all the way up til bedtime and had so much fun.  What a great weekend!

15 Months!

 This past week I turned 15 months on Sun., Feb. 13th.  Some of the things I can do or have been working on are:

• Have three of my 1st molars and my 4th one is just starting to peek through.
• I now walk and love to climb on things or people or Kato as you can see from above.  I climbed up on his mat and trying to give him a hug & a pat.  We're becoming best buds!
• I love looking at and turning pages in books and even recognize objects and point to them.
• I don't mind independent play and love to play with anything with wheels.  I even move cars/trucks around and make noises while I drive them.
• I had my 15 month check-up on Fri., Feb. 18th and everything seemed to check out well.  I now weigh 28 lbs. and am 33 1/4 inches long.  I'm in the 93rd percentile for both height & weight.
• I only use my sippy cup and am working on using a big boy's cup with no lid!  Starting to take interest in utensils but haven't quite figured out using them for food.
• I wave bye-bye, blow kisses, give high fives and love to point & play "ET phone home".

 

 Here's me playing peek-a-boo and scaring Kato!

We had a relaxing weekend at home and here's Dad & I having story time just before bed.  Have a great week everyone!

Cousin Fun & Happy Valentine's Day!

On Sat., Feb. 12th Mom & I met our Ehr cousins at Medford, MN for some shopping and lunch & then went back to the hotel for some play time in Owatonna, MN.  Shopping I got an awesome St. Patty's Day hat that you'll have to wait to see and at the hotel I showed off my new skill of going "down" the stairs.  I even saw my cousin Owen, 20 months, and here's me & Owen playing peek-a-boo with his mom, Diane having lots & lots of giggles!

 I don't know man do you think she's coming back?

Yep, there she is!

 She's crazy I think we should get out of here while we can!?

Ok, sounds good...

On, Mon., Feb. 14th we had somewhat a normal day other than we took the daycare ladies "whoppie pies" and I wore a heart breaker shirt.  I've even learned how to blow kisses for V-Day!  Dad & I sent Mom ISU roses and I gave Dad some chocolates and a singing card.  I must admit I did steal the card back because I liked dancing to the music!  Mom & Dad showered me with hugs & kisses and even a couple of presents.  I got a personalized Sondra Bouyton "Are You A Cow?" board book which by the way I am a Hayden note a cow.  I also got my favorite, Leap Frog barn yard magnets.

 Here's me & Dad unwrapping...

 Almost there...

 Aww...at last!

 Here's me & Mom playing with my new magnet set; just my height.

 I do pretty good getting the magnets in the barn now I just need to work on matching the front & back of the same animal together!  The best part is it sings and makes barn yard sounds.

Hope everyone had a fun & very Happy Valentine's Day!