Splish Splash

From 2013 Aug Sept Oct

I LOVE this little guy!! He is SUCH a happy kiddo! He loves the bath. Especially now that he can sit up and splash around. He was splashing and laughing at me. Then sister came in and he started showing off for her. he got her attention. Then splashed like CRAZY. Then stopped and looked at her for her reaction. It's so cute to see them interact. He LOVES his sister. When I put them in the car after daycare, the first place he looks is to her carseat. His face lights up when she says hi to him. There's been a few days when I've picked him up from daycare without her (usually before I pick her up from school) and he looks over and gets this sad face like "where is she???" Then he'll look at me for an answer. Now that he's getting more mobile, I know he will have all of us on our toes in no time, but I have a feeling he'll be giving Ryleigh a run for her money. In the bath I'll put him in his bath seat while I wash Ryleigh. He will kick and scoot around in his bath seat so he can reach Ryleigh (even if she moves away) and will then kick her like crazy. It's like you can see his mind working - "GOTCHA Sis!!!" and "Get you, get you, get you!!"

Hayden's 7 Months old

Hayden is 7 months old.

From 2013 Aug Sept Oct

He is up to about 18.5 pounds. Length???? He is such a happy little guy. Definitely goes with the flow. He has 2 bottom teeth. He wears a size 3 diaper. He is in 9 month clothes. He goes to bed around 7pm, feeds around 11pm, is up between 2am and 5am and is up for the day around 7:30am. He is mostly breastfed and occasionally formula fed. He does stage 1 fruits and veggies mixed with rice cereal. He's not much of a veggie fan, but starting to tolerate squash and sweet potatoes. Definitely likes fruits. And LOVES puffs. He's definitely a DIY feeder. He loves putting it in his mouth like a big kid. He loves his jumper and walker. Loves to be upright and his legs are very strong. Starting to work toward crawling, but still hates being on his tummy. But he's getting better. He loves chew toys and actually uses them for their intended purpose (unlike his sister). He's becoming a pro at finding my teething necklaces when I hold him.

From 2013 Aug Sept Oct

From 2013 Aug Sept Oct

From 2013 Aug Sept Oct

Hayden is 6 months old.

From 2013 Aug Sept Oct

He weighs 17 pounds 7.5oz ( 50th percentile)
He is 25.25 inches long (3 percentile - he seems so much bigger than that...)
His head is 14.5 inch circumference (66th percentile)
He is in size 3 diapers.
He wears size 6-9 month clothes.
He can roll from front to back and back to front - but it's not his favorite thing to do.
He's getting better at tolerating tummy time, as long as there is a mirror in front of him.
He loves his feet. They're constantly in his hands.
He can sit up unassisted.
He LOVES being upright. The walker and jumper are his favorites.
He is a teething machine - drool and all. He finally has 2 teeth on the bottom. Ryleigh never really used teethers - Hayden LOVES them and uses them like they're intended.
Since his tongue and lip tie surgeries, he now tries to stick his tongue out and blow.
Has a lovie - a muslin washcloth (thankfully they're still interchangeable).
We have started solids - we've tried peas - not a fan, and sweet potato - doesn't make faces, but after a bite or two he'll seal his mouth shut and refuse to open (unless it's for a finger, teether, washcloth, basically anything but a spoon). We went back to trying rice cereal just to up his caloric intake to see if he'll sleep longer at night - takes about 4 bites before the tight lip kicks in. So we tried some sweet potato puffs -- kid loves em. Think he may be a do it yourselfer (aka. may have to do baby led weaning...).
He is still such a sweet and happy little man. We love him to pieces. Definitely brightens our day to see that sweet smile every morning.

Shutterfly Share Site

I know I have some updating to do. I've gone back to playing with some shutterfly share sites, so I'm hoping that will be easier to do some quick updates (and get me to put the photos up in Shutterfly so I can order books again!). You may have received an invite to join the share site in your email inbox. If not, here is the link to the site I created for Ryleigh's first year of school:

https://ryleighsschoolyear20132014.shutterfly.com/

Hopefully I'll find some time to do a proper update soon.

Hayden's 5 month update and Ryleigh update

Hayden is 5 months old!

He is 16 pounds, 10oz with a onesie and dry diaper on (as of 7/15/13). Didn't do his length.

He is still fed primarily breastmilk and occasionally some alimentum formula when he's really gassy or fussy and is having issues breastfeeding.

He is off of his reflux meds now, and just spits up occasionally. Nothing like before. The OMM is definitely working.

He is working to sit up. He can stay upright for about 10-20 seconds when in the "teepee" position, and when barely supported can stay even longer. He will be sitting up in no time! Now to see which will happen first, getting a tooth (which still hasn't cut through), rolling over either direction (so close on both), or sitting up (RIGHT there). The race is on. He is getting more coordination in his hands. He's grab things he wants, he'll reach for things. He's transfer things from hand to hand. He can grasp his pacifier by the button and pull it out, and put it back in. He lifts his arms up now when he wants to be picked up. He coos, mimicks, and "talks" a bunch! Blowing raspberries are a favorite of his.

From 2013 May June July

And he has the cutest laugh.

From 2013 May June July

He is having latching issues though while breastfeeding and with the bottle. So I took him to a lactation consultant. The lactation consultant said he has a posterior tongue tie and while he's able to compensate sometimes, with the teeth that are getting ready to come in, he's having issues compensating and maintaining suction. A tongue tie is when a piece of skin tethers the tongue to the bottom of the mouth. They can be anterior, and be very obviously holding the tongue down, or they can be posterior, which are less obvious. If you have a heart shaped tongue, cannot stick your tongue out past your teeth - you likely have a tongue tie. It impairs the baby from latching appropriately because they cannot move their tongue like they need to to extract milk when they eat. To see if you have one - open your mouth as far as you can, now without moving your jaw, try to touch the roof of your mouth with your tongue. A non-tongue tied person should be able to do this. We've discovered, Chris and I both have a tongue tie, and it seems Ryleigh might have one too. Some are obvious and you can see a white piece of tissue connecting the tongue to the floor of the mouth, others like Hayden's are less obvious and you have to have a trained practitioner manipulate the tongue to find it. So we have been referred to a dentist who has trained under some of the leading tongue tie revision doctors in the country.

Hayden also has a flat head, that's why we went back to the doctor while he was 5 months old. The doctor wanted to look and see if his head was getting any better. I think it got better for a while, but it's still flat. We've been better about using the lillebaby carrier, holding him and not putting him in the bouncer, etc. He gets a decent amount of tummy time even though he hates it. He still doesn't roll over, but he does roll side to side whenever he's on the floor. And yet his head is still flat. So we were sent to get measurements taken by Cranial Technologies. I need to make that appointment. They'll do measurements and determine if he needs a DOC Band.


Ryleigh started her summer dance classes - a combo class and her company class which is Jazz. I'm so glad to have her back with kids her age and ability. They all get along so well. Ryleigh is still swimming. She's doing well. She just needs to get her kicks stronger, user her arms more, and take a breath and she can move up to the next level. Hasn't clicked yet for her though. She's getting ready for school. Her first day is August 1st!! We ordered and received her uniforms this week. She's so excited they have uniform skorts :)

From 2013 May June July

4th of July

We went to see 4th of July fireworks a day early. We saw them up in Anthem last year, and knew they had a good show. Chris found out that you could see them from the outlet mall and they were having special sales at the outlet malls encouraging people to shop and then watch the fireworks. So we headed to the outlet mall. We looked around for a little bit, then found a grassy patch to sit and see the fireworks.

From 2013 May June July

On the 4th of July, we went to my parents house for some swimming and a BBQ. 

Hayden showing off his First 4th of July outfit. He was so busy talking and being cute it was hard to get a good picture.

From 2013 May June July

From 2013 May June July

From 2013 May June July

From 2013 May June July

Ryleigh had no trouble posing in the pool. She practiced her swimming. She can swim pretty far now. That was the day she realized she can swim a lot farther than she thinks.

From 2013 May June July

From 2013 May June July

Her is Uncle Cory "helping" to "glide" her to Grandpa... he doesn't know his own strength :)

From 2013 May June July

We waited as long as we could to do fireworks. But Chris and I both had to work the next day so we couldn't stay too late. We did have some fun with sparklers. 

From 2013 May June July

Hope everyone had a fun 4th of July! 

80th Birthday and some cooler weather

On June 28th we went to California for my Grandma's 80th birthday. My parents surprised her at dinner on that Friday night. She had no idea they were coming. We got in late so we missed dinner. The next morning we met my parents in the hotel breakfast room and they decided they were going to go over to my grandma's house to hang out and we'd meet them there. My grandma had no idea we were coming either. So my parents were talking to my grandma getting things ready for a BBQ at my uncle's house, when we sneak in and Ryleigh tip toes behind her and says "HI GiGi!" Totally surprised her!! She was so excited to see Hayden since she hadn't met him yet. Later that day we went over to my Uncle Dan's house for lunch/dinner and some swimming. Ryleigh had her first real encounter with a bigger dog. My Uncle has a Golden Doodle - Golden Retriever and Standard Poodle - 7 month old puppy named Carbon. He's the nicest dog, and super smart. Very gentle with Ryleigh, but he's a puppy and he loves to play. Ryleigh had a hard time figuring out that if she sat down on the floor and curled in a ball, the dog thought she wanted to play. So several times she needed rescuing as he was playing with her and she was freaking out. Overall they became buds though :)

I woke up to get ready, and couldn't find Ryleigh in bed. She was laying completely straight perpendicular to where she was supposed to be laying in bed. I had to feel around to find her under the covers. I grabbed my phone to snap this photo, but by then she had curled into a ball and was much easier to spot. Can you find her?

From 2013 May June July

Hayden's ready to go meet GiGi!

From 2013 May June July

Ryleigh taking Carbon on a walk around the pool. Looking to stylish in her cute Hello Kitty hat!

From 2013 May June July

I don't know who's bossing who around here, but this photo makes me laugh.

From 2013 May June July

So cute! They were buddies that weekend!

From 2013 May June July

All that swimming and playing with the puppy wore the kiddos out. Can't you tell they're exhausted... oh wait you can't find them?

From 2013 May June July

From 2013 May June July

The next day we went to my Uncle Bill and Aunt Kim's house in Westminster near Huntington Beach. It was a gorgeous, cool, overcast day. A great relief from the 117 degrees at home. Happy 80th Birthday Grandma!!! Glad we could escape the heat and come to celebrate with you!

From 2013 May June July

The Greatest Show on Earth!

June 26th my dad got tickets from his boss to go to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus at US Airways Center. These weren't any ordinary tickets... these were tickets in the Theater Box Seats. We had VIP parking right next to the arena. We had access to a special elevator to take us up to the suites where you get off and they have to check your ticket. There's a lounge with a full bar and a buffet meal. Private restrooms that there was never a line for even at intermission. And the seats were normal chairs that were really comfy. Really disappointed I left my camera in the car because I could have taken some great photos. So I had to settle for my camera phone/ ipod touch camera.

Circus Fare - Hot Dogs, Mac and Cheese, Salad, Popcorn and Cookies. All you could eat.

From 2013 May June July

This is the lounge area. Each Theater Box has an assigned table where you can eat dinner. This is the MR Steel / Phoenix Modular table. You can see the buffet where dinner is set up in the background.

From 2013 May June July

In the seats. Ryleigh and Grandpa checking out the view. Those are the box suites behind them.

From 2013 May June July

Enjoying some drinks and snacks before the show.

From 2013 May June July

Grandparents and the Grandkids.

From 2013 May June July

Circus Pre-show. See the elephant. Ryleigh wanted to go down to the chaos. But the view from up top was much better and there were no crowds!

From 2013 May June July

Let the show begin!

From 2013 May June July

From 2013 May June July

Hayden was mesmerized by the lights and music.

From 2013 May June July

From 2013 May June July

Tight rope walkers. The guy is standing on the shoulders of another guy on the rope. He jumps from that guy onto the shoulders of another guy in the middle of the rope. Amazing to see close up after watching SkyWire with Nik Wallenda walking across the Grand Canyon on a tight rope.

From 2013 May June July

Shooting a girl out of a cannon.

From 2013 May June July

Dancing elephants.

From 2013 May June July

Acrobatic Wheel - Ryleigh's favorite

From 2013 May June July

Wore Hayden out just watching it :)

From 2013 May June July

Very fun night! Ryleigh's favorite part was the tiger named Julie. I'll never live that one down. Neat to experience it in a way we'll likely never experience again. 

Random end of June Photos

June 23 we chilled at home. Had a rare lazy Sunday morning in bed watching cartoons with the kids.

From 2013 May June July

Hayden worked on some Tummy time - you can tell he's a big fan. He lifts his head up, whines and cries...

From 2013 May June July

And then buries his head in defeat as he continues to whine and cry.

From 2013 May June July

And he's so close to rolling over... he just won't finish it off. I don't remember which direction he was going, but whether he's going front to back or back to front, he gets this close and then gives up.

From 2013 May June July

Notice a theme? June 20 -

From 2013 May June July

June 22 -

From 2013 May June July

June 25 - yes, my child needs a blanket over his head to fall asleep apparently. And he puts the lovies over his face. We give him the lovie and this is how they end up once he falls asleep.

From 2013 May June July

Apparently he's not the only one that requires things over his head to fall asleep. This is how we found Ryleigh one night - no posing going on, this is how she was when we went to check on her before going to bed.

From 2013 May June July

Dbacks game

On June 22, we went to a Diamondbacks game. Chris wanted to go because the Dbacks were playing the Reds. My parents went too. It was Hayden and Ryleigh's first baseball game.

Hanging out with Grandpa (not pictured - that's the guy next to my dad lol) - taking it all in!

From 2013 May June July

Male bonding :)

From 2013 May June July

There were several foul balls that came pretty close to making it to us. And the Diamondbacks won!! Sorry Chris :( My parents got Ryleigh and Hayden their first Dbacks gear, so they're ready for their next game :)