Our little baby Hayden is growing up...

For those who haven't been around Hayden much the past month, he has gone through an amazing transformation...and I'm not just talking about his haircut. He has started talking...a lot. He uses new words all the time and is always repeating what his brother and sister are saying. It is really very cute.

Here are a few of his most used words/phrases:
Truck, train, I did it, NO, mommy, daddy, me, not wooking (not working), find it, fass (fast), ginkees (binky), book, read, money, bubbles, ball, fafful (waffle), drink, theys (thanks), pweese (please) cannies (candy), up, bite, Lalee (Natalie), Derder (Zander), anan (Hayden), didee (kitty), show, aside (outside), wook (look), again, watch, bad baby, leoleo (cereal), cheese, nak (snack), cookie, some, red, ite-nin (lightning {McQueen}), Pooh, Oody (Woody), Dessy (Jessie), moo, a-dun (all done), a-skeerd (I'm scared), booooo, fun, a-fun (that's fun), one, two, free (3), four, five, shoe, on, hurts, shirt, pants, baper (diaper), apple, nana (banana), socks, eye, nose, mouth, fingr (finger), teeth, tongue, bed, moon, tar (star)...

Now that he can communicate, my grumpy toddler has turned into a sweet boy AT LAST!!! He no longer answers every single question you ask him with "NO." We have gone days without him pouting or crying! (I swear, he cried at least once a day for the first 2 years of his life...no joke!) He has learned the benefits of using the words "please" and "thank you" (something I thought would never happen.) He smiles a whole lot more and loves to tell you just what he wants. Hayden also loves to show you things and likes nothing more than get your attention by saying "look" or "watch" as he slides down the slide, or when pointing to his truck.

Hayden has finally grasped the art of cooperation and when asked to lay down so I can change his diaper he does, right away, whereas before he would run in the other direction! I think I am finally enjoying him...he was SO stubborn for so long ...I am hoping and praying that he got all of it out of his system and now we can have fun with him.

He is a very quick learner and has an a great instinct and self-motivation, much more than the older two at this age. When he gets even the slightest hint that we are going somewhere, he runs and finds 2 shoes (they may be his or Natalie's or Zander's and not always a matching pair) and begs me to put them on.

I can already tell he is going to be athletic. When given anything resembling a club or a bat he will immediately try and swing it towards any given ball in the near vicinity (meanwhile we have to give detailed instructions to his older siblings on what to do). One day I was picking up Zander from preschool and we were playing on the playground and he just marched himself up to the slide and down he went, no help from mommy was requested or required...he was very capable thank you very much.

Hayden is also very artistic! Here is a painting he made for me on my birthday...he used fingernail polish and carpet to convey emotion in this abstract original. This is one of 2 paintings on display in our master bathroom!

Just under a month ago, we took the rails off his crib and turned it into a toddler bed. Boy has he enjoyed this freedom. For the first couple weeks he would hop in bed and lay there...then we would find him up wandering around for about a half an hour, put him back to bed only to find him up again. Then he would just fall asleep wherever he landed...

Here he is sleeping in his big boy bed.



Here you see Hayden can even fall sound asleep on the stairs.
Even now as I type this post, he has walked in to see me (after being put back to bed at least 3 times.) Now his is laying down on the floor beneath my desk!!!

Here is a photo I took yesterday during his nap. As you can see, he is just a few inches from the comforts of his bed...yet he prefers to sleep on the floor. (you can also see the blue blanket on his bed thatI made for his birthday.)

Last Saturday we celebrated Hayden's birthday with a truck/train/car themed party. I will be posting these photos soon! At his 2 year check up he was in the 95th percentile for height and the 50th percentile for weight. Tall and slender, just like his dad!