19 months

I always thought that once Hayden reached 18 months old, I'd stop taking monthly photos with Mr. Bear and take them every six months. My philosophy was that by 18 months he'd stop changing so much from month to month. Well, I was wrong. Not only has his personality grown, his body has grown in the last month.

I took him to meet his new pediatrician last week and while there they measured him. He was 33 inches long (88th percentile). Just 3 weeks earlier he was 32 inches. He grew an inch in 3 weeks! He's also up to 25 1/2 pounds (40th percentile) which led the nurse to comment that he's long and lean. Go figure. . . just like Daddy!

He's been stringing together 3-4 words into "sentences," a few examples: "help please mommy," "more graham crackers," and my favorite "mommy carry you". Last week we were standing at the top of the stairs and I told him that he needed to crawl down on his belly, feet first. He just stood there and so I said, "or Mommy can carry you." He said "carry" and now when we're at the top of the stairs, without prompt he says "Mommy carry you". Now I'm working on pronouns with him.

His favorite stuffed animal now has a name: Bubby. He's got quite the posse of friends: mickey mouse, pooh bear, moose, rae, ducky, easter bunny, blue bunny, care bear, and bunny bear. Bunny Bear has always been his favorite and we always just called him "Bunny Bear." On our drive to Montana, Hayden shortened his name to simply "Bubby."

I think he's also developing more of an imagination, or at least he's doing some role play. I walked into his room one morning and saw him sitting in his crib with his back to the door, his posse arranged in an arc in front of him. He was going down the line, pointing and mumbling something to each one.

He can also count from 1 to 10. He'll just count if you ask him to and he'll also actually count objects like "one, two, three pigs" on the page in the book. The other night he was in the bathtub and said "two duckies" with one in each hand.

Colors are a different story, though. Just about everything is blue, or maybe yellow. "Blue car" is a favorite phrase. And if you ask him, "what color is this?" blue is usually his first answer. He does get it right sometimes, though. . . I just don't understand the toddler mind!

So, the actual documentary photo isn't really that great, but it's my boy at 19 months. Too busy to sit still for even a second, not wanting to look at mommy's camera, and wanting to tell me about what he just saw, in this case it was the baseball game on the TV. He just learned the signs for baseball, football, basketball, and soccer. With the first two on TV pretty much all weekend he's been very excited!

And I have to note that Hayden didn't just get his physique from Rich. . . in preparation for going back to school, Rich wanted to brush up on his studying techniques. He went to the library and checked out a few books. He didn't get books on engineering or snow (the general area of his research), he got books on fly fishing. He's been reading up and even taking notes. . . on green engineering paper, no less. And we watched A River Runs Through It the other night. So, no question, he's a nerd. But that's why I love him.

Workin' at the carwash

A few days ago, Rich spent the afternoon washing the cars. He had a little helper for the job.

"Here Hayden, let me show you how it's done. . ."

"Like this, Dad?"

"I think I'll just stick with the hose and bucket. . . it's more fun!"

More More Dinosaurs

We had a great day on Saturday and after being here only 3 weeks it really does feel like home. Home without friends (yet), but we do already have some acquaintances and neighbors I feel comfortable enough to borrow a cup of sugar from. I think we've found "our spot" and could live here the rest of our lives. It's that good.

So, back to my point about having a good day on Saturday. I met up with a local running group 2 weeks ago and they announced that there was a 5K race scheduled for August 23rd and it started at the MSU football stadium. Perfect--we live a little over a mile from the stadium! I got up and jogged over to the start for my warm-up. The race course headed back towards our neighborhood, passing within 100 yards of our house. Rich, Hayden, and Maggie came out to cheer for me, and I finished as the first overall female! Even better than winning, though, was introducing myself to some of the other fast ladies and having a running date set-up for later this week!

I jogged home for a cool down, cleaned myself up, then the whole family hopped on our bikes and rode to the Museum of the Rockies. This is the University sponsored museum, right next to the stadium(only a 5 minute bike ride from our house), specializing in dinosaurs. They were having a community appreciation day with free entry, a barbecue, and lots of other fun activities.

Hayden loved the dinosaurs! After every exhibit he was saying, "more more dinosaurs!"

They even have a kids "hands-on" room full of fun toys and games. We decided to join the museum (family membership is a bargain at $50 for the year), so we'll be coming back often. Hayden's grandma assures me that by next year he'll know the name of each specific dinosaur. I don't doubt she's right!

We rode our bikes home, just in time for an afternoon nap. A fun day and we never even had to turn the ignition in our car! Yes, Bozeman is indeed that good.

Ten on Tuesday: The Random Edition

1. We're in withdrawal now that the Olympics are over. Seriously, except for our night awake in the woods last weekend we've watched every single night. And then all day on the NBC sister networks. We were total junkies. At least we won't be sleep deprived anymore!

2. My favorite moments from the games: the men's 4 x 100 swim relay with the come-from-behind win in the anchor leg, Michael Phelps 0.01 second win in the 100 m butterfly, and Shalane Flanagan winning bronze in the 10,000 meters on the track.

3. Our dishwasher is busted. Ugh! The arm that rotates in the bottom got stuck and actually melted because it was in contact with the heating element. Rich ordered a replacement part but it won't come for a week. A whole week with no dishwasher! I don't know how I'll survive.

4. I'm working on a display for the mantle above our fireplace and it will include a BIG picture that Erin took when we were in Alabama in June. I'm a little intimidated by having us so big--16x24 BIG--but I'm excited to have her wonderful work displayed so prominently in our home.

5. I'm also working on a friends and family wall. I have collection of coordinating frames in varying sizes and I've been sifting through old photos, looking for favorites worthy of hanging. I'm finding alot! But also finding that we're sadly lacking in photos of friends.

6. I also need to get better about photographing Hayden with other people! I probably have 10,000 photos of him. And that's not an exaggeration. . . nearly 30 GB of hard drive space! Yes, I know I have a problem.

7. We checked out a new trail on Sunday. We took the bikes and the Chariot, but I didn't bring my camera. Rich and I loved it, Hayden wasn't a fan. It was a bit rocky, making for a bumpy ride, and Hayden cried the entire way back down the trail. That took the fun out of it for all of us! We really felt bad for him, especially because we thought that he'd enjoy the ride, like he usually does.

8. I'm thinking about inviting our neighbors over for dinner. For friendship and socializing, yes, but more to motivate me to finally pick up the last of the piles. Pretty much everything is unpacked, but the coffee table is strewn with empty photo frames, random picture hanging hardware is piled on the kitchen counter, paint supplies are in the hallway, etc, etc etc. Having guests would get my butt in gear to finally get organized!

9. We had to buy a washer and dryer when we moved in and we splurged on a High Efficiency front loader. I love it! I especially love the "sanitary" cycle for washing diapers. I also really love getting laundry started, perusing the menus of available cycles, finding the perfect one. If only the machine would fold the clothes!

10. Rich's "man skills" quotient has gone up exponentially in the last few weeks. Moving into a new house provides lots of opportunity to showcase those skills. . . he's been hanging pictures that need anchors, painting like a pro, installing a screen door, fixing sprinklers, fixing that broken dishwasher, climbing down to the scary crawl space under the house, resizing a closet rod and shelf (that required major power tools!), etc, etc. He's doing a great job turning our house into a home!

*BONUS* Since a blog post isn't a blog post without photos, I have 2 outtakes from our photo shoot at Montana State last week.

11. The under-the-chin tickle, trying to draw out a smile. Also drew out a lovely little string of drool!

12. Ready-set-go! The race was on. . .

That bicycle

If you watched the video in the last post you have absolutely no doubt that Hayden loves that bicycle. Well, as you also know, he turned 18 months a few weeks ago. With the chaos of moving I never did an official "18 month photo shoot," but when we were on the Montana State campus last week I spied the perfect location to capture my little man at 18 months, with that bicycle.

He proved to be a tough subject because he is so fast! He has also decided that my camera is not worthy of even a glance, let alone a smile. I did get him with a look of fierce determination, though. He had some pavement to cover!

He probably rode a mile, back and forth, back and forth. Since classes haven't started yet, at least he didn't have to contend with much traffic. Looks like he's ready for school to be in session, though!

On the move: the Olympics edition

It's been exactly one month and one day since Hayden took off on 2 feet, and boy, has he taken off! I can't even remember what life was like before he was walking. He just goes and goes and goes and is practically running.

I set the point-and-shoot camera to video mode and shot some clips over the last week. I think he's been inspired by the Olymics because he's been in a very sporting mood.

First, a bicycle race:

Next, a foray into ball sports:

Whatever sport or sports he chooses to participate in when he gets older, we wish him success. And most of all, fun!

A diversion from unpacking. . .

We just got back from our first Montana camping trip. We decided to go for several reasons: we needed a break from all the unpacking and redecorating, we'd been talking about going since May and just ran out of weekends before we left Colorado, we wanted to go before it gets too cold, and we were eager to explore a little more of our new hometown. We asked our neighbor if he knew of a good place to go, someplace nice but safe enough to take a toddler. Without hesitation he said, Hyalite. Our other neighbors had just spent a night up there in their new pop-up with a 2-year-old and a 3-week-old. We were sold.

So, after Hayden's nap on Sunday afternoon we set off on our trip. We didn't have to go far, though. The campground was exactly 15 miles from our front step, but it felt like we were hundreds of miles from civilization. Man, I love this place! In Colorado, we were 15 miles from Target, let alone a beautiful campsite (oh, don't worry just cause we're that close to the wilderness doesn't mean I'm far from a Target, that's about 5 miles in the other direction).

We rolled into our campsite at about 5:30 and immediately went to work setting things up. Hayden wandered all over, checking out the surroundings.

Rich introduced him to pinecones and he spent the next half hour searching for them. He'd find one, pick it up, say "pinecone," examine it, toss it aside, and say "bye bye pinecone."

Hyalite did not disappoint. It's a huge reservoir, Bozeman's water supply, surrounded by beautiful mountains. The campground wrapped around one side of it and we had a perfect campsite. Sloping down from the car through a lovely wooded hillside we had a site for the tent, a picnic table, and a fire pit. A little further down the hill, the trees opened up and led right to the edge of the reservoir. It was breathtaking.

Hayden did lots of exploring.

And then it was bedtime for him and campfire time for us. . .

. . . and time to enjoy the gorgeous sunset (I didn't photoshop the colors on these at all, just resized 'em for the web).

And then, the fun began. When we went into the tent to go to bed ourselves, Hayden stood up in the pack-n-play--his head popping above the side like a groundhog--and smiled at us. I told him it was time for bed and laid him back down. He complied. But about an hour later, up popped his head again. And then, an hour after that he did it again. And finally a fourth time, yet another hour later. At that point I decided to bring him onto our mattress and letting him share my sleeping bag. I knew there would be no turning back, once he was out of the pack-n-play, he wouldn't go back in. But, I thought that maybe he was cold and that's why he kept getting up. As soon as he laid down on our mattress he started cooing, giggling, and wriggling around, which continued until the sun came up. He was never really cranky or upset, he was just awake. Basically all night.

Since the sun was up, we decided we might as well just get up too. There's nothing like a morning campfire!

Even if he was unhappy, at least he looked cute. . . all decked out in his flannel and camp cargos.

We decided that our 2-night camping trip was only going to be a 1-night camping trip. Part of me wanted to stick it out. . . I mean, as exhausted as he must be, he had to have slept better the 2nd night. It wasn't worth risking it, though. We did decide to go ahead and do a hike before heading back home. We figured Hayden would fall asleep as soon he got in the backpack. We figured wrong, but more on that later.

The trail was spectacular. It followed Hyalite Creek and looked like we were hiking in Yosemite National Park. Huge mountain peaks hovering over the trail, the creek dotted with waterfalls. We just hiked out and back, about 6 1/2 miles total, but if we continued on we would have eventually reached Hyalite Lake and then Hyalite Peak. We agreed to come back in a few weeks and make it all the way to the lake.

The first falls that we came to were Arch Falls, hidden behind this rock arch.

(viewing from higher ground)

Next, was Champagne Falls.

Finally, at last, sweet sleep. It only lasted about 30 minutes, but it was sweet for everyone!

On our way back down the trail, we took a short detour to Silver Skein Falls, just catching a glimpse of these twin beauties off in the distance.

We finished the hike, had some well-deserved snacks, and drove the 20 minutes back to our house. Then, finally, once we got home Hayden took a 4 hour nap in his own bed.

Even though it was a sleep-deprived trip, I'm so glad we went. We'll definitely be back to Hyalite!