Portraits

Granny, Mom, Hayden and I had a four generation portrait made in the fall. The photographer posted some of the pictures from the session on her blog. Visit them here: http://www.stephsimpsonphotography.blogspot.com/.

Love, True Love

(to be said with a lisp...you know, like from Princess Bride. wuv, twu wuv...)

Valentines Day. While some believe this to be a day formerly claimed by a religious figure now exploited by commercialism and worthy of little notice, if any (Jason), I believe it is a day to celebrate the ones you love. The occasional reminder (in holiday form if necessary) not to take special people for granted is always a good thing.

The Chamness family had a fabulous Valentine's Day!

1. My mom was in town, so we had secured the best (and least expensive) babysitter possible for the night out.

2. We visited with my aunt and uncle in Grand Prairie and enjoyed brunch at the Cracker Barrel.

3. Hayden raked in the Valentine goodies from Grammy. New locking beads, a cute purple polka dot dress and a red heart onesie!

4. We all received fun cards. Hayden loves to carry cards around with her. She carried the Thomas the Train Valentine card from Nathan around until it was an unrecognizeable wad of cardboard.

5. My diet allows for milk protein again, so Bryan and I went to Zizikis and had wonderful lamb souvlaki and multiple dishes that included feta cheese. ( oh feta, how I have missed you!)

6. Bryan and I had conversation by candle light, at a table, that lasted more than 5 minutes and wasn't interrupted by dropped cups, thrown Cheerios or loud squeeling. Heavenly.

Our family is truly blessed to love and be loved by so many.

Thank you Lord for showing us your love through others.

9 Months of Hayden

We can hardly believe that Hayden is 9 months old. This last month has seriously flown by. Makes me wish I had "baby DVR" so I could pause or replay moments. (pictures and video are nice, but not quite the same :)

The 9 month well visit went great. Dr. Straughn thinks she is fabulous and healthy. She is still on the petite side of the growth chart, but the doc doesn't seem at all worried. We thought she was starting to chunk up a tad, we swear there are rolls where there once wasn't, but we suppose the doctor's scale doesn't lie...15 pounds. Even. Her head on the other hand is making up for the weight...70+ percentile. Go brain, go!

She is sleeping great. Through the night still. 6:30 pm until 6:30 am. Last week she made it til 7 am...three times!!! Naps are still a little more of a struggle, but we are hangin' in there!

At the well visit the doc discontinued her Prevacid and said she can eat everything but nuts and honey (we say no to botulism ). We tried yogurt today...not an immediate favorite. Last night we might have given her some tiny bites of Chick-Fil-A chicken... definite favorite :) So many new and fun things to try!

Hayden is EVERYWHERE! She crawls like lightening and pulls up on everything. She will occasionally forget to hold on to things and stand "free" for a few seconds. She is cruising around tables and the sofa. Everyone says walking isn't far behind. Small parts of me are excited for the new developmental milestone, but the majority of me wants her to SLOW DOWN!

Hayden is a fake laugher. This is something she started recently. If we laugh, she laughs. When we stop and move on to something else, she will fake laugh to recapture our attention...and it always works. In addition to the fake laugh has come the head shaking "no" and the dancing/head nodding/bouncing move. (I think she gets this dance move from her dad--way cute!)

She will wave hello and bye-bye. She has started to say ba, ba, ba, so I think bye-bye may be word number 2! (I'm sure mama is coming very soon :) She definitely knows that da, da, da goes with Dad. He is her absolute favorite right now. (She will occasionally fuss when I have to take her from Bryan, like when he has to leave for work. He is secretly smiling the whole time...sometimes not so secretly.) When Bryan comes home for the day, Hayden stops what she's doing, smiles real BIG and crawls right to him. It warms my heart every. single. time.

Bryan and I are enjoying each new phase and experience. We are amazed daily by God's gracious blessings.

Thank you Lord for sweet baby Hayden!

Fun With Friends

My sweet friend Christina from Mom's group invited me and Hayden to her son Alex's 3rd birthday party/playgroup. Alex has a little sister, Sabine, who is almost 11 months old and is crawling and cruisin' like Hayden. It was very laid back and tons of fun.

I realize Hayden isn't really playgroup age yet, since at this point she and others her age might play "near" each other as opposed to "with" each other, but the idea is fun (and I love spending time with other adults...so it is really for me, I'll just be honest). We had a great time at Ms. Christina's house with Alex, Sabine, Ms. Kerri, Nathan, Ms. Jennifer, Maddy, Cooper, Ms. Sherri and Jack.

Thank you Christina for a wonderful afternoon! And HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY ALEX!

We chowed down on grapes, blueberries, strawberries, cheese & crackers, pretzels, gold fish...and of course CAKE! Hayden enjoyed the blueberries as well as the broccoli and cereal we'd brought from home. :)

Ms. Kerri and sweet Sabine

Hayden just cozied right on up to Cooper. He's pretty cute...so she's probably a little "sweet" on him.

Most of the gang. Nathan, Alex, Sabine, Jack and Hayden (who was ready to get on home).

The Yuck Monkies

We've all had the yucks, also known around here as the snots. Hayden and I had it last week and Bryan completed the circle this week. It starts with the sore throat and then the sinus pressure and runny nose. We've seemed to miss the chest congestion and coughing (thank you Lord!). We are all on the mend so hopefully there will be more blogging. (and more vacuuming, laundry, dusting, cooking...you get the picture.)

She Feeds Herself

Hayden has started with some finger foods. Usually we offer these after her own baby food meals, when we are eating and she is trapped in her highchair, or if we are out and about and need to keep her content for just a tad... bit... longer...

We've not been real adventurous. Teething biscuit (a dense cookie that won't crumble into small pieces), Cheerios, and apple slices. She pretty much gums these to mush. She can pick the Cheerios up but they stick to her hand and she can't get them to "unstick" into her mouth.

All these new adventures are so much fun. Enjoy these cute pictures...

Eight Months Of Hayden

Hayden is doing fabulous! This past month has seen her chatting, laughing and doing much more smiling. She is still constantly in motion--crawling, pulling up, sitting back down, and even starting to cruise (scooting around things she pulled up on, ie. the coffee table or ottoman.) She loves her stacking rings and carries them everywhere she goes. (must have something in hand to bang on whatever she pulls up on.) The music activity table has also been a favorite! Thank the Lord for Christmas gifts!

She is back to sleeping through the night. (yippee!) We went through a period where she had started to wake in the evenings and again in the very wee hours...of course I read something today that said that when babies start crawling and pulling up they may start waking at night again as they process/practice these new skills...if only we had known this a month ago I might not have agonized over the change!

Hayden is nursing four times a day and is eating "solids" for breakfast, lunch and dinner. She is enjoying mango, carrots, bananas, applesauce (finally), blueberries, sweet potatoes, pears, acorn squash, butternut squash, avocado, oatmeal, and rice cereal. (though not all at the same time.) She tolerates peas, green beans, and asparagus. In the next few weeks we are going to try cucumber, corn, beets, zucchini, and possibly parsnips.

Hayden's gibberish has expanded from just "da, da, da" to include the additional sounds of "h", some "g" and "n". Still not much "m" sound...come on "ma, ma, ma" ! She is waving hello and goodbye and will occasionally signal what we think is please (circling palm in front of chest) in order to get down from her highchair. We have started with the baby signs (obvious from the previous statement) and are focusing on: more, please, eat, and thank you. From what I've read, it will take awhile after introduced for the kiddo to catch on, but we hear that it's wonderful in helping pre talkers communicate and thus avoid some frustration and misbehavior. (which we are all for)

Hayden still hates anything that restricts her freedom such as the playpen, car seat, highchair, and bouncer (completely got rid of that thing). She will tolerate the exersaucer and jumper for short periods of time. I'm afraid that just like it has been a fight to get her to soothe herself to sleep, it will also be a struggle to get her to entertain herself. I've endeavored to tackle this ASAP with enforced time playing with all these "fun" toys without mom and dad. I'm sure this will be a growing experience for all of us. We love growth.

She is napping better!!! Usually a nap in the morning, early afternoon and occasionally in the evening. Her cry time before falling asleep has dwindled drastically. She is usually quiet within seconds to a couple of minutes instead of the 10 to 30 minutes from when we started the sleep training. Her naps have also extended in length (hallelujah!) from 45 minutes to an hour and a half! Some time to actually get things accomplished!!!

Many people have commented recently that she seems so happy. So despite the milk protein intolerance and the acid reflux, she is truly becoming a very happy, contented baby!

Thank you Lord for our sweet baby Hayden!

The Many Faces of Hayden

"Girlfriend, Oh No You Didn't" Face

The Face of Determination

"Who Me? Couldn't Be!" Face

The Face of Didn't Get My Way (also known as "but I want to" or "mine")

The Face of Uncertainty (huh?)

Please hug and kiss all over me Face
(or at least that is what Bryan and I think it means, too cute to do otherwise.)

"Do I have a booger in my nose?" Face

We Have A Visual...

I finally got a good picture of Hayden's toofies.

Holiday Highlights

I'm lazy, and since I didn't upload the pictures in chronological order the pictures and comments will be completely out of sequence...for example: the first picture is Bryan and me out for New Year's Eve. Thanks to Carol and Jerry for holding down the fort at home!

We had a great time at dinner with Jason, and later on in the evening celebrated with Jason, Lindsi, Patrick, Lisa L., Phillip, Maverick, Goose and Holly Berry!

Hayden and I LOVE the music table from Grandma and Grandpa! It has a computer, piano, telephone and book...teaches fun concepts in both English and Spanish and plays snippets from 50 songs...I'm sure it will never get old!

Pulling up...on EVERYTHING!

Loves from Grandma!

Precious crocheted bunny hat from Grandma. Hayden was the hit of the nursery and Tin Star last Sunday when she wore this!

Granny Mac opening gifts.

Hayden meets Xena the Doberman. Hayden LOVED the dog, but poor Xena wasn't so fond of the little one who grabbed ears and poked eyes...can't figure out why...

The music table!

Playing with the toy from Uncle Brian and Aunt April.

Bath time at Grammy's house. May need to invest in a bigger tub soon!

Going through her stocking...love the My Little Pony band aids!

Bryan and all his stocking goodies!

Brian with his Texas star Tervis Tumbler!

April "Christmas Eve" (actually on the 23rd for us.)

Despite the fun toys from Santa, Hayden preferred playing with the silicone muffin liners on Grammy's linoleum floor. Go figure.

We had a wonderful Christmas in Odessa and again in Dallas. We enjoyed all the special time with family and friends.