Ten Months

This has been a big month for Hayes!  We have had a lot of excitement and it has thrown us off our routine a bit. 

He had his 9 month check up on September 16.  He had a minor surgery scheduled for September 17, and at the beginning of the week, he started showing signs of a cold.  Because we were worried that he would not be able to have the anesthesia, we started him on his inhaler and got him into the doctor early that week.  We combined a follow-up to check his lungs, his 9 month appointment, and a little pre-op into one appointment.  The doctor cleared him and we headed to Little Rock the following day.

The good news was that in the two weeks between getting his tubes and getting this little cold, Hayes gained a pound!  When we went for his 9 month check-up, he weighed almost 16 pounds.  This means that he actually got back on the growth charts, although he is still down around the 3rd percentile.  The doctor gave us the go ahead to start table food and encouraged me to give him high-calorie foods to try and get his weight up; wouldn't it be nice if mama had the same weight issues as Hayes?!
Hayes has begun eating table food.  He eats breakfast and lunch at school and then supper with us.  His favorites are Yo Baby yogurt - banana and vanilla flavors, Kraft singles, mashed potatoes and gravy, avocado, carrots with brown sugar and butter, and anything that we are eating!  He still eats baby food when it's convenient, and his favorite flavor is prunes.  He can feed himself, and he has a pretty good pincer grip.

Hayes generally takes 5 ounce bottles every three hours.  However, this month, he has been not taking his entire bottle.  He goes through stages where for a few days he'll take his entire bottle very quickly and then for a couple of days he'll only take 2 or 3 ounces at a time.  We are making his bottles a little more potent by mixing 1 1/2 scoops of formula for every 2 ounces of water.  He can hold his own bottle.  The funniest thing is when he spins his bottle as he is eating.  For most of this month, he has still been nursing in the morning and at bedtime.  At the end of the month, we dropped the morning feeding, and he transitioned really well.

Hayes generally sleeps through the night, from 8 pm until 5 am.  Hayes does like to get up very early.  I've learned that he will go back to sleep for a couple of hours if we put him in our bed when he wakes up so early.  It's a habit I'm not crazy about, but I am okay with it for now, since it lets us all get a little more sleep.  He usually goes to sleep very easily.  If he doesn't, we just pull out our sleep training tactics, and it doesn't take long to get back on track.

Hayes is still not a great napper, and he is definitely not a consistent napper.  He always takes one nap, and sometimes two.  He usually does catnap in the car on the way to and from school.  At school, his naps range from 30 minutes to an hour and half.  There is no rhyme or reason to the timing or length of his naps.

Hayes is very vocal.  His favorite sound is a monkey-like noise and he likes to blow raspberries.  He "talks" a lot, usually "ma", "ba", and "da."  He looks at you very seriously and very clearly thinks that he is telling you something important.  I can't wait until he can really talk and see what all he has to say.

Hayes has learned what the word "no" means.  He usually looks at me like "I'm so cute, how can you be telling me no?" and then goes on to do whatever I'm telling him not to do.  We are afraid that he is going to be very naughty.

This month, Trent has had to be out of town a lot.  One week, Mimi came and stayed with us, and the next, we went to Mimi and G-Pa's house.  Hayes did not sleep well at their house!  After, his little surgery, Hayes got to skip school for a week.  He loved staying home with mama, and he definitely had a hard time adjusting back to school.  Hayes got to stay at the Peabody the night before his surgery.  It went much better than the last time we stayed in a hotel!  Grandma also came to visit.  We had so much fun with her!

Hayes's favorite toys are his books.  He also likes the little yellow shapes that go with is shape-sorter.

Hayes got his first two teeth this month.  He won't let you see them, but you can feel them.
Hayes has started having stranger anxiety.  I took him to my office one day and he cried when the secretaries talked to him.  Then our cousin Maddison came over to play with Hayes a couple of afternoons so that mama could work, and Hayes was not happy!  We hope this ends soon!

9 Months

I can't believe our sweet boy is nine months old.  We have had such a fun month as his little personality just becomes more and more lively!

Hayes still usually sleeps through the night - from 8:30 or so until 6 - unless he's not feeling well.  And sometimes he likes to give me an extra early wake-up call at 5 am.  We retired the swaddle when I found it loose in his crib one night.

He is not a great napper, much to the dismay of his momma and his teachers.  Every once in a while, he will nap for more than an hour, but some days, he only sleeps for 30 - 45 minutes in the morning and the same in the afternoon. 

Hayes eats at least one jar of baby food a day, and he has started eating puffs and Baby Mum-Mums.

Hayes is on the move now.  He started the month still doing the army crawl, but mastered a real crawl by the end.  He also learned how to pull up, although he's still a little shaky on that front.

He loves his baths and likes to splash and play with his measuring cups.

Hayes is totally over his playmat.  He likes to read, crawl around, and play in his Exersaucer. 

This month, Hayes has had a very active social life!  He attended his first engagement party.  That's right, Aunt Jen is getting married!  We are so excited.  He also went with Momma and Daddy to Aunt Kristi's birthday party at Jose's.  He loved all the karaoke.  We had my birthday party, and all of Hayes's friends came over to our house.  He attended baby Braxon's shower.  We can't wait to meet Braxon in October!  And he attended his first little friends' birthday party.  Anniston Reith turned 4 and Treyson Reith turned 2.  They had a carnival party, and Hayes had a blast in their porch swing.  Hayes attended his first Razorback football game.  He had so much fun at the Knight's tailgate and was such a good boy during the game.  Finally, he went to Fort Smith for Nana's birthday party.  We loved celebrating Nana!

Hayes has become an adventurer this month.  He escaped from him crib one night and we found him in the living room at 4:30 in the morning.  Crazy! 

He was sick for half the month.  He started with a cold, which turned into what we thought was a fever virus.  It ended up being an ear infection, which resulted in tubes. 

Since we've been to the doctor so much this month, we again found out that he was having trouble gaining weight.  We thought he had been packing on the pounds but when we took him in for his ear infection, we found out that he had not gained any weight since his 6 month check-up.  The doctor had us start giving him double-strength formula, and we hope that helps him catch up a bit.  So, he weighs right at 15 pounds and wears size 6-9 month clothes (although he can still fit into a few 3-6 month outfits!).

Clearly, it's been a busy month for old Hayes!  We hope the next month doesn't hold quite as much excitement!

Fun in the Sun!

In July, Hayes went to the beach - Seacrest Beach, Florida, to be specific.  He had such a fun time!

Hayes and Daddy at the ocean for the first time!

Hayes putting his toes in the water

Hayes trying out the sand for the first time

Hayes spent lots of time hanging out in his spiffy little tent . . .

and sleeping in his tent.

Rosemary Beach outside Trent's favorite restaurant - La Cocina

Hayes spent time with all of his favorite people - at the beach with Aunt Jen

At the beach with Mama and Daddy

On the porch with Grandma

Taking a nap with Will

Hayes liked swimming the pool much better than spending time at the beach.  He had a little float with a sunshade on it, and he liked floating around in that.  He loved to drink the pool water, which Mama did not like!

Hayes LOVED taking baths at the beach.  He's not such a fan at home, but he got to splash around in the kitchen sink and had the best time! 

We left for the beach on Friday, July 9.  Mapquest told us that going through Birmingham was the best route, so we decided to try it out.  Just days before we left, I found out that a Chuy's had opened in B'ham!  It goes without saying that we had to eat dinner there.  Hayes was not a fan of the car ride and after the two hour wait for a table, we were all about to lose it, but the creamy jalapeno dip made it all better!  That night, Hayes stayed in a hotel for the first time, and it did not go well.  He was supposed to sleep in his pack and play in the living room with Daddy, but after he woke up crying for what seemed like the 10th time, I just put him in bed with me and Grandma.  Then he slept! 

The next morning we got up and continued our trek to the beach.  We made it to Florida right about supper time.  Since it was my mom's birthday, she got to pick our dinner location.  We went straight to the Red Bar, and got in with no wait.  The BP oil spill was Florida's loss, but our gain!  We did not have to wait once at a restaurant all week, except for the last night at Stinky's Fish Camp.

After dinner, we got settled into our beach house.  Hayes got his own room - the master bedroom closet!  It sounds terrible, but it was a perfect place for him.  His pack and play fit great, it was dark, and it was quiet.  He slept great the entire week.

For the next 7 days, we relaxed at the beach and pool, slept, and ate!  We went to La Cocina (daddy's pick), Old Florida Fish House, Louis, Great Southern Cafe in Seaside, Seagrove Village Market Cafe, and Stinky's.  It was all so good!

The most exciting moment of our trip was meeting Erika from Urban Grace!  Jen and I have read her blog, as well as that of her sister, Darby, for several years.  Jen was brave and called her office in the middle of the week to see if we could drop by.  Her very sweet assistant let us know that she was swamped, which I completely understood.  Will and Trent had a hey day with that - saying "sure, she's got a lot of meetings!"  So, on Friday night, we went to Stinky's to eat dinner.  Trent dropped off me, Grandma, and Hayes.  As I was walking into the restaurant, I saw Erika's husband Chance holding her baby Sloane.  Although I was about to have a heart attack, I proceeded calmly to the hostess to give her our name.  Jen walked up and was about to flip out too.  We discussed strategy, got out the camera, and let Will take the lead.  We ended up visiting while we all waited for tables, and she is just as nice as we thought she would be!  Hayes and Sloane got to meet, and we are all now BFFs with plans for a lunchdate next summer!

Six Months

At six months, Hayes is just so much fun!  I can't believe how much more I love him every day.

He goes to bed around 8 pm and sleeps until 6 am.  For most of month six (and months four and five!), Hayes has not been sleeping well at all.  He has been getting up four to five times a night.  I feed him twice and give him his paci the other times.  He usually goes right back to sleep, but not always!  Mama was getting really tired, so we made a trip to see Dr. Mahan about sleep training.  She recommended Dr. Ferber's book, which I immediately went out and bought.  We saw results the first night!

Hayes eats every 2 1/2 to 3 hours during the day.  He takes 4 oz bottles and sometimes goes on strike against the bottle.  Shortening the time between his daytime feedings is part of a campaign to help him gain weight.

Has had round 4 with his ear infection, his first two visits to the ENT, and finally got it beat!

He gained a whole pound during the first half of the month!

Hayes loves to pat your face and likes to chew on his toes.  In fact, anything that is in his hands goes straight to his mouth.

He has really started rolling over from tummy to back.  When he does it, he smiles the whole time and looks for us to clap and cheer for him.

He can sit up with some support for quite a while and can sit on his own for very, very short periods.

He has started eating solids.  His first food was green peas, which was a very bad choice.  They made his tummy hurt!  Carrots went over much better.

He is really talking and experimenting with new sounds.  He primarily works on "m" and "b" sounds and says mama a lot!  Of course, he doens't know what he is saying.  I've also heard some "l" and "n" sounds here and there.

Hayes no longer likes his swing.  He still likes his play mat and he hangs out in his bouncy seat in the mornings while I get ready.  We do have to strap him in now because he is so wiggly!  He likes his floor mirror and small toys.  I got him a toy that stretches across his carseat and it helps keep him in his carseat when we go out to eat.

Happy Father's Day!

To Daddy and Grandpa, Hayes sayes Happy Father's Day!

Hayes and Parker

Here is a picture of Hayes and his buddy Parker.  Parker's mama Ashley and I put the boys down together on the blanket, and when we went back to check on them, they were holding hands!  So sweet!  Of course we weren't quick enough to get a picture of that, but this is pretty cute too.

Baby Dedication

On Mother's Day, we did Hayes's Dedication at church. 

Here we are on stage:

The church makes a slide for each baby with his or her name, the scriptural meaning of the name, and a verse that the parents choose for their child.  Hayes's verse is Zephaniah 3:17.  I have always liked this verse, and while I was pregnant, it seemed like this verse kept popping up in different places for us.  I told Trent that it was a sign that we were supposed to use it for the baby's verse. 

Hayes wore an adorable "Karen Minor original." She made it for her grandson Rhett to wear for his dedication. Rhett was originally going to be dedicated in February, but he got a tummy bug and his mommy had to reschedule his big day, so he had outgrown it by May. Because poor Hayes had such a hard time gaining weight between March and May, the outfit I had bought for him to be dedicated in was way too big! Lindsey was kind enough to let us borrow Rhett's ivory silk bubble suit! I loved that Hayes got to wear it. Karen is such a talented seamstress, and it was exciting that he got to wear such a special outfit.

The Walker fam afterwards

With Nana and Papa

Since it was Mother's Day and Trent's family was in town for the dedication, we had a joint Mother's Day celebration at my parents' house.  We had yummy chicken casserole from Spring Street and my mom and I cooked southern-style green beans (recipe courtesy of Erin P.), layered salad, rolls, spinach dip, creamed corn, and cheese ball.  It was all so good!  I ordered a cute cake from Shelby Lynn's to match the invitations we sent out for the party.