5 months!

5 months?!?  Really?!  I know I said a long time ago (when Hayden wasn't sleeping) I was not the type of mom that would miss the newborn stage, and I stand by that.  Firmly.  However, I will miss THIS stage.  Whatever this stage is.  I will say, this stage is the coolest.  His personality is starting to come out, which I love and he giggles all the time.  Also, he is not mobile, which is amazing.  I can set him on his mat, or put him in his exersaucer and he STAYS there.  Sure, he'll roll over but he's not moving anywhere.  Apparently the mobile stage is very difficult and we are not prepared for it!  

Speaking of personality, this child is NOTHING like me.  Every day at daycare the teachers tell us, "he's so chill!"  "He never cries" (lie) "He's so easy!"  No one would ever, EVER, say "Kelly is so chill!"  Obviously this is trait from Clark.  Well, excellent, I say.  What a disaster if this kid had been like me!  High maintenance, stressed out and anxious...what a great combination!  Plus, this kid rolls with the punches.  I thought daycare might mess up his sleeping.  Nope!  I thought introducing solids would mess up his belly, his sleeping, etc.  Nope!  He just tries something new and keeps going.  

This is not to say my child is perfect.  Lest anyone leaves this blog thinking I'm one of those moms who thinks my child is the best, most brightest, most perfect child, let me tell you about some of the things he does that are not so awesome.  

• When we go out to eat he will sleep peacefully in his carrier until the food arrives.  I swear this kid thinks that if Mom can never eat a leisurely meal that she'll lose the remaining baby weight.  Well, sorry Hayden, mom just eats FASTER now!  So take that!!
• He tries to hold his own bottle.  That shows progress, right?  Good gross motor skills or something.  Well that sweet development makes feedings a nightmare!  He fights you for the bottle and pushes it out his mouth then screams b/c the bottle isn't in his mouth.  Then he groans and grunts when you move his hand.  *sigh*  See the problem? 5 month olds don't understand the consequences of their actions or cause and effect.  Move bottle with hands = no Enfamil.  No Enfamil = pissed off Hayden.  So stop moving your hands, duh (and on another duh note, of course I know you can't expect that kind of logic out of a 5 month old, so don't judge me for being put out!).  
• On another not knowing cause and effect note, Hayden rolls from his back to belly now.  Cool, right?  Sure, I guess.  Except that he hates being on his belly.  So he rolls over, and screaming ensues.  Ugh. So, either a) stop rolling over or b) learn to roll from belly to back.  Well Hayden staunchly refuses to do either.  So he rolls over, starts screaming, I flip him back over and he rolls back over again.  Sigh.  Vicious cycle, really.

By 5 months we've read through the Goblet of Fire in the HP books.  We start the Order of the Phoenix.  I'm, I mean Hayden, is so excited! 

Daddy's Mini Me

Picture Update

Not a lot to update, except some more cute pictures of our little guy.  He's still trucking along with solid foods.  We've tried peas, carrots, bananas and sweet potatoes.  Bananas and sweet potatoes are the runaway winners.  Peas, the jury is still out on those.  Tonight -- squash!  Exciting times in the Meador house!  

Hayden hangs out in his exersaucer and "reads"/"eats" his Winnie the Pooh book. 

This is Hayden's favorite toy -- a cracked out/psychedelic looking monkey.  I called it his get well monkey, because when he was sick, the Monkey made him smile!

Hayden shows his appreciation to the Get Well Monkey by giving him kisses.  

And finally, I think our man is going through a bit of a growth spurt.  Here he is this morning in the middle of a two hour nap.  He's been taking a 3 hour nap the past 3 days.  Resting up to put on the lbs, I'm sure!  

How Could I Forget?

How could I forget to post the chair pic?  So, he's 4 months 1 week and 5 days, but that just didn't look as cute on the sign.  Don't mind the wet shirt, we're going through a really fun drool phase.  

The 4 month mark brought some cool first, like solid foods, but it also brought a very unfortunate first: Hayden's first illness.  Hayden had a summer cold or virus, not sure which.  What I do know is that I got a phone call from daycare on Monday telling me his fever was 101.6.  I was SO nervous and worried.   Needless to say there were lots of tears (mine and Hayden's), but we weathered the illness with the help of Nan and Grammy.  Big, big BIG thanks to Nan and Grammy who both made the trip to help take care of Hayden.  We couldn't send Hayden back to daycare until he was 24 hours fever-free.  Clark and I couldn't take off work, so Grammy and Nan saved the day.  We are so blessed to have parents who are willing to rearrange their schedules to help us out!  Hayden has been fever free since Tuesday.  He is still coughing up a bunch of junk, but we are definitely on the up and up.  

Tomorrow is my 28th birthday, and I only mention it because last year on my birthday I woke up and took a pregnancy test to find out I was pregnant with sweet Hayden.  Easily the best birthday I've ever had.  :) 

4 Months Old

Hayden had a great doctor's appointment on Tuesday.  I stayed home from work so I could take him to the doctor and stay with him the rest of of the day after he had his shots.  I really enjoyed staying home with my little guy!  He was a champ during his visit, but did not like his shots one bit.  He did the "I'm-going-to-scream-with-no-sound-and-no-breathing" scream, which always makes me sad.  The minute I picked him up, he was a-ok though.  We got home and he took a 3 hour nap!  After he woke up there were no ill-effects from the shots.

Stats: 

Weight: 14lbs 9oz - 50th percentile

Height: 25.5" - 75th percentile 

Head: 42.5cm = 50th percentile

Since he was in such a good mood, I decided to attempt the rice cereal:  Hilarity ensued:

Further proof that I have no shame, I'm uploading the following video even though I sound like a complete idiot all in name of showing how stinking cute my kid is.  I can only pray that I DON'T really sound like that in real life.  Granted, I know I don't talk baby talk to most of my friends, but good Lord.  My child may be mute if he thinks people talk like that!  

Happy Father's Day!

To say we've been slacking on the whole blogging thing would be an understatement.  In our defense we have been super busy! 

Two weekends ago we went to Maggie Blow's First Birthday Party!

It was so fun!  Maggie was absolutely adorable in her cupcake dress and Allyson did a great job putting on a great party.  Hayden was the only boy there -- but this is something he is getting used to.  He is quite the ladies' man.  

The following weekend Grammy came into town and we packed up and headed to OKC for Anthony and Sarah Jane's wedding.  Needless to say, after our last long car ride during Memorial Day weekend, I was extremely worried about how Hayden would handle it.  I am happy to report that Hayden did 1000x better.  Maybe because Grammy sat with him in the backseat, I'm not sure.  The wedding was also a lot of fun and Sarah Jane looked beautiful!  The big news during the trip was Hayden's first attempt at "swimming."  Grammy and I headed down to the pool early Saturday morning after making sure Hayden was wearing the appropriate attire: 

I love his monkey swimsuit -- it is so fun!  We also made sure that both mommy and Hayden had enough sunscreen on.  We picked a spot that had the most shade and then tried the water. 

He wasn't the biggest fan.  And yes, I just posted a picture of myself in a swimsuit -- a 2 piece no less.  This shows how dedicated I am to sharing my child with the 5 people who read this blog.  Obviously I wouldn't have been able to show a pic of Hayden in the water w/o me in it.  Don't judge the flab too harshly though, I did just have a baby (4 months ago, but whatever).   Moving on, Hayden wasn't a huge fan of the pool.  The water was pretty cold and this was a far as we ventured on that day.  So, the rest of the morning, Mommy, Grammy, Hayden and Maggie Horn all hung out by the pool and relaxed until time to go to the wedding! 

I need to take time out to thank Grammy for an outstanding job babysitting.  She watched Hayden the whole weekend and did a great job.  Hayden loved his Grammy and was very sad to see her go on Monday!  Mommy and Daddy also appreciate Grammy making the trip so we could have one baby-free evening so we could celebrate Anthony and Sarah Jane properly.  

There was an end of an era on Thursday.  Daddy Daycare came to an end and Hayden had his first day of school.  

Hayden got a great first day of school report.  Obviously his teachers loved him and thought he was the cutest, brightest, best baby they have ever seen.  I don't think those were their exact words, but that's definitely what I heard.  Primrose School was so nice.  While I was at work, they sent me flowers from Hayden.  The card said, "Having fun at Primrose and thinking of you."  Now, as much as we're paying these jokers, I think they should send me flowers once a week.  I don't think that's in the cards though.  In all seriousness, it was a very nice touch and I'm very pleased with them.  Hayden seems to enjoy it there.  Daddy starts real doctor duties soon...so I can no longer make fun of him and say he's a "pretend doctor."  He took great pride in signing some of Hayden's daycare forms under "note from doctor" "Clark Meador, D.O."  

And finally, last night we hung out with our good friends the Souths.  Jamie and Eric went to school with Clark and have a daughter, Edie, who is 6 weeks older than Hayden.  They are also boyfriend and girlfriend.  Okay, one of his girlfriends, but they are closer in age and Hayden has finally started acknowledging her existence.  Don't be jealous ladies (I'm looking at you Maggie Blow) there is plenty of Hayden to go around! haha!  

Aren't they hilarious?  They kind of just rolled around toward each other.  The 6 weeks that Edie has on Hayden means she is much more advanced in motorskills.  She can roll over, something Hayden has only done once and I didn't even see.  She is also much more aware of her hands on how to use them.  She was reaching for Hayden all the time.  The only thing Hayden knew how to do was try to put her hand in his mouth.  Which is what Hayden tries to do with ANYTHING you put near him.  Look out for more of these pics at the South/Meador rehearsal dinner in 2034.  

This post has been LONG, but there is still more to come!  Hayden will be 4 months old on Monday and Tuesday is the big doctor's appt.  I will update after the appt to keep all our readers (Mom, Dad, etc) up to date on Hayden's stats.  Also, I think we're going to attempt solid foods this week.  Look for pictures of us attempting to feed Hayden as well.  Also, our friend Chris has her scheduled c-section on Monday at noon.  We will be thinking of her, Aden and Adam and little baby Ethan.  We can't wait to meet Hayden's newest friend and wish Chris a smooth delivery!  

Lastly and most importantly, Happy Father's Day to my own Dad, who is the best dad ever.  Also Happy Father's Day to Clark, who is the best NEW dad ever.  Clark is currently doing a very "dad" thing -- blowing up Hayden's new inflatable pool.  :) 

Catching up!

I've been a bad blogger.  Its been awhile so lets catch up.  Daddy Day Care keeps chugging along.  Week 10 of daddy day care is officially underway.  Next week signifies the end of daddy day care.  I start having obligations at the hospital on Friday so we will give day-care a test run the end of next week and see how that goes.  It really has been a treat being able to stay home with my little buddy.  We have a pretty good time together. 

We've been working out.

Playing and discovering new and crazy toys.  
Preparing for bath time and showing off his baby butt.  Its too early to tell if H will be strickened with the same illness as his father.  We think its a developmental problem that stems from the region in which you grew up in due to the lack of an essential amino acid in the drinking water there.  Dad suffers from it, it is referred to as no acetol (pronounced {ass-at-all})  
Going to watch dad play softball in his new hat. 
At Maggie's 1 year b-day party.  Dad and boy styling and profiling in their polo outfits.  

Its obvious that my life has changed a great deal in the last 4 months becoming a dad and a doctor and preparing to enter the work force,  but one thing I've noticed that has rapidly changed is that every one I know is procreating.  I swear  13 months ago I knew almost no one that had kids, especially in the groups of people that we hung around,  and now it seems kids are every where we go, and my friends haven't changed that much. 

Thats all for now.  I will try to check in next week to wrap up daddy day care.  This weekend should be exciting.  My good friend from med school is getting hitched in OKC so we are heading up baby and all and taking grammy to babysit.