Madison turns 5

Madison posing then......

Madison posing now......

Madison turned 5 this past July, I am still in shock over it. I am having a really hard time believing that my baby girl is 5 already. I can't figure out where the time has gone!

She has grown up so much in the past year. Every now and again I look at her and no longer see a little girl, she has so many mannerisms and personality traits that scream teenager to me. Mostly she has developed a maturity to her that has surprised me, her insight and conversation skills have me floored. I guess I still think of her as being my little girl.

On her actual birthday, being the caring and loving parents that we are, we flew to Hawaii and left her and Hunter with my mom. This is the only picture I have of her on her actual birthDAY (she was headed to swimming lessons after dropping us off). My mom so generously offered to fly out and watch the kids for me while Ryan and I had a relaxing vacation all to our selves. It was a wonderful vacation and we found out that we were expecting our 3rd child on that trip, too, so that made it even better. My mom took her to celebrate at the restaurant of her choice....IHOP. She is so my child, I love IHOP and I LOVE breakfast foods. That might be the only thing she got from me (joking, of course, but she is definitely more Ryan than she is me).

We did celebrate with her on several occasions before and after we left for Hawaii. On July 2 we had her birthday party with her friends. This year we took her and some friends to see Ice Age 3. It was so fun, we rented the party room and they reserved seats for the kids and brought them all their own snack boxes with a drink, popcorn and one candy in it. I wish I had gotten a picture of all the little 4-6 year olds sitting on the front row with their snack box watching the movie. It was the cutest thing ever! I was so busy getting everyone situated before the movie and once it started I didn't want to disturb the other moviegoers with my flash going off while the movie was playing. I should have done it anyway.....Here are a bunch of candids that I got during the party. I think I got almsot every kid in at least one shot, she has some really wonderful friends that she plays with. We got a group shot, but a few of the kids had already left, we had a hard enough time corraling the ones there and getting them to all look at the camera.

A few years ago we signed Madison up for the CPK kids birthday club so she gets a free kids pizza the month of her birthday. We decided to take the kids on July 4th for dinner at CPK and since we were headed to Town Square (probably my favorite place to go in Vegas with the kids) we dressed them in their bathing suits so they could play at the sprinkler park in the kids area. They had so much fun! It turned off and the kids area closed at 7 or 8 pm and the kids were so sad! They would have stayed for hours more. I got some great pictures of them playing, so that made it even more fun for me.

Madison is so funny, she loves going to the sprinkler parks, but the water comes out with such force that she gets terrified of it. Mostly she runs around all the spurts of water and barely gets wet at all. I don't think her hair had one drop of water in it when we left. She loves just running around with all the kids and splashing in the puddles.

Hunter, on the other hand, was so fascinated by the sprinkler park. He would watch the water come up and then he would go over to the spout and dig his finger all around trying to figure out where all the water went. A few times he got socked straight in the face. He did NOT care for that at all! He ran in the water much more than Mads did, he was soaked by the time we left. He just kept giggling and walking around. There was a cute group of moms sitting by me and he would play in the water or with the spout and then he would walk over to them and clap as if he expected them to clap for him for doing whatever it was he had just done. It was adorable, and these sweet ladies were happy to oblige him. He is such a character.

We went to Utah for the July 24th celebration and while we were there we celebrated Madison's birthday with the family. Grandma Ainge had separate cakes for Madison and her cousin Sam during the family party and they got to open their presents with everyone. It was so fun! She loved having the princesses on her cake and the great part is that she got to play with the dolls after the cake was eaten. I'm pretty sure she still has them somewhere. They even lit up and everything, it was adorable.

After the party we headed to the Spanish Fork carnival for games and rides and then off to the rodeo. She even wore her cowgirl outfit to the party, the carnival and the rodeo, it was fun! She loved the rodeo, mostly because I let her eat popcorn, a snow cone and mini-doughnuts. She so rarely gets treats like that. She loved watching all the horses and got a kick out of the rodeo clowns. It was a super eventful day, she was exhausted by the time we got home for the night. She might have even slept in for an extra hour next day. For her that is a miracle. The child wakes up by 6 am almost every day no matter what time she goes to bed.

As this has become a journal for me, I wanted to include some little facts and tidbits about Madison before I forget them all. I promised myself that I wouldn't be the mom that forgets all the stats on my children, or confuses them. Well, as good as my intentions were, I have become that person. I contribute this tendency to the fact that pregnancy kills brain cells....I know I have lost a TON of them. The fact that I can even function each day is an accomplishment.

Madison Elizabeth was born July 8, 2004 at 7:22 am in Northridge, California at the Northridge Hospital. She weighed in at 6 lbs 9 oz and was 19 inches long.

She was born after 12 "wonderful" hours of labor (the "" signify my sarcasm in this last sentence). I was so incredibly exhausted by the time she was born. I was able to deliver her with no drugs, but lots of help from a wonderful doula. (I know, I know, I was crazy) Funny enough I did her labor drug free and it took 12 hours start to finish but Hunter required an epidural for less than 3 hours. More on that with Hunter's birthday post. Hence, our first family photo had me looking less than spectacular, and just plum worn out. I could hardly lift my head I was so tired.

I had gone into labor with Madison the previous evening, July 7, (considering she was a week late I was more than ready, her due date was July 1). Around 7 pm I started getting regular contractions and about 7:45, just as my contractions were 5 minutes apart, my water broke. I, of course, freaked out, less than 20% of women have water break that early in pregnancy. I figured the baby was going to come before we got to the hospital. Yeah, I was wrong. At about 8 pm we got in the car and went to the hospital. Thankfully we missed the wonderful rush hour traffic (it was a wednesday night, on the 5 and 405, in LA) and the hospital was about a half hour away without traffic. I loved my doctor and was willing to pass 2 hospitals to have him deliver Madison.

After a week of my dad calling me daily asking if I had had the baby yet I was more than ready to call him and tell him that I was headed to the hospital. It actually worked out perfectly, my parents were headed out that weekend to see me and the new baby, we figured it would be safe to get tickets since it was over a week after the baby's due date. I had Madison the morning of July 8 and that night my dad flew out of Memphis and was headed to the Olympic tryouts to work on some patients in Sacramento (I think) via LAX. For some reason or another, his fight was late leaving Memphis and he missed the last flight to Sacramento, so he rented a car and came to see me at the hospital and Madison on our first night together. I begged the nurses to let him in even though it was waaay after visiting hours. They granted an exception to the rule and let him in. He just hung out in my room from about 10 pm until 4 am when he had to head back to the airport. I felt really bad because Madison cried her first 3 days of life almost without stopping, so he just held her and calmed her down until 4 am. Needless to say, he did not get very much sleep. When he came back to LA 3 days later with my mom he adjusted her and she stopped crying and was a pretty pleasant baby after that.

Some memorable things about her:

When she was hungry she would make her "O" face (see first picture on the posting) and start bobbing her head around looking for food. It was so adorable.

Most newborns sneeze alot, she did as well, but whenever she would sneeze two times in a row she would follow it with a sigh. She didn't sigh when she sneezed once, only when she did it twice in a row. My heart would melt any time she did that. It lasted almost 6 months before she stopped sighing. I was so sad when she did. I wish I had known my camera would take videos so I could have recorded it!

For the first few weeks of her life she would only sleep if she could hear a heartbeat, so she slept on one of our chests for a while. It made it hard to sleep at night for us, but it was so fun to cuddle with her.

***I know the date on this post is off, it has taken me several days to finish it up. I don't know how to adjust the date, I'm not sure you can......

Dance time

Madison started dance class this last year. She really enjoyed it, shocking, I know....She chose Ballet and Tap as the class she wanted. Each term she quickly moved up to the next class, which is great since she was one of the oldest kids in her classes and is semi coordinated.

At the end of each term the teacher would let us come in and watch the class to see how the kids did. I was smart enough to bring my camera for one of the show-and-tell classes so I could get some good pictures. (I need a better lens, but I don't even want to begin trying to figure out which one I want, so at this point I can't zoom much better than this). But seriously, look how straight Madison is sitting up, I am so glad she loves taking dance classes. I'm having her sit out this session because I just can't juggle dance classes and having a baby...I'm so mean.....

In December her teacher had a recital for all of the classes, it was so cute! They all got costumes and learned a dance to a Christmas song. For being 3-6 year-olds they did really well (I included the video clip so you can watch the dance). Madison LOVED learning a dance instead of just doing warm up exercises and she thought it was so fun to have a "prop" during the dance. She was practicing all the time at home, but told me that she was disappointed the routine only had ballet and didn't get to showcase her tapping talents.

I just cannot get over how big and grown up she looks in pictures now...especially in these ones. She did a very good job of perfecting her "Diva" pose for the pictures we took. Needless to say it was not too much of a stretch for her.

First day of school

My children have both had big milestones in school this past school year. Madison started kindergarten in August (yes, in August, once again proof of my terrible blogging skills in the last year) and Hunter started preschool this month.

Madison was so excited to start school. She had been ready for kindergarten for a while now and was excited for the chance to learn and play with friends every day. She gets so sad on the weekends when she is home with the two of us and her brother and no friends. About a month after school started she got upset with me and asked "Mommy, why didn't you put me in all day kindergarten?" Well, honey, I sure would have if I could have. Trust me, 2 1/2 hours of school is not nearly enough for me either. I just told her that we didn't have that option. Then she went on and asked why she didn't get put in morning kindergarten with all of her friends. I asked for morning but she ended up with afternoon. I actually prefer afternoon, but everyone I already knew had morning and I really wanted to carpool. It has definitely worked out well for us though. The afternoon class is smaller so she gets more one-on-one attention and the kids in her class are great. Plus, I love her teacher. She is a lot like me so it is easier for Madison to stay on task. I'm a no-nonsense, super strict, scheduled (for the most part) parent and her teacher is the same way. Needless to say, we get along fabulously.

I have had a lot of fun seeing what all she is capable of. She hasn't been willing to learn from me like she is willing to learn from someone else. Within 2 months of school starting she was reading. I had been trying to get her to read for a few months and she was not having it. I'm just so proud of her.

The hardest thing about school is that her brother is sad without her at home all day. His nap schedule is completely messed up from me trying to not have him sleep while she is home, waiting until later results in me getting a break for 2 hours while she is at school. 1:00 in the afternoon is just so passed his tired point it's hard some days. Right now we are simply doing the best we can. When we go to pick up Madison he runs up to the gate and looks for her. When she comes out he loves to run and give her hugs. He just misses her so much. It is cute! I love that they get along so well.

I found one preschool here that takes 2 year-olds, I don't know why, but she claims she LOVES the 2 year-olds. He loves going and gets so excited when it is a school day. He goes for 2 hours, so 2 days a week I get about an hour and a half all to myself. As most mothers can attest, the opportunity to go to the grocery store, or Target, or wherever by myself is pure heaven. I love my children to death, but shopping is stressful with them!

Anyway, the little monster only says about 10 or so words (mommy, daddy, more, sippy, night-night, poo-poo, owie, eat, hair, no, and mine) so I wasn't sure how he would do, but his teacher says he does really well. She said he has really good coordination for his age and he understands everything you say to him. He follows directions really well and does pretty well with the other kids. His class is 2 and 3 year-olds so the older kids love to pick him up and carry him around. She says they treat him like a doll sometimes. I told her that he is used to it, that is what his sister does all the time. Apparently, he just lets them carry him and doesn't complain at all. Like I said, he is used to it.....

I took this picture on the 2nd day of class when he made this hat. He loved it, all day long he wore it and didn't want to take it off. He ended up learning the word hat as a result and just had so much fun wearing it. By that night he had torn it up, of course, but I love this picture.

In bath news......

The other morning Madison cuddled up to me in bed for almost an hour (it was my attempt at a lazy morning) and read me stories while I read a book. As I realized what time it was and I needed to get ready for the day, feed my kids, get them dressed, etc, I looked to her and said I needed to take a shower so she needed to get off my arm. She all of a sudden plugged her nose and said, "you smell, mommy." Really? I smell? It didn't bother you at any time in the last hour. Nice, huh? I'm sure I did, that is after all why I take showers daily, but come on, I didn't smell that bad when she wanted to cuddle. Sometimes she is such a brat.

This is what my kids do while I get ready in the morning. Most parents bathe their kids in a bathtub, mine play fully dressed with no water in the bathtub. Why, you ask? Well, every time Hunter takes a bath he has a bowel movement (yes, it's as gross as it sounds) so instead of bathing my kids in a bathtub and then having to move them over to the shower and then scrubbing out my tub I make life easy and shower them (thank goodness for the detachable shower head). Thus, they have resorted to using the bathtub as a play area. They make a slide out of the side of the tub, they put their bath toys in and sit and play just like a normal bath, and they also put the "candy" cane in the tub and dance.

Ryan's Aunt Pam bought this for Madison when they came to see me at the hospital after having Hunter (Madison conned them into getting it when they stopped for flowers at the store). It is probably my kids most favorite toy, it plays Mandy Moore's Candy and turns around. Madison has the directions figured out and she turns the same way it does when it sings (it's really cute). Almost every morning they play it for about 1/2 an hour while I get ready. They haven't gotten sick of it yet. It will be a sad day when the batteries finally die out, I don't know how it opens up! I'll figure something out....

It's a girl....

Yes, I know that everyone I know is aware of the fact that baby #3 is a girl, but I have a few stories I want to share with it. If I had been blogging like I wanted to then these would have been published months ago.....

And, why yes, I know this is a crappy ultrasound picture. I didn't like any of the pictures we got. To be honest, we have never had a good ultrasound picture taken-you know what I mean, one where you can actually tell a baby is in there. The kind that they show you in the magazines. Yeah, that's not any of ours....but enough of my soapbox.

Before Ryan and I decided we wanted another baby Madison started getting obsessed with having a baby sister. Just as we were trying to figure out when we wanted to get pregnant, or at least try to get pregnant, Madison let us know that every night she prayed to Jesus for a baby sister.

As she told us that we looked to each other and I asked her, "Why a baby sister?" She replied that she already had a baby brother and now she wanted a sister. I asked her if another brother would be ok and she said "yes, but then that's it, no more brothers." Heck, it's not like I have any control over it.....

To be fair to Madison, though, I really believed that she would get what she wanted. Why? Because she KNEW Hunter was a boy. I was positive I was having another girl, but she told me it was a boy because she wanted a brother. She was right.

I have never been accurate on the sex of our children. I was so certain that Madison was a boy that I took a yellow outfit to the hospital and didn't wash any of the pink clothes that had tags on them just in case I had to return them. Apparently mothers intuition is yet another myth in my life.

Ryan and I are overjoyed for a few different reasons, we really did want another girl. First, I really think girls should have a sister. I had 5 and I am so grateful for each of them. There is no way they can be replaced in my life. Second, the thought of two boys in a row terrified me. I am hoping that by having Hunter surrounded by females that he won't be quite as rambunctious. Two boys in a row are WAY too rambunctious for this girl who was raised with all sisters. I will be more than happy to have a boy for my 4th, but thankfully this one is a girl.

By the way, I am aware that my delusions run deep when it comes to boys but one can hope, right? Hunter is already way more rambunctious than his sister. He is all boy-he runs everywhere (when he isn't demanding to be carried-the little monster), he throws EVERYTHING (anything and everything is a projectile missile), he has already perfected grunting and lack of communication skills (he's 2 and says 12 words but understands everything I say-at least he's not stupid), he loves wrestling, not to mention the fact that the kid ALWAY has bumps and bruises on him, usually matching bruises on each side of his forehead (see photo above, he had matching head bruises and some scrape under his nose-thankfully I had taken their Christmas pictures 2 days before). I know there is only so much I can do, but the thought of two in a row sent me into panic mode. Thank goodness for little girls.

Hungry Man

I am very aware that I have COMPLETELY slacked as a blogger. There is no excuse, I just didn't make time and then I got so behind that I got quite overwhelmed and anyone that knows me knows that when I get overwhelmed I simply choose to avoid whatever it is that stressed me out. Yes, I am VERY aware that that trait is not so good....but come on, I'm 30, I doubt it will change much after perfecting it in the last few years.

My one and only New Year's Resolution is to be more diligent with our family blog than I was last year. Honestly, I don't think I could get any less diligent. Here is my first attempt at being better. We shall see how this year goes....

I uploaded a ton of pictures today and saw this one I took recently. I think this is my favorite picture of Hunter from the last year. Needless to say this little guy LOVES to eat. When he does sit down to eat he is quite precise (any guesses where that trait came from...I'll give you one hint, it's not from me). He gets stressed unless his tray is set up just so, his sippy cup MUST be in the correct spot and his plate must be ON his tray-not just the food, the plate. He also freaks out when food or water drips down his chin. He can usually handle it if there is food on his mouth (see accompanying picture), although not the last week. When it starts to drip he whines incessantly until I get a napkin and wipe his face. It cracks me up, but mostly it's annoying. It makes it hard for me to eat at the same time. Selfish, I know.....

When I took this picture we were at Cracker Barrel on our way home from Utah after Thanksgiving. Somehow he got his hands on a second fork and decided that 2 was definitely better than 1. I can't believe he kept this up long enough for me to get my camera out, but thank goodness he did because I foresee this picture providing up with laughs for years to come.

It's a time for learning

One of the other fun things we got to do in Utah was go to the Children's Museum at the Gateway. We bought a family season pass to the museum in Memphis and we are able to get into all the Children's Museums in the country. It was well worth it, we go to the one here in Vegas regularly.

This was the first time we went to a museum and Hunter really got in to it. Usually he just wanders and occasionally finds something to play with, I guess he is just getting to that age. He had so much fun! His favorite part was the builder section. He loved bringing the shapes up and putting them through the hole. Anything he can throw over and over makes him happy.

He also loved the car. He finally got to play with that illusive steering wheel! He loved pretending to honk the horn and turning the wheel. He even got a fill up from his sister. Wasn't that sweet?

They both got to sit on top of the horse, which I think freaked them out a bit. It's kind of high off the ground and there isn't that much to hold on to.

Zoo Animals

One of the fun things we did in Utah when we went for the 24th of July was going to the Zoo with one of my best friends from way back when and her son, Preston. The kids had so much fun, Madison keeps asking to go back.

I think the reason she keeps asking to go back is not to look at the animals, but to climb all over them. Every time we passed one of the sculptures she could climb on she wouldn't move until we got a

picture of her on the animal. It got really annoying, but the pictures turned out cute.

I think both of the kids liked the carousel the best. They wanted to go back on it the rest of the day. Next time I know to save it for last instead of first. All in all, it was a fun day and not too hot for being July. I loved being able to catch up with Kimberlee. I hardly get to see her, so that was my favorite part of the day :)

An exasperating 24 hours

The other day I discovered my son can now unzip his jammies. A few months ago he was pretty restless at naptime, but I just let him hang out in his crib and he eventually fell asleep. I went in to get him once he woke up and he had thrown all of his bedding out of his crib, taken off his shirt, his pants, and of course his diaper. Apparently that is when he decided to fall asleep because when I went to get him there was a huge pee stain on his sheet. Thankfully that was it....and now I worry about him doing it again. Super.....

(yes, I know he has a pink blanket in his crib. His blanket was in the wash, he doesn't usually sleep on pink... not that I really care anyway. A blanket is a blanket.)

Then, as I was trying to get him ready for the day he would not leave Madison's dress up shoes alone. Usually he is obsessed with my shoes, but he found hers and would not take them off. He was so funny. He won't keep his own shoes on, but he loves playing with other peoples. He thought running away from me in the heels was a fun game. yeah....I thought so to....

Of course this was the same day the kids wanted to play "buckethead." The entire premise of this game is putting a bucket on their head and ramming in to each other over and over again. The problem is that each time they hit each other one of them ends up falling down and crying because it hurts! Really? Who knew????

The best part of the day, however, was when Hunter got ahold of Madison's markers and wrote all over his face. What is it about my kids that they will not stop writing on themselves? Is it really that fun?????

We just can't pick a favorite

We are not sure what we are going to be naming our little bun in the oven. But, here are a few of our favorites. Which is your favorite?

In the family way

Yep, we have a new little baby on it's way. I put a fun ticker on the side of my blog page to keep track of the growth. We are so excited, more so than any of our other pregnancies. Usually we are happy, but this time both Ryan and I are excited too. How funny is that? We just want it to be healthy and strong.

My sister found this fun Ancient Chinese gender chart that is supposed to let you know the gender of your baby. It told me I was going to have a little girl, which is what I really want. I was so excited!

However, I wanted to put the chart on my blog, just for fun, so I Googled to find it, but the one that I found disagrees with hers.

Now I don't know what to believe. One says girl, one says boy. Sadly, I have to think the 2nd one is more accurate, because the first one said that Madison should have been a boy. Granted, it does give a disclaimer that it has a 90% accuracy rate, not 100%, but still....I try to cheat and find out early, and look what happens. I still don't know what I am going to have. I supposed I should just go back to good old reliable faith. I'm just impatient!

So far this pregnancy had gone almost exactly like my last two. I knew I was pregnant when the thought of drinking Coke made me ill. I stopped cold turkey, with no withdrawal symptoms. That is my way of knowing I am prego. I crave lots of carbs, white bread in particular. I only eat it when I am pregnant....lots of peanut butter and honey sandwiches, yum! I also crave Root Beer. I hardly ever drink it, but in the first trimester I LOVE it...especially with pizza :)

I'm sick, just like I have been before, but I am learning little tricks to combat it. I don't have the luxury of laying in bed all day like I did with the first 2. I have found that if I go to bed by 8:30 pm I can make it through the next day without having to be in bed the whole day. I can get a few things done. The only problem is 8:30 pm is WAY too early for a sane person to go to bed. I'm a night owl, I don't like going to bed early every day, plus, it's not like I can fall asleep that early anyway! Needless to say, Zofran is still by best friend. I try to get to bed early every other night and that just has to be the best I can do.

I officially concede

I am such a blogging slacker. I willingly admit it, and officially concede my alphabetized list. The rest are lame anyway. I will try and get better....I just can't promise anything.

Random funny stories

This little monster is just getting in to everything. His new favorite game is to sit at the top of the stairs and throw all the toys down on the tile. Needless to say, a few things have gotten broken. If the toy won't fit through the banister then he reaches up on his tippy toes and throws the toy over the railing. He doesn't listen to no, and I just don't know how to break this habit. It's not like I can keep him away from the railings. The toy room is right there where the railings are. It's driving me nuts. Every now and again I'll be going up or down the stairs and a toy will barely miss me. So fun.....

Over Christmas Hunter was sitting with Ryan he grabbed Ryan's soda bottle, determined to get some for himself. I looked over while he was doing it and it looked like he has gotten it open, so I freaked out. Ryan just looked at me like I was the crazy one! He couldn't believe that I would think he gave our barely one year old his soda. All I could say was that from my angle he looked like he was drinking away. It was so funny, plus, it made a really cute picture.

A month or so ago we were headed out to the drive in for family movie night. Ryan and I were talking and Madison interrupts us with "Mommy, I can read lot's of words. McDonald's, Burger King, Cafe Rio, Chevy's, Wendy's, Sonic, Taco Bell, Chili's. See, I can read lots of words." Nice, I know. I'm not exactly sure what I am trying to teach my children anymore, but I'm pretty sure I'm trying to teach them more words than simply restaurant names. Granted, we do eat at those places, more than we should, but still...

Ryan and I couldn't keep a straight face for the rest of the night...Out of the mouth of babes, right?

This moment rated right up there with the time Madison told me I needed to get a coke because coke makes me nice. Apparently I was grumpy that day.

My other favorite Madison story from last year happened at church one Sunday. I can't remember if I have blogged this one, but I will tell it anyway.

We were sitting on a bench to one side and Mads had been really good during sacrament and about halfway through there was a musical number. The person doing it had gotten up and said a few words and born his testimony before the number started. It was just him and his guitar, which isn't normal for musical numbers, but it was one of the most heart touching musical numbers I had ever heard at church. Anyone, he started playing and singing and Madison moved out into the aisle and totally went American Idol on us. She had her arms up, swaying back and forth just like on TV. I grabbed her so fast, I'm still hoping not too many people saw. Ryan and I were bent over on our seats laughing. What could I do? It's not like she did something wrong, it was just not the appropriate place for that. It was so funny!

Hunter Bear

Hunter:/ [huhn-ter] –noun 1: a person who searches for or seeks something: a fortune hunter. 2: a horse specially trained for quietness, stamina, and jumping ability in hunting.

see also: joker; content; happy; cuddly; thumb-sucker; hungry; teaser; quiet; pleaser; water-baby; fearless; mamma's boy; calm; sleeper; climber; eater; singer; slobber-monster

Our little Hunter Bear is a little angel. I tell people that he is my reward for surviving Madison! I'm joking, of course, Madison is a wonderful child and I love her to pieces. She makes me smile everyday. Hunter, though, he is just special to me. I figure it must be the mommy-son bond that I hear so much about. Here is a little about him and his cute personality.

Food We'll start with the obvious one. This kid loves to eat. No one is allowed to eat around him without something for him. It doesn't matter how full he is, there is always room for more. He almost always has a snack cup in his hand and is a complete moocher. He has no qualms about eating food off the floor, I think he throws stuff off of his highchair tray just so he can eat more while he is playing and I am cleaning the floor. He also makes the cutest chipmunk cheeks when he eats. It doesn't matter how small or large the bite, he puffs his little cheeks out and shoves the food in his mouth with expert aim. Just for fun he loves to wipe his mouth with the back of his hand. It makes for a fun cleanup for mom! He has taught himself how to drink out of a straw, because heaven forbid someone gets to even drink without him having some too.

If we grab food at a drive thru and he hears the crinkle of the take-out bag he will start screeching until he gets food. I swear, he knows the sound of fast food bags! It's actually really funny, but sometimes I just don't want to share!

Daily Routine He is a really easy kid. He sleeps really, really well and hasn't gotten into tantrums much yet, I don't delude myself, I know they are coming, but I am enjoying the time I have without them. Right now he takes one nap a day, usually about 2 1/2 hours or so, and sleeps all night long. I lay him in bed and leave the room and every now and again I hear some babbling, but usually he goes straight to sleep. I am enjoying this while it lasts. He loves to sleep and I think he really enjoys the quiet and calm of having time to himself. He still sucks his thumb any time he is tired, so that helps me know when he is ready for nap time.

He is finally waving at people instead of just at himself in the mirror. He has the cutest wave too, he curls his fist twice and then he gets shy and tucks his head on my shoulder. I get such a kick out of it!

Signing is a different story, he will only do one sign. I taught him food and that is all he would do for months. The answer to every question was the the sign for food. It kind of defeated the purpose. Recently I got him to start signing "more," so now he does that sign for everything. I ask him if he wants water, I get "more" , I ask if he wants food, "more" , up?, "more" , outside?, "more" , do you see why this could be a problem? What is the point ?!? He is just so content! There is not enough incentive for him to do each one individually, he has Madison and I to figure out what he wants all day long. One day, maybe.....

Favorite Activities Hunter has many activities that he loves. His favorite is standing on the oven drawer and holding on to the oven door handle. He can usually be found there while I am cooking. Yep, it's fun for me. As soon as he crawls up there I get him down, because hello, I know it is dangerous! I walk him over to the other side of the kitchen by his toys. I get about 30 seconds to complete my next task before he has climbed right back up. I could buckle him into his highchair, right? Or I should be able to, except he likes to stand up in the seat of the chair and then walk onto his tray and on to the table if I let him. It takes him about 45 seconds to get out of the buckle and start him climb out of the chair. Fun stuff....and many of you wonder why I don't enjoy cooking, it could be because I can't just go to the kitchen and cook, I spend more time trying to keep my kids from falling and burning themselves than I spend preparing a meal.

He also loves to play with Madison. He just idolizes her. He will watch her with all his attention and follow her as she does things. Anything she does he wants to do. It is so sweet, especially since Madison loves him so much too. They have so much fun together.


He also love to tease me and joke. He loves to get a laugh from us and plays "Where's Hunter?" all the time. Usually during mealtime when his hands are covered in food, but whatever, it's still cute.

He will go to an area that has toys and put them all on him (see the accompanying photo of Madison's necklaces). He takes all sorts of toys and makes hats out of them. He just loves getting a laugh from us!