What Sound Does Papa Make?

In the realm of fart noises are always funny, I taught Hadley how to immitate her grandfather by making *pfft* noises. It only took about a day of positive reinforcement to produce this behavior. And once it started, there was no stopping it. On repeat, driving around in the car. "pfft *giggle* PAPA", she would say, over and over like a broken record.

When we were in Connecticut visiting my parents, my Dad captured her on camera in her priceless moments. You can see the video here.

Toddler Tea Party

It wasn't until we were sitting in Kinderschuhe, a children's shoe store in Connecticut looking for a pair of shoes for Hadley that I learned she knew how to have tea parties. In a play area at the back of the store, she picked up a tea kettle and started pouring fake tea into cups for my mom. My first thought was *sniff* what else is she doing that I don't know about. But as soon as we got back, I opened the tea set that her Aunt Jinnie had gotten for her first birthday. At the time, Jinnie insisted that all little girls love to have tea parties and boy did she know what she was talking about. The day I opened the set, I had to limit our tea parties to 3. Of course, I also taught her how to invite her stuffed animals and serve them all tea and crumpets, and how you have to be all hoity toity and stick out your pinky as you sip (not slurp) your hot brew.

iPlay Sand and Water Table

Hadley loves playing with water. She loves putting her hands in it. She loves pouring it on herself. If we are outside, she wants her pail filled with water. If it is hot out, she wants water in her pool. After Mommy, Daddy, Tica, and Gibson, Water was probably her 5th word, which she says as if asking a question, on repeat like a broken record. Wawa? Wawa? Wawa? The way she says Wawa reminds me of Gilda Radner's Barbara Wawa skit. Until I correct her, and then she says WaaaTer.

Because of her love of all things water, when we were in Connecticut on vacation and I spied iPlay's Sand and Water Table at a toy store, I knew I had to get it for her. I called a few toy stores when I got back to Denver, and thanks to my friend Cynthia who has a 25% off coupon, I was able to get this for her at a store down the street from us. Total Score!

It was super easy to set up out of the box and I love how colorful it is. Despite DGs crotch in this shot, this picture is great because Hadley is having a blast.


Water and boats and ducks go in one side and sand in the other. You can pour water into the funnels at the top and watch them spin the wheels.

This is RATED A for Awesome!

Father's Day

Father's Day Hike up Mt. Falcon


View of Red Rocks Amphitheater from our hike.



Followed by Father's Day Out at La Fogata

Then Father's Day Pool Time

And finally, Father's Day Dairy Queen where we learned that Hadley is purely a vanilla girl. To which I again ask, whose daughter is she?

Pic of the Week

There is no amount of muck and goo on her face that would make me resist this look when she wants to be picked up.

Hadley's First Hike

Last Sunday morning, we took Hadley out to Bear Creak in Morrison, CO for her first hike. It is pretty short and fairly easy smooth terrain for little toddler feet. Here she is really excited about the water bottle.


This picture screams, "running water makes me really have to pee".


Once we got away from all the bikers, Hadley insisted on walking the ENTIRE way. We took our time, watching the river, sniffing flowers, and picking up rolly polly bugs. I LOVE that she is not afraid of critters. Yet.


Finally in the end, she was all about hydrating. Though we carried her most of the way back it was good exercise. Even the dogs had a good time.

The Many Faces of Hadley

Sneaky.


Deliriously Happy.


Freaking Excited.


Mischievous.


Expectant.


Caught in the Act!


Joyful.

First Day of Daycare

The night before my first day of work, Hadley had a fever of 104.5, freaking us out and keeping us up all night long. By Tuesday she was better, and here she is ready to rock her first day of daycare with her backpack. No, I don't make her tote her things around. It was all a ruse for the camera. But she loves saying the word "Backpack", you know like Dora the Explorer.

So what has changed in two weeks? Well, she gained ONE POUND! Holy crap. Forget Pediasure, Carnation Instant Breakfast and months of double buttered bread. All it took was watching 15 kids eating to garner an interest in food.

She is doing really well during the day and has been called an 'Independent Spirit' who goes all over the place doing her own thing. The look on her face when I pick her up is priceless. She immediately drops everything she is doing, jumps out of arms or climbs out of the sandbox to come running over to me all the while yelling 'Mama'. Warms the cockles of my heart.

The only issues we are currently having is that she has brought home the concept of "MINE" said ad infinitum at loud volume followed by screeching. She also has taken to throwing completely hysterical fits, but just with me, not DG. It's like she is punishing me for leaving her all day. I'm not sure how to deal with it and may need to do some reading online. For example today, David picked her up from daycare and came to get me at work. She was calling my name out the whole way and the two of them were having a great time, until she saw me. Upon seeing me and having me hug her, she grew hysterical and wouldn't let me touch her or hold her. She was INCONSOLABLE. So much for Mama's touch. Any ideas?

Budding Musician

When my parents came to visit, Papa brought Hadley a new fun toy. It has taken a few weeks, but she has finally figured out how to blow in it. In case you missed this on 5280 Dad, here is Hadley learning how to play her harmonica. And here is where I would put in a really clever and witty harmonica pun right now, but I'm just plum dry of wit these days.

Trevor Brown Photography

This week-end, Trevor, our wedding and engagement photographer, came over to spend the afternoon with us and take some pictures of Hadley. He is awesome and amazing, and selfless, as he took time away from his brand new 7 week old baby boy. We found him on Craigslist before our wedding and he and DG have been trading services since then. I don't know the details, I just put on lipstick, show up and smile. All of these photos were taken by Trevor Brown, Jr./Trevor Brown Photography.

Here are a few of the highlights of over 400 photos.

And the Winner is...

drum roll please. As of 6:00am on Wednesday, April 8, Vince was in the lead as the name of our new Beta Fish. And it's a good thing because I couldn't get Hadley to say the name Lloyd. Thank you all for playing along.

Lands End Petting Zoo

Lands End moved into our Sears several years ago in Cherry Creek. I love Sears, not only for their longevity, but also their customer service. But I also love having Lands End there too. Good quality clothing and they have crazy sales there all the time. I got a brand new winter jacket there last year for $20. This week-end, in their kids department, they had a lot of fun farm animals that Hadley flipped for. All the fun of a petting zoo minus the screaming case of e-coli.

Duck, Duck, SWAN!


I'll take them all.


Sticker shock. I wonder if my Dad knows how much these things are because he's promised me about eight of them by now.


Don't you just want to cuddle them like a big wooly blanket?

Name Our Beta Fish

Hadley loves fish. Whenever she sees a picture of a fish, she starts screaming ffisccchhh which she says as if she has a mouth full of marbles. I was desperate for an activity this week to stimulate her, so we headed out to the Denver Aquarium. Let's just say her excitement started to rise just seeing pictures of fish as we entered the building. Imagine her wide eyes as we walked for 40 minutes through a maze of swimming fish, turtles and sharks. Sadly, a much cheaper play date is just to take her to Petsmart to look at the fish tanks. Seriously she is just as excited, and she gets to see parakeets, rats, and guinea pigs too.

DG has been rallying for a fish tank since, oh I don't know...THE DAY WE MET! Last Friday night, on the way to the store, he was pleading for a gerbil as well. But I was all "Dude we are sooo not ever getting a gerbil." And he was all "But, but, *gulp* I'll take care of it, and feed it, and clean it's cage, and call it George, and rub it's fur backwards."


We ended up coming home with just one new pet, so and so, our new male beta fish. Here's the fun part, YOU, the internet, get to help us name him by picking your favorite of the following choices. All names are from our favorite show, Entourage.

We leave his name in your hands, our faithful readers. If you don't like any of the names below, feel free to comment your choice. This contest will last 48 hours from now and then the lines will close and we will post the winner with his picture.

 What should we name our new male beta fish?

• 
  
  Vince


• 
  
  Ari


• 
  
  Johnny Drama


• 
  
  Lloyd


• 
  
  I don't care, go buy a gerbil.

view results
Free vote poll

Phase 1 of Potty Training

WARNING: This post contains comments that may be offensive to people who like to go into the bathroom, shut the door, turn on the water to drown out noise, come out, and never again talk about what happened in there. Don't worry, I'll be gentle with you.



This week we started Phase 1 of potty training which consists of Hadley coming into the bathroom everytime I go in, pulling down her pants and sitting on her potty next to me. But she's only 15 months, you say? I know, I know, but it is stress free with no expectations. It really has all started because our neighbor gave us a hand-me-down potty last week. I was going to store it in the garage, but then it ended up in the bathroom and I figured, I might as well start with the positive reinforcement now. It's all about repetition and comfort.

For example, I started teaching her to brush her teeth when she was 12 months. Once or twice a day we would go into the bathroom and go through the ritual of brushing our teeth. I would wet her toothbrush and hand it to her and then sing the Raffi song and she would watch me brush. About two weeks in, she finally put the tooth brush in her mouth. Now I have to limit tooth brushing to twice a day. She would live with that toothbrush in her mouth if I let her.

And no, I don't think she's going to be peeing in a toilet any time soon. Realistically, I don't expect this to happen until after she is two. Her head barely comes up to the toilet as it is. I'm just starting now with the fun part. Watching her sit on her potty with her pants around her ankles listening to hear me tinkle is just about the cutest thing I've ever seen. Well, next to her asking for her ducks, or doing Ring Around the Rosie, pretend peeing comes in a close third.

But what do I know about potty training? Nothing. I don't even have a book for that yet. When did you start potty training your kids?

Say Bye-Bye to Bottles

And just like that, the bottles are gone. January 27, I asked everyone in the internet world how to ween a child from a bottle. I got a lot of great advice from all of you. Here is what I did.

Step One
I went out and bought a bunch of different sippy cups; different brands, different colors, different spouts. My intent was to find one that she was comfortable holding and drinking water out of.

Step Two
I did nothing. While I promoted her continuing to drink water out of cups, I really stopped trying to get her to drink milk out of the cups. I didn't even think of it. I didn't even threaten it.

Step Three
I watched her garner interest in sippy cups when she was around other kids. She would see them drinking out of their cups and she would try and steal their cups for a drink of the precious liquid inside.

Step Four
Then today, I really felt like she was ready. So when I knew she was super hungry for milk, I made a big ado about how we had to put all of her bottles in a bag and give them to babies. "Babies NEED your bottles", I told her. "But you are a big girl who drinks out of a cup." This was more for me as I don't think it had any affect on her drinking out of a cup. I then gave her a cup of milk and she sucked it down. Success!!! ::cheers of glee::

Our next issue is attempting to switch from two naps to one a day. More on that later.

No Fear

If the sun is out, Hadley wants to be outside. She will sit and play in the mulch for an hour while her Dad is out raking, watering the compost, filling the bird bath or doing poop patrol. Then she needs to be dragged inside for stupid things like eating and nap time. She usually won't go without a fight though. This week-end, she found her outdoor house and LOVED it.

I am really going to try my best not to pass on any phobias to her. But seriously this thing is a breeding ground for wasps and spiders. Ew. But for her, it's a fairy tale cottage and like totally the funnest thing ever.

The Best $2.50 I Ever Spent

Hadley loves balloons. Pointing to them at the grocery store is one of her greatest joys in life. So at the St. Patty's Day parade in Denver, how could I deny her a balloon?

Hours of fun.

At last you are mine.

Gratuitous Toddler Shot

Angel Face vs. Grumpy Old Man

Hadley really loves bath time. When I yell out the words "Bath Time" Gibson stops in his tracks before running under the bed, and Hadley starts pounding her chest like Celion Dion and demanding her ducks. Her ducks live under the bathroom sink and only come out during bathtime. Well bathtime and extreme playing emergencies. I now have to be careful when I utter those words because she thinks she's going to be stripped naked in 2.2 seconds and the fun is going begin on the double. I love this picture of her post bath because it makes me think of lying on a cloud of soft toilet paper rolls in heaven.


This picture is my new favorite because it makes it look like we don't own a brush. But she had just woken up from a nap and was completely into cheesing it up for the camera.


And finally, this picture is a reminder of how I need to remember that when I dress her, at any minute a Paparazzi can sneak up out of nowhere. Get it? PAPA - razzi hehe. Wearing red and light blue is not perhaps the best choice I could have made for her that day. But when you look like a grumpy old man it kind of takes away the focus of what you are wearing.

Ring Around the Rosie

For Christmas, my brother sent a cd of kids music with 44 songs. To say it has changed our life, would be an understatement. This CD has created the closest thing we have found to Peace On Earth. It took screaming car rides and turned them into smooth, serene, calmness. God forbid if NPR plays for more than 3 minutes into the car ride, a little someone starts making demands from the back seat that sound a little something like "turn on my music, TURN on my Music, TURN ON MY MUSIC MOM!!! Hence, this CD does not leave our car.

Of the 44 songs, several have struck a chord with Hadley including Ring Around the Rosie, which she requests by saying "Ashes". Though the way she says ashes sounds like a young girl with a mouth full of metal and headgear. She loves to spin around to the song and this video is hot off the press. I swear I wasn't being a stage mom in the background demanding another take. She was on a roll and wouldn't stop spinning.

Hadley Learns Her Letters

One day, while reading one of her numerous ABC books, letters just started clicking with Hadley. 'F' is by far her Favorite letter of all time. Each week, she picks up another one. She currently knows A, F, L, M, O, S, and T.

To celebrate her learning letters, I learned how to make a movie using our iFlip.

Puppy Bowl

Ooh, what's on tv?


Dogs! Mom, there are dogs!


She was so excited that she needed to get down to get closer to the Puppy Bowl. Though I have to say, I was a bit disappointed that they didn't have any dachshunds this year. Who do they think they are? Don't they know the wiener is a total draw for people?

The Squiggy

Hadley has recently learned how to brush her hair.

We are still working on technique.

She definitely has "The Squiggy" down pat.

Mommy Blogging Contest

It appears that I've gone off the mommy blogging deep end the past few weeks posting nothing but pictures of Hadley. That's why I mixed it up this week-end with a fun recipe. However, you would be surprised by how many people write to tell me that they only come to this here online diary of mine to see pictures of Hadley. "What about ME", I ask? According to my Dad, it's no longer about me. That being said, I have so many fun videos this month, that the question is which one do I post? Playing with butterflies on her Dad's iphone, naked getting ready for a bath, or trying to say the word Octopus? So we're back to the business of cuteness this week, with me sprinkled in intermittently.

So what's this business about a contest? Well I'm glad you asked. I've mentioned before how many magazine subscriptions we have. DG has paired down a few over the years, only to start getting a several more once we had a baby. We currently get Parenting and Scholastic's Parent & Child. This week, Scholastic is having a contest to nominate Mommy Bloggers. So I was thinking, that if there are any that you really enjoy, ahem, that maybe you visit one day a week or so, and maybe there is always a Bee in the header, and you totally wouldn't mind nominating for a favorite, say like little old me, then you can click here to nominate them. And if you are so kind to do so, let me know so I can honor and love and treasure you with my sincerest gratitude forever and ever.

Year of the Ox

My brother's wife, Yoon Mi, and her mother, bought Hadley an authentic Korean hanbok for Christmas this year. Since it is the asian new year, and the Year of the Ox, Hadley has donned her most gorgeous new outfit to be Bell of the Ball. (She and I are both Year of the Boar). Normally, I can't even put a shirt over her head without a full on tantrum. So I was nervous about putting on the Hanbok which comes in 7 parts, including a purse. But she LOVED it.

Even after our photo shoot, she sat an played with the dress, enjoying the different textures and bright colors.

She even kept the hat on the whole time! She looks like she belongs in a magazine.

Weening a Child from a Bottle to a Sippy Cup

Ok, I'm giving a shout out for some help. Mamas out there, could you please let me know how you weened your kid from a bottle to a cup?

THE PROBLEM
Hadley will drink water or juice out of a glass and/or a sippy cup, but only during her meals. She usually drinks less than four ounces a day total. Since her 12 month check-up, she has 3 bottles (20 oz.) of milk per day (now supplemented with Pediasure). But she is so attached to her bottle, that she will only drink milk out of it.

For the past 3 months, every week, I have tried to get her to drink milk out of a cup. However, she refuses, fights it, and will not drink the milk at all. So I pour it in a bottle and she downs the whole thing. Can you say total manipulation?

THE ISSUE
Because she is underweight, she needs her whole milk and supplement. If she weighed enough, I would toss all the bottles and see who had the stronger will. (Me, me, pick me please.)

Other than all out warfare, does anyone have any ideas? I'm having visions of her going into first grade with her bottle attached to her backpack. Ok, not really, but sometimes worst-case-scenarios do sneak into my head.

Getting Into Everything, One Drawer at a Time

The cabinet magnet locks have finally been installed on the crucial ones that Hadley should not get into, but we have so many. The one downfall of a great big kitchen.


At first, when she couldn't open the dog food cabinet anymore, she freaked out. But then she realized she could still get to the towel, cookie cutter, pasta, and her spoon and cup drawer.


I had to move her snacks because she started feeding them to the dogs.


As with any kid, she always manages to get into the spots that you absolutely don't want her to go. So if you feel like you need help baby proofing your house, I'll rent her out to come over and show you what needs to be taken care of. She's like a drug sniffing dog in that way.