Friday, January 29, 2010

Groovin'

Miranda and I are exposing Hayley to music everyday. We take her to music class; we play music in the car; we watch musical programs at home; we even play Rock Band with her. We're not quite sure yet about her musical tastes, but we do know one thing: she loves a song with a good beat. Whether it's the Beatles (original or kid versions), some upbeat Beethoven, or any of the stuff you hear on shows like The Wiggles, our daughter pays attention. And you can be sure she's enjoying it because she likes to move it, move it!



As you can see, she mostly bounces up and down, but sometimes she likes to slap her knees, clap, or stand up and shake her little tushy. All I can say is that I hope she never stops dancing to the music she likes.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Hayley Baby

Hayley's 11 month birthday came and went with no fanfare here on the blog, largely due to the fact that I'm in utter denial about my little baby growing up.

Every single day I am amazed by some new advancement Hayley has made. I'm overwhelmed as I watch her baby fat slip away, exposing her features a little more and revealing this new kid before me. I stare at Geoff in disbelief and ask, "Did she really just say [insert "cat", "kitty cat", "that", "bottle", etc. here]?!?" I wake up every hour to check the baby monitor since she hasn't made a peep all night. I secretly relish the fact that Hayley has no interest in walking and will remain in my arms a little longer. I absolutely live for her spontaneous bouts of laughter and wet little kisses.

I know I have quite a bit more time to get to know my little girl, and I fully intend to savor every single second, but I am going to miss the Hayley Baby days when they're gone.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Self-feeding, ball mania, and music



The first week (or so) of the new year and we've already got some milestones to report. Only one of which is an actual milestone, but hey.



During lunch on Wednesday, mommy and grandma tried to get Hayley to feed herself for the first time, but were unsuccessful. So daddy took a crack at it during breakfast the next day. I handed her a spoon with food on it (apples and oatmeal) and she immediately put it in her mouth as if she had been doing this for years. I busted out my phone to take a picture for Miranda, hoping she would perform the feat again. She obliged, so I ran and grabbed the actual camera, for which Hayley again fed herself. At this point I was thinking wow, my baby is awesome and I didn't even have to do anything! Apparently I jinxed it, because after that she stopped putting the spoon in her mouth. And now she refuses to even hold the spoon. Ah well, at least we have proof that she did it.



On Saturday we picked up a new toy for Hayley at the mall. Normally I am not an impulse buyer, but we saw a ball pit for what seemed like a good price, and in my head I imagined my daughter having the time of her life in it (much like the little photoshopped girl on the box). We set it up after she went to bed so she could play with it first thing in the morning. Sadly, she did not have "ball mania".



We had to put other toys that she likes in the ball pit just to get her to go in and she was clearly not pleased with the situation. She humored us for about 10 minutes. We tried it again later on in the day but she couldn't wait to get out of it. And today? She full on cries if we put her OR her favorite toys in it. Now we have this huge useless thing in our living room.



Today I took Hayley to a Music Together class. We've been to a few demo classes before, but now we're actually enrolled in a full semester (go to www.musictogether.com if you don't know what I'm talking about). Like any baby, Hayley has really shown appreciation for music, mostly at a rhythmic level at this stage. She loves to drum on things and play with her various percussion instruments. She certainly hears music a lot in her daily life. Considering how important music is for a person's development (and lifelong happiness in my opinion), we really want to encourage Hayley's interest. Of course she is still a little young to fully participate in a Music Together class, but that doesn't mean it won't benefit her to be there. She definitely enjoys it, though for her, today was more about the novelty of the other kids and parents. After a few weeks, I hope she'll get over that and start clapping along with the songs and shaking her butt like she does at home!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Holiday 2009 mega-post



The first week of the new year. A time for resolutions, fresh starts and really long holiday blog posts. The past few weeks have been pretty eventful for us, so let's get right to it.

Miranda took an extra week off before Christmas, so there was plenty of room to fit in all the stuff we wanted to do as well as lots of downtime. Our 3 week vacation actually started with Kati's birthday, followed the next day by a Metallica concert. No, I did not bring Hayley (she stayed home with mommy). Monday morning we took Hayley to the mall for her very first picture with Santa Claus. As you can see in the previous post, she did not smile, but most importantly, she did not freak out either. That was really all I was hoping for, so I came away satisfied.



The next day, Miranda, Kati and I went on a roadtrip to Lucille's BBQ, north of Sacramento (yes that is a long way to go for BBQ, but it was worth it). Hayley hung out with grandma instead of being subjected to 5 hours in the car. That night, we all visited Christmas in the Park. This is a tradition in downtown SJ that involves a mini-carnival, a sizable collection of decorated xmas trees and a whole bunch of weird, creepy holiday displays. Also, funnel cake.







We also celebrated Miranda's birthday as usual, this time with an adorable baby. Among other things, Miranda got some beautiful jewelry featuring Hayley's birthstone (amethyst) as well as a foot massager that Hayley is most definitely NOT a fan of. We all went to lunch at the Fish Market, which took forever due to terribly slow service. Hayley, who should have been napping, stayed awake until the very end, just in time for the very loud singing of the waitresses. She was not happy.



The day after mommy's birthday, we brought Hayley to Marsha's annual xmas party in RWC. We couldn't stay long, but we managed to enjoy some delicious food, meet another cute baby, and watch Hayley's reaction to our friend Tim (always amusing). A couple days later we were visited by Roberta, one of Hayley's favorite people (and Miranda's former boss). Although she didn't quite remember her, Hayley did warm up to her in the short time she was here.



The day before Christmas Eve, we started preparing for the festivities and my parents started their long drive from Arizona. This was probably the best part of the holidays this year: my parents finally getting some quality time with Hayley. They hadn't seen her in person since the week after she was born. The fun began during the day on xmas eve when my parents (AKA papa and naini) came over to spend some time before heading to Nancy's house. Hayley got off to a pretty good start with them, considering they were essentially strangers. After a while, Hayley put on her special new red dress and we left for grandma's.



As I've said before, the best thing about the holidays is family getting together. This was the first time in almost a year that both my family and Miranda's family were together, and the first time ever being together for Christmas Eve. I had been waiting for this for a while and I was not disappointed. The house was filled with love and it was a great thing. After having a wonderful dinner, everyone opened their xmas pajamas and got comfortable. Normally we would have stayed to watch a movie or something, but we had to get Hayley to bed, so we left early.







And then it was Christmas morning. Hayley and her cousin Dylan, being the only kids, got to open all of their gifts first. Hayley was still too young to really appreciate what was going on, but she certainly enjoyed herself. Like the rest of us, Hayley was still in jammies for the morning, but eventually we changed her into her adorable Christmas outfit. (I, on the other hand, stayed in pajamas the whole day.) After the kids were done with their gifts, we all kind of just opened ours at our own pace. My mom took about an hour for some reason. Miranda, Hayley and I each received some really great stuff (thank you all, you know who you are). The rest of Christmas was a blur of baked goods, more and more family, and some mild tantrums (myself included). Overall pretty successful first xmas with our baby girl.












The next few days were focused on spending time with my parents before they headed back home. This included taking my dad to a Sharks game, listening to a lot of music and playing Beatles: Rock Band, swapping family histories and crazy stories, going out to dinner, and watching a movie while mommy and baby took a nap. They also got to meet my step-brother-in-law, Gabe, who was visiting for the holidays as well. It was really nice having my parents here, we miss them so much and wish they lived a lot closer. Saying goodbye after less than a week was hard, but hopefully they'll be back to visit again soon. Hayley was just getting to know her papa and naini...



Our time between that and New Year's Eve was mostly downtime. Hayley had a couple playdates with her friend Leila, the highlight of which was eating puffs off the floor.



On New Year's Eve we took Hayley to a special event at the Children's Discovery Museum downtown called Noon Year's Eve. They have stations for making party hats, noise makers and such. Then at noon everyone gathers together at the intersection area for a ball drop countdown. It's a great way to celebrate New Year's Eve without letting your kids stay up til midnight (or waking them up for it).



Nancy, Matt, Kati and Gabe came over to our place for some football and chinese food, but left a couple hours before midnight. Miranda could have gone to bed, but she graciously stayed awake for the countdown. We pretended to drink champagne on Miranda's iPhone, then watched zombie Dick Clark and his soon-to-be replacement Ryan Seacrest ring in the new year. At this point we snuck into Hayley's room for her first picture of 2010.







The first weekend of the year was filled with new things. We watched the Winter Classic together, which was held at Fenway Park this year. Hayley got her first ever sink bath, which she enjoyed immensely. We also bought a new umbrella style Maclaren stroller, which we got a really good deal on.



The final day of Miranda's time off was great. The weather was beautiful so we all headed down to Monterey. Hayley slept pretty much the whole way there. We joined up with family at the Fisherman's Wharf where we enjoyed a delicious lunch, followed by a nice leisurely stroll. A fun, relaxing day to end a very memorable vacation.