9 months old!

So we are a little late posting this but the girls have been really sick. Both girls have had respiratory viruses and ear infections. In the process we have discovered that she is allergic to penicillin just like her sister! So, Hayden has not been able to get her 9 months stats yet. She will go next week.
In the meantime, though, Hayden has been doing so much! She is really getting up and crawling, and pulling herself up. She prefers to pull herself up on us then hang out holding our hands. Or she will bounce/dance and do a few bends to sit down.
Hayden is also doing her "So Big" move with her hands up above her head, and then she immediately claps.
As for words, she is saying dada more. Not sure if its meant to call Daddy or not. She will throw in mama every now and then, and is making all other sorts of incoherent sounds like gagaga, etc. Hayden does, however, have a turtle toy that she really likes and when we are playing with it Lauren will tell Hayden it is a "turtle" and Hayden repeats "to to"! It might just be mimicking but hey, we are impressed!
And of course she is loving dropping her toy so that someone will pick it up for her. She knows to say "uh oh" when the toy drops, too. Thank goodness Jordyn seems to enjoy picking up her toy and giving it back to her. The girls have found a way to play together!

Last weekend we went to Sea World. Hayden absolutely loved the manatee exhibit. The viewing area was under the water where we could see the manatees and other fish. She just laughed and laughed. Hayden had a great time at Sea World and was sooo good!
We forgot to mention in the last post that she has been waving to people. Its so cute, we will pass a mirror and she will wave to herself. Her second tooth is breaking now on the bottom. We can't tell if there are any more because she does not want us checking.
She is also just so mobile, its great. The second one of us leave the room, there's Hayden coming along! Now she's able to go after Jordyn when she has something Hayden wants :) This weekend she was doing a bunny hop. She'd get up on all fours, then hop forward with her knees/legs and then move forward with her arms. It was so cute!

8 months old!

Hayden is 8 months old! One bottom tooth poked out about two weeks ago and we were hoping to be able to post that she had a tooth but she is a slow teether and it is still about halfway out. She was pretty uncomfortable this past weekend and it looks like a few more are moving to the surface so we might just get a bunch at once. The one next to it is ready to break Here's a photo.
Hayden is getting around still by rolling and army crawling backwards, and she can scoot forward a bit. She will get up on all fours and sort of rock but then fall but she is building up her strength. She also really wants to pull herself up. She enjoys holding our hands and pulling herself into a standing position and just hanging out.
She is absolutely dazzled by Jordyn, she cannot keep her eyes and head from following her big sister, and smiles and laughs whenever Jordyn talks to her.
Hayden started meats last month and really took to beef and turkey. Over Christmas her appetite was huge, we thought she put on 2 pounds between Christmas Eve and New Years, even our daycare provider noticed. She's getting ready to grow and move, and needed the energy! She has now moved to one 2 hour nap during the day but still sometimes wakes up at night.
Hayden just loves to smile. She is such an easy-going kid. Her hair is getting longer, it now gets sort of stuck on her ear so we have to push it behind her ear, and it is still a lovely red. Her favorite toys are baby dolls. She tries to take Jordyn's Barney when she can and she has sort of taken one of Jordyn's babies, but since Jordyn has so many she doesn't notice. It almost seems like Hayden is talking to her baby, she coos and makes noises and smiles and laughs while holding baby and chewing on whatever part she can.

Baby's First Christmas

Hayden had her first Christmas this week. She very much enjoyed all the activity, and the paper. She got lots of fun toys and very cute clothes. Here are a few pictures.

7 months

This past month has been quite eventful! About three weeks ago, Hayden changed her night routine from falling asleep at 7:30/8 to 9:30. We are pretty sure she has started the teething process. By now, they still have a bit more gum until they break, and we are all looking forward to that. Hayden has understandably been fussy especially at night but the teething tablets help calm her down. Hayden has continued eating vegetables, and we finally found a fruit she liked - bananas. Since then, she is better about applesauce, but seems to favor veggies over fruits. Yum! Hayden also is able to move herself backwards on the floor and often ends up under the couch at daycare. She is starting to try to figure out how to crawl but has not succeeded yet.
Uncle Bryan came to visit, too, so Hayden got to meet him for the first time. Here they are hanging out before bed.

Of course, Hayden also experienced her first Thanksgiving. We are sure next year will mean more when she can actually eat the food, though.

6 months old!

Hayden is now 1/2 year old! Hayden is doing great. At her six month checkup, we were told she weighs 14 lbs. 14 oz. and is 25 1/4 inches long. Still very consistent in the 25th percentile. She had four shots and took them like a trooper. She seemed a little warm the morning after but beyond that she really did not have a reaction.
Hayden is rolling both ways now and has been for a few weeks. Sometimes she is just a rolly polly, rolling along to move around. She also maneuvers pretty well on her stomach to turn positions or sort of scoot. She reminds us of swimming on land because she will be on her tummy and get so excited that she puts her head down and her legs just wiggle and her arms and body go, too! Hayden really enjoys being on her tummy to play and loves the exersaucer. She is getting pretty strong at sitting up, too. Hayden also has been communicating with her babbling - she loves to talk, especially to Jordyn. She blows rasberries quite often, and even makes kissy noises! We don't remember mentioning this in the last post, but Hayden very much enjoys kicking and splashing in her tub. So much so that we have had to put the tub into the big bathtub to avoid having to clean massive amounts of water off the mirror, floor and toilet. Plus, Jordyn gets a little worried when the water starts cascading over the tub and getting her wet (she is of course right there helping :) ).
No sign of teeth yet aside from major chewing, but Hayden did all of a sudden stop taking cereal, vegetables and fruit for a few days. We finally let her hold the spoon and WOOSH! right into her mouth. She chewed on it (probably felt good if she is teething), and Lauren was able to swipe it every few seconds to load it up with more food. Hopefully we have cracked the no-food-mood!
Hayden's eyes are still blue. They are a sapphire blue, very bright and darker than Jordyn's are (although Jordyn's were this color at one point so we will see if they lighten up like hers). Her eyelashes look as though they have been curled with an eyelash curler - they look like Lauren's when she is wearing mascara! You can kind of see them in the photo above, especially her right eye. Hayden's hair, including her eyebrows (what we can see) and eyelashes are still light reddish. When the light hits her eyelashes just right they glow a beautiful golden.
Lastly, we have begun transitioning Hayden to her own room. She has been in the pack and play bassinet since she was born, just like we did with Jordyn. We vowed to move Hayden sooner than we did with Jordyn, but here Hayden is, 6 months old and almost 15 pounds (the weight limit is 15 pounds) and we are still having a hard time letting her go. She has spent two nights in her crib and done great.

5 months

Hayden is 5 months! Since our last post, Hayden has added vegetables to her cereal. She LOVES vegetables. Her appetite has really increased and she absolutely loves cereal and vegetables. She has had green beans and squash and really likes them. She has also really started talking in her sleep. Every morning around 5:30 am Hayden starts talking. We keep thinking she is awake but her eyes are closed. She will do this for about 20 minutes and then stop, still sleeping. Speaking of sleep, Hayden has slept through the night 3 nights in a row!!! She is also moving a lot in her sleep. She ends up with her neck all the way back and her back arched as if she were trying to roll over and stopped in the middle. We keep trying to get a photo but we don't want to wake her up. Hayden is a very happy baby. She loves to smile, especially if her big sister is paying attention to her. She is having a lot of fun in the exersaucer and her toys. When we put her on her tummy with toys in front of her she tries to move up to get to them. She will sometimes go in circles, and sometimes buck with her tush and legs. Its so cute, we can tell she can't wait to become mobile! She is even starting to talk a little more, and gurgle, coo and explore sounds. Hayden has also started showing us she when she is excited by sticking out her tongue and smiling! Not sure where she learned that one, but it cracks us up!