Roberts Family Blog

It seems like each day I have a new favorite moment with Hayden.  Let me describe my most recent.  Every night we have a very strict bedtime routine.  I am not making it strict, it's just that Hayden is very much a creature of habit (aren't all children), and he likes the bedtime schedule to proceed in a predictable way each night.  I think it gives him comfort.  First either myself or Nathan tucks him into bed (or sometimes let him cuddle on our lap in the rocking chair), and then we let him pick a book to read.  Lately we've been reading "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" from a Dr. Suess book that Aunt Katie gave him when he was born.  He loves it and we all really get into character and it's pretty fun.  He is SO concerned about the Grinch taking all the Who's Christmas trees home with him.  I can see him constantly glancing at his own Christmas tree and wondering if it too might disappear during the night.  After reading our book, he pulls his blankets up, puts his head on the pillow, and then says "mommy sing to me", and I ask him what he'd like to sing.  It's never a mystery; without fail he'll request "You are my Sunshine", and he'll start singing the words on his own and expect me to join in.  This is priceless to me since this song reminds me so much of my grandma Sale and just has special sentimental value.  I love that it has become such a special part of Hayden's childhood as well.  After we sing, he'll say "mommy say prayers" and we'll go on to say our nightly "Now I lay me down to sleep" prayer, and then move on to thanking God for all the blessings in our lives.  Every night I ask him to tell me who or what he is thankful for.  The usual suspects are "Grammy, Papi, Mammaw, Daddy, Mommy, Baby Pierce" and then usually something fun from his day is thrown in, like "airplanes, Jack, macaroni and cheese, etc".  Last night, however, after his standard list, he kind of paused and looked at me with a shy smiley face, and said quietly "cousin Brywin (aka Brylin), cousin Liam and cousin Camera (aka Cameron)".  Ah melting heart.  I just don't know what I would do without that little love bug in my life.  He is such a family man already at 2 years old!  He is always so appreciative and thankful.  As another example, whenever my mom leaves our house after her morning of watching Hayden, he will say "Thank you grammy" for whatever they did together that day.  Today it was "Thank you grammy taking me walk".  He says this completely unprompted and it just completely thrills me.  So endearing.

Here are some other cute Hayden words that I have to commit to writing so I don't ever forget them.  He still has slight speech problems with certain sounds.  Instead of saying "Christmas", he will say "Cribbus", like he has a big stuffy nose.  It's super cute though.  He's always talking about Cribbus trees everywhere   And the other night after dinner my dad called on the phone to talk to Hayden.  He got him on the line and told him to take Daddy outside to look at Jupiter, which was bright in the sky next to the moon.  So they went outside to see it, then Daddy spent some time showing Hayden photos on the internet of various planets.  Now when we go outside at night, he wants to know where "Jupower" is   Gotta love Jupower!

And now not to leave out my sweet little Peach!  He has been unfortunately under the weather all week.  He spiked a mighty high fever on Sunday afternoon, and a visit to the doctor on Monday morning confirmed a little flu bug.  Poor little baby was just really sleepy and just wanted to lay in our arms all day and snuggle.  It was sweet and oh so sad!  Luckily his fever broke on Tuesday evening and it has been uphill ever since.  He's completely back to himself today.  And in other good news, he has finally mastered the roll, just in time for his 8 month birthday   His two little teeth are also growing in so quickly and he just is starting to outgrow his baby looks!  Why do they grow up so quickly??  He has started to really enjoy his voice and has all sorts of predictable babbles these days.  He regularly days both "da da da" and "ma ma ma".  Grammy is convinced that he is saying my name because he will often reach out for me while saying "ma ma ma".  Most likely it's a coincidence, but I'd love to imagine that he is saying my name!  In addition to rolling now, he also loves to stand up whenever he gets a chance.  The train table is fascinating to him and he likes to stand up against it and bang and eat trains.  And yes, he still LOVES to eat!  We are starting to experiment with some finger foods, which is a whole new adventure for us both.  It's fun to watch him try to lift up cheerios and little banana pieces with his chubby hands and get them into his mouth.  Most don't make it, but the learning process is thrilling!

Well that is all for now.  We are off this evening to attempt to sit on Santa's lap.  I have a feeling it might take several tries before we are successful!  It took three trips with the Easter bunny   I'll leave you with some photos of our weekend trip to see the Trains at Northpark.  What a totally awesome event for kids and parents alike.  Hayden kept saying "OH OH OH OH" and running in a million directions to follow the various trains.  So cool.  We might have to go back again before the holidays are over!