Hayden Update

(Vincent's update will be coming soon, hopefully). Hayden is officially 35 months, when means I have to (officially) stop saying her age in months. She'll be 3 in less than 30 days and that seems crazy to me. Was she really born 3 years ago? That can't be right. It hasn't been that long... or so I seem to be trying to convince myself.

Hayden's still a spit-fire. She has a little reddish-tint to her hair, but you'd think it'd be more prominent with the red-headed attitude that she carries. She's hot-tempered, impatient, and stubborn - which can also be transferred over to mean passionate, intelligent, and perseverant. She's smart. Too smart. She's a troublemaker, but I love her for it. I see a lot of me in her, and that makes me happy. I think I turned out alright.

She's far too advanced for her age, so we've already committed to putting her in Montessori in August. She can count up to 10 in 2 different languages (Spanish and French) and she can count to 15 in English. Not only can she do the counting in repetition, but she recognizes her numbers. She can also recognize about 70% of the alphabet. She can mostly sing the ABC song, but she struggles a little with the middle. I started her on baby signs and she seems to sign the letters better than she says them, but I'm okay with that. She still signs a lot of things ("more" and "thank you" mostly, though "nurse" is making a comeback as she always signed "nurse" instead of "milk" and she sees me sign it to Vincent). We decided to put her in Montessori because we think she might get bored in regular preschool and Montessori is based on an at-your-own-pace type of teaching.

Jarrod has finally agreed to let me put her in some sort of semi-organized play group, but I haven't decided what I am going to do yet. We've considered enrolling her in one of the Gymboree classes or perhaps a T-Ball for Toddlers group they have here. So far, the only time she really plays with other kids is the 1 hour a week she is at the L.A. Fitness daycare center or the 2 hours a month she is around the other kids at my La Leche League meetings. It's a shame because she LOVES playing with children. She calls anyone her size or smaller "baby" and anyone bigger than her "kid." I think we're leaning more towards the Gymboree music class but... we'll see.

Have I mentioned how polite Hayden is? We're working on the "please's" because she tends to only use them when she is trying to persuade you to give her something she knows she shouldn't have, but she always minds her "thank you's" and "your welcome's." She also likes to burp and say, "Excuse me!" I know the burping on purpose part isn't so polite but... in theory...

Luckily, her tantrums have died down a little, however - I have a feeling she will never truly be done with them. She seems the type of girl who will be throwing tantrums well into her thirties. I told Jarrod she is a "bridezilla in the making."

She's still a Daddy's Girl, though in a more demanding way. It amuses me to hear her shout, "DAD! Come downstairs!" 3... going on 13. Jarrod asked her for a hug recently, while she was putting together a puzzle, and she said, "No. I'm busy." 10 minutes later she went to cuddle up with him. She's a little nicer to him than she is me. I really feel like I am raising a teenager sometimes. Things that have come out of her mouth recently include, "Get out. My room. Close the door" and "Fine, fine, FINE!" and "Blah, blah, blah." She's also in the habit of constantly blowing raspberries when she doesn't agree with what you say. I have no idea where she picked this up from because no one here really sticks out their tongue in disagreement.

I still haven't figured out how such a large personality fits into such a small body.

I need to weigh and measure her here soon, but, for now, pictures will have to do.

Hayden Lisbeth Faith - almost 3 years (35 months) old

Just for the record, the reason her bangs are so long is
because I've been trying to grow them out. I hate bangs.
However, Hayden isn't one for wearing barrettes, so
hopefully her bangs grow out soon...