Our little Hazelnut!

I can't believe it's been so long since I've written about Hayes.You know what the problem is with waiting this long to write about your only child? Yeah...pretty much everything.

I think this is how old Hayes was when we left off.

And then here we are at 9 months, which is when I decided that these monthly pictures are way over rated and I no longer have the strength to handle the drama that ensues by forcing him to sit still to take a picture. 

(He has such a hard life.).

Hayes will be a year old in just a few short weeks. Excuse me while I go curl up in the fetal position, take a Valium and cry. Time has flown by. His personality is really coming out. He is happy 99% of the time, but if you happen to catch him when he's at 1%, just turn around and walk the other way. This usually happens when he doesn't take a good afternoon nap. He can go from a happy child to a whiny, tired, toddler who feels like the whole world is out to get him in about 0.3 seconds. It's lovely.

Hayes is about ready to walk, which has me and James completely on edge. We don't know whether to grab the video camera or push him down. We are so ready to witness this milestone, but not ready to have a toddler. Lucky for us, he's still happy to just cruise around with his walker.

Hayes still has only two teeth, the bottom two front ones, which makes him look like a chipmunk. I feel like he's teething all of the time, but no other teeth have cut through. James thinks he'll be the only kid starting high school with two teeth. : )

Hayes is a very busy child. He never wants to just cuddle. He always has things to do and places to go. We've found that he is happiest when he is naked as a Jaybird. :) It must be a guy thing.

We recently discovered that Hayes loves to dance! His favorite song is Five Little Monkeys. As soon as he hears it, he'll stop dead in his tracks, start bopping his head up and down, followed by his knees and bottom. He has pretty good rhythm, which is not surprising since his dad and I are fantastic dancers. 

(I'm playing fast and loose with the words "fantastic" and "dancers".)

He also loves to be in the water. This makes me so happy since I was part fish growing up. I've made the realization that we can't just go to the pool. We have to pack floats, extra swim diapers, towels, bottles, snacks, SPF 110 to cover my pale boys (whom I loving refer to as my Q-Tips), and every other household item. We look like the Clampett's when we get to the pool. 

Last weekend it took us 30 minutes to get packed up and in the car just to make the three minute drive to the YMCA pool. Once we got there, I lathered up sunscreen on Hayes, put him in his float, eased into the freezing pool and heard the undeniable sound of thunder. The 15 year old lifeguard made us get out of the pool as soon as I had gotten completely wet. (He's lucky I didn't punch him.) This resulted in a meltdown complete with tears. Hayes and James weren't happy either. 

Hayes has had a few play dates lately and has even been to a couple of birthday parties. He loves being around other children.

Such a ladies man!

James and I decided to do a pre-birthday trial run to see how he liked cake.

Turns out he loved it! (Further proof he has 50% of my DNA)

I'm sure there is some rule that you're not suppose to give your child sugar before their first birthday, but I'm positive this was a gluten free, whole grain, paleo cupcake with healthy whipped icing. 

Perfection is a great goal, but it's impossible, which is why my motto, "ignorance is bliss", works for us!!

With that said, I'm going to pour a glass of wine and continue to tell myself that I still have six more months before my baby turns one.