Mammoth

We're off to Mammoth for the weekend. If I remember to take pictures, I'll post some on Monday.

Over the weekend, we went to a birthday party in Julian for a girl Neil and I went to school with. Other than a couple of close friends, we rarely see anyone from highschool. It was great to see so many people after so long. It's a strange experience to see these people transformed, yet unchanged. Some of them look different, some are married, some have kids...all are adults, but their actual personalities are exactly the same. I think I finally realized that people are always the same, simply softened by age, throughout their lives.

This morning, I took Hayden to his first Gymboree class. He's in the Gym Explorers program with all the other two year olds. I think it will be good for him to get used to being around other children. Especially since we have recently realized he has no interest in the concept of sharing. Overall, he did really well. He participated in most of the activities and he only freaked out a few times during the class. There was the refusal to sit down during the story, the attempts to steal the other kids' musical instruments, and the Gymbo the Doll debacle. Hayden has never been that interested in any plush toys really, and doesn't have an attachment to any particular cartoon characters. However, the first time he saw Gymbo, the giant, red (slightly frightening in my opinion) Gymboree clown doll, he was in a sort of Gymbo-induced hypnotic trance. At the end of the class, the teacher brought out Gymbo. Hayden couldn't bare to see anyone else holding Gymbo, so I spent the last ten minutes of class trying to restrain him so he wouldn't attack Gymbo like an obsessed fan. I think the Gymbo doll emits some form of child attracting frequency or perhaps a pheromone of some kind. I have a feeling I am going to end up with a house full of Gymbo accessories, or maybe a more accurate term, Gymboree Propaganda.

Every October, I say fall is my favorite season. In December, I say it's Christmas and winter that I love. Every June, I know summer is the best time of year. And, being that it's March, I have to say I absolutely love spring. Maybe I just love moving into a new time of year and all the things that go along with it. In Spring, it's all about windows open all day and night, barbecuing in the backyard, wearing shorts and flip flops, being happy just to be outside, the smell of grass, and baseball. This really is my favorite time of year...until June anyway...

I cut off my long hair and have discovered a whole new world - a world where you can get out of bed and your hair doesn't require two hours of neck-straining blow drying to look presentable! Imagine how much more I'll be able to accomplish in a day!

This is what my hair looked like when I got up this morning:

Just when I thought I couldn't take it any longer, Hayden is back to his usual self. Well, yesterday and today at least. On the way to his 2-year check-up yesterday, we passed a horse in a pasture. I told him the horse was eating grass and said that horses and cows eat grass. He asked, "Horses eat rocks?" I told him no, and then he said "Hayden eats rocks." I told him people don't eat rocks and that rocks would hurt his mouth. So, after a few seconds of saying "Mmmmmmmmmm...rocks..," he said, "Little rocks don't hurt mouths. Grapes and little rocks.....Mmmmmmmmm."

Overnight, my child has transformed from a human toddler into a howler monkey. I don't know how I am going to make it through a day of shopping. Children's Place, Target, Vons...Consider yourselves warned.

Randomly Organized Post

I'm so disappointed that:

Hayden loves the Teletubbies despite my best efforts to steer him toward something less creepy.

The Academy Awards show was SO freaking long and boring. We watched the streamlined TIVO version, and I kept thinking, I must have skipped the part that was entertaining.

The highlight of my weekend was admiring the new faux wood blinds we installed throughout the house.

I got sucked in by the beautiful weather yesterday and started buying spring clothes and now it looks like winter again.

I'm quite pleased that:

Hayden seems to be in the 50th percentile for height, but a tiny bit concerned he's in the 75th percentile for head circumference and only in the 10-20th percentile for weight. I hope his underweight frame of average height will be able to support that giant head.

Hayden's birthday was last weekend and with all of the moving-to-Phoenix commotion, I didn't post any pictures. Here are a few pictures from his baseball-themed party:










The Cakes: