Let's get right to it:

New milestones that Hayden has reached this month:

• WALKING! Yes....as you all probably know already, he finally did it. He took those first few precious steps, which have now turned into many, many steps...covering rooms and much of the entire house already. Yes, he still utilizes the scoot (which is the answer to what seems to be a popular question these days), but he does walk quite a bit now since taking those ever-important and dare-devilish first steps a week and a half ago!

• TALKING...Hayden likes to try and copy what we say (Yes, I know, we are going to have to watch what we say very closely now...which may be hard for some of us!). He mimics sounds and words and usually gets the first part right every time. He says so many words now where the first sounds are right on, but the end part trails...like "du" for duck, or "do" for dog, or "ba" for bath, or "mi" for milk, etc. We try and stress the end syllables, sounding like pronunciating freaks, but hopefully someday it will kick in.

• EATING...Exactly a week has passed since I stopped breastfeeding. I am happy with the decision, and Hayden doesn't seem to mind at all. He does ask for "mi" sometimes by tugging (or lifting) my shirt, which depending on where we are can get embarassing, but I just redirect him to the fridge where we get out his cup of milk and drink from his straw. He seems happy enough with that and I am satisfied that I did a great thing for him by lasting nearly 15 months. It wasn't bad for me at all. I feel very lucky that I had such an easy go of it, since many women never even get the chance to breastfeed at all due to any number of issues or complications.

• OBSESSIONS...Gosh, where to begin...Hayden has a few loves in his life right now. His main love (and I hear this is very common at this age for whatever reason) are his ducks...any size, any shape, and form...ducks. Luckily he received ducks of various sizes (which were intended to be bath toys, but should by no means be saved for such a special occasion) for his first birthday. He has 4 rubber ducks like this...we call them Papa, Mama, Baby, and Bitty...which one do you think he wants to carry everywhere...Papa of course; the biggest, heaviest, hardest, most cumbersome duck of the bunch. This duck actually has a weight in it to keep it upright in the bathtub, which comes in handy when you are toting it everywhere in the car and all around the house. We have a policy to leave duck in the car when we go inside a store, etc...we have Baby or Bitty as backups for those occasions. Today we went to the store together and of course Papa came into the car with us (sometimes he sleeps there, which gives mom and dad a break from Papa for an evening), but when we arrived at our destination, we left him in the car. In the store Hayden got a little fussy, so I pulled Baby out of my pocket (he just happened to be there from a previous outing) and before we left, Cameron reminded me that Bitty was in my purse (just in case)....ho hum.... Hayden's other obsession right now is his "D". What is a "D" you might ask (which may very well be spelled, "dee", I am not really sure, you'd have to ask him)? It is a Nalgene bottle of course...gosh, isn't that obvious!? He HAS to have his "D" at the weirdest times...as a cuddle toy while reading books with dad before bed, for instance. I have no explanation for this, nor do I even know how it started or how it got such an unusual pet name. Maybe because it holds a "drink"...not too sure, but it sure is amusing. Maybe he thinks it is an item worthy of worship since we seem to own about 12 "D's" at our house...between the numerous Nalgene's and tons of bike water bottles, you'd think we had a little obsession of our own.

Those are the main items of interest this month. There are of course other new an interesting talents that pop up from time to time. One of which is his love of music. This boy's got rhythm, I tell ya! He can be found wandering into the living room to bang on the piano keys several times a day. He also asks for someone to play the guitar (Cameron and I both do it, but only one of us acutally knows what they are doing :-). He also thinks the guitar tuner is a phone and likes to carry it around pushing the tone buttons and holding it up to his ear. Anyway, when Cameron plays the guitar or piano, Hayden likes to dance. He is getting better at doing this standing up without holding on, but usually he stands in front of a piano leg and holds on with both hands while he bounces up and down. This may seem like a pretty common kid interpretation of dance (which is it), but what is slightly unusual and extremely comical is how he feels the music and closes his eyes while shaking his head in a back and forth motion (like he was saying "no", but with much more soul). It is hysterical and gets us laughing everytime.

I have also become more active with the mom's group I started in the past month. We get together at least once a week for a playdate with the kids and we have had one Mom's Only Night Out. I have noticed that Hayden is becoming more social and less shy around other people, and I am sure that this group has had a lot to do with it. We go to playgrounds (indoor ones right now since the weather is chilly), story times at local library or bookstores, and kid friendly museums. Even though Hayden sticks pretty close to me at these events, just having a exposure to other children is great for him. We are both really enjoying it. It keeps the kids active and the parents sane, so it is good all around.

Some other likes:

• baths...anytime and with lots of toys (preferrably when hair washing isn't involved).

• being outside (we have been known to bundle up if the sun peaks out just for a second and head outside to soak up some rays...even if it is 40 degress out!).

• riding his little car...backwards

• reading, reading, and more reading...he loves his books!

• looking at photos of family (we have started a collection on the fridge)

• trying to feed himself...when the mood stikes he grabs the spoon and shovels in the food on his own. He does pretty well, but he is far from going totally solo.

• looking at himself in the mirror

Some dislikes:

• having his diaper changed...still too much of a bother, he has much better things to do.

• having his hair washed...a little scary with all that water flooding over his face.

• waiting...he has, well...the patience of a 1 one year.

• being ignorned

• people blowing their nose (namely Mom)...it makes him do his high-pitched scream...we don't know why, so don't ask

We are really looking forward to celebrating the Holidays as a family. Hayden can chow down with us at Thanksgiving and open a gift or two on his own this Christmas. He is growing and changing and we are evolving as a family...it's a wonderful thing. -- mam