Happy New Year!

Well, Hadden is almost 9 months old now and he's experienced his first Christmas and first new year - neither of which he understood as he has very little knowledge of the Julian calendar. I guess when you're 9 (months) the most important things are people, paper towels (he loves them) and tupperware lids (loves those too).

This Christmas was full of fun for Hadden because he got to see tia Leslie, tio Karl, abuelo Bill, abuela Jane and abuela Wendy (unfamiliar words are Spanish or so I'm told). It certainly was a premium Hadden day with at least one adult paying constant attention to him all day long.

It's been a bit over a month since the last post so here's a short list of new skills:

• Eating. Not new, but continues strong. Certain foods he doesn't like (I think the best category is "stinky" foods like broccoli, cabbage and chicken). Other foods he chows - any type of sweet squash (butternut, spaghetti, kabocha, etc.), grains and dried fruit, etc. He eats a lot these days. I've taken to calling him "el caballo" (look it up).
• Not quite crawling (is that a skill?). He gets in the position, lurches forward with the hands...then lurches back or sprawls flat on his stomach and then turns over on his back into the helpless "turtle" position. Refuses to move forward. Who knew locomotion would be so hard.
• Assisted standing. Hadden loves to use anything else in the house to help him get into the standing position (side of crib, dad, chairs, pillows, cats...). If he could stand continuously he'd be happy 24/7. He used to be totally thrilled with eating. Well, it's been several months since eating started so "standing" is the new "eating". I'm sure the thrill will wear off. I can stand pretty much any time I want and it doesn't thrill me any more. Not sure when it lost its appeal. Perhaps I've lost perspective.
• More sounds. He can do M, N, D, B, A, E, I, O, U, H, P and perhaps a few others. Mind you, this is a pretty good set for Wheel of Fortune. Do they have a baby show? "Pat, I'll take a 'duh'".
• Hair pulling. I guess this could be considered a deficiency (see below) but for now it's a skill. Give him some hair and he'll pull it for all he's worth (loves doing it). It's not really a resume-builder but perhaps he could list it in a "hobbies" section.

Deficiencies:

• Sleeping in the crib for naps. He rarely sleeps in his crib for naps longer than 30 minutes. If you hold him or put him in the stroller he's gone as long as 2.5 hours.
• Eating the aforementioned "stinky" foods. Life is more than butternut squash. Deal with it, boy.
• Untimely bowel movements. Self explanitory. Sometimes I call him Stink Stinkerton.
• Grabbing. He grabs everything. So much that I call him Grab Grabberson.

Over Christmas it was good to see everyone including my parents who both thought it was too cold in Seattle. Other news:

Angela's been doing great and Hadden loves her. She's here Tuesdays through Fridays as I'm at school (UW) and Yvonne's at her new job at Microsoft working for the "man". Hadden gets lots of love, walks, story time, etc. from Angela. It's been wonderful for all. He's also getting a good dose of Spanish from Angela (who is also teaching Yvonne), which is fantastic. He already knows who los gatos are (no, not the California town) and can't get enough of them. He's still chubby. We've thought about gastric bypass surgery but have instead opted for bigger shirts. Right now he wears 12-18 month-old clothes. We think he's gifted. Hadden is still pretty uninhibeted socially, which we wouldn't mind changing a little bit. It's a little disconcerting to hear him grunting as he "drops a deuce" (thanks for the phrase Sassons) at the dinner table while the rest of us are eating.

If you're ever in the area, drop by and say "hi" and if you wake Hadden up you have to put him back to sleep. Ha, ha...seriously - put him back to sleep.

steve