Dear Sweet Hayden....

This is a post I started about a month ago and haven't had time to get back to it but I really want everyone to know what a sweet kid Hayden is...

Oh my, what can I say about this kid? Sometimes I get so frustrated with him... Like when we were in the car the other day and I kept telling him something and he would reply with, "What mom?" So I'd tell him again, the same response. I think this happened 3 or 4 times before Andy helped me realize that Hayden could hear me, he just didn't want to hear what I was saying.

The other day my sister and Caroline were over. Hayden and Caroline were in the backyard playing, after awhile they came in... Take a look at the picture, we're not sure how he ended up so dirty, while Caroline looked perfect!

Or isn't it interesting how I can be talking to him, mere feet away asking him to pick something up and he totally can't hear me? And it amazes me that he can be thrown into hysterics at the mere thought of having to clean up. There could literally be three toys in the room and he practically has a coronary...

And isn't it interesting how for so long I have struggled with him to be able to use scissors properly and the time he finally figures it out, he takes a big chunk out of his bangs, yep, that's Hayden for ya! The funny thing is, he came to tell me he had done it and wanted to show me all of the hair on the floor...

(New addition to the post as of today Jan. 21st)

Some days I don't know how I ever got so lucky to have such a sweet boy in my life and other days I really don't know what to do with him. What I know everyday, is the fact that I have no idea what I would ever do without his sweet spirit, his charm, his goofiness, the funny way he phrases things, and his inquisitive mind... He really is such a joy and I have realized this weekend that sometimes our kids will really surprise us and do things we had no idea they could do.

Yesterday at church I decided to start writing words to see if Hayden could sound them out, to my total shock and disbelief, he could read EVERY SINGLE word that I wrote for him. I made sure that the words didn't have funky letter combos in them or anything but he read every 3,4, and 5 letter word I wrote down. This was our best church experience ever, he sat with me for a good 20 minutes and whispered every word to me. This may be normal for most 4 1/2 year olds, I'm not sure, but for him, this was a huge breakthrough!

This may seem weird to post but the other thing Hayden did was during the night, around 4 am, I heard Hayden crying from the other side of the house. I ran to see what had happened and I found him in the bathroom, hanging over the toilet throwing up, like a big boy! In the past if he gets sick he stays in his bed and cries and yells for me and throws up all over his room. Not this time, all of the puke was in the toilet. When he was done he asked for some water and I tucked him into bed, where he slept the rest of the night.

I am amazed at how he is growing and getting older and love that he talks about going to Kindergarten next year. It makes me sad to think of the innocence that he has and that someday it will be gone...