It's the most wonderful time of the year....

Our Christmas tree! (and Kemper, trying to get into his present)

Christmas is upon us here at the Hayes household! We decorated early so that Kemper would have a Christmas tree at his house for his first Christmas. We will be taking the tree and other decorations down on Sunday in preparation for our trip to the States. Kemper LOVES his Christmas gifts from James and I - we went ahead and gave them to him so he could play with them before we leave. We initially planned to give them to him on Sunday but since he wouldn't really get to play with them before we leave, we thought we'd cave and give them to him early.

With his presents!

In the past 2 days, we seem to have gotten a little break in the sleep department, but of course, with our trip to the States, I'm sure we'll have to start all over when we get back to Germany. I'm scared, to put it mildly, to see what the time change does to Kemper's schedule. My dad has joked that he's going to nap the night we fly in and when we get to their house, he'll be rested and can stay up to play with "the Kemperman". Um, Dad, I hope you're serious, we'll take you up on that offer! ;)

He's a handful

The logistics of packing for an 8 month old for two weeks is mind blowing. I mean, packing for a weekend trip with him, I feel like I pack the entire house minus the kitchen sink. However, anyone who knows me know that I cannot pack light for anything. I'm driving James nuts with my planning of what bags will be our carryons and what we will have in them. He's ready to kill me, I'm sure. Making sure we have room for the bottles, formula, food, Cheerios, diapers, wipes, extra clothes, toys that will entertain Kemper but not annoy all of the people around us, a change of clothes for us in case Kemper explodes on us during the trip, the camera, passports, computer and the list just goes on and on.

So, Monday, if you happen to be in the Detroit airport and need a laugh, just look for us. We'll be the family with a baby in a stroller, probably crying from being cooped up on a plane in our laps for 8 hours and exhausted because there will be entirely TOO much going on around him for him to sleep, and two parents who look like pack mules with bags hanging off of us as we schlep our way through the airport trying to find out next gate. Merry Christmas, we're on our way shortly!

Before Church last Sunday

Santa Baby

The tree is up, we've done as much shopping as we can online, and Kemper's ready! He hasn't tried to mess with the tree much, but he's beginning to get more curious about the large thing on a table with lights hanging off it. Those lights are just mesmerizing! We wrapped on of his gifts and put it under the tree - it took him all of 10 seconds to figure out what he was supposed to do with that wrapping paper.

Looking forward to seeing everyone over Christmas - as usual, we're going to be very busy and will need a vacation from our vacation when we return to Germany.

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble!

Happy 1st Thanksgiving Kemper!!!!!

Reading the book Uncle Allen and Aunt Tori sent him

"And I'm going to eat some mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes...."

He LOVED Thanksgiving - he got to try LOTS of new foods and loved every single thing!!! He tried turkey, stuffing, a strawberry, a little bit of a roll, pumpkin pie and CoolWhip! The pumpkin pie was his favorite and he was VERY upset with me when I wouldn't give him anymore.

Messy face!

Taking a bite of turkey from daddy!

Gavin didn't care for strawberries as much as Kemper

Kemper and daddy!

We headed over to Jon and Lynse's along with Justin, Kristin and Rick for our Thanksgiving feast. We had a great time with our family away from home and got to see Gavin and Kemper enjoy Thanksgiving. We're so thankful to have such a wonderful group of friends here in Germany to spend Thanksgiving with!

"Mom, they're ignoring me!!!!"

Raspberries for mommy!

Seriously mom, I'm trying to play.

Pulling up on the high chair

In other news, Kemper got another tooth! YAY!!! His top left tooth popped throuugh on Wednesday. No sign of the top right tooth but so far, he's doing just fine with 3! He is starting to learn to put Puffs (kind of like Cheerios but a little more airy and melts quicker in his mouth) in his mouth by himself. He is quite mobile and mischevious and wants nothing to do with the plethora of brightly colored, loud toys we have for him. Instead, he'd rather play with (well, attempt to play with, we stop him) cords and electrical sockets. He gets very offended when we stop him and tell him "NO!". One particular morning, I kept moving him across the room from the fan cord that he wanted to play with (ok, bite) and after the 5th time moving him, I popped his hand lightly when I stopped him, told him no, and moved him. The look on his face was absolutely pitiful and he just poked his bottom lip out and started to cry. He didn't go back for the cord after that, although, the next day, all bets were off and back to the fan he went.

Good morning Kemper!!!

Along with crawling, he's been pulling up on anything and everything and he cruises along the edge of the couch and between the couch and coffee table. He also pulls himself up in his crib (the mattress is lowered and rail is up) and when he wakes up in the morning, more often than not when I go to get him up, he's standing up holding onto the side of his crib with a big grin on his face! I just love seeing his precious face in the morning (especially since he's been sleeping a little later lately!).

Standing up in his crib

We're heading out later to get our Christmas tree and hopefully we'll decorate the house later today. We're still trying to figure out where to put the tree and how to keep little hands out of it this year - I'm sure a very tall tree with lots of shiny, sparkly lights on it will attract the attention of our sweet little one!

Weight update

We took Kemper to the doctor on Monday to make sure that his cold wasn't turning into anything worse (he's got the worst cough!) and he weighed in at 20lbs!!! However, here, they weigh him with his clothes on. James says his clothes weighed about a pound - I can't see where a pair of baby jeans and a shirt would weight a pound, but, who knows!!!

And, new pictures.... :)

In his new walker

Looking like a stud, ready for church!

Sweet boy

Feed me!!!!!

Getting ready to go to the doctor

Taking a break from crawling.

Getting his morning reading in.

I'll just sleep in my toy box!

Bottle with daddy

Peek a boo!

7 months - a little late!

Big man! (Yertle the Turtle was lost in a box in the mail - Tippy the Giraffe filled in. And, the paper has to be placed far enough away that he can't grab it to eat it!).


WOW! What a 7 month birthday Kemper had! James came home!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!

We were able to pick James up around 4 on the 6th and have been having a great time spending time together as a family since then! He's been working half days so far and had a 4-day weekend this weekend - I think we're all getting spoiled.


Kemper is working on getting his top two middle teeth in and also has a cold. :( Poor guy is stuffed up and has a cough that would rival an adults. His mood is still great (for the most part) and his sleep hasn't been disrupted too badly (well, it had recently gotten worse anyhow, so...) and his appetite is pretty similar to normal.


We took him to Toys R Us today (almost identical to an American store except everything is in German - talking toys talk in German) and he rode in his stroller just looking around at all the bright colors and smiling at all of the people. We got him a walker (yes, we know they're not recommended in the States anymore, but we don't have stairs and will use our common sense when putting him in it) and were looking for a humidifier but didn't find one of those.


And last, before I head off to fix dinner, we have a crawler! In the past 2 days, he's finally gotten the hang of getting up on his knees and pushing forward. He isn't flying across the room, yet, but he's moving on his own - baby gates, here we come!!!!

Such a big boy!!!!

Quick update

I promise I'll post a bigger update later in the week, but for now, here are a few pictures! :) We had a play date with Gavin and his mom Lynse yesterday and got some pictures of the boys in their Halloween costumes.

Zorro and the Lion

Buddies :)

Tuckered out

No pictures, just breakfast please!

Halloween pics

We didn't do much for Halloween - it was COLD and since Kemper is too little for candy, we just went to dinner with some friends and hung out around the house. Gavin was supposed to come over and dress up with Kemper but Gavin was completely pooped after dinner so he went home and went to bed.

Happy Halloween!!!!

Summertime baby

And mommy. Kemper and I are NOT cut out for this cold German weather. Kemper doesn't like wearing socks and shoes, and I don't like trying to stuff him into a coat when we get out of the car. They're actually calling for a little snow here tomorrow and Friday. Blah.

Mimi flew back to the States on Tuesday - we were very sad to see her go but she did give Kemper a little pep talk and asked him to sleep better for me and go easy on me til at least Daddy got home.

Kemper's sleep schedule is still messed up. Poor guy, we just about had him straightened out when time changed here and we had to start all over. His two teeth are coming on up beautifully but they are VERY sharp. He still likes to pull your fingers into his mouth but sometimes, he accidentally bites down on his own finger. I think he's shocked that it actually hurts when he does it!

Enjoy the new pics - we're still trying to wait patiently on James....

Click on the picture and see if you can see my teeth!

Mommy and Kemper

Hunk

He can throw a tantrum with the best of 'em!

LOVES his doorway jumper

Oops, how I found him after a nap one morning!

Watching Sesame Street with his bottle

There has got to be some better toys in this thing.

Fake smile so she'll leave me alone with the camera.

Long time no update

Sorry for the delay - we've been traveling and getting settled back in Germany. Kemper was an expert traveler - charming everyone with his beautiful smile and putting their minds to ease (you could see the hesitation in their eyes as they took their seats and saw, gasp, an infant on the plane!). For our longest flight, from Detroit to Amsterdam, there was an extra seat on the plane and we were able to take his carseat on and install it in a seat. He slept for a good stretch of the trip and played happily in his seat or in my lap the rest of the way. After a flight cancellation and a re-route that took us on an extra flight, we made it back to Germany.

Helping Kemper get over jet lag was a challenge and after 2 LOOOONG nights on the couch with a fussy and sleep deprived baby, we managed to settle into a routine. He's going to bed a little later than he was in the States, but he's sleeping for a pretty good stretch at night so I'll take it for now!

He is not enjoying having to wear socks and/or shoes at all times - he's definitely a summer baby. It's been quite chilly since we returned and we've had quite a few of those nasty, rainy German days. He's getting used to his long sleeves, pants, socks, coat and hats but does his best to tug off those socks whenever he gets a chance.

He met his friend Gavin. Gavin was born the same day as Kemper and the boys hit it off pretty well. Gavin is crawling and Kemper is amazed at what he's doing and studies him very hard trying to figure out how he's managing to move himself. Gavin and his mom, Lynse, took us to a German baby store and we had a blast. There are lots of neat baby products and toys as well as great stocking hats (I can't seem to quit buying cute hats - I figure he'll get the use out of them though!). And, their baby products/hats/clothes seem to be a little cheaper than in the States.
The biggest news is that Kemper has 2 teeth!!! He seems to have had a pretty easy time cutting them (knock on wood) however, it may be that I mistook teething fussiness for jetlaggedness.

We're anxiously awaiting James's return, however, it will be at least a few more weeks. Hope you're all doing well - we miss you and can't wait to see everyone at Christmas!

Daddy and Uncle Justin, hurry back, I don't know how to use these things....

Kemper and his buddy Gavin

Sweet boy

Look close, can you see my teeth?!

Kemper and his buddy Ruger