On Tuesday, Hayden and I went to the zoo to look for the new baby zebra. He wasn't out on display but we did see him behind the fence with his mother. I promised Hayden a return trip very soon to look for him again. We did see some of the anmals very closely this time. The giraffe was literally within arms reach of me while he was minching on grass and the polar bear was putting on his usual show in front of the glass...I think he likes the attention!
Soccer has been rained out all week and that's probably a good thing because it is VERY cold this week. We do have a game Saturday morning so that will be a lot of fun...Hayden has been asking all week to play soccer.
We went to T-Ball sign-ups last night at Safeway and Hayden is now an official T-Ball player. It starts March 6th, a week after soccer ends and it runs through May so it will definitely keep him busy. He is very excited to go shopping for a bat, glove, and "those pants that the baseball guys wear".
I know I've said it before recently but I am really enjoying Hayden being a 3 year-old. He is so full of ideas and has an awesome sense of humor. I could talk to him for hours on end (oh wait, I do because he never stops talking!) and I can't get over how smart he is. Just this week he learned how to spell his name and how to count to 20 in Spanish. We can teach him anything! I am also eternally grateful that he is so well behaved. I honestly believe this is because we talk to him about everything. There's no time outs, no idle threats, no empty "No Thank You's" while chasing him around. We explain things to him, what the good choices and not-so-good choices are and he listens almost every time. When he doesn't, we make the choice for him and he learns from it, most of the time to never repeat the not-so-good choice again. There's no tantrums, screaming, crying...just a few minutes of whining and we move on. I know people that have terrible trouble with their bratty 3 year-olds and I am so glad we have chosen to teach our son the right things from the start. Life is so much easier for us now that we spent so much time talking to him as a toddler. He's a real preschooler now which makes me proud that he has come so far since he was just a little 4 pound tiny thing. He's amazing!
I suppose that's all I really have to report for now (sorry for the endless bragging about Hayden but this is also for him to read later on and I wanted all of that stuff written down. I know you grandparents sure don't mind!) I will try to sneak in a few photos of Hayden at our party tomorrow and definitely some at the soccer game Saturday but for now here's some zoo and cookie-making ones to hold you over! Love and hugs!!
