The PF Changs Rock n Roll Marathon and Half Marathon was today and Savannah ran and completed the half marathon for the first time in her life! She set a goal to do it in September with no previous running experiencce and she worked hard every week and made it happen. An amazing accomplishment that was realized after some amazing hard work. Just finishing is great but she finished in the top half of all women in her first attempt!
Others that ran were her brother, Ashley (who had a great time in the half); and his wife Afton and her sister, Adyson who both ran the full marathon. They did great.
We were able to get to the middle of the course during the race to see Savannah and prior to that, Ashley. Hayden enjoyed watching the runners and was excited to see Mommy during the race.
We had a fantastic Christmas in the Wolach household. We spent pre Christmas with our local friends, the Malcolms, Damiris', and the Coys. And we spent Christmas and post Christmas with Grandma Sarah and Grandpa Dave as well as Uncle Ashley and Aunt Afton.
Hayden received a plethora of presents (bonus points for whoever names that movie). She actually kind of knew how to open them. It may have just been her fascination with tearing paper. Each time she opened a new gift it was the coolest thing she had ever seen until she opened the next gift.
All in all it was a great season. Thanks to all for the nice gifts and cards and we wish you a wonderful 2010.
We had a great trip to Wyoming for Thanksgiving. The food was wonderful, the air was crisp, the football watching was plentiful, and the relaxing family atmosphere was serene.
Many thanks to the both the McNierney family and Bob and Susan for their wonderful hospitality.
It is hard to believe that Hayden is now a full year and a half. She is progressing quickly. After dinner she grabs a broom and "sweeps" the kitchen floor. When it is time for bed we tell her to put her toys away and she does. We will try and remember this time when she is older as we're sure it won't last.
One of her main traits at this point is that she loves being around us. It has good and bad points. It is great when she runs up to us and says, "Dada!" or, "Mama!" and gives us a big hug. She'll sit on our laps and follow us everywhere. It is more difficult when we put her to bed and she cries since she misses us.
We had a couple of birthdays for friends' kids since our last post, and both were a lot of fun. These kids are growing up fast.
Halloween has come and gone and it was great in the Wolach household. First, the weather here has cooled off and we can now drive with our windows and moonroofs open. Yipee!
For Halloween, Hayden was a Ladybug and was adorable - yes, we are biased. After seeing what all the comotion was about, she picked up the whole trick or treat thing quite well. "You mean I just go up to these people and they give me candy???"
3 yr old friend Alden Coy was a good role model as the 2 went around the neighborhood with the parents. Hayden even decided she liked it so much that she would invite herself into the houses when people opened the door. She would walk right in before we could hold her back. She held up pretty well but got tired at the end. The best part was that she is too young for candy so Mommy and Daddy reaped her treasure.
We have also been going to the park a lot as she has a newfound love for slides. She can go up the stairs and down the slide by herself, though we still make sure we are near her so that we don't have a panic attack.
She is very adventurous as she loves to climb everywhere. The other day we turned our heads for 2 seconds and she was standing on top of the kitchen table. Nice parenting that was.
Anyway, enjoy the photos and the videos. Thanks for the comments.
Today is Hayden's 17 month birthday. She is starting to get into the tantrum phase and the "Terrible Two's" (which is a misnomer since it actually starts at around a year and a half - they don't tell you of that in advance). Every now and then she'll want something and when we don't give it to her, she'll fall down and start crying. Fortunately, she typically only does this at home. When we are out she is so into people watching she doesn't thin of the tantrum (that there is known as a jinx).
When she is not throwing a tantrum, she is a joy. She loves to read, and play on her horse, and throw a ball around. She now understands most of what we say and can say about 15-20 words herself and she picks up more all the time. If you say something to her you can see her looking at you and she repeats it (or tries to) and says it over and over practicing her new word.
We had a great trip to Denver this past weekend. It was a family reunion, football fest, and food extravaganza all rolled in one. The Buffs and Broncos both won (amazingly) and lots of good times were had. It was great to see everyone but special thanks to Grandpa Bob for the amazing BBQ on Saturday (sponsored by the Forbidden Pig, have some next time you're in Laramie), Uncle Tim for the tailgate grub, and Grandpa Dave for the football, dinner, and just plain making the entire weekend happen.
In the pictures you will see Hayden pre-haircut, and post haircut as the pics span a few weeks. Looking back, her hair was craziness.
In other news, Hayden now says about 15 words (or semi words) including wa-wa (referring to water, not the Philadelphia convenience store), ball, more (of course, she's a Wolach after all), yeah, and no. It's getting nice because now we are starting to be able to understand what she wants which makes both our lives easier.
Also, due to the many ear infections she has had, she had tubes put in her ears on Friday. While it is technically surgery, it is very quick and easy. The ear tubes look like this and they let fluid drain out preventing infection. They fall out on their own after a year or so. They cleaned out a lot of gunk behind her ear drum and now the ear infections will be very rare and she'll be able to hear much better which will aide the growth of her vocabulary.
After some initial groggyness and whininess, we noticed an immediate difference as she was much happier and back to her old Hayden self.
1) She plays around and talks into a paper towel roll. Why we buy toys I have no idea.
2) She plays one of her favorite games: peek-a-boo. This time with the curtains.
3) She loves the Backyardigans, a cartoon. When they are done with the episode, she always says "Bye-bye" to the characters as they exit the screen. She then dances to the closing titles music.
4) Hayden passed her swimming survival class. This is one of her final exams. The instructor would literally drop her in the water from different angles and areas of the pool and the ledges.
The words of Five for Fighting may be talking about 15 years, but Hayden is 15 months old today so we'll apply them here. We just returned from a wonderful vacation in Rochester, NY with our friends from school and their kids: Vincent Lecce and Chadwick Carmody. It was wonderful to see everyone and to see the kids and how they've grown.
We went to Canada to see Niagara Falls which made Hayden an official international traveler. It was amazing to see the falls and even though it was hot and muggy, we had a great outing.
The adults also went on a wine tour to visit wineries up and down Seneca Lake in the Finger Lakes region. It was a fantastic day and a lot of good wine was had by all.
Unfortunately Hayden cut a molar midway through the trip which gave her a fever, a rash, and a nasty bout of screaming all night. She kept the whole house up as her tooth sliced into her mouth. The poor little girl was so sad and lethargic the second half of the trip but she seems to be over it now.
She did enjoy fun times like her first wagon ride and bike ride and her show "The Backyardigans" which had many viewings. She also enjoyed spending time with her lifelong friend, Vincent. They shared a chair together, a wagon, and a bath. All of which gave us great pictures which you can enjoy below.
