15 months

This is real life, people. Our days of the monthly photo shoot have clearly come to an end, along with the little one ever sitting still! May I just add that upon sitting in his chair, he threw the puppy on the floor and growled at me. You win some, you lose some in toddler world.

I'm a little late posting this, but on May 11th our little man turned 15 months old. We can safely say that we have survived the transition to toddler hood, though Mommy and Daddy are bracing themselves for the brand new adventure that having a very strong-willed and fearless boy on our hands will bring. In all honesty, we wouldn't have it any other way. I mean, the way I see it, it's much easier to take the hardheadedness down a notch with a booty pop or two than it is to instill leadership traits into a kid, so I continue to thank the good Lord for our wild man everyday!

Since he turned the big 1, Hayes has grown like a weed, and definitely doesn't look like a baby anymore. He becomes the spitting image of his daddy at this age more and more everyday, but with every bit of his mommy's personality. (Yes, this is me taking full responsibility for the hard headed fearlessness and my way or the highway mentality that we are facing, though you may never see it in writing again.)On his 13 month birthday, Hayes surprised us and started traditional crawling on all fours, and by his 14 month birthday he took his first steps. He was pretty conservative about when he took those steps, and has just now started to gain momentum and confidence to where he's walking all the time.  In the spirit of our traditional monthly turned now quarterly updated, here's the rundown on the last three months of Hayes Man's busy life...

Weight: 23 lbs, 7 oz

Height: 32 1/2 inches

Loves: I think it pretty much goes without saying that this boy's two faves in the world are playing outside and his puppy brother, Rio. The second we get home from school or he has a moment of free time, they both make their way to the back door and bang on it until someone lets them out. Whether we are going for a walk, playing on the slide, swinging, throwing the ball for Rio or just running around in the grass, Hayes loves nothing more than becoming one with nature. In other news, he is still a HUGE fan of bath time and has recently graduated to the big boy tub. Speaking of water, Hayes also LOVES the beach and swimming pool just as much as he did last summer, which will definitely make mama's life easier during the summer months. :) Hayes still adores his school and teachers, and is now the class president and oldest baby in the infant room. He will be promoted to the toddler class on June 1st, which is SUPER hard to believe, but alas, time marches on and we are excited for our next man to enter an exciting new stage of life! I would be lying if I said that I won't cry my eyes out when he leaves Ms. Rachel and Ms. Amalia though. We couldn't have been blessed with more loving angels to care for our little man in his first year of life!

Sleep: Hayes remains champ of the sleep department for the most part. He typically goes down between 7:30 and 8:00 each night, and wakes around 7:00 the next morning. As far as naps go, he has dropped his second one and now takes about a 2 1/2 hour nap from about 11:30-2:00 on most days when he's at home. He is still on the infant room nap schedule at school so doesn't get the best naps right now during the week, but when he makes the transition to the toddler class we are confident this will smooth itself out. We have added teeth brushing to the bedtime and morning routine now, and Hayes gets so excited and yells "teeth!" when it's time to do it. He is Mr. Independent and loves to do it on his own after mama or daddy brush for him, and he is just the cutest thing when he stares at himself in the mirror and rinses his toothbrush himself just like we do. He has gotten very good at putting himself to sleep, and while we do still rock/read/sing the whole bedtime routine, he now sits next to me in the rocker instead of me cradling him in his arms. Life's rough when your mama's petite! I swear he's half of me now, so can't say that I blame him for trying to get as comfy as possible.

Food: Hayes has become a bit more picky in this area, which doesn't come as much of surprise for anyone who knows his daddy's picky palate! We are a big fan of pretty much any fruit and baked good, but will not touch most veggies (especially the green ones) with a ten foot pole. Our favorite foods definitely include Eggo whole wheat waffles, whole wheat bagels (hold the cream cheese, people), mommy's "hidden veggie" muffins, strawberries, bananas, cheese, vanilla Greek yogurt and of course CHICKEN! This kid eats that stuff like it's going out of style. He's also a HUGE fan of Chick-Fil-A (I mean who isn't though) and especially their frosted lemonade. His mommy shares that addiction I'm afraid... haha. He'll eat the occasional PBJ sandwich, and is a big fan of Mexican food (again, no surprise there for this Valley-born kid). The sweet tooth was definitely inherited from his mama, too, bc I don't think there's one dessert he has passed up to date-- chocolate included! I am thankful that for the most part Hayes enjoys healthy foods and meal times aren't too much of a power struggle bc he just loves to eat! Cody and I joke that he competitively eats at school so he often isn't as hungry at dinner. Too funny.

Personality: People, Hayes Johnson has a bigger personality than the Lone Star State! This kid cracks us up SO much ALL the time. He has the best scrunched up silly face, does the funniest little dance when he hears music (especially Tay Swift's Shake It Off) and gets SO excited and animated. On the other hand, he does have a bit of a temper and is a little bit stubborn, so if something doesn't go his way we will definitely know it fast. Hayes is absolutely fearless and can often be found climbing and jumping on things (i.e. dishwasher, his chair, the bed, etc.) Once again, I am a firm believer that it is much easier to tame a wild child than to instill leadership skills (can you tell I'm kind of trying to convince myself of this?), so we will fight the good fight of time out for the times that Hayes Man is on his own agenda and not ours. :) In all seriousness though, our Hayes is such a sweetheart, and he definitely has every bit of his daddy's sweet and charming nature. He loves to snuggle with his mommy and gives the best kisses. He is also quite the politician and loves to wave and say hi to everyone we see in public places. He definitely knows how to put a smile on a person's face, which fills us with so much joy! Each morning we start our day by asking Hayes what we are going to do to shine God's light for the world to see, and he just smiles so big and claps. Hayes is saying several words now, including "no", "yes", "mama", "daddy", "baby", "ball", "GG", "Pop", "MiMi", "Pappaw", "moo" (cow), "baa-aa" (sheep), "teeth" and "shoes". He waves bye and blows kisses just about anytime we leave a room, too. I truly believe this boy is destined to be a leader of men and lover of people, and it is so fun to watch him grow and change into this amazingly entertaining little boy a little more each day!

Dislikes: The thing Hayes really, really dislikes is when he can't do something he wants to do. He isn't super patient with processes and will grunt and sometimes yell if he is unable to figure something out on the first try. Chalk it up to his competitive nature, folks-- this girl can definitely relate! He also isn't a fan of sitting still, and especially not in time out. We have recently introduced the time out chair in an effort to instill discipline in our strong-willed child, and it seems to be working for the time being. Hayes is for the most part pretty obedient, though he does like to test the limits and get a little ornery every now and then. What warm-blooded, All-American boy doesn't though? Hayes also isn't the biggest fan of being pinned down for a diaper change (especially right before bath time) and he doesn't love the hair rinsing part of his bath, but we'll get there. He would rather not be left alone in an unfamiliar room of people, children or otherwise, and likes to sit back and take in his surroundings before jumping into the action. He REALLY doesn't like for his nose to be wiped, but come on, who does? For the most part our little man continues to be a pretty adaptable, happy and fun-loving child and not too much bothers him, for which we are very thankful.

Little man, you have no idea how much sunshine you have brought into your mommy and daddy's world. We love you SO much and can't wait to see what the next three months of your exciting life holds!