Hike in March

We’ve had beautiful weather here lately.  We went on a hike with the neighbors and their two girls, Stella and Addie, on March 15.  It was 70 degrees!  Haley slept for the first half of the hike, but wanted out of the stroller the second half.  She wants to GO!  Unfortunately, crawling on a dirt trail isn’t really an option, so there was lots of walking holding Mommy’s hands, riding on Daddy’s shoulders, being carried by Mommy, etc.  I got stung by a wasp, and our neighbor Scott was stung by a bee.  In March!  Luckily it wasn’t one of the girls.  The girls enjoyed climbing on rocks, seeing some bighorn sheep, throwing rocks in the stream, and generally running around.

 

 

Little Peanut

Haley had her 1-year checkup on Wednesday.  She’s still a little peanut!  She seems sturdy enough… I thought she might have moved up in the percentages a little bit, but she’s still at the 30^th percentile for height at 28.5 inches, and she dropped from the 4^th to the 3^rd percentile in weight at 17lbs. 3oz.  She’s growing well, she’s just petite!  Which is strange to us, since we’re used to Payton being an Amazon at > 95^th percentile for height!

 

The girls are adjusting pretty well to their new day care, which they started at on Monday.  I admit I am a bit worried about Haley’s sleep patterns.  They only do one nap in the “young toddler” room, and she is still taking two naps a day.  She has been really tired and cranky by the time we pick her up, and she has gone to bed early each night.  Then, she wakes up during the night.  She goes back down after a bottle, but that’s not a pattern we want to establish.  The pediatrician said to let her take two naps on the days she’s not at day care, so that she can “catch up” on her sleep.  We’ll see how things go over the next couple of weeks.

 

Of course, I made the mistake of checking out “Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child” from the library, on the recommendation of a friend, and it has made me completely paranoid about the girls’ sleep habits.  The book makes correlations between ADHD and lack of sleep.  Payton, of course, has always been a terrible sleeper.  She’s okay now… it’s tough to get her in bed, but she sleeps well once she’s down.  Now I’m wondering, does she have trouble focusing?  Is she hyperactive?!  Ack!  Haley has been a good sleeper, which is why I don’t want to mess with her patterns.  You could drive yourself crazy with this stuff.

 

Haley had her longest bath ever last night.  Hal went to a presentation from a paranormal investigation team at the library with his nephew Marston (age 12).  Anyway, the girls and I were on our own, and we all three got in the big bathtub!  I think three is the limit on the tub.  Payton loves the water and would stay in the bath all day if you let her.  Even after a marathon bath last night, she insisted on getting in the shower with me this morning.  Haley’s good for about five minutes, but last night she really enjoyed the tub.  Last weekend, I got in the shower thinking I would have some alone time.  Instead, I had Payton standing on the bathtub ledge, talking to me through the glass wall of the shower while she was eating a cookie.  Sigh. 

Haley's bday!

Argh. The hard drive on our laptop is corrupted, and we're out of disk space on the PC! I got a portable HD for Christmas, which need a USB y-cable for more power to work... long story short, I haven't done much with pictures lately. HOWEVER, here are a couple that my stepdad took at Haley's birthday party, which he loaded onto my work laptop... thanks Walt!

Papa, Mimi, Nana, Aunt Sarah and Uncle Dave, Aunt Kim and Uncle Steve, and all of Haley's cousins were able to come over on Sunday to help us celebrate her birthday. The older kids (which would be everyone but Haley) went off and played, while the adults got to have a conversation! Haley also got to be the center of adult attention, which she didn't seem to mind at all.

For the day of her party, Haley learned a new trick... climbing up onto chairs! She pulled out one of the kids' chairs in the kitchen and climbed onto it, then stood up, holding onto the back! Little stinker. And, in the evening while we were watching the Oscars with her grandparents, she stood up from my lap!

The girls started at a new day care yesterday. Haley started in the "wobbler" room and will probably be walking before we know it. Payton is in the 3 1/2 year-old room. She was really excited about starting at a new school, and had a great day yesterday.

Cake!


Opening presents


The girls and all their cousins


Walking with Mimi's help

Visiting Santa

My mom came up to visit on Thursday, Dec. 11. We went to the mall for pictures at Sears, and to visit Santa.

Payton did well with Santa this year. While we were waiting in line, she kept asking me "Where are Santa's reindeer?" I told her to ask Santa, and that was the first thing she asked him! For Christmas she asked Santa for a kitchen. When prompted for further ideas, she said "toys." This is much more specific than last year, when she asked for "a present."

Haley sat on Santa's lap and just stared at him. She's a little taken aback by Papa Johnson's beard, so I think maybe she thought Santa was Papa. Anyway, she didn't cry!

Christmas pictures!

Comments from School

Haley's teacher, Ms. Elaine, is great about writing down some comments about Haley's day. Here are today's...

I stood next to Reese in the high chair and every time Ms. Elaine gave him a bite of food I would open my mouth. My friend and I played chase in and through the tunnel, until he decided to stop and sit down inside. Ms. Elaine was feeding a baby a bottle and she couldn't see me. She called my name and I peeked from behind her chair. I then crawled out from behind her chair and smiled at her. I then crawled under the swing. I raised up my head and banged it on the swing, making the baby in the swing cry.

And here are Monday's...

I made Annabelle smile when I peeked at her as she sat with Ms. Elaine. Listened to "Where is the Bone?" and "Monkey See Monkey Zoo." TOok the little blocks out of the container one at a time. Enjoyed sitting next to Annabelle and touching her face. Shook the musical instrument with my right hand while I held the cup in my left hand. I chewed on the lion, then on the rhino, then back to the lion.

The Age of Exploration

Okay, I'm cheating and post-dating this... wrote it while pumping a couple of weeks ago...

Haley is at such a cute age right now. About a week ago, she figured out how to go from laying down to a sitting position. This past weekend, she started finally crawling with her tummy off the floor, though still not consistently. Of course, this means she can explore a lot more (read: get into things).

She'll find a toy, and settle herself down to check it out. Then, if she catches you looking at her, she'll hold the object up to you. Not sure if fhtis is "check this out" or "this is for you." The other day, Haley, Payton and I were playing with Little People. I had a couple of LP in my lap. Haley would crawl onto me, grab a Little People, then crawl over and hold it out to Payton. Apparently she'd decided Payton was the keeper of the Little People.

Last night, Haley was holding out her Cheerios to Keystone, who was only too happy to take them gently form her hand. She's also fond of droppoing things, then craning her neck over to view them on the floor.

Haley has one bottom front tooth. We keep waiting for the second one to pop up. Let's hope she doesn't use them to "explore" biting Mommy, like her sister did.

Yesterday, Haley learned how to clap! She finally figured out how to get those tiny fingers straightened out. It's her new favorite trick. She was laying in bed with us this morning in the dark, looking at her hands and clapping periodically.