Curly Girl

Here are some new pictures of Hailey and the halo of blond curls around her head.

The heart-pounding excitement of potty training has worn down. She still likes to sit on the potty, but she doesn't really go. She loves getting toilet paper and washing her hands afterwards. I knew she wasn't going to be instantly trained - I'm just glad she isn't afraid of the potty.

Hailey is now VERY good at saying 'thank you' when you do something for her. I grabbed her blanket this morning as she made her way to the kitchen and when she realized she had forgotten it, I handed it to her and she looked me right in the eye and said "dak ew". We still have to prompt her for 'please' and she really doesn't like to say 'sorry' - but she does.

She still won't let me put 'hair pretties' in (ponytails, pigtails), but Miss Jamie is a pro at it and she often comes back from daycare with a cute hairdo. Every time mom tries, I get the head-shaking "NOOoooo" whine. Mom just isn't fast enough.

She is getting really good at feeding herself with the spoon! Holy cow, I didn't realize how super convenient it is to be able to put a bowl of food down, cover every inch of her body in vinyl bib, give her a spoon and let her go to town. We can actually make our own food while she eats. That's better than sliced bread! My only problem now is getting dried applesauce off the dining room walls.

She is really just a full-fledged toddler - super cute and into everything. I never really gave much thought to what being a mom would be like but here it is:

When I am with her, I'm so exhausted and tired that I just want to sit down and have a moment for myself. When I am not with her, I miss her like crazy and call daycare just to hear her say 'Hi Mommy'. She's amazing, frustrating, funny, tiring, cute and stubborn. It is easy to get irritated when you are trying to do something and she is leaning all over you...until you realize that she just wants to touch you, be near you...and those years are unfortunately way too short. So mommy-hood is just being caught in this glorious cycle of contradictions - a constant stream of work that makes me crazy...but I would be crazier without it.