Hailey Talk

A conversation with my daughter....

Hailey:   "Baf room!"
Me:        "Hailey do you need to potty?"
Hailey:   "No"
Me:        "Are you sure?"
Hailey:   "No"
Me:        "Do you need to use the potty?"
Hailey:   "No"
Me:        "O.K., lets leave the bathroom"
Hailey:   "NOOO...GOTTA Potty!"
Me:        "You have to potty?"
Hailey:   "Yes"
Me:        "Come here and let me take your diaper off"
Hailey:   "No diaper off"
Me:        "Hailey, I have to take it off if you are going to potty"
Hailey:   "No potty"
Me:        "Hailey do you have to potty?"
Hailey:   "No"

*repeat*

She is also fond of the following phrases...

• "Hailey's Turn!" - spoken after you do or touch...anything.
  
• "Peeese" - (please) very insincerely, with one eye on her Spongebob cartoon
  
• "Come 'ere" - while grabbing one finger to lead you somewhere you didn't intend on going.


• "Ooo KAY!!!" - but the emphasis here is how she says it like a teenager who is being nagged to death.


• "Baf? Baf? Baf? Baf?" - (bath) spoken consistently for 5 minutes.


• "I don wanna..." or "I don like..." - interchangeable


• "Night night?" - but that's only at daycare, not when she is really going to bed.
  
• 'No Mamma, NO!" - this happens whenever I wake up to take care of her instead of her dad.

The latest 'phrase of the day' is "Don't Touch Me!" Which is great when you are trying to change her. She usually says it in a very alarming growl. In fact she say a lot of stuff in that growl....or she just screams, really, really loudly. Her favorite place to scream...that would be in the enclosed, echoey space called the bathtub. Excellent headache inducer- pass me the Tylenol please.

She has definitely mastered the art of taking a single word and making it into a question by saying the last syllable in a higher pitch... "CheeseSTICK?" is a classic example, so is "CupCAKE?".

But for all the stuff she says that makes us crazy, she manages to get in some really sweet things too... "No thank you" is my favorite - it always catches me off gaurd because it is so grown-up. I also love anytime she says "Mama" without screaming. "You o.k.?" is pretty amazing as well, it makes everything feel better from a stubbed toe to the flu!

The best one of all though isn't even a word, it's her totally cute and infectious giggle

...I could listen to that all day.

New Look

Everything is about change.

Read the news, and all you hear in politics is that it's time for change *really...you think?*... the new year is underway and even here in 'The Land of Lake Effect', the weather is changing for the better *at least for now*...

So what better way for me to embrace change than to modify the look of my blog. I was getting a little tired of all the grey, so here we have it - a new look that maintains the old format (which I did like) with a fresher look. I know that have to go into my old posts and edit some of my colored text...I'll get to that eventually *I promise*

Hopefully, you will all appreciate the changes as well - because it isn't going back! Let me know if you like it ...there is a little comment section in the corner of this post that anyone is free to use!

Now if I can only change my mood...I'll work on that...a few more days of weather like this should help!

My Sweet Princess

Tonight we read Hailey a story before putting her to sleep....

"Goodnight room...Goodnight moon.....Goodnight cow jumping over the moon..."

This morning, we put my cat to sleep, no story...just hugs and tears. Lots of tears.

Those of you who know me personally have probably met Dolley, at least if you have known me for the past 18 years... because that is how long I had her. 18 years... that's a long time. I bought her from a pet store right after I graduated from college. She was only a baby and just had her own litter. While her kittens were selling like furry, black and white hotcakes, everyone was looking past the scruffy-looking momma cat with udders like a cow. I saw her....she was at a crossroad in her life, just like I was. I fell in love.


I already had one cat, Madison... and the two of them learned to live together like a brother and sister who loved each other, but didn't always like each other. Those two... saw everything in my life, my best days and my darkest moments. Dolly and Madison sat up with me and watched me play cards and games with my friends until all hours of the night. They came with me to graduate school and kept me going when it seemed like everything in my life had melted away. The two of them were the only family I had with me on the night Nathan proposed... and 'my cats' became 'our cats'. They were my friends, my family, and my creative inspiration. They were diaries with fur and witnesses to who I was... before I became me.

I loved them both, I loved them differently. Madison passed several years ago, a week before we got our puppy, Harley. While it wasn't a surprise, I didn't expect it, and it hit me square in the chest for weeks. Today, with Dolley...I had to make that decision. I've been avoiding it for a while, because I just couldn't bear the thought of it. I know in my head that it was the right thing to do, but I have yet to justify it in my heart.

Everyone that takes a pet into their lives, knows that 'that' day has to come, and yet we still shelter them, feed them and let them sleep on the bed (even though they lick your face at 3:00 am). We spend so much time, energy and money on them, knowing that they will only be in our life for a moment and it will always...always end the same. Delaying it only postpones your pain... not theirs. Why do we do this to ourselves?

I think the answer is pretty simple really, your pets are the only beings that will love you without judgement, without criticism, completely and totally. Even the people you love most in life have behaviors you don't care for. Pets don't care if you snore or clip your toenails in the dining room. Honestly, I don't even love myself as much as my pets love me. That is all it takes, that is what makes it all worth it.

Because she loved me so unconditionally, I know she has already forgiven me for the decision I can't forgive myself for. I'm sorry Dolley, my sweet princess, I will miss you. Find Madison and keep him company.

"Goodnight Room, Goodnight Moon...
Goodnight Dolley" ...I love you