Just Chillin'

Do these two strangely resemble Joey and Chandler from "Friends" or what? By what can you do? After a long day of working on storm surges, and creating (what mommy says seems like) storm surges in the house, sometimes it's best just to sit back and watch Bob the Builder.

Hadley had quite an eventful day today. We went to Bible Study where she played her little heart out with all the older boys in the nursery. I could hear her dancing and squealing the entire time. One of the moms observed that "Hadley isn't afraid of any of the older kids." She then asked me if Hadley had any older brothers or sisters and I said, "Nope. She is just a very confident child. She assumes that everyone will get out of her way no matter what."

Come Dance Now, You Know How

This isn't the greatest video, but you can get the idea. Just wait until next Saturday when we take Hadley to "Baby Loves Disco!"

Nothing Wrong with Clear Objectives and Goals

I know it's been awhile since my rant about algebra and baby sleeping patterns, but the following picture proves my point about how nice it is when one has established a clear outline regarding one's bedtime routine:

Here is Hadley reading a story about dogs (darn dogs) with her blanket and bear. She walked into her room Sunday night, got into the rocking chair, and pointed to her bear, blanket, and books and proceeded to read them. About 20 minutes later she was asleep. She knows how we roll when it's time to go to sleep.....usually (see previous post).

hx - 4 = y

It is 4pm and this is what Hadley is doing (see above picture). She has been asleep for 20 minutes now after AN HOUR AND A HALF of fighting with me to take a nap. This is why I hate numbers. For most of Hadley's existence, we've stuck to the following formula: wake up in the morning and two hours after that, take a nap. Wake up from the morning nap and three hours after that, take an afternoon nap. That was the plan today but the baby wasn't on board.

All those years of me shouting out in agony while doing algebra, "When will I EVER need this?" The appropriate response should've been: "Because when your child won't go to sleep like you planned you will remember the days sitting at your desk, your #2 pencil down to a dull nub, your eraser scratched to the metal, and your notebook paper shredded through, and you will once again feel the utter frustration of 'following the directions' and not getting the result you are supposed to get." If Algebra prepared me for anything it was for becoming a mother.

And don't think I haven't been calculating when Hadley will go to bed once she wakes up from her insanely late nap. Here's what's been going on in my head the last 20 minutes: "Maybe I'll just wake her up in an hour, that way she'll go to bed at a decent hour.....Wait, that's not a good idea because last time I did that she was cranky the rest of the night and slept terribly all night.....But she has to go to sleep by 7:30 because I need to keep her on a schedule! That's what the book says! And we have Bible study tomorrow so I have to make sure she gets up in time for us to go to that......"

I'm sure those of you reading this are thinking, "Sheesh! Why doesn't Callie just relax?" Well, dear friends, because "relax" is not in my vocabulary. To relax is to have a well -thought out plan along with a back - up plan for when the first plan doesn't work out.

Hadley's first sentence is going to be: "My mommy's crazy."

Playdates

Last week Hadley and I had two fun playdates with our buddies. We went to Panera for lunch on Thursday and Hadley was quite interested in the new little baby that came along. She "helped" rock the baby to sleep while drinking her juice. Here are some pictures:

On Friday, we went over to the Kentlands to hang out with her friends Aiden and Matthew and their mommies. Hadley had a really good time but was terrified of Aiden's dog, Leo. I've never seen her so afraid before so I was caught off guard, but once Leo was put away Hadley calmed down.

Hadley is now taking a little rest after spending a little time at Barnes and Noble with her buddy Matthew. I forgot to take the camera so I don't have any pictures of that outing.

I'm Walking, I'm Leaping!

Well, maybe she's not leaping, but Hadley is walking and climbing all over the place. She can get herself onto a chair in our living room, and she also climbs into a little shelf with her toys. Here is a short film of her walking to her new attachment, Bear:

Last week Hadley took this stuffed animal off her shelf and he hasn't left her side since. I have no idea why she has grown attached to him, but she needs him to go to sleep (along with her OG and blanket). This afternoon we had to have Bear eat with us during snack time. He even has his own bib. You also might notice a tupperware cup and spoon. Hadley was "feeding" Bear while I made her snack.

New Tricks

This is Hadley's new favorite thing to do. She is having a lot of fun learning how to use her legs. She takes a few steps here and there, but the real fun is being able to do the above trick. What's even more impressive is that when I do it along with her, Hadley can reach her arm through her legs and grab my nose.

This week I introduced "time out" to Hadley. Now before you "tsk tsk" me and wonder to yourselves, "What could that blue eyed beauty POSSIBLY have done to be put in time out?" here is a list of just a few things I endured on Monday:

-Having my nose pinched so hard that blood was drawn

-Getting my shoulder AND knee repeatedly chewed on (she has a mean bite)

-Hiding from me by the garbage can (Hadley's new obsession), then waiting for me to find her and throwing tupperware into it.

The first time out I set Hadley on the couch and counted to 10. She clapped along and laughed. The second one I repeated the procedure and she scowled at me. After telling her that mommy doesn't like it when her nose is pinched so hard it starts to bleed, we hugged it out and returned to playing with her animals.