Monday, August 18, 2008

Facing Our Fears

Last week we bought Hadley some Playdoh and at first Hadley was terrified of it. She kept saying, "Hurt you! Hurt you!" despite our efforts to convince her that Playdoh would not hurt her.

The first day she just watched Jesse play with it, but she didn't want to touch it. On the second day, after her nap, she asked me for "Pwaydoh." I said, "Are you sure you want to play with it?" Yes, she told me and grabbed it off the shelf. So I set it up at the table, put her in her booster seat and the first thing she said was, "Hurt you." I told her it wouldn't hurt her, and I began to play with it. After awhile she began to tentatively touch it, but we played with it for an hour.

The rest of the week Hadley warmed up to it, and it is now the number one toy she asks for. It's a nice activity to do in the afternoon when it can be a little too hot to go outside. She can play with it by herself for the most part, except if she is playing with the blue Playdoh. She makes "blue-bare-bares" (blueberries) with it and attempts to eat it. So I stick by her side to make sure nothing gets in her mouth. Here are a few pictures. Note that Bear is sitting close by. He must be in the same place as Hadley now.





The funny thing about all this is that even though Hadley was scared of it, she couldn't stop looking at it or wanting to get it out to play with. It reminded me of my fear of all bugs; especially bees, wasps, hornets, or anything in the bee family. I'm terrified of them, but I'm also fascinated by them as well. I probably know more about Carpenter bees than an encyclopedia, and last week when I was walking to the car, I saw the largest hornet and spider I have ever seen in my life. The spider was the size of tumbleweed, and I swear the hornet asked me if I'd get out of the way so it could continue dragging the spider to wherever it was going.


But nothing compares to the experience I had this afternoon. On the living room window, were not one, but TWO. HUGE. WASPS. I froze for about five minutes in a cold sweat, and then I did what any rational person would do - I called Jesse at work. For about half an hour Jesse went over ways I could kill the wasps while I hyperventilated on the phone. I could use a large shoe, or rolled up newspaper.

"Why can't I tape a sheet to the window and trap them in until you get home?"

"I don't think that is going to work so well." he told me.

"What if I put my cell phone up real close to them. I read somewhere that cell phones are killing 'em off."

To this, Jesse made no response.

"I knew this day was going to come." I cried into the phone. "OK. I guess I have to do this. Stay on the phone, OK?"

I went to go get a boot that my mom got me from Nordstroms (Sorry mom, but they have killer heels. I'll still wear them, they're my favorite boots!) and very slowly, and quietly I walked towards the wasps, took a deep breath and smooshed them. I'm still shaking just reliving it. But I did it. Hadley will one day be so proud to know that her mother protected her from wasps. If it were just me in the house, I would've left until Jesse came home.


Friday, August 15, 2008

Goodbye, Friend

Hadley's first (and right now only) girlfriend is moving away. While Hadley doesn't understand that she won't get to see her buddy "Emson" anymore, she is still in her daily thoughts. Whenever we talk about the zoo, Hadley will talk about Emerson. Or if I take out goldfish crackers, or Hadley sees Abby on Sesame Street, Emerson's name comes up. Emerson has an Abby doll, and apparently likes goldfish crackers, though I hadn't noticed.

On our last visit together, we met at the zoo. Emerson is turning two in a few days so Hadley gave her some sidewalk chalk and an Elmo Sticker book. She also said, "Happy Birthday, Emson!" They spent the morning together holding hands, running around in their matching backpack "leashes" and looking at the animals.
Here they are looking at the turtles swimming in the water:

Up close with the gorillas. Or maybe they're chimpanzees. Is it surprising that I'm not sure? Hadley was quite concerned that this guy (you can see him in the second picture) was a little too close. Right after I took these pictures, she began telling the group of people who were admiring the chimp that he's "too big." This is her phrase for something that she doesn't like or is uncomfortable with.

I think running around the zoo was their favorite activity. (Don't worry, the cars in the picture were the staff's cars. We weren't letting them run around Connecticut Avenue.)

It is hard to say goodbye to people you've grown close to, and I'm sure this won't be the last person Hadley will bid adieu to. Maybe she'll have a friend on her high school dance team that will tell her the most animated stories and make practicing a routine over and over again not so monotonous. Or maybe she'll have the chance to have a best friend for several years who will know by the way she walks what kind of mood she's in. I hope she'll have college buddies who she laughs hard with and help her grow into a thoughtful young lady. And I hope she finds a friend or two in her job that she can spend hours "talking shop" with in a coffeeshop. Well, maybe it'll be a bar, but then she shouldn't be there for hours.

Whoever she meets down the road, Emerson will be her first girlfriend, and that is a special memory for me to help keep for Hadley. We will miss her and her mom.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Hard at Work

Hadley has decided that she is "too big" for her high chair (she has also told us that she is "too big" for her carseat), so we purchased a "big girl chair" much to her delight. Last night, after she was finished eating dinner, we gave her some markers to play with so we could finish eating our dinner. Here are some pictures of her hard at work.

And here is a short video:

Saturday, August 2, 2008

A Fun Friday Morning

This is Hadley and her friend Emerson who she calls "Emson." This picture was taken a couple of months ago, but it was taken on my phone and I had no clue how to get it on the computer. We now have new phones so Jesse took all the pictures I've taken and transferred them on to our computer (he's so smart).



Last Friday, we met Emerson and her mom for a donut and then the girls ran around Rockville Town Center Square while we talked a bit. At 10am in the middle of the square, water shoots out of several holes in the ground for the kids to play in. I forgot to pack a bathing suit for Hadley, so I just let her play in her diaper. She had so much fun splashing around in the "wader" as she calls it. Here are a couple of pictures:



For the record, Huggies are incredibly absorbent.