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.

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.

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:

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.

Our Little Helper

Hadley likes to help with all the chores around the house which is sweet, but can also get a little tricky when the point of doing chores is straightening up and cleaning the place. If we get the vacuum out, begin to unload the dishwasher, or begin the laundry, Hadley comes running saying, "I do it myself."

When I start folding the laundry I can usually satisfy Hadley's need to "fold" the clothes by giving her all her old burp cloths along with our kitchen towels. However, a couple of days ago she went into her room and decided she was ready to fold her clothes (that were already folded and put away). Here's what happened....

And here is Hadley singing and dancing to a song she's made up this week. It's always good to do chores while singing and dancing.

Hey Boy! Hey Girl! Are you?

One of the fun things about being a mom is watching Hadley develop her personality through the experiences she has and the friends she makes. From the moment she was born, I knew she wasn't what you'd call, "a meek child." Hadley is bold. She likes to get out and do stuff, and she loves to meet people. This is evident in our trips to the library and the park as well as when she's around her toddler friends. However, I didn't know how she would react to hanging out with "big kids."

This weekend, we had the special treat of visiting with the Dornbos family. Todd and Rhonda, along with their children, Elisa and Seth spent the weekend with us and while it is always fun to see them, Hadley was out of her mind with joy at having the chance to play with Elisa and Seth. She needed to do everything they did. If they sat at the table, she would sit at the table.

If they were coloring, she would color. (I am usually the official "marker opener" for Hadley, but Hadley passed the baton on to Elisa this weekend.) Seth taught her how to slide down her big triangle head first, a trick that Hadley is very happy she can accomplish. And on our trips around town Elisa wanted to ride with Hadley - something Hadley just loved.

It was very important to Hadley that Elisa and Seth hold her hand as much as possible. She would run up to them, extend her hand and say, "and, and" and they obliged. Here they are walking around the Mall this past weekend.

Along with making new friends, Hadley got her first glimpse of the White House.

She also took a look at the World War II Memorial. She was impressed, I'm sure, but mostly because of all the water that looked quite appropriate for splashing in (that is why she is in the stroller in these pictures).

I do believe that the highlight of the weekend for Hadley was swimming in the pool at the hotel the Dornbos' stayed in.

The pictures don't do it justice. When it was time to go home, Hadley threw quite a fit screaming, "Boy! Girl! Pool!" the whole way home. The names Seth and Elisa seemed to be difficult for Hadley to say, so she called them Boy and Girl. Throughout the weekend we'd hear, "Boy! Girl! Are you?" (That's Hadley's way of asking, "Where are you?")

When our visit came to an end Monday night, Hadley was very sad to see her friends go. We were sad too, as it always seems we pick up right where we left off with Todd and Rhonda. And while it's sad to see good friends go, as I watched Hadley learning how to play with the big kids, I was reminded of the friends I had that kept me company and I'm excited for Hadley and the people that will put a smile on her face.

Our Trip to Chicago

It's been a week since we came back from Chicago, but it's taken awhile for me to get around to posting some pictures of our trip. We had a great time and Hadley has been asking for her Grandma and Grandpa Lewis and her Uncle Geoff ever since we came back. Geoff gave her an Elmo doll and a penguin toy and everytime she plays with them she says, "Thank you, Uncle Geoff!" Elmo has replaced her baby in her toy shopping cart. She takes him "shopping" with her and the baby is no longer allowed in the cart. Elmo is the superstar.

Speaking of Uncle Geoff, Hadley loved the cut out photo of him that is just about her height. She took him around all over the house when while we were there. Here she is dancing with him.

"Hey, Uncle Geoff! I heard you like the song, "I totally miss you." Let's see if I can find it..."

Hadley also had a good time playing in the pool in the backyard.

I'm not sure if you can tell from these pictures, but Hadley has on an Elmo swimsuit. We're a little obsessed with Elmo these days.

We also took a trip to Millenium Park where there is a huge area to splash around in and an enormous "bean" that Hadley loved looking at.