A Letter: Twenty-Nine Months

Dear Hadley,
Last week you turned twenty-nine months old. And man are you becoming a character! You have started making the most exaggerated facial expressions. I sometimes find myself just looking over at you and laughing out loud at the different faces you make at me. You also have a variety of voices you still talk in, ranging from very deep and serious, all the way to high pitch and whimsical. I just never know what you are going to do or say next. You always manage to keep me on my toes!

Blue Eyed Blondie
Just Hanging Out
Jumping Bean

The big news of the month was that you got your very first hair cut. I wasn’t really planning to cut your hair, but Ana was begging to cut her hair with such enthusiasm that you asked to cut your hair too. I am a firm believer that it is your hair and so you can do with it what you like (within reason), so I was not about to stop you from getting your hair cut if it was something you really wanted to do. After all, it is just hair. So we headed over to Pigtails and Crewcuts. On the way you said, “I no want to cut my hair. It hurts me.” And it was such a silly thing to hear you say, that Ana and I just started laughing. Then you looked all confused and said, “It not hurt me? It just tickles?” So we reassured you that it would not hurt at all and you were once again excited about the milestone you were about to complete. And the haircut happened without a hitch. You sat perfectly still, mesmerized by whatever Disney movie they had playing, and graciously accepted the Dum Dum they gave you for being so well behaved with a polite “thank you.” I could not have asked for more.

Before the hair cut
(Above is the wispy “before” borderline mullet.)

Hadley's First Hair Cut
New Haircut!

We recently had your Uncle Jesse over to help us paint our master bathroom. You were adamant about helping Uncle Jesse paint. You watched him as he did all the prep work, gathering supplies, and readying the space. He gave you a paint brush to play with and to you, this meant you were just promoted to assistant painter! So when it came time to apply the primer, he marked off a little square of the wall, instructed you to “try to stay in the lines” and let you go to town painting! You were delighted to be his special helper.

Paint Brushes are fun!
Helping Uncle Jesse Paint

Over Spring Break we took a quick trip up to Seattle. It was perfect weather so we seized the opportunity to enjoy being tourists in the beautiful city! We rode the Monorail, walked around Pike Place market, and went to the top of the Space Needle. You loved the monorail and were particularly impressed with the elevator ride up to the top of the Space Needle (though you were a little disgruntled that you didn’t get to push the buttons for the elevator.)

Look! The Space Needle

While we were in Seattle we made time to visit our good friends and meet their newest addition. You had a fun time playing with their oldest daughter, Juniper. It was fun to watch the two of you interact and it was one of the first times I saw you really break away from the parallel play and actually play together with one of your friends. You played dress up, had a tea party, and even watched Ana put on a puppet show.

Tea Party with Juniper

Since we were so close to the only American Girl store in the Pacific Northwest, we had to drive a little further north to really round out our family trip. You quickly befriended a Bitty Baby and carried her around the store. But when you grew tired of lugging around the doll that was almost as big as you, I spotted you sitting off to the side reading a book to your (freshly re-sewn at the Build-a-Bear store) Mama Monkey. As a self-proclaimed book lover, it melted my heart to see you confidently sitting there reading a book. (I also love that it looks like Mama Monkey is legitimately enthralled in whatever story you are reading her.)

Reading to her Mama Monkey

When we got back from Seattle, it was practically Easter! We started off the celebration weekend with an Easter Egg Hunt at Ana’s school. They had divided the hunts into different age categories and you were fully prepared to represent for the “2 & Under” crew. You were very excited about the prospect of gathering as many eggs as possible and you did quite an impressive job considering at the time you didn’t even know they were filled with treats!

2 and Under
Finding Eggs

Then once we hunted the eggs and made some crafty Easter crowns, we went out to the front of the school to enjoy the sunshine and blow some bubbles. I was worried you were going to end up wearing most of the soapy mixture (or spilling it all over the pavement) but you surprised me once again and showed me just what a pro you are at bubble blowing. You would load up the wand, expertly blow some bubbles, then giggled and excitedly chase them around.

Blowing Bubbles
Bubbles!

Then it was finally Easter morning! The Easter Bunny hid your Easter baskets but left a trail of clues for you to find them. You were so excited by every single thing that was happening, from discovering the remnants of the chewed carrots left by the Easter Bunny to finding the clues hidden around the house, I couldn’t help but get consumed by your infectious attitude. Everyone in the house was giddy and giggling, just the way Easter morning should be.

Oh! The Easter Bunny ate the carrots!
So excited
Tiny Tools in her Easter basket

You also started your first swimming lessons this month. Daddy is the super trooper who steps up to take you to lessons (and actually gets into the pool with you) and I think it’s great the two of you get a chance to do something together. But Ana and I didn’t want to miss your first lesson so we camped out in the bleachers and watched the entire class, making sure to wave every time you looked up, scanning the crowd for our smiling faces.

So Excited to Swim
Waving from the pool
They Survived the Class

You are also still taking (and loving) ballet class. These days you don’t have any problem with me dropping you off and waiting out in the hall during class. You still periodically ask me if I am going to be outside and when I say, “yes, the class is not for mommies.” you nod knowingly like you are just making sure you understand exactly what is going on.

Ballet Ribbons
Criss Cross Applesauce

If I had to ask you who was your favorite person, I know with all of my heart that Ana is, hands down, your favorite person. Ever. You love her so much I feel like at times it consumes you. That is not to say that you don’t get into each others space and fight from time to time, but more often than not you are always asking, “Mama, where Ana?” and when I tell you, “She’s at school.” you always respond by asking, “We go get her now?” You don’t like to be without her for long so as soon as you wake up from your nap you always ask, “Is Ana home now?!” If it’s a day that Chloe brings her home, you run downstairs and the two of you hug like she has just returned home from war.

Sister Snuggles

As a self-diagnosed OCD mama, I have a great sense of pride at how you are so good at cleaning up, putting things away, and throwing away your own garbage. At our house the kitchen garbage is baby proofed (we keep cleaners in there) so to access a garbage can, you have to go upstairs. You always throw things away in my bathroom (and on your way there walk past TWO garbage cans: one in your bathroom and one in Ana’s room) so I’m always finding little trash surprises like tiny yogurt covered raisin boxes or empty squeeze apple sauces. Every time I discover one of your garbage deposits, it warms my heart.

Tongue

Hadley, you are such a sweet and wonderful child. You are so silly and bring more smiles to my day than I could attempt to count. The things you say and do always make me laugh and brighten my day. Every morning I can’t wait to see your adorable face and get one of your famous “hug you face” snuggles. Thank you for never failing to make everything around you that much better.

St. Patty's Day
Mama & Hadley

All my love,
Mama

Six Year Doctor Appointment

Ana had her six-year doctors appointment over Spring Break. (Obviously she turned six back in December but her appointment got rescheduled when her doctor fell down a flight of stairs–he’s ok–and this was the first day off from school they had an available appointment. I’m sorry, but my kids don’t miss school for routine appointments.) Here are her stats from the appt:

Height: 47 3/4″ (75th percentile)
Weight: 50 lbs (65th percentile)
BMI: 15.4 (50th percentile)
Blood Pressure: 84/58

We started the appointment with a urine sample. Unfortunately, out of habit, I made Ana pee before we left the house so she didn’t have to go. Finally she summoned up all she could (just a few drops), looked in the plastic cup, then declared, “Well, that is really disappointing!” Oops. Fortunately they don’t need much for the test and the amount she collected was enough. Whew!

Then it was time for the ear test and the eye exam. Ana was very excited that she knows all her letters so they let her do the “grown up” eye test (with letters instead of pictures) this year. She did great on all the tests and was excited when the nurse declared her to be “perfect!”
Eye Exam
Ana was thrilled to find out that she didn’t need any immunizations at this appointment, but was a little bit bummed to find out they needed to prick her finger for the anemia test. She was brave and let them “stab” her and “steal her blood.” The nurse gave her a generic bandage which I quickly upgraded to Toy Story Band-Aid once we were in the car which quickly improved her mood about the entire situation.

Everything else at the appointment went great. Ana is off the hook for another year (well nine months, but who is counting?).