Hailey's first steps

Hailey took her first steps on her own two days ago. She is still a little nervous about not having a hand to support her, but give her a few more weeks and I think she will be all over the place. She was more confident even only on her second day of walking. Currently, she is cruising on everything that is her level, whether it's the coffee table, the couch or the kitchen chairs. She trying her hardest to keep up with her big brother and it won't be long before she actually does.

Happy 6 months, Hailey

Today Hailey turned 6 months old. I can't believe how big she is getting. She eats rice cereal, she plays peek-a-boo, and just last week she sat on her own, which took me by complete surprise. I guess I still look at her as my 3 month old. I'm excited for her new accomplishments, but at the same time it saddens me because I feel I haven't cherished every moment of her newborn/infant stage as I got to do with Drew. I've also realized that with every subsequent child, I'll have even less time to devote exclusively to the baby. I imagine that as a family grows in size, the rate at which the kids grow up seems to escalate.

Hailey is a treasure to our family. She still is an angel baby. She's quick to smile and laugh., it takes a lot to make her cry. She sleeps all night long, and every morning greets me with a winning smile even though I know she's famished. She's a great eater so far and has even encouraged Drew to try a few new things.

Along the lines of eating, today Rob was trying to encourage Drew to eat his lunch of Pasta Roni. He begrudgingly ate the sides, but refused to touch the pasta. After Rob's several attempts Drew looked at his dad and said, "no! sorry." I guess he wanted to tell us there was no bribing or coercion that would convince him otherwise.

Drew's O's

This incident happened early last week and I still chuckle over it. You may not find it as funny, but I feel I should write it down so I don't forget it.

Even though Drew and Hailey look very much alike, they are different in several ways. The biggest difference so far has been their eating habits. Drew has always struggled with food. He doesn't want to eat it. Hailey, on the other hand, can't wait until she gets to eat it. She clings tight-fisted to anything with even the slightest taste and cries when she drops it or when it's taken away.

Last week Drew developed a fascination with Wintergreen Life Savers, which he calls O's. The appeal isn't the taste because he won't eat them, he just carries them around the house, saying they are too hot. One afternoon, Drew came running into the kitchen, clapping and shouting "Yay! O's, O's, Yay!" I praised him too because I thought he'd eaten the Life Saver and he's not one to eat new things. But on asking him if he ate it he said, "no, Hailey O!" Drew had given it to Hailey, who had it clenched between her two fingers and was sucking on it. I had to take it away, which immediately made her cry. Poor Hailey, she was excited that her big brother gave her something that tasted so good.

Happy Big 30!

This month we celebrated Rob's 30th birthday. I had a fun time with his birthday, and I think he did too. Just a few weeks before the big day, I decided to throw him a surprise party. I'm pleased to say he didn't suspect a thing, which is an accomplishmentsince his 25th birthday celebration was a surprise party as well. Either I'm great at surprise parties or he was just way too busy to notice all my planning. A good friend (and my accomplice) offered to watch the kids while Rob and I went to dinner. This allowed her to be at the house to set up and let everyone in. The food was good, the cake was good, and the company was fun. We had a great evening. And it was great to actually go on a date. The last one I can recall was in November 2009. (It guess 2010 was a busy year for us.)

New tricks

One thing I love most about being a stay-at-home mom is seeing all of my kids' new tricks. At Hailey's last appointment, her pediatrician asked if she purses her lips together and blows, making noise and a spit bubbles. I guess it is a common development milestone for babies. Recently, however, she has taken this trick to the next level. She scrunches up her face, sticks her tongue between her lips and blows, spraying saliva everywhere. Once she runs out of breath she inhales and does it again, scrunching her face more and spaying further. I get a kick out of the faces she makes as she does this. I hope to catch it on camera one day.

Drew new tricks are usually on the active side, something you'd expect from a two-year-old boy. His most recent is "big jumps." It can be off the couch, off his bed or off the stairs. I stopped him today, though, when he stood next to Hailey's head and said "big jump!", meaning he wanted to jump over his sister. He may have been able to make it, but it wasn't a risk I was willing to take.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Yeah, I know I'm a few days late on it, but that is consistent with my blogging (i.e. the last post was Dec 27th and I included some Halloween pictures.) 2010 seemed to go by fast for me. I guess as I'm getting older, the years seem to blend together. This year will stick out for me, though. It was a year full of many changes: we have a new home, a new job and a new member to our family.

This week I had a rewarding mom moment. These are moments we all need once in a while as stay-at-home moms. It wasn't a grand event but a very simple interaction between Drew and Hailey that I happened to see. It was a moment where I saw Drew as a big brother protecting his little sister, and Hailey as the little sister looking up to and thinking the world of her big brother. Of course not long after this special moment, I put Drew into time out for hitting his sister. But perhaps as they get older I'll see these moments more.