6 Months Already!

Hailey turned 6 months old today! I cannot believe it. Time is flying by for my little baby girl and it makes me sad! I love seeing her grow and learn and achieve, but it's also hard to see her grow! I want to fully enjoy her being my little baby...who knows if I will have another?! She has lit up our lives in a new way, in a way we didn't know was missing. We all adore her and she and Miles are so cute together. Here are things about her:

• she laughs at the blinds when I open and close them and loves watching the light shine through
• rubs her eyes when she's sleepy
• crawls! She's pretty good these days and I'd wondered if she would go towards or away from Miles...she goes towards! (most of the time!)
• can stay sitting for a good period of time when put in a sitting position
• can go from a crawling stance to a sitting position
• started playing with a sippy cup today
• is on her last fruit (pears) and then can eat anything!
• is ticklish
• is so beautiful!
  
• is not a good napper...she cat naps most of the time for 30ish minutes at a time. Occasionally she'll go down for an hour or two.
• likes being sung happy songs-doesn't like rap music!
• seems to get constipated from antibiotics
• is super sweet
  
• likes looking at books
• loves all her toys or anything that resembles a toy
• will crawl to her little pink basket of toys and dump it over to find a good one
  
• can recognize some signs, mainly 'milk' and 'all done' ('All Done' seems to be her favorite and smiles so big when I do it!)
• is working on her 2 bottom teeth-they should be in soon
• is so funny-she cracks herself up and us too!
  
• loves to snuggle
• loves to babble
  
• sucks on my face when she wants to nurse
• has a foot fetish-she goes after shoes and tries to eat them and also socks and toes
• smiles all the time!
• laughs at daddy
  
• rarely rarely fusses
• likes grabbing Miles' hair
• grabs everything and tries to put it all in her mouth
• likes textures and things that 'crunch'
• like splashing in the bathtub and the pool
• is so curious and observant-she's spotted a squirrel in a tree before
• likes to play in the grass
• has found her shadow and tries to grab it
• likes to look at pictures of herself
• love Miles and playing with him
• Miles can always make her laugh
  
• is so so adorable and lovable. My heart aches and tears come to my eyes just when she smiles and laughs with me.
  

We all love you so much Hailey girl!

Last Day

I keep meaning to document this one...instead of saying "yesterday", Miles always says "last day". He also doesn't like it when I say "last time" or "before" or something similar. He always corrects me with, "No! Not before, last day....". lol!

Stuck

Where to start...I feel like it's been forever since I posted, but I guess it's only been about 2 weeks. One of Miles' new favorite obsessions is to be "stuck". He likes being cornered in places where there are little barriers all around him (my leg, a stuffed animal, a shoe, etc). He's not really stuck and could easily get out, but for some reason he likes this and ensures that he is often stuck. He also likes making Hailey stuck. It's pretty funny!

This is Miles and Hailey being "stuck"

Looking cute in Daddy's hat

Sprinkler fun!

Last weekend I took the kids and headed to Ohio for my cousin Lynn's baby shower. We had a really great trip and it was fun to catch up and see everyone. The kids were really good and had a great time.

Kids sleeping on the way to Ohio

This last week was up and down for Miles. One really bad day (he learned a new cuss word at school-not only learning it, but using it in a sentence and was also kicking) and then a few not so bad a few pretty good days. We were floored by the cussing and have begun encouraging Miles to play with other friends at school. We had found out that there are 2 in particular that he is often in trouble with and also are the ones who taught him his other first cuss word. It seems to be working sometimes and I hope we can continue to help him make wise choices. We talked about a lot of different strategies on this one and decided now was the time to teach him to be leader rather than a follower and to choose his friends carefully because he's the one that will be getting in trouble-not them (who knows what their parents do to them at home!). So, we're talking about it and he seems to be receptive. I'm also trying to reinforce that he's not bad, the choices are bad. (he keeps saying that J & C make him bad).

This weekend was a lot of fun too. Friday night we crashed at the Kleins for dinner and fun and it was great to see Lauren and Miles playing together! They've always gotten along, but it seems this was one of the first times they actually played together.




Hailey is really crawling now!!!

Saturday we just hung out and I got to take a nap with Hailey (one of my favorite activities!), fly a kite with Miles and have some bathtub fun.



Sunday my brother, Michael, came up to visit. It was really nice to see him and Miles had a blast with him. We went to this indoor play/pizza place and had a great time playing tons of different games. We had plans to meet up with the Kleins again and attend their church's bible school week kick off which featured BMX racing and motocross, but at our intermission at home, Miles lost it due to no nap earlier in the day and we had to cancel our plans. When he regained normalcy, we did have fun playing outside.

Dear Hailey

Oh Love Bug, where do I start? You've transformed this family in ways I never imagined and you've captured all our hearts. We all look forward to holding you and playing with you so much that sometimes I have to sneak off by myself with you so that I can get a few snuggles in! You make my heart explode when you smile at me and seem to reach for me. I love the way Daddy always makes you crack up and how you rub you little eyes when you're tired. Miles can always make you smile as well and you enjoy watching his crazy antics. You are always in such a good mood and have a smile for everyone you meet. You are getting so big already-almost 6 months now and I love to watch you learn new things. You're getting better at sitting and are trying so hard to crawl. You love your toys and make your way over to your toy basket to find just the right thing to munch on. While I enjoy getting a good night's sleep (which doesn't happen often!), I secretly like getting up with you in the middle of the night for a snuggle and feeding. That's a special time that only you and I can have and I treasure it. You are so so special to me and I love you with all my heart. You're my little Hailey Girl!

Love,
Mommy

Happy 4th of July!

We had a very fun 4th of July weekend! We went to South Bend to visit with Ahmad's family and everyone up there. On Saturday, we ventured to the Indiana Dunes and realized we were quite the rookies. Next time we know we need all that stuff we saw everyone else carrying, including our own shade! We still had a great time and Miles got in the lake with me and had fun splashing around. Sunday we spent visiting with friends and family, doing some small fireworks, and then attending the Azar's annual bash. Miles wasn't too sure about the fireworks that made noise, but after he discovered he could cover his ears, it wasn't too bad. He was also a bit timid about sparklers, but did do a few. He loved the snappers and is still playing with some we got at an after the 4th sale.



Miles has had a bit of a rough week coming back from such a good weekend, but did great today. We're trying to be consistent with rewards (candy at school at the end of the day if he's good, visiting the fruit stand after school if he's good, and a sticker when he gets home) and it seems to be working somewhat. I've noticed though that the beginning of the week is usually harder for him than later on. By Wednesday, we've usually worked through everything, only to have to start over after the weekend again!

Last night, we were outside and he just busted out on the monkey bars! He's been hanging and dropping from them since this spring, but never made any forward progress. I guess they have some at school and he's been working on them there. His teacher told me that while it makes her so nervous when they learn to do them, it is a playground rite of passage.



Miles has also been working on his baseball skills and is doing quite well with his natural talents! As he says at the end "I do all of them!". lol!



Hailey is doing awesome! I can't believe she's getting as big as she is already. She's loving her baby food and has gone through sweet potatoes, squash, and is now on carrots. This weekend, we'll probably move on to green veggies. She's growing like a weed and I've washed up her 6-9 month old clothes! They may be a tad big on her yet, but she's about there. She's trying so hard to crawl and can get up on all fours sometimes. Otherwise, she just kicks off with her legs and ends up nose-diving into the carpet. However, she will get where she wants to go and can spot her basket of toys and make her way there to find something to play with. She's too funny!

Miles had fun putting his beads on Hailey!

This was Miles' outfit one day for school, complete with a fake quarter and recorder