Hayley and Kate Minter

We’re thinking that, just like Hayley was an early walker, she’s early entering her Terrible Twos.

For the past few weeks, even before our big trip, she’s been reacting more strongly to not getting her way. For example, if she’s trying to stand in the rocking chair, and we tell her no, she’ll ignore us. And when we tell her a few more times and then go to get her out of said chair, she’ll start wailing, the tears flowing. Or she’ll adopt what we’ve dubbed the “Drama Queen Pose” - grasping her head in her hands while sobbing in anguish. Just for a minute, though, until she checks to see if we’re buying her act.

I guess it’s to be expected - she’s at a stage where she has definite opinions and desires, but she doesn’t have a firm enough grasp of language to tell us what she wants, nor does she really have the ability understand that she can’t get what she wants all the time.

It’s still quite an adjustment for us, though, to see her drop to the floor and cry when she can’t get her way. Maybe this phase will pass quickly, though I’m not counting on it.

We got up Sunday morning to a nice pancake breakfast that Ann fixed us. It was good, but Hayley didn’t eat much. That was kind of a theme the whole week - she didn’t eat much at all. I guess it’s because her schedule was so out of sorts. She’s still alive, though, so I guess the lack of food didn’t kill her.

The Esteses and Barbers were going to church, so we set out for Jenny’s apartment again. I finished setting up her networking, and we met one of her two roomates. Then we found the Rockville Metro station without too much trouble. There was some sort of delay on the Red line, which delayed the trains. It got so bad that Hayley started praying to the Metro Gods for a miracle.

The train ride wasn’t bad - Hayley spent most of her time climbing on empty seats in our area and going from me to Holly to Jenny. We made it to the Woodley Park/Zoo stop, went up the biggest escalator I’ve seen, and were out into the DC sunshine en route to the National Zoo. This particular section of DC was pretty nice, and it was only a few blocks to the zoo. So a short walk later, we were there.

We saw a few animals on the way into the zoo, such as cheetas and an emu. By this time, though, it was around noon, and we were hungry and Hayley was cranky. So while Jenny and I set off to find expensive hot dogs, Holly bounced Hayley to sleep. When we came back with the food, Holly put her into the stroller, and Hayley spent our entire time in the zoo just like this:

Seriously - she didn’t move until we were on our way back to the main entrance to leave. But we got to see all sorts of things, including the giant pandas, gorillas, sea life, and more. Pretty cool.

An aside - Hayley hates riding in her stroller. I see all these other kids just has happy as they can be, pushed around in strollers by their parents. If we’re lucky, Hayley will sit in hers for five minutes before trying to climb out. She’s a weird kid, that’s for sure.

After the zoo, we took the Metro back to Rockville and set off for Virginia. We were to meet my Sigma Mu Sigma brother and college buddy Andrew “acleex” Lee, his wife Jennifer Lofquist, and their 4-month-old daughter Gwen at their townhouse in Sterling, VA, for the night. The Lees weren’t back from Richmond by the the time we got onto Route 7, so we stopped by Tyson’s Corner mall for a bit. Holly had never been there, and as we pulled into the parking lot, we got a call from Harvey and Ann telling us that we’d left our toiletries bag in Mt. Airy, MD. Oops. So we stopped by a CVS in the mall and picked up replacement toothpaste, etc.

After a bit in the mall, we headed out to Sterling. Andrew talked us through directions, as Mapquest was totally off. We arrived at their place, met their adorable baby, and hung out for a bit. Hayley didn’t like Holly playing with Gwen, so Holly got a taste of what life will be like with two babies.

Gwen was an absolute angel. It was interesting seeing how her mannersims were different from Hayley’s at the same age. Gwen is very content to sit in her carseat, or bouncy chair, or whatever. Hayley hated that - she needed to be up with the big people seeing what was going on. I guess they do have personalities, just like real people.

They took us out to dinner at their favorite Thai resturant, which was very good. We headed back to the house (Andrew, Gwen, and I were in one car, and I was amazed that there are kids who can ride in a car without fussing), and apparently as Andrew and I left the ladies to go park their car, Hayley just lost it. She was wailing and crying like you wouldn’t believe. Even when I came back, she was crying (so it wasn’t my leaving, apparently). Holly bathed her (didn’t stop the crying) and put her to bed, so I guess it was just a case of her being over-tired.

After Hayley was in bed, we retired downstairs and the wives listened to Andrew and I talk about geeky college things for a bit, then it was bedtime.

So ended Day 2.

Six days, five states and a district, and 1160 miles on the minivan later, we’re back from the East Coast Baby Tour. It was a long, fun, and tiring trip, so I’ll recap it day by day.

We got out of Fuquay around 8:30am on Saturday, on our way to our first stop in Richmond. We were meeting my high school buddy, college roomate, and wedding Best Man Brock Owen and his fiancee Danielle for lunch. We arrived at the Olive Garden on West Broad almost exactly at the same time as he did, which was pretty spooky. We had a nice visit - Brock and Danielle got engaged recently, sold their house in Bumpass, and have just bought a new house in Mechanicsville (which they were going to go paint after lunch). It’s good to see them doing well. They were suitably amused by Hayley’s talent of slurping up strands of spaghetti.

I noticed that we were right across the street from “West Broad Honda” in Richmond, which I thought was where my half-brother Larry worked. I stopped in there and asked if he worked there, but the salesman I talked to had never heard of him. So I must have the wrong place. I also went by Comedy Alley, but nobody I knew was there at the time.

We hit I-95 north toward Aunt Jenny’s new place in Rockville. The drive was fine until around Quantico, when it turned into an absolute parking lot. Stop and crawl all the way until Springfield. No accidents or anything along the way, there are just too many people in NoVa. That reminds me why I moved away from there. Sheesh. At least I got to listen to traffic reports with Lisa Baden (”Traffic and weather together on the 8’s!”) on my favorite newsradio station, WTOP. Good times, good times.

After we finally made it up to the Beltway, it wasn’t quite so bad. We found the place in Rockville without too much problem. It’s right across the street from a Krispy Kreme, which already earns it high marks. As the Real Estate folks say - “Location, Location, Location.”

We hung out at Jenny’s place longer than we wanted, since I went and bought her a wireless cable modem router for her apartment’s internet connection, so it was around 6pm before we left for the trip to the other side of Mt. Airy, Maryland, and Holly’s relatives Harvey & Ann Estes. Harvey is her dad’s first cousin, and they’re usually at the Hudson Family Reunions in South Hill, so we know them pretty well. They offered to put us up at their house, which was very nice of them and saved us hotel money. It’s a very nice house on 26 acres in the Maryland foothills.

We visited for a few minutes, then headed out with their daughter Kim, her husband Bill, and their almost-four-year-old twins Nathan and Hunter. Our destination was Frederick, Maryland, and our purpose was dinner. We hit the Chi-Chi’s there, which is apparently a regular destination for the Estes/Barber family, as the waiters all knew them by name and had their table set up for them.

Dinner was good, but our late start and the half-hour trip to Frederick meant that Hayley wasn’t ready for bed until 10pm. Hayley slept in the room with Jenny, and Holly and I were in a second room. Hayley woke up at 4am - the only mid-night wakeup of the trip - and Holly got her back down after 20 minutes or so.

So ended Day 1.

We’re embarking on our most ambitious trip as a family yet - the East Coast Baby Tour 2004.

We leave tomorrow to see Aunt Jenny at her new place in Rockville, Maryland. Then it’s off to Mt. Airy, MD, and some more of Holly’s relatives for dinner and the night. Sunday morning, we’re off to the National Zoo in the morning, some undetermined plans in the afternoon, and dinner and the night with one of my Sigma Mu Sigma brothers acleex, his wife, and their new baby.

Monday morning is still up in the air, then it’s off to Philadelphia to visit with another W&M friends, Scott Deacle and his new bride. They’re putting us up for the night. Tuesday morning we’ll probably tool around Philly for a bit, then head to the Delaware/Maryland line to see John Skilton. Wednesday morning we head to Baltimore and the National Aquarium. Wednesday afternoon is the main reason for our trip - seeing The Wiggles live in Baltimore.

After that, we head for Petersburg to stay with Grandma and Grandpa Queen, then a stop by Kenbridge Thursday morning, then back home.

If we survive this trip, it’ll be a miracle. Thank goodness for the DVD player in the van.

First of all, let me say that, as of today, I have officially finished Hayley’s baby album. Yay! It spans from her birth to her first birthday. I’m actually rather proud that I finished it this quickly, but now I have to move on to the next album. She hasn’t stopped getting older, and we certainly haven’t stopped taking pictures.

On to Hayley’s use of pronouns…it’s actually rather odd behavior in a child as young as Hayley to use pronouns rather than names. I think we first noticed it with how she addresses Wade. She seems to refer to him as “My Dada” most of the time, instead of just “Dada.” She will also occasionally use “my” with kitty, cup, etc. She also says “you” sometimes, but that could just be her mimicking me. She’ll say something like, “Mama eat” and I’ll say, “No, YOU eat” and then she’ll say, “No, YOU.” But, she seems to understand what it means.

Then today, we were in her room, which I was trying to clear of all the extra stuff we had stored in there while we were painting our bedroom. She had climbed over some stuff and couldn’t get back out. I was in the hall and heard her call, “Help,” but by the time I came into the room, she had managed to get out by herself. She stumbled, though, and landed on her hands and knees. As she was righting herself again, she distinctly said, “I’m otay” (otay=okay). I was surprised at her correct use of the “I” pronoun. So, I don’t know if that was just a fluke or what. But, I’ll be listening carefully now to see if she continues to say “I” instead of her own name, which she has actually NEVER said. Even when we ask her about pictures of herself or her reflection in a mirror, she’ll say, “Baby” instead of Hayley. I don’t know if Hayley is too difficult for her to say, but it’s probably the one word she’s heard most often in her life, so you think she’d be familiar with it. Give her time, I guess.

When I came home from work today, Hayley was clinging on Holly. I tried to get her to come give me a hug and a kiss, but she wouldn’t budge. So I acted sad, and Holly was saying “Poor Daddy - can’t you go give him a hug?” She eventually did, but the funny part was that since then, all evening, she’s been walking around saying “Pooooor Da-Da. Poooooor Da-Da.”

She’s awfully cute.

If you’ve been reading this blog since the beginning, you’ll know that instead of a pacifier, Hayley has used our fingers to comfort herself–not HER fingers, OUR fingers. She has never really sucked her thumb, but she loved to suck mine or Wade’s or whoever’s was handy (no pun intended). I didn’t really care; whatever made her happy, made me happy.

But, lately, I’ve been thinking that it’s time to stop this unusual behavior. I didn’t know of any way to do it other than cold turkey. So, as of Saturday morning, Hayley has quit finger-sucking. And, I’m surprised at how little resistance she’s given me. Only a few times a day would she come up to me and want a “fing.” I said, “No, we’re not doing that anymore.” She protested for a minute, but then moved on to other interests. Today I don’t think she asked for it at all.

Now if I could just get her to hold still during a diaper change…

I taught Hayley a new trick last night - blowing kisses. She can do it like a pro now. MUAH! It certainly impressed Holly when she came back in from cutting the grass.

We had a surprise trip to the doctor’s office the other day. Hayley, much like her father, bites her cheek while chewing on a regular basis. This time, she took a big chunk out of the left side. Blood coming out of the mouth, etc., etc. Holly stopped that and put her down for her nap. When Hayley woke up, the left side of her face was pretty swolen. Holly didn’t know what was going on, so she took her to the doctor.

The doctor said it was probably just swelling from the cheek-bite, and to just keep an eye on her. The swelling went down pretty quickly the next day, but apparently she’s inherited my “walking wounded” genes.

The family is finally back together. I was in Green Bay last week from Wednesday through Sunday, Hayley was up at Grandma Queen’s Wednesday through Saturday, and Holly was here alone repainting the bedroom until Friday evening.

Hayley apparently had a good time at my Mom’s - she didn’t eat well, but slept well and had a good time playing outside. She also found a little baby doll in a box of toys, and apparently spent hours playing with it. She’d put the baby in the toy high chair, take it out, feed it, and so forth.

Her imagination is really becoming apparent. Tonight, she wanted her stuffed lion (”Raow”) to sit up in her high chair and eat dinner with her. At several points during the meal, she’d take the lion and put its face into the plate, “feeding” it. We also had a good time tonight playing with her beach ball - kicking, throwing, and rolling. The kid’s got a good kick on her - she’s a tiny Pele.

It was hard being away from her this past week - I was showing everyone pictures of my cute baby, but it wasn’t the same. And it was harder knowing that she wasn’t at home with Holly. No offense to my Mom, who did an excellent job babysitting for a couple of days, but it’s more comforting to know that even if I’m not there, she’s with a parent. Holly and I both cried when Mom drove off with our little girl in the back seat, and we were in the house alone, for real, for the first time in 18 months. We just sat there going “Well, what do we do now?” Pretty much the same reaction we had when we brought Hayley home, but on the different end of the spectrum.

But, we all survived. I think that if we hit a Panthers game this season, though, we’re taking her with us.