Hayley and Kate Minter

Hayley’s second Halloween came and went tonight. She was considerably more “with it” this year than she was last Halloween. Her costume, as you can see above, was a bumblebee. Which is fitting, since one of our primary nicknames for the kid is “Baby Bee.”

She did a little pre-treating on Friday when Holly took her to downtown Fuquay (and downtown Varina) for a trick-or-treat deal the downtown merchants were running. She got quite a bit of candy. Fortunately, she’s still small enough that we can raid her pumpkin for candy that’s too, um, “dangerous” for her to eat. Yeah, that’s it.

We got her into her costume around 6:30 tonight, and met up with the Hegartys next door to make the rounds on our street. Brian was dressed as Scooby Doo, and Jenny was some sort of 70s hipster girl.

Hayley was a big girl, walking most of the way by herself while one of us in the group held her hand. Even though there aren’t many kids on our street, probably 1/3 of the houses were giving out candy, so it took us around an hour to go up and back. Everyone thought Hayley was cute, which she was. She was also a good girl, attempting to say “Trick or Treat” (which comes out as “Ti-tee!”) at most houses, and saying “Thank you” and “Bye” and nearly every one.

After making the rounds on our street, Hayley seemed to be doing alright, so we hopped in the van and went to one of the bigger subdivisions on either side of us. We hit a few of the houses on the main drag there before she started getting tired. After coming home, we took her costume off and she was soaked with sweat! I can see how that would be warm, but we were expecting a little colder weather tonight. Oh well. After taking a bath (with a sucker from her pumpkin in her hand), it was off to sleep.

We had a good time, and it will probably be even more fun next year. Until then, it’s time for Mommy and Daddy to “inspect” the candy.

I witnessed Hayley’s first real signs of imagination today. She reached down and picked up a “hop-toad” from the floor…only there was nothing on the floor. She brought her little friend to me, so I held out my hand and took it. Then she wanted it back in her hand. She went and did something else, and when she came back to me, she said now had TWO hop-toads. We passed them back and forth a few times. Then she pressed them through the screen in front of the fireplace…okay, so she has a morbid imagination, but at least she’s using it.

I admit that I try to greet Hayley by saying “Hi, baby!” as much as possible, because she’s absolutely adorable answering back with her own “Ha bay-bee.”

Hayley’s been weird about sleeping over the past week or two. She’d gotten to a point before she went up to the grandparents where she’d ask to get into bed, and go off to sleep on her own. Not since she got back, though. At naps and at nighttime, she’ll cling to one or both of us while we rock her. I’ll ask her “Hayley, do you want to get in bed?” And she’ll say “No! Noooo! No!”

She’ll eventually get quiet, close her eyes, and fall asleep on a shoulder. But the moment we make a move to put her into her bed, the eyes pop open and she starts screaming. Inconsolably. Maniacally. As soon as we put her back on a shoulder, she’ll quiet down and normally be back asleep within seconds. Repeat the process over and over again to get an idea of what our days have been like.

We eventually have to just pull her off and let her stand in the crib screaming while we leave the room. 5-10 minutes later she’ll be asleep. I just don’t understand what changed to swing her from wanting to get in bed and go to sleep to squealing bloody murder if we attempt to put her into her bed.

It’s very strange.

One thing that we’ve noticed with Hayley recently is that she’s memorized some of her bedtime stories. Especially with this group of four stories about going to bed (such as “Where’s Faby’s Bunny?” and “Becky Loves Bedtime”), if we read them to her and pause before just about any word, she’ll say the word for us!

It’s pretty amazing to watch. I was testing her last night by pausing before words at different points in the story (not just at the end of lines), and she was nailing most of them. I remember when my niece Ashley was doing that - before she could read, she could look at a page and tell you everything that was on it, because she’d memorized the story. I didn’t expect Hayley to be able to do that so soon, though.

What a smart girl!

We took Hayley to her first State Fair on Thursday. Admission was free for her, and also for Wade and me since we brought canned food for the food drive. Bonus. Just as I thought, Hayley immediately wanted to ride the rides when she saw them. We searched for something that would be okay for her, and we decided that the carousel would be safe. We were one of the first in line for the next turn, and it took nearly ten minutes to load everyone on because stragglers kept coming up. Hayley was great to sit still on the horse for that long. Finally, the ride started and I stood outside the gate and took pictures while Wade rode with Hayley. Right next to the carousel was the giant slide. Hayley LOVES to slide, so I went on this one with her. She sat in my lap and we slid on a burlap bag over several bumps down to the bottom. I think Hayley could have kept sliding all night, but we wanted to see and do other things, so we moved on. We went on one other ride–one where we sat in a two-person “car” that went up and down and around–before we entered Noah’s Ark. Hayley enjoyed seeing the cows and goats and sheep and pigs and baby chickens. She was able to pet a couple cows in the livestock barn and also saw some ducks and geese. We stopped and sat down to share a giant turkey leg before heading to the games. Wade found his favorite game, which is one where you roll a bowling ball over a metal hump and if it stays over the hump, you win. It’s actually one of the most economical games because it’s fifty cents per play, and Wade only spent a couple dollars before he one a big toy dog for Hayley. I played a balloon-popping game and won Hayley a purple bear. We walked around some more, taking in all the sights, sounds and smells, and decided to get some ice cream before we left. Around this time it also started to drizzle, so we were slightly damp by the time we reached our car. But, we had a fun time on our first family trip to the fair.

Hayley has been really developing her sense of self recently. She’s at the point now where she’ll refer to herself as “me.” For example, if she needs help, she’ll say “Help me!” or if she’s running after you, it’s “Wait me!”

She spent the weekend up in Kenbridge with Holly’s parents and had a good time. She was a bit off her schedule when she came back, though - it took 20 minutes and a lot of screaming to get her to sleep last night. Tonight was a little better, though - she wanted to be held longer than usual, but she was quiet when I put her down.

She got her flu shot last week - babies are among the few people who can get them with the big shortage. At least if Holly and I are incapacitated, Hayley can take care of us.

Today Hayley walked down the stairs all by herself–twice! She has been able to go up the stairs by herself for many months, and has previously gone down by herself by scooting on her butt. But, when we were playing at the park Tuesday, I realized how overprotective I’ve been about Hayley going up and down stairs. It just makes me nervous–I don’t want her to fall. But, I also know that she needs to learn to get up and down all by herself. So, today I decided to let her walk down on her own (while I stood right in front of her the entire way down, of course). She held onto the railing like she was supposed to, taking one step at a time, and she walked down without any assistance from me. She proudly clapped and cheered when she reached the bottom. Now, this doesn’t mean that we’ll be removing the gates or letting Hayley go up and down as she pleases, but it’s a “step” in a positive direction.

Wade and I left Hayley with my parents this weekend while we traveled to Lexington, Virginia for a wedding. I was a bridesmaid, so we thought it would be easier to attend all the functions without Hayley in tow. However, I can’t stay away from my baby for long, so we came back late Saturday night so that we could be there when Hayley woke up Sunday morning. I even slept on the little cot beside her travel bed so I could see her first thing in the morning, which turned out to be funny.

Either she slept pretty well, or I was dead tired, because I didn’t hear her stirring until about 8 a.m. She stood up in her bed and looked over at me. I didn’t have my glasses on, so I couldn’t see her expression very clearly, but I know she was looking at me. I said good morning, hi baby, etc., but she just kept staring. I think she must have thought she was dreaming or something. My dad came in and got her while I went to the bathroom. Next thing, there is a knock on the door. When I opened it, there was Hayley, smiling up at me, realizing that Mama really was back with her again. She gave me a hug and ran into the living room to start her day.

I know Hayley enjoys her time with all her grandparents, but it’s also nice to see that she’s happy to see Wade and me when we return, too. We want her to be comfortable spending short periods of time away from us, but we also want her to always want to be with us more. When we returned home to NC Sunday afternoon, I asked Hayley if she was glad to be back home, and she said yes. It is always nice to sleep in your own bed again.

Hayley tends to pronounce her “G”’s as “D”’s. So when you ask her what a turkey says, she’ll say “Dobble”. She also tends to shorten words to one syllable. So “Chippie” just becomes “Chip”.

With that in mind, her word for “Grandma” is now “Dam”. We think it’s funny, but apparently she’s gotten some looks this weekend (when she’s been staying with Holly’s parents) when, in public, she’ll yell things like “DAM! COME!”