Hayley and Kate Minter

We had an interesting holiday.

We had planned to leave Wednesday for Virginia, but soon after Hayley woke up, we discovered a large hive on her leg. Hayley has never had hives before, so I was worried, especially since we were going to be out of town for a few days. I quickly called the doctor to schedule an appointment before we left. But, within an hour of calling, there was nothing on Hayley’s leg. Well, I thought, I can’t take her to the doctor and show him something that isn’t there. So, I called and cancelled the appointment. Thinking everything was okay, we loaded up the van and headed north. About 30 minutes into our trip, I noticed a small wheal on Hayley’s cheek. As I watched, it began to grow bigger, spreading across the side of her face. I quickly called the nurse line. She said as long as Hayley didn’t have a fever, she should be fine. Give her Benedryl. Luckily, I had packed the Benedryl, so we pulled over, I dosed the baby and within another half hour, she was fine. She continued to get these little welts on her face and legs until Friday, but we kept giving her Benedryl and they went away. We still don’t know what caused them, but on Saturday, she came down with a cold. Don’t know if the two things were somehow related.

We visited Grandma Queen and Bill in Petersburg Wednesday afternoon, then we went down to Dundas to spend Wednesday night with Grandpa and Lele. After breakfast with Grandpa, we went to Kenbridge to see Grandma Estes and wait for Aunt Jenny to come home from Maryland. During Hayley’s nap, I was chatting with my mom when the phone rang. From across the room, I could hear the panic in my sister’s voice as she told my mom she had been in a car accident. But, the fact that she was talking reassured me that she was okay. She had made it as far as Richmond, but had been the last car in a chain reaction of rear-ending when the first car had slammed on brakes in an intersection. Wade went with my parents to pick her up, and Hayley and I stayed at the house to fix dinner. Nana and Aunt Nancy visited us in the meantime. After everyone arrived safely back home, we had dinner and opened gifts. (Incidentally, Uncle Randy was able to procure a new car for my sister to drive back to Maryland since her other car wasn’t driveable.)

Most of Christmas Eve was spent at Aunt Beth’s house with cousins Ashley and Blake. Hayley had a good time playing with the kids, and even managed to have a good nap on Blake’s bed. Grandma Queen, Bill, Grandpa and Lele joined us in the afternoon for dinner and, later, opening gifts. Then it was time to load up the van again and head back to NC. We put Hayley to bed, brought in all the stuff from the van, then helped Santa set up Hayley’s toys for Christmas morning.

Hayley headed straight for the big doll house when she came downstairs Christmas morning. We were able to distract her for only seconds at a time to open all her other gifts. Eventually, she looked at everything else, but the doll house was certainly the big hit of the day. Poor Hayley started getting sick, though, with a runny nose and a disintegrating mood toward the end of the day.

We did not have a white Christmas, but we DID have a white day-after-Christmas. We took Hayley out to play in the snow for a few minutes on Sunday. She asked to make a snowman, and I had to try to explain to her that not all snow is ideal for making a snowman. Maybe next time we’ll get snow that is good for packing, but this snow was very powdery.

Daddy went back to work on Wednesday after a week-long break, and I could tell Hayley missed having him around. But, he has a three-day weekend this weekend, so Hayley can have a little more Daddy-time.

Here’s hoping that the new year brings continued blessings to us and our loved ones.

Hayley has an “Elmo” DVD that she likes - it’s a collection of children’s songs and such. So she’s been really getting into songs over the past few weeks. Until recently, when we’d sing to her, she’d sing back and hit maybe one word a line.

Now, though, she’ll sing along with us, every single word. And with songs like “The Itsy-Bitsy Spider,” she’ll even do the hand motions. That amuses Holly to no end, since Hayley’s so little that when she puts her arms over her head for “out came the sun and dried up all the rain,” her hands barely reach over her head.

She’s not even two and she already has more singing talent than most people on my side of the family.

Hayley has always loved music, but now she can actually sing along to her favorite songs. She especially likes “Hey Diddle Diddle,” “The Itsy Bitsy Spider,” and “The Bear Went Over the Mountain.” She has an Elmo video that she watches in the car with a variety of kids’ songs that she enjoys. We sang “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” at bedtime, and she sang almost all the words along with me. Daddy thought it was adorable.

Hayley and I traveled to Virginia this past weekend to buy a book about the history of Lunenburg County. We also had a nice visit with the Grandparents Estes and Nana. On Saturday night, the grandparents and I took Hayley to Blackstone to see their annual Christmas display. Hayley and I rode the little train around the park and then we all walked around to the little houses in the park. These houses all have a different Christmas scene, some with animatronics. Hayley seemed to enjoy looking at everything.

Much to Daddy’s chagrin, Hayley likes makeup. I don’t wear makeup much anymore (one of the perks of being a stay-at-home mom), but I guess Hayley usually watches me put it on when I do wear it. The last few times, she has asked me to put some on her too. I usually just take a clean brush, pretend to dip it in the powder and brush her cheeks. Or I give her a tiny dab of lip gloss. But on Saturday, my mom gave Hayley a little compact with blush. Hayley opened it, took out the brush, dipped it in the blush and swept it over her cheeks. We all thought it was cute, but we left the compact at Grandma’s. Daddy doesn’t want his little girl obsessed with makeup just yet.

Today Hayley, Daddy and I attended a Christmas party with the Holly Springs MOMs club at Bullwinkle’s in Cary. I’d say nearly all of the kids in attendance were under four, so I don’t think they got a lot out of the video games. But, I for one, spent most of my time helping Hayley climb through the obstacle course to the slides, sliding down, then going through the course again. I haven’t had a workout like that in years. Hayley was too little to go through the course herself, and you couldn’t just go up and down the slides–you had to go through the obstacle course to get to the slides. I probably went through it nearly a dozen times with Hayley; Wade went through once, but couldn’t overdo it with his foot still injured. Hayley had a good time, and I have to admit I had fun, too, but I know I’m going to be sore tomorrow. I don’t think adults were meant to squeeze through those small spaces…

Santa was at the Bullwinkle’s party today. He read “Twas the Night Before Christmas” to all the kids, then let each one in turn sit on his lap while smiling parents snapped pictures. Hayley had been sitting in Daddy’s lap on the floor during the story, and when it was her turn, Daddy helped her onto Santa’s lap. But, before I could take a picture, Hayley nearly fell off Santa’s lap in her attempt to get back at Daddy–”Dada, hold!” So, Daddy had to hold Hayley next to Santa and I got a picture of Santa giving Hayley a candy cane ornament. I guess all kids have years when they don’t want to sit alone on Santa’s lap.

Hayley is finally getting over her cold, but she’s still playing the sick card. When she first got sick, I guess I would say or do things to try to make her feel better, like give her medicine or help her blow her nose. Now, she’s taken to asking for things to make her feel better. For instance, she will say, “I want ice cream..feel better” in a pitiful way. Or, “Watch Snow White…feel better.” She loves Snow White now, which gives us a little break from the Charlie Brown specials and Rudolph. Today, however, I managed to limit her tv time, and we had a fun day playing inside and outside.

Hayley is trying to exert her independence in a new way–she wants to brush her teeth by herself. Of course, she’s not old enough to do it properly yet, but every night, she grabs the toothbrush and refuses to give it back, saying “By self!” I usually let her do it for a few minutes and then I try my best to hold her hand with the toothbrush and clean her teeth.

Hayley has been very good with the Christmas tree so far. We only really had to explain to her once that she couldn’t take the ornaments off the tree. However, she does like to walk around the tree and point to or touch all the ornaments within her reach several times each day. Sometimes she will say what they are as she touches them (although she thought the gingerbread man was a teddy bear). She did not, however, grasp the concept of the advent calendar. We have one with little fabric ornaments in pockets that you hang on a tree, one each day from Dec. 1-24. I tried to get Hayley to help me hang one today, and she of course wanted to hang ALL of them up. Oh well.

I made a pumpkin spice cake with cream cheese frosting and Hayley called it “Hap Day Cake,” thinking it was a happy birthday cake. How cute. Needless to say, she ate only the icing.

When I was giving Hayley a bath tonight, I had another I-can’t-believe-how-fast-Hayley’s-growing-up moment. She likes to lay on her tummy and “swim like a hop-toad” in the water. As I watched her, I noticed how LONG she is–stretched out like that, she’s nearly as long as the tub. I also noticed how long and slender her legs are becoming. She has only the slightest trace of those baby fat leg rolls on her thighs, which is only really noticeable when she sits cross-legged. Her tummy’s not as fat anymore either, though she still has a little round tummy. I was pleased to see that she still has dimples in her elbows, but she’s losing the dimples in her hands. Her hair keeps getting longer and straighter. Her second birthday is fast-approaching…I wish I could keep her little forever!