Hayley and Kate Minter

My newest challenge is to teach Hayley to call me “Daddy” instead of “DaDa.” I like the first one better, whereas Holly doesn’t really have a preference on “Mommy” vs. “MaMa”.

I think Hayley is starting to get the hang of it. She’ll say “DaDa,” and I’ll respond with “Daddy.” She’ll point to me and say “Daddy,” then point to herself and say “Hayley.” Then go right back to saying “DaDa.” But it’s a start.

It’s a silly thing to be spending time on, but that’s parenting for you.

Friday night we all went out to dinner to celebrate Daddy’s new job. Hayley was busy playing with and eating the ice from my glass and wasn’t really eating her food. When the waiter came by to take our plates, we told him to take Hayley’s too since she didn’t seem to be eating. A few minutes later, she looked around the table and said, “Where my food go?”

Then on our way home, Hayley was watching a Baby Einstein DVD in the car. A picture of something farm-related would come onto the screen, and then the narrator would say what it was. For example, a picture of corn would be shown and the narrator would say, “Corn.” Suddenly, we heard Hayley saying, “I don’t like corn. I don’t like wheat. I don’t like milk.” She would say she didn’t like whatever the narrator said. Then, she said, “I don’t like anything.” Daddy and I couldn’t help but laugh at that.

We’ve had a busy few days. At the end of last week, Hayley and Mommy went to Virginia so we could be out of the way while Daddy had Richmond ComedySportz folks staying at our house during this past weekend’s tournament. On Friday, Mommy took Hayley to the middle school to see Grandma Queen for a few minutes during her free class period. That evening, Granddaddy Estes, who has been anxious to take Hayley fishing since before she was born, finally took her to a small pond in front of Sue Cage’s house. Despite chilly, windy weather, we managed to catch a few tiny fish; Hayley even touched one. Saturday, Hayley, the Grandparents Estes and Mommy drove to Maryland to visit Aunt Jenny. She took us to a place called “Jeepers and a Monkey,” which is like a Chuck E. Cheese’s or Bullwinkle’s. Hayley had a lot of fun, especially in the tunnels and slides, through which Mommy, Aunt Jenny and Jenny’s friend James had to travel in turn with Hayley. We all concluded that no adult should go through that maze of tunnels, but we all got a good workout. Hayley was also very good during all the riding in the car, eating out, etc. We got back pretty late Saturday night, and had to leave pretty early Sunday morning to go to a Dora the Explorer show in Raleigh for which we got tickets months ago. Daddy met us at the BTI Center and we went in to the show. Mommy was worried about Hayley’s mood because she had not been on a proper sleeping schedule for a few days, but Hayley really seemed to enjoy the show. She only had one mood swing, when we were trying to take her picture out in the lobby. But, the rest of the time, she watched the show, dancing and swinging her plush Boots the monkey doll by the tail and waving the little paper flag that was handed out to everyone. It was a good show, and even today, Daddy and Mommy can’t get the song, “Isa turn the wheel, turn the wheel Isa” out of our heads…you probably wouldn’t understand unless you were familiar with Dora and the Pirate Adventure.

Today, Mommy refused to go anywhere so we could have a relaxing and replenishing day at home. We spent most of the day outside, watering flowers, pulling weeds, blowing bubbles, playing with sand and water. Late this afternoon, Mommy was picking up clumps of grass that she had dug up to plant some phlox. Some of the clumps were still moist and had earthworms in them. Mommy saved as many of them as she could, putting them back among the flowers. Hayley spotted the worms and spent a few minutes just watching them wriggle around in the dirt. Then she wanted to touch one, but she didn’t REALLY want to touch it. So, Mommy put her little gardening gloves on her hands, and she happily held and played with the worms, all the while repeating, “They don’t have teeth. They won’t hurt you.”

Tonight at dinner, Hayley did something that suprised us. She normally does not eat many vegetables…okay, not really ANY. But, we almost always put them on her plate anyway in the hope that someday she’ll eat them. She usually just says, “I don’t like that,” and removes it from her plate. But, tonight, she actually tried her “little trees” of broccoli, said she liked it and asked for more. We gaped at each other for a minute, trying to believe our ears. I guess we’ll have to fix broccoli more often.

I was talking to Holly at the dinner table the other night. Hayley was off in her own little world of food exploration as usual.

As I was talking to Holly, I read her something off of a webpage that mentioned something about being “ghetto.” As soon as I did this, Hayley piped up and said:

“I not ghetto! I just Hayley!”

Word.

Hayley made another small step toward potty training tonight. She pooped in her potty for the first time. It was a strange situation: She was playing in the bathtub, when all of a sudden, she stood up and tried to scramble out of the tub. She looked down at the water saying, “Who dat?” (a favorite phrase of hers meaning “Who is that?” or “What is that?”). It just so happened to be poop. So, we helped her out of the tub and encouraged her to finish her bowel movement in her potty. When she was done, we lavished her with praise. I think she was a little stunned.

I don’t think she’s quite ready for training pants yet, but we’re heading in the right direction.

Signs your two-year-old really runs the show, #588:

Hayley’s breakfast so far this morning has consisted of raw flour, confectioners’ sugar, and orange soda. We’re such pushovers.

Holly got Hayley a battery-powered “Nemo” toy that swims in the bathtub.

She’s in heaven. I think she even forgot about the rubber frogs for a minute.