Haylee ~ 2 years old

Well, the princess of the house turned 2 on February 17th. It’s hard to believe she’s that old already. And hard to believe that she’s as big as she is. Her two year check-up was hilarious. First of all, AFTER we’d left the house, she and her brother decided to dump some very red juice all over each other’s heads…..in the car. I’ll spare you the details of my rage, but suffice it to say, it dyed both of their hair pink and dyed Haylee’s face anywhere it dripped down…..which was pretty much all over. We didn’t have time to go home and bathe her again, so we went like that. I was mortified, but her pediatrician thought it was hilarious. She said we want our daughters to have a little bit of spunk. I decided that she either never had daughters or they’re so old now that she’s forgotten how much she DIDN’T want them to have that very thing when they were two. Anyway, Haylee proceeded to tell her all about absolutely anything she could think of. They had a great conversation. The doc even got Haylee’s signature cheese ball smile when she told her how pretty she was. What can  I say, she plays to a crowd.:) Apparently, at two, they want them to know how to speak and understand 20 words. I almost laughed out loud when she told me that. Twenty words…..is that all!? Sometimes I wish she could only say 20 words, but 20 sentences in under 2 minutes seems to be more her strong suit. So, they’re not worried about her verbally or developmentally at all. Big surprise. They’re also not worried about her size. Apparently that’s funny too. Stats:

Height: 35 1/2” (95th percentile)

Weight: 27 lbs. 8.5 oz. (60th percentile)

Basically, she’s still huge. It’s crazy. She was such a short, stubby baby. I don’t know how this happened. I do know, however, that Kyle’s a little bit irked that I passed on my short genes to our boys and yet didn’t pass them to Haylee. Oops. Sorry.:) Oh well, he should be happy…..then she’ll likely play volleyball instead of soccer and he’ll be thrilled.:)

Anyway, let’s see, her Birthday was a blast too. She was so excited this year. She has had zero desire to open presents at every other Birthday and every Christmas. We end up opening them for her and dramatizing our excitement to no avail. But this year, she was fun. She let her brothers help her, but she enjoyed it. The biggest hit? The bouncy balls I bought. She’s obsessed. Had I known that a 50 cent present would do the trick, I’d have saved myself the hassle.:) My other mistake…..the baby with the binky. We got rid of her binky 4 months ago or so and frankly, she’s never really gotten over it. The doll has a binky attached to it’s shirt by a short leash. This was how she worked around that: Shortly after that, she just removed the clothes to get better access. Perfect.

And even though she was very excited about her Jello pie (now those genes I DID give her), she was suddenly horrified of the candles. She moved across the bench and kept saying, “HOT! HOT!” She finally leaned over to blow them out. It was very dramatic…..lots of spit, you know, all that good stuff.

We sure love our little Haylee. And although she brings an incredible amount of sassiness and drama to our lives, she brings a whole lot of joy too. She’s quick to smile and quick to shower you with hugs. She has a smile that lights up a room. And we realize that we may be partial, but she’s gorgeous. She walks around twirling her little blond pigtails and we know we’re in trouble later.:) Haylee’s sharper than a tack. Obviously she talks up a storm, but she also loves to read and quickly memorizes her favorite books. She LOVES the outdoors. All of our kids do, but she does the most. I have to dead bolt everything or she sneaks out to jump on the trampoline…..in her bare feet when it’s 25 degrees outside. She loves to ride her bike and play in the sandbox just like her brothers. They pick on her mercilessly some days and she’s learned to hold her own quite well. I get a lot of secret pleasure out of it when she body slams one of them.:) And I also get a lot of secret pleasure when I hear her sing “I Am a Child of God” from start to finish from the back seat while we’re driving down the road. Doesn’t miss a word. I always hope that my kids will use their different talents and strengths to their spiritual advantage and at moments like that it gives me hope that they will. Haylee, we love you! You bring so much laughter and light and happiness into our home. Happy Birthday, baby girl.:)