My Maymaw

~Hayla and her pink Maymaw~

Hayla loves her blanket. She always has. She never needed a binky. She began suckling the silky edges of her blanket when she was only a couple months old and from that time has continued to grow a strong bond with what she now refers to as her 'Maymaw'. She always knows where her maymaw is and she is able to self soothe when she needs to by quickly running to get it when she is tired or sad or in most cases with her fire eyed and ready to battle. She is a little fire ant and lucky for us, Maymaw helps to calm her and give her peace before she blows her little volcano (most of the time). Lucky for us we have 2 Maymaws, a yellow and a pink. She has no preference between the 2 but is most content when both are readily available.

~Hayla and her Barney time~

Hayla has always been a creature of habit, much like her mommy. She tends to find something she likes and take it to the level of obsession...again, like her mommy :) One of Haylas major current obsessions is Barney. Don't cringe, Barney is not so bad and is has been very revered in our home for over 10 years now. When Olivia was little, Barney was all she watched. At some points, all she thought about. Hayla is the same. I do have a limit for my children on how much television time they get, and I am not a mommy who allows TV as a babysitter, but I will tell you that when I need a moment, or I have chores, Barney is always a great distraction. The guy is friendly, loving, and drama free. Hayla loves to sing a long and dance and Barney is re-enforcing things we are helping Hala learn right now such as sharing, good manners, colors and shapes and of course counting and the ABC's. What more could you ask for in a friend? Barney...we love you!

~Hayla in her 'Hotrod' with her annoying brother :)~

Do you love Haylas oldschool highchair? We do!!! Daddy coined it the Hotrod and it stuck. When the hotrod is mentioned, Hayla knows it's time to eat. She is now able to climb in all by her big girl self!!!

Hayla and Angelo have a love/hate relationship at this point. I pray that this changes. Hayla has a temper on her and little tolerance for funny business. Angelo is very frisky and likes to smooch and tickle and usually comes at a time when Hayla has no room for him. Angelo seems to like the reaction of screaming flipped out baby and tends to provoke her. He means no harm, he just does not understand her extreme need for personal space at this point. He loves her so much and just wants to cuddle, it's in his nature. But Haylas nature is far from cuddle bug and now she associates Angelo with annoyance and pretty much pitches a fast fit if he even looks her way. I really REALLLLLY hope this is just a phase on both their parts and pray they can find a happy medium with one another. Angy needs love, Hayla needs quick kisses and a quicker departure. I guess in the end I have to remember this exact situation between Olivia and Angelo when he was a toddler....but please help me forget that the rift between those 2 is still strong and steady. Poor brother with 2 mean sisters.

~Hayla and her 2 best girls, Big sister Olivia and Cousin Gracey~

As we quickly approach Haylas second birthday this coming December, she continues to thrive and meet milestones. She is especially excelling in language skills these days and repeating most anything you say. She is very good with 'Thank you' and says it at anytime you do anything for her, even if you don't realize it was something she was wanting. She even says it now when I put her to nap or bed!

Soon enough our daddy will be home. At this point we have less then a month left! Hayla still holds her daddy near and dear to her heart and thinks of him all through out the day. She talks about him a lot, points to his pictures and constantly wants to talk with him on the phone. Part of bedtime is giving daddy a kiss goodnight and she never forgets and gets very upset if I do. She has to kiss her poster of daddy on her wall over her crib. We can NOT wait till the day he is kissing her back.

Hayla.........Hotsauce....Hotsy.....Fire-ant.....Steam Engine.....We love you baby girl.