Boss Baby

These days are filled with demand...and eventually supply. I never thought I would be one of those moms who conformed to a child's demands based on my inability to suffer another moment of the screaming but recently that's exactly what I have become. Lord help me! Once you give in a few times a pattern is established in that little mind and suddenly they have your number. So now I am desperately working to reverse this problem. I am mommy, I am boss, I am mommy, I am boss.....maybe if I say it a few more times I will actually believe it again!

On a good note...all is well in the life of Hayla. Our days are filled with Tinkerbell, Nemo, pasta and ketchup and of course Oranges (pronounced oshnaw). We still have the 'maymaw' obsession, which I love. She still doesn't seem to have a preference from pink blankey to 'yellow sun'. Maymaw is there at nap time, bed time, car rides, grocery trips, buggy rides, even hangs off the back of the highchair at meal time and you can NOT watch a 'moooobie' with out your mouth stuffed full of soft maymaw trim. Thank god we have 2 because those buggers get to stinking quick!

Hayla is a baby of habit. She has favorite foods, toys, movies and people. A day doesn't pass that chicken nuggets and ketchup aren't mentioned hourly. I can't walk into the kitchen with out begging requests for oranges and apple juice (this actually pertains to any liquid in her cup besides milk).

Movie time is a massive point of obsession. I have been a bit of a push over since we moved about t.v time. I won't lie, it's a great distraction when we have so much going on getting settled in. But the negative side is t.v dependency which sets on quick in a two year old. If they get to watch one movie a day they expect the damn thing to be turned on from the time they wake up till they hit the sack. Until Colin came along I was not a television/movie person so I really struggle with that thing even being in the house sometimes let alone being constantly requested in a high pitch shrill scream. So as of late we have been taking the opportunity to utilize and familiarize the word NO accompanied with some good old fashioned redirection. Nemo, Princess, Frog and Tink...will all be there waiting.

On the bright side Hayla really enjoys books. Her favorite story is about a puppy named Petey who is looking for a boy to give him a home. She also loves a bedtime book called 'Goodnight Moon'. She knows these books by heart and enjoys having them read to her but she also wants to read to you. She is a great little story teller.

One thing I truly enjoy about this girl is her genuine love for her family. She absolutely ADORES Angelo and Olivia. There is nothing she enjoys more then playing hide and seek, ring around the rosy or 'monster baby' with the big kids. This love is equally present for the three cousins who she refers to as 'Michael Gracey'. I love when they are all together and how much she enjoys chasing them.

A few big milestones as of late...Hayla recently spent a whole weekend with Nonnie while mom and dad had a date. She loves to 'fweep at Nonnies house' with 'michael gracey'. I thought the first night would go great but I was concerned she would have a hard time with missing mommy and daddy the second....but nope! And how awesome was her excitement when she spotted us Sunday night!! 'HI DADDY HI DADDY, HI MOMMY, OOOOHHH MOMMY'!!!! I love being that loved!!

We have a talker! Hayla is probably my most advanced baby when it comes to language skill at this age. She is speaking in proper sentences, using words correctly that we don't even realize she knows. She also knows a few choice 'french' words if you catch my drift! She is counting to 10 well, still missing the occasional digit here and there but even made it to 15 a few times recently. She is familiar with the alphabet and it's surprising how much of it she knows. One of her favorite toys is a leapfrog laptop she got from Aunt Alisa. She spends hours a day on that thing playing alphabet games.

We are looking so forward to spring and summer in our new home. I can't wait to be able to just open the door and let the girl go. One thing a miss the most about our San Clemente home was how much Hayla got to be outside. It was always warm so I could just open the door to the fenced back yard and she would be out there for hours. Here it is just to muddy and rainy and cold so we don't get out much. Can't wait for that to change! We miss you warm!