I really need to do a better job at keeping this blog updated. So, here it is October –
Haley continues to be the absolute best thing EVER to happen to me, she amazes me everyday. She is no longer a little baby. Literally, she’s now a “toddler” She's growing into a brilliant, happy, little girl, and changing all the time. She's losing her baby fat, she's getting taller, she's speaking A LOT more, even 3 words at a time, some days. She can now open doors (not the front/back door yet, those are a little tough to turn, which is a good thing) but the bathroom, bedroom doors at home. She can reach the switches on the wall to turn the lights off and on all by herself. She's also getting really good at aggravating Abby- whom she calls Addy (so cute!) Addy Hush. Bye Addy. Silly Addy – I love it!
Kalaya came down for the summer, that was a great time. Kalaya is so good (gentle and kind) and wants to help in anyway that she can - I love that girl. I was really sad to see her go. They bonded a lot, and if Kalaya was around as much as Taylor, I think Haley would be just as attached to her. That makes me kind of sad too - to think that it will be next summer until we get to see her again. Bummer.
Over the summer all of a sudden we had ducks visiting us....first there were 3 very loyal and predictable ducks that came twice a day. It was actually a highlight of the day when we saw them fly in – they got so used to us that they would even walk up to the deck. This went on for a few weeks, then all of sudden the 3 grew to 8 !!! I don’t know what happened, maybe it’s a seasonal thing, but just one day they didn’t come, and they haven’t returned at all, any of them. I’m a little sad about that. I liked the ducks. We all did.
Haley had her 2nd birthday on Monday July 13th- but we celebrated on Sunday the 12th.
All of my people came over, it was good, layed-back, mellow birthday - which was very nice. MeMe made Haley a Blue's Clues cake, and we cooked hamburgers and hot dogs. There appeared to be a little drama with Steve's side of the family, which could have been started by myself and Steve for not inviting them earlier than we did. I got the feeling from Steve that they just didn't "get into" the b-day parties and gatherings, after all...I've never been to one of Jacob's b-day parties, so I never made a special effort to get them to one of Haley's - However, it appears that some of that, probably most of that was due to Steve's lack of communication on all parts. Next year will definetly be different and hopefully better. There for a couple of days - I felt tension between Steve and his folks. For some reason, I wasn't too bothered by it. I was only slightly irritated by it because I could tell that it bothered Steve. Enough about that, I don’t even like to write about drama. Originally, MeMe was going to drive separately so that she could stay w/ Haley on Monday (her real b-day) but Papa had his eyes operated on a few days earlier. (cateracts removed) so, he wasn't seeing that well to drive by himself, so they rode together. MeMe took him home and came back!!!! That part was awesome, because I wanted to do something special for her at daycare on her actual birthday - but I was at the stupid command center at work (not in my office, off-site at PCMH) and really couldn't leave to do that. Well, I could have left for a while, but would have had to go back to work, and Haley would not have understood why she had to stay and I was leaving. So, when MeMe came back, that was even better because they could just hang out all day together and do whatever they wanted to, that was much more special than anything I could have done at daycare. (oh, school....I forgot, that's what we call it now)
She's in a new room - the 2yr old room, which isn't bad so far...they are a little more structured in there, but it's a much bigger room to roam around, they have a window that they can see out of and they do art everyday, and I know Haley loves that. Her old friends that moved before her are in there - Jasmine and Leo, we love both of them, and Haley really bonds w/ Jasmine. I hope when Aleesha gets in there, they can all play nice together. Aleesha and Haley really bonded in the 1 yr room, but she doesn't turn 2 for a couple of months now.
On Saturday July 25th - we had our pictures taken at the pond by SP8 again. Haley is not really into that now, unless she's got the camera herself. It's really hard to get her to smile, plus it was so hot and muggy - we met him @ 7:45, and in no time flat it was about 90 degrees and we were all feeling like we wished we were done and we had just gotten started. Needless to say, the pics weren't quite as good as I had hoped for.
After the photo shoot, we went back home to change and pack up for the aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores, that was a lot of fun too, but since we had the hot, muggy, buggy, photo shoot early in the am, the crowd at the aquarium and the long ride to and from, we were ALL ready to get back to G'ville and lay around the living room. So, we missed the pier/beach walk - but will certainly do that next year.
Saturday August 8th - Steve, Kalaya, Taylor and myself went to Busch Gardens - again MeMe came to hang out w/ Haley and that was very cool because she spent the night and we didn't have to worry about rushing home. We closed the place down, and that was the best time we've had in a long time - we ALL got on the Big Bad Wolf (a rollercoaster - it must be noted that back in 1990 something I banned myself from rollercoasters and anything that was more than 6 feet off the ground after nearly losing my lunch on a ferris wheel) They have done away with the brewery tour - that kind of sucked, because I always enjoyed that part. The monorail ride, then the tour of how they make all that beer, and the best part were the 2 free samples of any beer they had. I wish we could have done that but regardless...that trip was GREAT. We all had a blast, and we were able to drop Kalaya off at her best friend's house in VA, she used to live a couple houses down from her when she and her Mom were there. She stayed the week with her friend, and Steve went to get her the next Friday. She left on August 26th - and like I said, it was sad, a lot sadder than I thought it was going to be, and I miss her more than I thought I would. She's a good girl, and I'm very thankful for that - if I had to pick a step daughter, she'd be the exact one I'd choose!
Haley went to the ENT on Sept 18th because those stupid tubes are just stuck in the middle of her ear canal – or somewhere they aren’t supposed to be. Dr. Lindbeck assures us they will fall out and that it’s not doing any permanent damage. They’ll re-evaluate them again in 6 months. She also had her hearing checked on September 24th , something that I’ve been concerned with because Haley doesn’t really speak clear and not so many words – but her hearing was w/in normal limits. I’m very thankful for that, and now we just have to concentrate on helping her learn new words and trying to articulate the ones that she knows a little better.
So, there are a few highlights from Spring to Fall in the life and times of ME and my PEEPS!
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