Hadley is 18 Months Old!

We just got back from Hadley's 18 month check up, and we're thankful to report that she's healthy and growing like a weed. She is SO tall and is as physically-driven as ever. Today she took off running and did a leap off of a step, and somehow landed on her feet and kept running. She loves to climb on everything: tables, chairs, the pantry shelves...you name it, she will find a way to climb it. We have our heaviest pieces of furniture anchored down with earthquake straps. If you think that sounds excessive, I encourage you to stop by our house for a few hours and watch this girl in action!

Hadley is still silly and mischievous, and I don't think that side of her personality is going away anytime soon. She's outgoing and social like mommy, and smart and inquisitive like her Daddy. People are always remarking that they've never met a child so fearless. It amazes and scares me how she will go into new situations such as running into the ocean without a second thought. She is a wild child for sure!

Hadley's 18 Month Stats:

Hair: Curly and getting blonder every day, especially after a day at the beach. She had her first haircut done by MomMom this past weekend when she and BobBob visited.
Height: 31.75"...in the 81%
Weight: 22 pounds, 5 oz....in the 22%

New Words/Phrases: "No, mine!!" "Go Bode!" "Where's Daddy?" "Where are you going?"

New Skills: Colors, throws balls and toys to the dogs, dribbles a soccer ball, takes pretend "selfies" with her plastic phone saying "CHEESE!"

Favorite Foods: She'll eat pretty much anything...lately she's been enjoying goat cheese, strawberries, vegetable purees, Greek yogurt, string cheese, and salt & vinegar almonds (mommy's favorite)

Nicknames: Hads, Peanut, Mad Hadder, Bear Cub, and of course Hurricane Hadley

Likes:
birds
dogs
cats
going to the beach
stroller rides
reading
baby dolls
bubbles
snacks "kacky"


Dislikes:
Daddy's remote control helicopter
Going to childcare at the gym
Getting her face wet
When Mommy holds another baby
When the dogs sit on mommy's lap

Yesterday we had some trees removed from our backyard. Hadley grabbed a snack and watched the whole thing like she was at a movie theater.

Here's a picture of that long hair right before her first haircut:

Her favorite thing to do: eat while carrying her baby doll around. This means the baby doll goes through the washing machine once a week to remove all of the stains.

Hadley insists on putting her sippy cup down on a coaster. Once she got so frustrated when there wasn't a coaster nearby that she slammed her cup on the ground and spilled milk everywhere. I'm not sure if she was trying to be ironic, but it was a funny moment.

Here she is munching on a chicken wing and rocking one of cousin Avery's adorable hand-me-downs:

She loves to color, especially if she can use markers. 

Hadley loves the beach. She'll play in the water until she starts turning purple, then we wrap her in a towel to warm up.

Here she is reading to Bode and nudging him whenever he stopped paying attention:

"Reading" the Declaration of Independence while sitting on the dining room floor:

Drinking a spinach-banana smoothie. Mommy thought she was ready to drink it from a cup. Thankfully Bode was there to clean up the spilled drops.

And, as always, loving gymnastics....

Happy  18 months, Hadley! Here you are one year ago, and today!

    

4th of July Festivities

It's no secret that in our house we LOVE holidays! One of our favorites is the 4th of July. We kicked off the holiday weekend going to the beach with friends. Hadley is a water baby, and will stay in the ocean as long as we let her. At this beach, dogs are allowed, so she made lots of canine friends as well as baby friends!

The next day, we woke up and had a special breakfast of patriotic pancakes. 

We put on our red, white, and blue, and headed outdoors to celebrate with friends. 

We also celebrated our neighbor's second birthday with a Thomas the Train themed party. 

Daddy played quoits...

And Hadley scoped out where the cool older girls were eating their watermelon and joined them...

On Sunday we went to a friend's house to grill out and watch the kids enjoy some outdoor toys. Hadley loved the baby pools, but as usual, could not get enough of the swings.

Hadley also loved the water slide! She has no fear.

The big group of babies ate snacks and played cornhole. For some reason Hadley tried to pull down her friend Fisher's swim diaper. 

It was a great weekend full of family, friends, and fun! Happy Independence Day!

Bible School Fun

This week was our church's Vacation Bible School. For the past year, I've been director of Bible School for the Children's Ministry. I was responsible for recruiting all the volunteers, ordering supplies, planning the curriculum, organizing registration, designing the set, and pretty much planning every aspect of the week. It was a huge undertaking that took me 5 long months of planning. I'm proud to say that the week was a success. Although Hadley couldn't be a camper like the older kids, she did get to join in a few of the activities. Here's a little summary of our week:


Over the weekend, Brett and I set up the camp. Campers started each day in a small group called "Tribe Time" which looks like this:

After Tribe Time, they go to "Celebration Time" where they sing and act out the day's Bible story:

After that, campers rotate around the church and attend different activities. One activity has drama teachers who involve the campers in an interactive lesson. They use music and props to involve each group in acting out the day's Bible story.

Another activity is outdoor recreation where the campers play games related to each day's story. Today's story was the Miracle at Cana, and campers stomped in a baby pool full of water balloons and pretended they were grapes. 

Campers also attended Hebrew school and learned how to write in Hebrew:

The highlight of Camp was the marketplace. Each day the marketplace had 6 tents of crafts for the campers, along with a special guest volunteer from the congregation.

In the Rock Quarry, campers used sifters to dig for "gold" in the sand. They also created bottles of sand art and made plaster stepping stones for their parents' gardens.

We had a guest carpenter help them make wooden dreidels and pictures frames:

In the food tent, campers sampled Middle Eastern food including olives, dates, pita, hummus, fruit, and lentil. Hadley's teachers were so impressed by how much she ate. She enjoyed olives, fruit, pita, and hummus. Her least favorite food was dates.

At the Dye Shop, campers painted real flounder to print on their tshirts:

Hadley and mommy designed Mommy-daughter Gyotaku tshirts:

In the Olive Oil Shop, campers made their own butter to go with the bread they baked each morning. They also made Olive Oil Scrubs to take home made of olive oil, sugar, salt, and fresh ground herbs.

Other tents like weaving and the Bead Bazaar gave campers a creative outlet to make necklaces, key chains, and bracelets. Hadley got in on the fun and made an edible necklace of Froot Loops and Cheerios.

Campers used flowers left over from the Sunday service to create bouquets for local people in nursing homes as part of our service to the community:

One of the most fun parts of the week was a photo booth. I was able to get a great discount because we were a weekday morning Bible School and not a late-night wedding reception. The kids LOVED it! They tried on costumes and took photos for hours:

At the end of the four days, we celebrated with an ice cream social catered by our favorite local ice cream shop, Brusters:

So many people worked hard to make this week amazing for the kids. I'm grateful to be part of an experience that impacts so many children....and thankful to our church for giving me the resources to make this week unforgettable! 

Our Goofy Girl

After a few rough weeks during which Hadley got ALL four of her canine teeth at once & had lots of tantrums, we are finally turning a corner! Hadley is building her vocabulary and saying a few new words each day. Her ability to communicate is making her much less frustrated.  I forgot how wonderful it is to have our sweet, silly girl making me laugh all day.

Among Hadley's newest words and phrases:

It's Sadie! It's Bode!
Where's Daddy?
That's a baby!
That's a boobie!
Bubble
Water (sounds like wa wa)
Thank you! (sounds like, "Q")
Outside (sounds like "sye")
No Mommy! (screamed whenever she goes down for a nap)


Here are some pictures of our goofy girl being the happy, bubbly, little toddler she was born to be!

Feeding herself some sweet pea puree, and getting a bit on her chin and nose:

Savoring an ice cream cone during an unusually hot evening:

Making silly faces:

Sitting in her dolly's crib:

Reading Mommy's book while sitting in a chair on the ottoman:

Getting messy eating cake at Grace's birthday party:

Posing for a picture while helping Mommy plan Bible School:

...and pushing a remote control around in her doll stroller. Notice how it is safely strapped in?

This is certainly a silly, messy, new stage of toddlerhood...but I am loving every moment! 

 I think it's safe to say this crazy girl is enjoying it too!