Simple joys in the life of an (almost) 2 year old

Having an almost 2 year old around is such a joy (although quite the challenge at times). It is amazing to see her little mind at work when she is trying to figure life out. She is getting so smart, which is not always a good thing for mom and dad. She loves to dress herself now (and undress herself, including the diaper, which drives us crazy!) She loves to sing songs, and although most of them are made up words to a made up tune, each of them is special to me. She loves to set the table for dinner, and help cook when I'm patient enough to let her. She loves to jump, skip, and do somersaults. She runs way too fast for mom and dad to keep up. Although she still has a limited vocabulary, she puts phrases together, like "thank you, mom," or "please, dad"... but by far her new favorite things to say is "baby cow" and "no, mine." She still loves books more than anything else, which I hope will turn into a lifelong love for reading. In fact, many days when I go to check on her during nap time, her bed is usually covered in books, with her asleep on top of them (or sometimes I find her still awake, reading them). I love the maternal instincts she has already developed. She carries her baby around, saying "waah, waah!" She wraps it in her blankets, put it to sleep in her bed. She loves to strap it into her high chair (as seen above) and feed it her snacks and give it drinks from her sippy cup. She is becoming so independent and grown up. Its so fun to watch her learn new things every day. I love this beautiful little girl.

We are so looking forward to spending some quality time with family in just a few short weeks! I'm so excited to show her off a little bit :) She has all sorts of new tricks for her Grandmas and Grandpas.

Another request was made from Rachel to update the blog, and I found a few videos that have not yet been shared, so here they are. I just love that they show how easily entertained this girl can be :) The first is Hailey's first experience with Jello Jigglers... don't ask me why I haven't ever made them for her before, but they were a big hit. Next we have Hailey playing with her friend Janae. And finally, Hailey playing the piano- she LOVES the piano, and has somehow figured out how to get it to play rhythms and songs... I still don't know how to do that!

Halloween Fun

We had such a fun Halloween this year! This was the first time Hailey got to go trick or treating and she absolutely loved it. We were able to attend the ward trunk or treat, as well as go door to door with Hailey's friend Millie and her family. We had a lot of fun. And once again, I have to apologize. The pictures are in the reverse order of how I want them, and some of them are sideways, but I just don't have the time or the desire to fix that right now. So feel free to start from the bottom and turn your head to the side occasionally :) Hope you enjoy.

Out trick or treating with Millie!

Hailey was obsessed with holding Millie's hand the whole time. They had so much fun together. She absolutely adores Millie.

Getting ready to head out to get some candy!

Getting ready to go to Millie's house... I couldn't get this little cow to hold still and smile for a picture for anything.

This is Hailey's new favorite activity. She LOVES to paint! I just don't know where to put the dozens of pictures she has created...

Picking a duck from the duck pond at the trunk or treat.

Mom helping Hailey catch a fish!

Dad helping Hailey play some carnival games.

Hailey was obsessed with the tail on her costume. But this was the only way she could figure out how to grab it...

This is one of Hailey's favorite songs... and thankfully we had the camera in the car to capture her singing to the Sunbeam song :)

This is for you Rachel...

Rachel called me today and said,"You should update your blog." I took offense to this, because I just updated it last week, and given my record, I only post like one a month. She said she knew this, but I should find something else to put on here, so I found a few pictures I have taken since I posted last, and some videos of Hailey painting her pumpkin that I forgot to put up last time. So here you go Rachel, this one's for you.

A Visit From Grandma Bockholt

This week we were lucky enough to have Grandma Bockholt (Blaine's mom) come and visit! We had so much fun with her... we were able to visit the Memphis Children's Museum, see the Peabody ducks, play downtown, go to the zoo, pick a pumpkin at the pumpkin patch, and a few other things. And even though we added a few unplanned things to our list (like the hospital :) ) it was a fabulous week and we were said to see her leave! Here are a bunch of pictures from all the fun things we did. And I have to apologize... some are not in order, and I don't know an easy way to fix it, so just deal with it :)

Playing in the stream and trying to catch some fish at the Children's museum

They have an awesome little grocery store at the museum, which Hailey loved.

At the check out counter

Driving the police car

Driving the fire truck

Walking across the balance beam with a little help from Grandma

Testing out all the bikes at Toys R Us

Checking out the cockpit at the Children's Museum

Watching the sea lions swim by with Grandma

Peering over the water line to watch the grizzly bears playing

Reading books with Grandma before bedtime.

Our attempt at a family picture, which is often difficult with a little girl who won't look at the camera for more than half a second... which is the reason that in most of these pictures, she doesn't have a smile- I wasn't fast enough to catch it!

Watching the polar bear at the zoo with Grandma

Being daddy's little helper

Hailey with her perfect pumpkin!

She really wanted to pick all of them up!

Dad and Hailey on our adventure!

Here Hailey is painting her pumpkin... all by herself... and she LOVED it. This kept her busy and completely quite for almost an hour.

These pictures are a little older, but I think they are so cute. Hailey is helping me make some bread. She loves to help cook, and most of the time is a pretty good little helper :)