Has it really been 3 months since I’ve done a Hailey update? Well, you knew I had to sneak one more in before I had to start counting her age is years instead of months. She’ll be TWO in September. How did that happen?
Oh yeah, with lots of giggles, bumps and fun. Would you mind humoring me as I share 23 sweet, longwinded tidbits that I don’t want to forget about 23 months?
1. She knows family and friends by name. Though she may not see them often, she can identify all family members in pictures and I’ll be darned if she doesn’t ask about Nora and Grace on a daily basis.
2. She is forming small sentences and it blows my mind. I know, every child does this, but when I hear my baby girl say things like ‘up please’ and ‘more grapes please’ and ‘Nora Grace pool’ it just amazes me. If you take the time to really listen to her, you’ll realize she is saying so much.
3. Hailey loves stickers and coloring. She is also really into her magnadoodle, where she insists I write ABC, then she ‘writes the letters’ too (looks like scribble, but it’s cute). She also sings her ABCs, but her version is a bit more like this- A B E D C A A B C. Oh, and Legos? Loves ‘em. But she’d rather spread them all out evenly than build towers. In fact, she throws a hissy if I try to stack them.
4. She doesn’t have many tantrums anymore (Thank You Communication!) but when she does gets frustrated, she spits. Isn’t that the oddest thing? She’ll stomp her feet, then lean over and spit water onto the floor. It’s ridiculously annoying, yet funny.
5. She’s very organized. She likes to put things back where they belong and throw trash away immediately. She also helps with feeding Koda, doing laundry and emptying the dishwasher. She’s a great little helper.
6. She recently, a couple days ago, got really brave in the pool. Now she loves jumping off the side into my arms and will do it over and over and overrrr again.
7. She prefers animal sounds over their names. She’ll see and owl and say hoo-hoo. She’ll see a cat and say meow. She’ll see a fire truck and say wee-O wee-O (like a siren).
8. I’m really proud of her manners. She uses please and thank you correctly all day long.
9. She is still eating well, though has picked up the odd habit of not eating peels. She’ll gnaw down to them, then put them back on her plate. I’m THAT mom who then picks them up and eats them. Sorry, I’m gross.
10. She isn’t drinking milk anymore. A month or so ago she stopped drinking it on her own. She eats so well and so much cheese and yogurt, I’m not worried about it. I’ll offer it to her and she’ll have a couple sips, but she drinks 99% water. It’s a waste for me to buy milk when no one drinks it.
11. The kid loves avocado. Like she’ll see one and scream Ah-Cado!
12. She has become quite attached to my Cabbage Patch doll I had when I was little and certain fuzzy blanket. They are names baby and blanket respectively. Creative, huh?
13. I’ve noticed it is her nature to be cautious with new things. She’ll take her time warming up to a new person, place or activity, but after she checks it out, she’s all about it. Like the beach, when she went from having to be held to running through the tide pools barefoot.
14. We STILL use the baby bathtub. Isn’t that hilarious? She takes a bath in our bathroom and we have an oversized Jacuzzi tub that takes forever to fill up. So instead she sits in the baby tub and plays in the ‘waterfall’ that comes out of the waterfall faucet.
15. She still has her pacifiers (pass-pass). They are for sleep and car only, but I need to start getting real. I am going to try and break it for car rides soon. Blah. No fun.
Quite possibly one of my favorite pictures.
16. For now, she still goes to bed at 7pm and gets up at 8am. I’m putting her down for nap between 12:30 and 1. She sleeps 2-3 hours usually, but I wake her up at 3:30 for fear she won’t be ready for bed at 7. Debating letting her sleep, then extending her bedtime, but changing routine gives me anxiety 
17. I love our nighttime routine. After bath and jammies, she slides off our bed and runs to kiss Koda on the nose. She says nigh-nigh, then runs up the stairs. When I’m putting her to bed, we’ll read several Shel Silverstein poems, then she’ll flop on top of me in a giant monkey hug. I’ll rock and sing ‘You are my Sunshine’ to her several times. Then I’ll stand up, she’ll squeeze me so hard, give me a kiss and tell me night night. My heart melts on a consistent basis.
18. Hailey starts “preschool” in 3 weeks. She’ll go 2 half-days a week. I’m really excited for her to get to interact with other kids of a consistent basis without me there.
19. Randomly through the day she’ll run over and give me a hug or a kiss. She has me wrapped around her finger. Nobody tell her that.
20. Hailey loves helping me in our deck-garden. She is the first to pull off any strawberries and pop them in her mouth. Yesterday I was cooking and she ran in, proudly displaying her latest find.
21. David and I laugh daily about the funny things she does or says. We are also fully aware that we are those parents that think their kid is just the bees knees. No apologies over here.
22. She definitely knows the word ‘outside’ and prefers to eat all her meals there.
23. I couldn’t be more proud or love a child more than I do her. She’s my little buddy and has a such a loving nature. Looking forward to seeing what the future brings, but it can take its sweet time getting here!
Anything your curious about that I didn’t touch on?
Chantal says
So cute!!
Heather Murphy says
She is a sweetheart! My son just turned one, so I love reading about other peoples babies to see what I have to look forward to! It’s good that she takes caution at things. I can already tell my son will not- he is in to everything and goes at it head first, plus he will go to anyone.. It is kind of scary! 🙂 He also has a blanket he is extremely attached to, so I wonder how long that will last! thanks for sharing!
Lauren K says
She is just so adorable and it’s amazing how quickly they change at this age! I also love that car picture…I imagine it’s a good picture of a typical day! Hope we can find a time to get together soon…with everyone or even a girls yoga morning! 🙂
Brittany Dixon says
I’d love that! I might have to look into scheduling some family pictures for the fall too 🙂
Lauren K says
Of course I love both ideas! I can’t wait to hear about your NYC trip…it’s going to be so much fun to explore together!
Stacey@XOStacey says
She’s adorable! Do you remember when you started using a straw cup with her? My daughter is almost 7 months and I’m not sure! And I forget what I did with my 2.5 year old son!
Brittany Dixon says
I think she started around 6 months with water during meals, but really it kicked in around 1 year when she started drinking milk. She never took bottles well, so we’ve used straws for a while! 🙂
Michelle G. says
She is a rock star sleeper! Did you ever have to do any kind of sleep training with her?
Brittany Dixon says
I think I just got lucky! We let her cry it out at a certain point, but after one night, she never had trouble with it again. We never did any formal sleep training. She is ridiculously in love with her pacifiers though!
Michelle G. says
Wow! That’s awesome! A paci habit is not the worst thing in the world. I thought the photo of her with the basket on her head in the car was adorable.
Katie says
Yeah we are really into the stickers over here too, obsessively so 🙂 And I had to laugh about eating the peels, because I do the same thing, the other night I probably ate an entire peach worth of just half chewed peels haha. And we are in the same boat on the milk, some days she guzzles it down, other days not at all, but the child loves her some cheese and yogurt so I’m not too concerned either. I am also struggling with the realization that I need to start the “Fa” pacifier weening process, but she is so dang attached to them I’ve just been too reluctant to do it, but I know I need to be moving in that direction now that she is almost 2!
Brittany Dixon says
So glad to hear we’re on the same page with so many things! It makes me feel better knowing H isn’t the only one in love with pacifiers 🙂
Ali says
I have heard “cold turkey” can sometimes be best at that age. One friend told her that their baby niece needed her paci and she was all about it – gone – easily – in a day. I also know someone who had to put up with screaming fits for 3-4 but after she roughed through it, It was over. And one last friend traded it – give up your paci – get a new cool toy from target. ??? Or some other comfort object?
katie says
Love that last picture!!
Ashley @ My Food N Fitness Diaries says
What a cutie! Love that cheesy smile! 🙂
Maria says
Her sweet personality just shines through in her photos!
I’m curious about the 2 year birthday party! Theme? Petting zoo? Or just casual with small group of friends and family? (A friend and I were recently having a discussion over children’s birthday parties. We said if we have kiddos we’d do an anti-Pinterest/old school birthday – like when WE were kids – with streamers and balloons from Hobby Lobby, a grocery store sheet cake, and printed princess paper tablecloths) 🙂
Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves says
I love hearing about her learning, habits, and antics! She is so adorable and I can see why she’s “the bees knees” 😉
John J. says
Thanks for sharing your wonderful 23. She is precious and you chronicle her life beautifully and lovingly. I’m enjoying the time with you through your blog. You’re an awesome Mom – and daughter!
char eats greens says
I love that she has good manors. I worry about me forgetting stuff like that when Nia is a bit older. Hailey seems like one pretty cool 23 month old 😉
Verna says
Adorable! My daughter still isn’t talking. It’s really impressive that she says so much already! My son was a late talker too.
Brittany Dixon says
I’m around her all day, so I think I understand her better than most. I have to sometimes translate for David, though 😉
Madeline @ Food Fitness and Family says
Haha I love that we posted updates on the same day! Em does the same exact thing with animals … cows are moos, sheep are baas, and then random things are their name like monkey and fish. It cracks me up!
Karen says
She is TOO TOO cute!! Keely is 19 months and still struggling with the talking. She was so fast with her motor skills but still just babbles. Any advice? I read a lot to her and whenever she is pointing and say, “da” I say what she is pointing to but I know every child develops differently.
Brittany Dixon says
Don’t they usually advance in one faster than the other? H was great at fine motor skills early on, but didn’t really take off with walking until 13-14 months. I think you’re right that they are all just on their own time line!
I do talk to H a lot during the day. We read a couple books, but mostly it’s me narrating my day. I’m sure it’s incredibly annoying to anyone listening in- haha!
Karen says
I hear ya about the narrating your day. I am pretty sure my neighbors think I’m crazy…LOL! Have a great weekend.
Britt says
We’re down to paci (known as faci to my baby boy) only during sleep and car rides too… It seems like its going to be te hardest thing I’ve ever done to get rid of the paci … I’ll definitely be on the lookout for tips from your blog 🙂
Kelli H (Made in Sonoma) says
Gah! She is just too precious. I can understand why she’s your little buddy! She sounds super fun and like a great helper!
Kari says
My little one is one month younger than Hailey. She is (was) even more attached to her pacifier than Hailey–we had to take it EVERYWHERE. She didn’t use it at all times, but it was available to her throughout the day and a must in the car and for sleeping. I’d been dreading weening it for so long. And then on Sunday, I decided what the heck, let’s just cut off the end of one and see what happens (I had extra good ones just in case it was a disaster). To my amazement, it’s been SO easy. When she saw the end caught off, she immediately stared at it, looked at me, and said “Oh no! It’s brakey!” She’s carried it around a bit and reminded me that “it’s brakey”, but hasn’t asked or cried for her “baba” at all. Here’s hoping it’s that easy for you. I was seriously terrified to try, but it was very painless :-).
Brittany Dixon says
That’s encouraging!! I know one day I’ll have to do it, but she just loves them so much. It’s going to take me putting on my girl pants 😉
Jen says
So, so cute! I sing “You are my Sunshine” to Wyatt every night before bed, too. <3
Coco says
She’s so adorable!!! What about potty training? Just curious!
Brittany Dixon says
Oh gosh! I was all about it a couple weeks ago, but the desire has waned. I put her on the potty once after nap. After a few minutes, nothing, so she got up, took two steps and peed allllll over the floor. She was so upset. I’ll revisit the idea in a another month or so 🙂
Tara@PNWRunner says
Ahh she is precious. I am sure she is keeping you on your toes!
Jamie @ fitfortherun says
aww such a cute post! what a blessing 🙂
Christie says
Love updates like this and can relate to so many.
4- Ryan kept spitting on one of our family runs… Riley likes to do this now too. Oy.
8- I LOVE good manners in young children- so cute!
9- Yup, me too.
12- Riley sleeps with my old stuffed monkey =)
15- At least it’s not her hands in her mouth and you can take away a paci at some point 😉
21- Aren’t we all? I can admit that we’re certainly guilty!
Can’t wait to see you guys again!
Emily S says
I’ve always sung Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to Parker, since he was a baby, and so it was the first song he sang.
Brittney says
I can’t wait to see what Allie is like at this age, it blows my mind thinking about it!
Samantha says
I’m sorry did you say she hoensu sleeps that long!!! Oh you lucky mama you! She is absolutely perfect! I love reading her updates!
<3 Sam
Kelli says
I have a 21 month old and I am SO curious how you got rid of the tantrums?!?!
Neil Butterfield says
Too cute, enjoy every stage of Hayle’s progression 🙂