Hailey, Hailey, Hailey

All right, the blog has been a little Hailey centered lately. But it's her birthday month and I want to record some things about her at age 5, so I'll catch up with everyone else later! This is part of my goal for blogging, so sorry if it isn't too interesting... I know I will find it interesting in the future! You have been warned, so feel free to skip through this one:)

Hailey really is a low-maintenance, fun kid and although she has her moments, I'd have to say she is our easiest one right now. Someone told me long ago that your most difficult babies turn out to be the easiest kids, and in Hailey's case it is totally true. She is eager to please, thoughtful, funny, quirky, helpful, and adorable.

She loves to surprise us by cleaning different rooms in the house or "organizing" cupboards or shelves of things. Every time we get home from somewhere, she asks how she can help me by bringing things in or putting away groceries. I usually don't even ask her.

She is a great big sister to Addison - very patient and willing to play things that are "too babyish" just for Addi's sake. They do so great together during the day while Symantha is at school.
Hailey loves Nellie, her American Girl doll, and her and Symantha play with them all the time. She sleeps with "Horsey" and a bunch of other stuffed animals every night, usually organized into a nice row next to her.

She loves special nights with Daddy and he took her to see "Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs" for her birthday movie last weekend. Daddy really can't get enough of her and loves all the funny things she says and does.
Hailey has always been sensitive to loud noises, and I have so many pictures of her plugging her ears. This one was at Red Robin, while the people were singing "happy birthday" to her. She also tries not to smile when lots of people are looking at her or she is feeling shy, she bites her cheeks and tries to look serious.
She still loves to dress up and serve us a variety of foods and desserts. She wants to be a "Bakery" when she wakes up, which I just can't bear to correct her and tell her it is a "Baker". Although she has a variety of play food, she also loves to use dirt, rocks, leaves, dominoes, or you name it to be food. She plans parties, picnics and restaurants for us all the time.

Some of her struggles include loving her friends just a little too much. For some reason, my girls are often very "hands on" and love to pick up, hug or squeeze their friends.

She can also drive Symantha crazy and they go through periods of non-stop arguing. I'll listen to Symantha trying to reason with her and Hailey will have none of it. She can be very independent and have her mind set on certain things. Unlike Symantha, Hailey is often fine just playing alone if they start not getting along.

Hailey stopped taking naps a couple of months ago, but still gets really tired. She will fall asleep in the car even on the 7 minute ride to Symantha's school in the afternoon! And when she is tired she gets a wild look in her eyes and can be a little crazy, along with whiny.

I used to journal about the girls every couple of months, and I realized the other day that i stopped doing that about 3 years ago. It makes me a little sick to my stomach, to think of all that I won't remember! I'm pretty sentimental, but I guess I will be thankful for the notes I do have and the blog entries like this one. Plus, I have a pretty ridiculous amount of notes for each girl's first year. The years just keep flying by....