Hadley's 21-month blog post

 I can't believe that the next time I will write a blog post for Hadley, it will be for her SECOND birthday! Where has the time gone???  These past three months have both shocked and amazed us as we witnessed Hadley grow and change.  She talks so much now and understands so much.  She loves to learn and is so inquisitive (though we haven't quite hit the "why?" phase yet, thank goodness!).  The overriding themes of this stage in her development are definitely independence and inquiry!  I'm constantly floored when she comes up to me and names a letter or talks about something that we haven't really talked about in months - it's like, 'how does she remember this stuff?'  

Riding the Barrel Train at the Frenchville Picnic

Monkeying Around!

She has become such a great communicator, as well! Gone are the days of screaming and whining because we can't understand what she's trying to tell us (though there are still days of screaming and whining for other toddler-related reasons!).  She says so many two syllable words now, including her name, "Haddy Becca Scholl" and "Car-yee" for her sister!  She now calls us Mommy-Mama and Daddy-Dada which I think is so adorable!

Hadley's a great big sister!

Family Hay Ride!

We've got Olympic Fever!

Haddy is 31.5" tall and weighs about 23 pounds.  She is still in size 4 diapers and some 18-month clothes, but she's rapidly closing in on 24 month & 2T exclusively!  I foresee her wearing those sizes for a long time!  Even though she's really a peanut for her age still, she is becoming such a big girl!  She is a great eater now (both in feeding herself and in actual food choices).  She even feeds herself her own yogurt & cereal with milk for her breakfast every morning (though she does need some help slurping up the milk!).  She still sleeps about 10-11 hours every night and naps for 1.5-ish hours every day.

Dancing at the beach house!

Dancing some more! What a silly monkey!

Family Beach Picture 2012

She can identify most shapes (circle, square, rectangle, triangle, oval, star, heart, octagon, & sometimes diamond), many colors (though not as consistently), & over half of her upper-case letters!  And I swear we haven't been sitting down, teaching them to her outright! She just picks up on everything!

 

Hadley has also begun doing some chores around the house!  She really loves to help carry bottles/containers or silverware items to help set the table and she also puts away dirty diapers into the diaper pail & exclaims, "proud!"  One job that she does not really enjoy, however, is putting away her toys - that has run her into many-a time out...the little head-strong girl that she is!

Cruising with Daddy in the Jeep at the OCNJ Park!

Hadley's favorites right now ------
Toys: Tea set, Little People, Disney figurines, kitchen set, Mr. Potato Head
Shows: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse & Sesame Street
Movie: Mary Poppins (I think I've seen this at least 5 times since we introduced it to her a few weeks ago!  It has since been hidden & will only come out on special occasions!) and "School" aka. High School Musical
Foods: yogurt, cereal, cheese, ham, crackers ("crack!" & "goldsh"), sandwiches (egg salad, grilled cheese, chicken salad)
Activities: swimming in the pool & at the beach, playing "Run-Run/Hide & Seek" with Daddy, climbing & hanging on things like a monkey!
Phrase: "Try" - like when we are eating something & she wants to try it - or if she wants us to try & put Carlie in the swing or bouncer or Bumbo!