Let's play catch-up

The whole month of July was amazing! Since we were done with school and work we were lucky enough to have some limbo time to catch up with friends and see family before moving to Pullman.

At Longbeach, Hayley insisted on walking the whole boardwalk taking time to peak over the railings.

We had a great day at the beach playing in the sand and waves. Hayley was so brave just letting the cold waves come up and get her :)

...scampering..

Hayley-isms

It was a busy day, we picked berries this morning with Marie and Ellie, then had a picnic.
Stopped and got ice on the way home. Made a batch of raspberry ice cream, a batch of strawberry/lemon sorbet and two batches of raspberry jam. Then I sorted through the freezer to make room for the new goodies, finding some pierogis to have for dinner.

She likes to share..

handfuls of dirt!

All in one meal

Needless to say, she was pretty excited about her new carseat.

oh yeah, moving in 1 month!
WSU here we come!

Strawberry Head

In the last couple of weeks we had the opportunity to go pick strawberries at Columbia Farms on Sauvie Island. We went on a whim, and got to the farm just in time to pick a flat of berries.
I named this posting Strawberry Head because Hayley would gladly eat strawberries and lot's of 'em for every meal if you let her, she went crazy when she saw all of them and instantly insisted she have some.

We are so lucky that we have been able to visit the Zoo two times in one month, and two different zoos: Point Defiance and the Oregon Zoo. Over Memorial Day weekend we visited my parents for a few days and then Skyler's family for a few days, which is when we went to Point Defiance in Tacoma. Hayley was pretty afraid of the Walrus. She absolutely LOVED the Monkeys. Pretty much begging to be in the cage with them. And at some points in her life thus far, she would have fit right in.

Hayley getting lots of loves and attention from her cute little cousins, Kylee and Ashlyn.

Last week we ventured to Pullman, WA. It was a quick trip, much of the time spent in the car checking out our new surroundings we will call home, next month!

Happy Birthday!

We celebrated Hayley's 1st Birthday with a bash!

Hayley was more into the tissue paper, but that's ok,
her cousins made sure the gifts got opened ;)

It was tricky but we got almost all the kids in one photo,
except Kylee (she escaped moments before!)

Posing for the camera much?

Hayley's first experience with patio dining, at Mother's Bistro!

By one year, she has already made her career choice.

Walk the walk. Talk the talk.

Hayley took her first step, followed by tumbles, at right about 11 months. Even at her young age her strong will pulled her through and is now walking EVERYWHERE!! Still bobbling around, and succumbing to crawling when she gets tired or feels she cant get to wherever she needs to fast enough.Today at church, I took her tights off before they were totally destroyed, and she changed her crawl so her knees don't touch the ground. (Preventing rug burn at this young age!) Thus, her bum is straight in the air, crawling like a little monkey. Pretty funny to watch, I usually just try to help her to stand up the rest of the way.So with progress comes challenges. We're figuring out different ways of baby proofing, moving things and such. It's fascinating to watch Hayley as she learns to express her feelings, frustration, favorites, happiness and curiosity.Some things that make her special:

• The fact that she could and would if it were up to her, survive on grapes alone.

• She'll bring you books to read to her.

• Makes the MM MMM MM sound when she wants my attention while eating.

• She tries to copy us, clapping, waving etc.

• Thinks it's hilarious to jam her thumb up your nose unexpectedly.

• Will take each of the books off the shelf, talk to it for a second and throw it behind her, then turn around and throw them the other way.
• Is fearless and wants to try whatever we're eating.
• Has the most cheerful countenance of any baby or living thing we've ever seen.
  
• Sometimes says "Hi dad" or "hi mom" when we get her in the morning or when we get home from work.
  
• Fascinated by the outdoors, first thing she does is point at the trees waving in the wind.

Happy 1st Birthday Hayley!
April 23, 2009