Margaret Whiting and Johnny Mercer

One of Haley's favorite songs is 'Baby It's Cold Outside.' The arrangement she likes the best (she does NOT like any others) is the one on the Hallmark CD, 'Santa Baby.' It has old timey versions of lots of great songs like Frosty, Jingle Bells, Winter Wonderland, All I Want for Christmas (are my two front teeth), and several others. We are STILL listening to it in the car almost every day. Haley talked about it so much before Christmas that Marynell bought a copy too. I'm hoping we can retire it before spring arrives.

Haley always wants to know the names of individuals who sing songs she listens to. She recognizes songs by Sugarland, Beyonce, Rhianna, Carrie Underwood, etc. She has asked me many times 'Mommy, who sings Baby It's Cold Outside? What's that man's name? What's that ladies name?' I've always told her I don't know, but I'll find the cd case and look one day soon. But I never did.

Today on the way home, we were listening to 'Baby It's Cold Outside.' Haley said 'Mom, that lady's name is Margaret Whiting and the man's name is Johnny Mercer.' I couldn't believe it - I knew Marynell must have looked it up for her. I asked her 'Haley, is the lady's name Margaret White or Margaret Whiting? Haley said 'Her name is Margaret WhitING.' I looked it up at home, and sure enough, she was right.

I called Marynell in the car and she said that she had indeed looked it up for Haley because Haley asked about their names a million times. Now, in addition to telling new people that she meets that 'Baby, It's Cold Outside' is her favorite song, she's also telling them who sings it ;)

Conversations with Haley

Haley can be such an enthusiastic and positive little person. Here are some cute things she has said lately:

Haley watched Marry Poppins with Marynell one day this week. After watching Mary Poppins (magically) clean up the nursery, Haley turned to Marynell and said 'She's very talented!'

We've been working on Haley's big girl room upstairs, and Kevin painted this past weekend. Haley really didn't understand why she couldn't help him paint - she really wanted to paint the walls with him. We went upstairs frequently to check his progress (she just couldn't stand it). When Haley first saw the blue (the color she requested) go up on the wall, she said 'Kevin it's wonderful! You need to put some purple on there, too.'

I called Haley from work today to chat. Some days, she is interested in talking to me, but some days she is just too busy. Today, we had a delightful conversation. She had lots of questions and she was very positive and enthusiastic about what I was doing. She wanted to know if I was at work or at home; I told her I was at work. She said 'Oh, that's fabulous!' She then wanted to know what I was doing at work. I told her I was working on the computer. She then asked what I was doing on the computer. I told her I was working on a project plan. Haley has no idea what this is, but she responded 'That's fantastic!' About thirty seconds later, she asked again 'Mom, what are you doing at work on the computer?' She didn't know what I was talking about, but she still thought it was all fabulous and fantastic ;)

On another note, my big girl has recently dropped Mommy and Mama as her preferred names for me. She is now calling me Mom instead. I do NOT like it. Mom is what an older child or a teenager, NOT a two year old, calls her parent. I'm trying to get her to go back to Mommy, and I'm hoping this is just a phase :(

Baby Gymnastics

I was up late last night with Haley. She was just starting to get a cold, and she woke up sick and crying around 10:30 or 11:00. I got up, took care of her, got her back in bed, and got in bed myself. Traffic cop (as Haley calls baby) started doing some major tumbling after I laid down. These were not just kicks and punches. She was swimming, turning, and/or flipping around. This is probably the most significant movement I've felt from her yet.

Haley and Marynell's Circus Activities

Haley and Marynell have been to 3 circus activities since the circus came to town! Earlier this week, they saw Super Steve the clown at the library. Super Steve did some tricks, including juggling, and he read the kids a story. Marynell said Haley was not afraid of him at all. When it was over, Haley shook his hand and told him 'Thank you for coming!' They tried to go to the animal walk, too, but unfortunately the animals' train was delayed, and the walk was rescheduled.

Today, they went to two events. The first was the elephant eating contest at the Colonial Center. Marynell said that Haley really wanted to pat and ride the elephants! She didn't understand why she couldn't get closer to them. The second event was the circus dog event at the library (can you believe they let dogs in the library?). Haley enjoyed it - it was a very busy afternoon, and she missed her nap. On the way home this evening, she fell asleep in the car (it was around 7:30 PM). It was quite a busy day!

Prenatal Appointment #4

I had my fourth prenatal appointment yesterday - I was right at 22 weeks. Everything went well. We saw the heartbeat and confirmed that baby is, indeed, a girl. We found out at our last visit that we were having a girl, but I wanted to confirm! The doctor said her amnio fluid level was good. He did a few measurements, and she was measuring right at 21 weeks 6 days, which is right where she should be. At my last doctor's appointment, she was measuring a little big. The doctor told me that this was probably because his measurements were a little off (he says he sometimes measures big), but I was still glad to see this time that she appears to be right on! The doctor estimated her current weight at about a pound.

Baby is still head up, feet down.

This was my fourth ultrasound, but this was the first time Kevin was able to make it to an appointment with me and wait long enough to see the ultrasound. He came to the doctor with me for my last appointment, when we were scheduled to find out the sex of the baby. However, the doctor was running over an hour behind and Kevin had to leave for work.

My appointment was early in the morning, and I forgot to drink any caffeine before I went. Baby girl was very still (as she has been for each other ultrasound). I asked the doctor to please confirm that this means I am going to have a very calm, easy going baby, but he was unable to help me out there ;) He did say that he would like to do follow up to find out about newborns that have really loud, shrill, cries. I told him I could give him some information there - baby Haley was a VERY loud new born, and she is still (and always has been) a live wire!

I am logging baby's milestones (first time I felt her move, date we found out she was a girl, etc) on a Google calendar - the link is on the left hand side of the page. When she grows up and has babies of her own, I hope she will enjoy looking at her calendar.

Baby, it's NOT cold outside

It was nearly 80 degrees today. We had so much fun playing outside. Haley rode in her new wagon (which was a Christmas gift from Cicely and Dickie), rode her scooter with Bianka, and played at a nearby park with Bianka as well.

Haley riding her scooter.



Haley and Bianka at the playground.



Haley and Kevin.

Click Play below to see Haley's 2007 slideshow with family and friends.

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