Yup… that’s me.  On the verge of insanity.

If there is one thing that grates on the my nerves like nothing else, it is whining.  And apparently someone told Hailey that it would drive me absolutely crazy.  So she has decided to go ahead and whine.  Every day, all day long.  And yes, I know I am supposed to ignore the whining and in theory it should stop.  But I can only take so much whining before I want to throw myself on the floor and join in the whining party.  (Which I actually tried doing tonight thinking that it would make Hailey laugh and therefore stop whining.  But it only made the whining worse.)

In Haileys defense- there are several things that are probably causing her whining.  We have been home almost a week from our vacation and we’re finally getting back into our regular routine as far as bed and naptimes. So, it was an adjustment for her.  Plus, while we were on vacation Hailey had someone (grandparents, aunts, uncles) giving her attention at all times.  I can’t do that.  There are some times when I need to cook dinner or go to the bathroom or hide under the bed and it’s easier to do those things when I am not carrying a 28 pound toddler.

I really think the main cause of Hailey’s whining and crankiness is her molars.  I think she is working on getting her two year molars.  She constantly has her hands in her mouth trying to stick them all the way in the back to chew on her fingers.  So, since she is not usually like this I’m guessing the molars are probably the main cause.  Although she has never acted like this with any of her other teeth so I am not entirely sure that is the problem.  Unless the 2 year molars are worse than the others.

Anyhoo, If I am not around answering emails and comments today it is probably because I have completely lost it and am hiding in the bathroom singing softly to myself. 

And yes, I know I’m going to miss these days.  But probably not the whining.

I finally had a few minutes to upload some pictures of our vacation. After we spent a few days at my parents house (and I got to meet Pam) Rich, Hailey, my parents and I packed up the car to head to visit Mike, Matt and Ellie.

We packed just a few things. Actually now that I look at that- most of that stuff was for me, Rich and Hailey. Where is all of my parents stuff?

The car ride was 8 hours, so we made several stops to keep Hailey happy. And she did excellent. There may have been a couple instances of whining but she did so good. This is during one of our stops. Hailey and my dad are watching some trucks go by.

While we were driving Rich saw this van with an AC unit in the back. So we had to slow way down so that I could take pictures of it. Rich thought it was pretty funny.

During our visit we took a nice walk so that Hailey could check out some cows. She had never seen cows in real life so she was pretty excited to check them out.

Later we went on a picnic right next to a duck pond. Hailey loved feeding the ducks with her Aunt Ellie.

We saw this while we were at the duck pond. I have no idea what it is. Does anyone know?

Ellie had saved a big box for Hailey and together they made a house. Check out my Our Crafts ~N~ Things blog to see pictures of them making the house.

Rich and Matt after a game of golf.

We had a great time at a nearby park- Hailey loved all of the special attention she got from her Aunt Ellie!

The fireflies were out all over the place as we were getting ready to leave the park. If you look near the top of left of the picture you can see the firefly that Hailey and “Pa” are looking at.

Even though Mike’s birthday isn’t until August we decided to celebrate it while we were all together. Hailey loved helping Uncle Mike celebrate.

Meet my adorable little nephews- Tuxedo and Penguin. Hailey loved the kitties… as long as they stayed away from her box house.

Hailey helping Uncle Matt play a song on his guitar.

Hailey saying goodbye to Penguin and Tuxedo. She was leaning in to give them hugs but they both got out of the way pretty quickly.

We had a very nice time being with all of my family. Thanks again to Matt and Ellie and to Mike for hosting!

So, I posted about this on my Our Happy Happenings blog a few days ago but I didn’t get much any response.  Next week we are going to be visiting my brothers and my sister-in-law.  The longest Hailey has ever ridden the car has been about 3 hours.  And it is not usually pleasant.  Not one little bit.  The trip next week is going to take at least 8 hours, assuming there is no construction or traffic.  HA!  What are the chances? 

Anyhoo- any advice or ideas for the car ride with a 21 month old would be appreciated very much!  Please and thank you.

There is just no way that I will have a two year old in 3 months. It is just not possible. Will someone please slow this ride down?

Hailey- one year ago at 9 months old

Hailey now at 21 months old

Developmentally- Hailey is right on track.  She is talking a lot, although most of the time I am the only one who can understand what she is saying.  She says 3 and 4 word sentences, knows her body parts, names and sounds of various animals, counts to 2, recognizes several letters and writes the “H” for her name and tries to write a “B” for Brooke’s name.

Physically- Hailey had her well visit on Monday and she is 26 pounds, 10 ounces and is 34 inches tall.  Both of those are right at the 75th percentile.  She got her last immunizations too- she’s done until she is getting ready to go to school.  Yee haw!!  Her shots were pretty hard yesterday- even though it’s been 6 months since her last shots she apparently remembered.  And she fought like crazy.  I had to hold her down and the nurse was amazed by her strength.  So, I am relieved that we are done for a while.

I am loving this age.  I know that during the 18 month update I said that was my favorite stage… but I’ve changed my mind- the stage Hailey is in now is my favorite.  She is soooo much fun.

A few of the fun things she is doing at this age include:

• Being dramatic.  Every morning after Hailey gets dressed she looks at herself in her full length mirror and says, “Ta-da!”
• Some more drama- when the ceiling fan in our kitchen is on Hailey will put her hand on her head and say “My HAIR!  My HAIR!”  And then “My hair, my eyes!”  A couple of weeks ago her bangs were getting long so they were blowing into her eyes, but she has since had them trimmed but she still does this.
• Hailey does a fake cry when she is playing by putting her hands over her mouth and making a funny crying noise.
• We have no idea how this started but when she wants to play a tickle game that Rich does with her, Hailey will yell out “SOUP!”  And then giggle like crazy.
• Hailey had recently become scared of loud noises.  If she hears a loud noise like thunder or a motorcycle she will say “Funder?  Cycle?  Truck?”  And wait for me to tell her which one it is.  Then she says “Okay Mommy?” and waits for my reassurance that she is okay.  I wish that it will always be this easy to calm her fears.
• Back when the lilacs were blooming I showed them to Hailey.  Now she calls all trees and all flowers “Lilacs.”
• Hailey loves to hide on me and when I say “Where is Hailey?”  I hear a little voice answer me and say “She gone.”  Or “She owwwside.”
• When Hailey sees a picture of herself and I ask her who it is she responds “You!”  I guess she has heard me tell her so many times “that’s you” that I have confused her.
• I love how I can carry on a conversation with Hailey now.  I can ask her questions like “What did you and Daddy do downstairs?” and she will tell me “Play Wii”  or “eat emma (M&M’s).”  The conversations are just so much fun.

I could go on and on because I love this age so much but I figured I’d just give you a little glimpse into my life with my 21 month old sweetie.

I couldn’t possibly be having anymore fun than I am during this stage with Hailey.  My only complaint is that it is going by too quickly.