Hannah and Hailey never cease to amaze me.
Hailey is learning new words every day. I do have to admit that her latest word - it sounds like she is saying "die" - is a bit disturbing, especially since it usually seems aimed at Hannah (LOL) but beyond that, she is making great strides. She says the following words: hi, hot, dada, uh-oh, nana (which I think is banana or Hannah), mama, yeah, up, yum, this, that, and thanks. She uses them all in the correct context, except nana and hot (and die, hehe). She also shakes her head no, points to things she wants, rocks her baby dolls, climbs on everything, gives hugs, dances, gives high fives, throws kisses, laughs when Hannah does something funny, claps to songs and when she's proud of herself, waves, throws or rolls a ball to you, follows simple instructions (take that to Daddy, throw the ball to sissy, etc), and does the motions in pat-a-cake. She is a happy, giggly little girl who is always on the move, always curious, and wants nothing more than to do everything her big sister is doing.
Hannah has recently fallen in love with swimming. She liked it last year, but this year, she LOVES it. She has learned to swim with just arm bands on and proudly paddles around, telling herself "kick and dig" over and over again. She also loves to run and jump into the pool without anyone there to catch her. This means her head goes under water which doesn't sound like a big deal unless you have kids and know that kids generally have to learn to like this. I certainly had no idea about this until I had kids. Anyway, beyond her new swimming abilities, she is also becoming very good at drawing, coloring, and writing her own name. She has started to make a few more things than stick figures (her current favorite is a sun) and she is doing much better about trying to color inside the lines. She loves to spell her name over and over again and has me spell different words so she can write them. She knows how to write all the letters (with the occasional reminder of a few harder ones) and can recognize all uppercase and lowercase letters. She also knows the sound that each letter makes, leading us to start trying to teach her to read. She is so close, I know it's only a matter of time. She can sound out each individual letter, but she gets a little lost when you ask her to combine those sounds to make a word. I told Rob that I think one day it will just click and then she'll be off and reading. It's amazing to see her develop into this fun, confident, smart little girl.
Anway, that's my update for now. Back later with summer pictures!
