Funny Things

There are lots of funny things happening in our world lately. Here's how Hadley fills her days:

1. Says "no, no, no, no" very earnestly when she doesn't like something. I realized that when I tell her "no," I say it three or four times, too. Proof that even when she pretends not to hear me, she hears me.

2. Puts her finger to her lips and says, "Shhhh," when one of us brings her into our room in the morning. She wakes up early (hello, 6:00 a.m.), and she knows that the other one of us is trying to steal 10 or 15 minutes more sleep.

3. Says "hi-ii" to everyone, especially people she knows. (The first syllable is higher pitched than the second.) It sounds like she's just been reunited with her long-lost best friend.

4. Dances. She bends side to side and raises her shoulders when she hears music. Just lately, she's been wiggling her arms, too. (We went to music class for the first time on Tuesday, and she was the only kid who danced. She wiggled in her own little space outside the circle for five minutes straight.)

5. Kisses through the picture window. When one of us comes home from work, she sees Jason or me pull up outside, thanks to our big picture window. Then she bangs on the glass--as if we're going to forget where to go when we get out of the car. Then, as we get close to the window, she purses her lips and "kisses" us through the window. She doesn't give many real kisses these days--she's far too busy--but we have plenty of lip marks on the glass as reminders of her affection.

6. Prefers to be buried in pillows. Hadley loves to roll around on our bed--it's like watching a dog try to scratch his back on the floor--and she really loves when we toss a pillow over her. She'll lay there, as still as if she's sleeping, for a full minute, just happily covered up by the pillow. (If I take it off, she says, "no, no, no, no.")

7. Loves to play in the dirt. She is quite serious about moving dirt from the garden to a big pot we have standing next to the garden and back again. I finally bought her a couple of shovels this week in hopes of keeping her fingernails a bit cleaner.

8. Pats when she hugs. Her little hands tap, tap, tap, as if she's trying to comfort the recipient. I love it!

9. Says "Emmo?" when she wants to watch her Elmo DVD. She had only seen it two or three times when she started saying "Emmo?" How did she learn that so fast?

10. Sits in her baby armchair with all of her animals. The more stuffed animals tucked in and around her, the better.

11. Loves rocks. (I think she's going to be the kid with the pet rock. Poor thing.)

12. Knows what a lion, dog, lamb and cow say. In Hadley's world, the lion, cow and lamb are very aggressive; she makes their sounds very loudly. (It's particularly funny with the lamb: "Hadley, what does a lamb say?" "BAAAAAAAA!" she yells. Weird lamb.) But with the dog, she whispers "Woof, woof."

13. Loves to brush her teeth. When she's done with her bath at night, she points to her toothbrush on the vanity top and says, "Breef!"

14. Waves bye-bye to Jason when it's time for her to nurse before bed.

15. Loves to empty my wallet. Laughs while she does it. Seems intrigued by the credit cards.

Rinse. Repeat. A bazillion times.