Dear Hayley

July 10,2008

Dear Hayley,

My dearest little girl (you are no longer a little baby), it feels like ages since I have written you a love note. You keep us running, all the time. You are about twenty months old right now and we have to stop and remind ourselves that you are ONLY twenty months old. Some days you seem much older, and you are definitely doing many things that surprise us for your age.

You speak with such clarity it amazes us. We understand you completely most of the time, and you can repeat us most of the time no matter what word we say. We call you "helper, helper" and sometimes you call yourself helper out of the blue. Yes, you are definitely a helper. You love to help Mommy unload the dishwasher and you follow Dada around like you sre stuck to him. You love to help him water the flowers, tinker with tools, anything he will let you get your hands on.

The other day you climbed out of the crib for the first time and although we knew it was long overdue it still surprised me. You just looked so proud of yourself as I found you standing in the hallway that I couldn't help but smile and a little tear came to my eyes as I knew that this was but the beginning of your independence.

You really are such a happy child and we are so very blessed to have you in our lives. I will say, we sure wish you would sleep a little more. It seems our ten and a half hour nights have been whittled down to about eight and a half hours and since you have a baby brother or sister on the way that is definitely hard on Mommy.

Speaking of brother or sister, you are so cute about the baby in Mommy's tummy. I know how hard it will be to share but I also know how happy one day you will be that you have someone to go to for advice and comfort besides Mommy and Daddy.

We love you our sweet little girl!

Love, Mommy