Romper Room

This morning I added an extra scoop of protein powder to my usual morning smoothie, dressed Hayley in one of her sweeter, more innocent looking outfits, put a girly pink bow in her hair, and we headed out for another adventure at PlayAway. There were a lot more moms seeking toddler entertaining refuge from the summer heat this week, and our class was packed with about 20 babies. As we walked in the front door, Hayley took one look and nearly lept out of my arms. Unable to contain her, I set her down and "Flash" took off across the room, yelling. "Hurricane Hayley" likes to make an entrance you know, much to her introverted mother's dismay.

Luckily, Hayley seemed a little more interested this week in the group songs. However she was certain to embarass me with her new found desire to steal all things round and being enjoyed by another child. Yes, Hayley has developed a strong fondness of balls. She runs around our house playing soccer now and despite the fact that there must be over 50 different balls at PlayAway Hayley wasn't about to let any other children enjoy the balls. I was mortified as she kept walking off and taking balls out of the hands of the floor ridden crawlers. I chased after her, apologizing to the victims mother and I know they were thinking, "that woman needs to get her child under control." And believe me, I will, just as soon as I can catch her!!

Hayley ran up to two of the 18 month old boys who were playing with a ball. They were bigger than her, but definitely not faster. And intimidated she was not. She snatched the ball right out of Gregory's* hands. (*names have been changed to protect the innocent) He looked at her, yelled "mine," and promptly snatched the ball right back. Hayley stepped back stunned, gave him "the look," and attempted to take the ball back which led to a Hayley and Gregory tug-of-war match. By that time I had reached my little thief and directed her attention elsewhere. I'm pretty sure Hayley would have ended up with that ball had I let the tugging continue. She might be little, but boy is she tough.

All in all, we had a good hour of organized play and arrived home in time for lunch and a few rounds of "Chase Chloe with the biscuit" before naptime. Speaking of biscuits... I'm not sure who enjoys eating them more at this point, Chloe or Hayley... but that's a whole other story!