Summer Sun and Apple Cores

We've all had colds this month but kept up our spirits with lots of fun outdoors in the last of the summer heat! Hailey is bundles of fun with a very adventurous spirit. She's climbing and learning new words just about every other day now. Some of her recent ones are uh-oh, moth, hi, moon, bike, eye... Dada and mama are getting some more specific use now which feels wonderful! It's so fun to see her learn new things, she is unbelievable! We've done our regular weekly zoo visits, splashed in the water play areas at a lakeside park, played with friends, had tennis matches in the parking lot with her little neighbours, started a fun obstacle/singing and play group called Riddle Rhythmics, biked to Canberra's 100th bday party at the lake. Saturday we had a fantastic day together at the new arboretum. It is huge with 100 forests planted in different species, a great visitor centre with an amazing bonsai collection, water-wise garden and big grassy amphitheater that Hailey ran up and down without breaking a sweat! They are building an incredible playspace with giant pods with slides and tunnels and nets to play in that will be so much fun when it opens in April. Canberra has been a great city to have a little one in. It isn't fast paced and there are lots of wide open spaces and free things for kids to do. Lots of not free things too, but plenty to keep a busy little Hurricane Hailey happy and smiling her gorgeous smile, which just melts my heart every time. She is one happy, goofy little wonder.

I have been so grateful that I've been fortunate enough to stay home with Hailey while she's little and growing. It really does fly by like everyone says and although it's still a ways off, I can see how the time for her to go to school will only come too quickly. I'm grateful for every moment I get to have with her. For every time she reaches out for my finger to help her down the stairs, or to guide me along on one of her adventures. For every little humming song she sings while she is engrossed in something as amazing as filling up the dryer with objects and taking them out again. For the sweet way she hops in her daddy's lap and looks like she's sitting on top of the world. For each little curl on her head, for her little hee-haw sound she loves to make lately.  For the way she joins in laughing with strangers and says hi to everyone in the grocery store. For hugs and cuddles whether with tears or giggles. Even for steam rollers over my head in bed when she's too amped up to sleep yet. Oh Hailey.... I love you!

We were at the park one day and I was eating an apple and remembering how my dad would always eat apples right down the the seeds- not wasting a bit. Maybe it is just one of those fun things that makes him my dad, but it also taught me about not wasting and appreciating what you have. As we played in the park I wondered what things Hailey will remember. The memories from my childhood that really stand out aren't always from big events, but from some of the more mundane days playing in our yard or going out to dinner with the family or stopping by the ice cream stand on the way to piano lessons. I hope she has plenty of magical experiences to draw from as she grows up. And I hope I can give her a few apple cores of my own.