Haylie Snailey

A few weeks ago I did a post about Anna, and figured it's Haylie's turn now. I can't believe I have a 4-year old! She is going to be starting pre-school in 22 days and I'm not sure which of us is more excited. She is sooo ready to get out there and start learning.


Our bedtime routine, for the last couple years, has been to read Haylie some stories then sing some songs (Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, Popcorn Popping, Wheels on the Bus) then she goes to bed. She has always been very good at bedtime - usually not a lot of fuss. So tonight as Eric was pulling out her books, she declared that she is a big girl now, and big girls don't read stories or sing songs. So I asked her, "So, you don't want stories or songs??" and she said "Nope". And she climbed into bed and went to sleep!! Wow!


She loves to play the Wii now - her favorites are MarioKart and Monkeyball. She especially loves when Mommy or Daddy play with her!



I'm pretty sure she is part fish. We just finished a whole month of swimming lessons and she is doing so well! She loves to go underwater and even "dives" for items in the shallow end (with a little help). She jumped off the diving board on the last day of lessons - she has no fear! We don't have a kiddie pool in the yard this year, so we've had to get creative and use the sprinklers a lot - and she loves that too!



She is such a good big sister. Although, now that Anna is getting bigger and more assertive, Haylie is a little more rough with her - but overall, she is really sweet. There are times that she will volunteer to share a treat with Anna without my asking - like the other day with this popsicle:


And the next shot was when Haylie decided she wanted to have a picnic with Anna. Haylie got the blanket and everything:

Here they are making music together - so sweet! Haylie sometimes sits at the piano and says "Mommy, I need to practice" in a very matter-of-fact tone. (I practice a lot these days with my calling as Relief Society pianist!)

Haylie is very expressive and really talks quite a bit (many of you probably do not know that because she is rather shy around anyone but us!) She has entered the lovely "WHY?" phase of life - and I love that she is constantly learning and curious about the world around her. It makes me a little crazy - but I love it.

She is also discovering her artistic side. I did a post a few weeks ago with her artwork - and she is beginning to branch out. Lately, she has been drawing spaceships and ghosts, and her friend even taught her how to make stick figures so her people actually have bodies now! So cute. Oh, and she also likes to cut her pictures out now and tape them to the walls. So if you come to my house and see random pieces of paper taped everywhere, you'll know why!

She loves to get her hands on my camera and take pictures of random things. Pretty much every time I plug it in to the computer, I find something strange. Like today, I found pictures of flowers outside, and of her little stuffed care bear sitting on the couch.

I'm so grateful for Haylie and the sweet spirit she brings to our family. I'm very excited to see what the future has in store for her - but for now - I'm loving watching her learn and grow.