Henley is 2!

Well, I am finally getting around to writing about Henley’s second birthday. Somehow I have found myself committed to too many things and not enough time to do it al

October 2nd Henley turned two years old. I can hardly believe how quickly the time has flown by. It seems like just yesterday she was a baby. Wow, how times have changed. Lets see...Henley has turned into a mirror image of her momma! I am not talking about physically, but personality. Brian and I thought this was a good thing in the beginning because I am more laid back and relaxed than he has ever been. However, over the past months are sweet baby girl has turned into a tyrant! The attitude comes out on a regular basis and the tantrums are more often than not! Not that her momma throws tantrums, but I can be a little stubborn and hard headed sometimes. I always tease Brian that she has the Banta temper because his is so very short and quick to appear. His patience is lacking to say the least too. Henley has not patience, which is expected at the age of two. She is in that fun stage where she can not always communicate what she wants and gets really mad at you for not understanding. The temper and attitude is however, inherited and from both sides! This makes for a BIG problem and something that is going to be real fun to deal with during puberty! Brian often tells me how the two of us will kill each other when she gets older because our personalities are so similar. When Henley does not get her way, this is what follows. First, throw herself onto the floor, than some crying, a quick look to see if anyone is paying attention and then than some kicking to add some flare! Generally, if we are home I just walk off from her, but if we are in public it is a little more of a disaster! I have definitely succumb to bribery a few times just to shut her up. I hate rewarding that behavior, but sometimes you do what you got to do! Lately, she has started resorting to slapping, hitting and my favorite...spitting! I tell you that this child has been swatted so many times in the past month that I lost count. STUBBORN! I sometimes wonder how something so sweet can turn into such a monster at a moments notice? I never remember Christian acting this bad...Ever! Never the less we are figuring out what works best to tame our tiger and thinking the whole time... is this Karma? Our Miss Serious is turning into Miss Attitude. The drama the happens on a daily basis is either her trying to work us over or she is just that sensitive?

In the same sentence, I can only tell you how sweet Henley can be too. She tells you, I love you and gives out kisses to select few. She is a Daddy’s girl through and through. When Brian comes home you would think the king just walked through the door. Brian is loved by his little girl no doubt. When he leaves to go out of town or leaves at all when she is taking a nap, she just cries and cries for her daddy. There have been times when I can not even get her out of her crib because she wants her daddy. It is very sweet. I am the one who gets all the abuse from her daily! :) When bedtime nears she wants to get on the couch and “snuggle”. That is the term we use to cuddle. Every time we tell her it is bedtime she says, “ no, snuggle!” I think it is just to pull at out heartstrings because that is her way of getting a little more time awake...and it usually works! The affectionate side of her does not come out very often, so we take it when we can.

Henley idolizes her brother. He is her ultimate hero and does whatever he is doing. The one girl thing that she is into are baby dolls. Her collection is steadily growing and she loves them all! However, if she is not holding a baby, she is playing with cars, transformers and of course spiderman! She dresses like a girl, but plays like a boy. We know that one day she will 100% be able to hold her own with any boy that comes around. In fact, the only kids she plays with on a regular basis are boys and most the kids in her class at school are boys! Hope there is no gender confusion...she already thinks she has a penis!

All in all we are so blessed to have such a beautiful sweet little girl. We love her from the little curls on the top of her head to her stinky little toes (which by the way are very stinky). We look forward to many years of fun with our family. Hopefully, with her love of babies she will be a great big sister! Here is to keeping my fingers crossed! After all, she still is a momma’s girl.


Henley’s birthday was a lot of fun. My in-laws came into town as well as my sister for the monumentous occaison of Henley turning 2! It was so special having them here and they each got to spend some one on one time with her. Henley went with her Nene and Poppy to Toys R Us to pick out her gift and had so much fun. My sister and I took her to the Zoo on her actual Birthday and we had a great time. The Merry Go Round was scary at first, but once we got her on it she did not want to come off. We even ran into Nene, Poppy, Bennett and Preston at the zoo. The train and the kangaroo’s were her favorite.

The Sunday after her birthday we had a family celebration with dinner, cake and ice cream. We had a few close friends come by too, to help celebrate. I made her cake this year and there was no rhyme or reason to the design. I just did not want a train, tractor or transformer! All the boy things she likes to play with. They did not have a baby doll design and I thought a barbie was to old for her. So, she had a pink ladybug. We had a great time with family and friends. Thank you to everyone who helped make her birthday special. Happy Birthday to our big girl! We love you!