Isn't she something . . . .

Here's Hayley (age 3) riding a horse in St. Maarten and loving it.

A very happy 2 1/2 year-old Hayley and Dad going swimming in St. Maarten.

At 3 1/2, another happy horse ride for Hayley in St. Maarten.

Here's almost 4-year-old Hayley, Dad, and Ryan (1 1/2) watching sea life down below the dock at a local restaurant in St. Maarten.

Here's Hayley at age 5 enjoying herself at the Alice in Wonderland statue in Central Park in NYC.

With the Little Rooster's 6th birthday approaching, I thought I'd do a little reminiscing of her life and pay tribute to such a darling daughter. Shortly after we brought the angelic Rooster home from the hospital, she started crying all night long, aka Colic. Scott cannot remember much from that era in our lives due to sleep deprivation --it's all a foggy dream for him. He does remember the 2 and 3 a.m. drives in the car to lull Hayley to sleep. He remembers placing her in her bouncer on the kitchen table right in front of our fish tank where she would watch the fish intensely. He remembers propping her up on his lap in an upright position to feed her her beloved bottles of formula. We both remember placing her on the floor close to the television at bedtime to watch "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (original cartoon version, of course). She loved it -- all the sounds and vivid colors. And miraculously she'd fall asleep after watching it only 3 to 4 times a night. We remember the Aunt Chick coming over after work very late (many a time) and take turns with us jogging her legs back and forth to help her feel better. The crying would stop as long as those legs were working hard. If we stopped to take a break, the little girl's hollers would resume. I remember putting her in her baby swing at night and she would sleep for 3 to 4 hours as long as it swung on high.

The Little Rooster was a beautiful baby and had a mind of her own from the start. She has always known what she wants and is persistent on obtaining it. To be content as a baby, she always had to be in an upright position. I remember her working so hard to hold her neck up with such determination. Then one day she could do it. On to the next thing . . . . When she learned to walk at 8 months, she decided the stroller was no longer necessary. She could walk, she could run, and nothing was going to stop her -- not even me. We went to the mall a lot when she started walking. She loved the mall and ran through it like there's no tomorrow. She never tired.

She absolutely loved her cat sisters, Willamina and Lucy, and did everything in her power to keep them by her side, no matter the consequence. At this point, the cats decided they had more freedom outdoors and thus ended the "indoor cats only" extravaganza.

Everywhere we went, people adored this exquisite little girl. Her big blue eyes and dark curly hair were a magnificent combo.

Another interesting thing about Hayley is that she was passionate about her pacifiers. We had more "Uh-ohs" in the house than anything else, underneath the bed, behind the couches, amongst books and her toys, etc. More times than not you could find Scott and me searching our house upside to find these little "life savers" (and they truly did save us more than a few times). Then you'd hear one of us say, "Got it!" from the other room. When I introduced Hayley to her new training potty at about 17 months, I put it in her room with the other toys. She examined it and thought it over and decided this would be a perfect hiding spot for her collection of "Uh-ohs". And that is where she kept them for a few months to be exact. It was hilarious because there were probably a good 10 of them in there and she knew exactly where to go when she wanted one.

We love our Little Rooster and her enthusiasm for life!!!