Lately Hayley’s favorite thing to do is to try to hide and then surprise whoever happens to come along first. Take the photo above for instance. I was folding up some bedding and she knew that. She also knew where the bedding goes – in the linen closet. I was doing this in the living room so she wandered down the hall, then closed the door to her room. I thought she had gone inside. She often closes it if she’s changing her clothes or if she wants to play with something inappropriate for Breanna. I thought nothing of it.

And then I opened the linen closet and nearly peed myself when Hayley shouted “SURPRISE!” from her contorted position on the shelf.

Naturally, I asked her to stay there while I got my camera. Then when she’s a teenager and thinks I am lame, I can show her that once upon a time she thought I was enough fun to scare the crap out of me.

In other Hayley news, today I was thinking about Ikea because I want to get this for Breanna, and for some stupid reason Ikea is the only place that carries it around here. Ikea is a store I hate going to, partly because it’s crowded and a bit of a maze, but also because I always want to pile everything I can onto a palette and bring it all home. When I get an Ikea catalog in the mail, it’s kind of like porn – I horde it and look at it repeatedly, preferably when I’m all alone and can drool openly.

Anyway, despite the fact that I was thinking about Ikea, I didn’t actually mention it out loud. Hayley was playing with my old Sesame Street playset in the middle of the living room floor. She piled Big Bird, Maria, and Cookie Monster into the garbage truck and drove it across the floor and then pulled up next to some blocks. She made Maria get out of the truck and had her announce, “Okay, everyone! We’re at Ikea, let’s go shopping!”

It must be genetic.