Making the Best of a Sick Day!

We had a quiet day at home today. I wasn't feeling well so we just kind of laid around and watched movies and played. Even Zoey was sick today! We still had some funny moments that I thought I would quick mention before going off to bed.

Sydney has developed a love for broccoli. All I have to do is steam it and she loves it! For dinner tonight she had steamed broccoli, avocado, a very small portion of organic mac n cheese, and some black berries. I love it that she likes to eat healthy foods. She also loves popcorn which she had during movie time today.

We also played our daily pretend game of imitating animals. Today we were kitty cats and dogs. She loves to get down on all fours and make meow and barking sounds. Very cute! And lastly, Sydney has finally figured out how to hold on when I give her piggy back rides - she was very proud of this and insisted that we walk in front of EVERY closet mirror in our house so she could see herself on my back. Sooooo cute!

Well, I just tucked sweetie into bed and it's now time for Mommy to get to bed. Tomorrow is a new day and I just know I will be feeling better so I can have more adventures with my Sweetie!

My Little Helper

"Miss Independent" frequently now says, "I wanna help". So, I have been giving her more and more "chores" to help Mommy out. She now helps me load and unload clothes for the washer and dryer. Of course, she doesn't understand the folding concept yet and it can get quite frustrating when I fold the clothes, put them in the basket and then turn my back for a moment - only to find my folded clothes no longer folded or even in the basket anymore!!! We need to work on that!

She also loves to help "unload" the dishwasher. I let her grab the plastic container and hand them to me to put away. This can be very time consuming!! She also figured out the whole garbage thing too. Yesterday was quite the day because she wanted to throw everything away. I didn't realize she was doing this until I went to throw something away and noticed the calculator and the telephone in the garbage!!!

Yesterday, in order to get a few minutes to clean the kitchen, I took out all of the plastic containers and lids and asked Sydney to "please help Mommy" by putting all of the dishes away. She was so thrilled to be able to do this project all on her own. Needless to say, by the time all was said and done, I had to rinse all of the containers out!!

I thoroughly enjoy teaching Sydney new tasks and watching her practice her new skills; however, the more she learns and practices - the more chores I end up doing!!!! But you know what...I wouldn't change a thing about it!!!

Bye-Bye

Today is a sad day...Nana and Pap left to go back to Minnesota. We will miss them so much. Over the last few months, we were able to spend a lot of time with them and for that I feel truly blessed. Nana and Pap are the only set of grandparents that Sydney has and I feel so grateful that she loves them so much and that they are in our lives. Thank you Nana and Pap for all of the memories over the last few months and we cannot wait to see you all in August!!!

Bye-bye...

Zooogor!!!!

We had a great time at the Desert Ridge Parents Group Spring Fling yesterday afternoon. It was at a park and lots of families and children of all ages showed up. Sydney had a blast!! She spent much of her time running around in the field chasing kites!! She also got to interact with many other children and she got to eat some foods that she has never tried before. It was very cute and fun to watch...

This is Sydney before leaving for the park. She SO does not like to have her picture taken now and will smile right up to the point that you take her picture...then you get this look - cute, huh!!!

But sometimes...I can get adorable pictures like this!!!

We let her have a little brownie at the party - she of course loved it and didn't pull it away from her mouth until she was all done eating it. It was soooo funny!

She also tried lemonade for the first time and loved it. She was so cute drinking from the little dixie cup!

Here she is getting a ride with a little boy in a wagon. They never spoke a word to each other but at one point the little boy reached over to Sydney and lifted her skirt to see what was under it!!! Of course the skirt has shorts sown in to it but it was soooo funny!!

Sydney has a new game that she loves to play. She calls it "Zoogor". Zoogor is a character from the kids move "The Jungle". He is a monkey who pretends to be a monster. The game involves Greg or I hiding and saying in a "scary voice" "ZZZOOOGORRRR" - she then grabs one of our hands and we go look for ZOOGOR. She will play this over and over and over. She just loves it and it's so fun to see her get so involved in it even though she knows it's just me or Daddy!

Well, today is the "Last Supper". Nana. Pap, Aunt Peggy and Uncle Mike are coming over for sauce and then Nana and Pap leave to go back to Minnesota - boo-hoo!!!!!

My Minnie Me

Poor little Sydney now has a scab on the side of her nose, a scratch on the top of her nose, and now her knee is all red and scabbed - same knee she scratched up earlier in the week. I feel like I am constantly putting neosporine on her!! She just gets so excited when she is playing that she is constantly falling down. I hope this doesn't mean she is going to be accident prone like I was growing up!! Not only was I accident prone but I was also a tomboy and loved to go 100% all of the time - no matter what the cost was. Needless to say, my mother frequently had me at the doctor, getting xrays and yes, we had a whole collection of braces - for knees, fingers, ankles, wrists, neck...

Today, we are all going to the Desert Ridge Parenting Group Spring Fling at the park - should be exciting. Daddy even took the day off of work so he could come with us. And then tonight, Daddy & I will have our last date night as Nana & Pap will be leaving to go back to Minnesota on Tuesday. Oh my gosh, I cannot tell you how much we are going to miss them:(

My Little Drama Queen

With our schedule being so crazy lately, Sydney and I have not been going to the gym as often. For awhile there, we were going to the gym/daycare 4-5 days a week. The last month we have only been going about 2-3 times a week. As a result, Sydney is not used to me dropping her off in the Daycare anymore so she has been very clingy and dramatic when I leave her in the daycare. It's funny because she is all excited to go when we are driving there and drags me in by the hand as we walk in but then when she sees everyone she gets shy and grabs me tightly. I will get her involved in an activity and then walk away. She cries and it breaks my heart - but she stops almost immediately and seems to be fine. I usually watch her for a few minutes on the video screen in the gym before I head up to do my workout. It's so sad but it's something I am going to stick with because not only does it benefit me but the socialization is also good for her.

Now that my toe has healed (after the 3rd surgery!!!) and allergies are under control for Sydney, we will be able to resume our gym/daycare schedule and get things back to normal.

Sydney amazed me again last night (as she does several times a day). We finished dinner and were in our quiet time mode before bath, watching Dragon Tails (she loves dragons). It had a very cute story line in regards to the social skill of helping. Midway into the story line, Sydney started talking about what was happening and getting very involved emotionally. She totally understood the the story line of the video and talked about it the whole time during her bath. I am just amazed at 20 months old that she can observe and understand the storyline of a video. That takes a lot of cognitive abilities!!!

She is doing much better with sleeping again. I put her to bed by 7:30pm and she is usually up around 6am - a little early for me but at least she is now sleeping thru the night!!

Ooops, gotta go - sweetie just woke up from her nap!!

Updates

My little "Miss Independent" continues to want to do almost EVERYTHING herself! Especially when it comes to buckling her into her car seat! I have learned a little trick on how to make this event less frustrating for us all...I don't latch the buckle over her chest until we are all situated and ready to go. During this time I let her play around with the chest buckle and at the very end I snap it shut and say, "hooray...you did it all by yourself"!! She gets very pleased with this cheer and we can move on! She also is wanting to pick out and dress herself already!! What am I in for - she is only 20 months old!!!

Sydney continues to be so loving and affectionate - of course I mean when she's not demanding to "I do it myself"!!! She gives us lots of hugs and kisses and says, "I love you" frequently. I LOVE it when she says this - it's a reminder of how special our bond is with her. She is also becoming more affectionate with her stuffed animals and with her new baby that Nana bought her. Speaking of her baby, we got out some of her 0-3 month old clothes and slippers to put on the baby. At first she loved changing the baby and "wrapping" her baby in the blanket. But then she realized that the baby was getting some of our attention and she immediately regressed some. She demanded that Daddy put the onsie on her and wrap her in the blanket and rock her. I really wish I would have gotten it on camera because it was just priceless!! She is definitely a Leo - she demands to be the center of attention! Oh boy!

So much to write - but no time left. My goal is to post on the blog at least 3 times a week. We'll see....