My Polite Little Girl

Where do I even start...Sydney is such an amazing joy to be with everyday. My heart melts EVERY TIME I look at her. Now that she can communicate with us I feel like our bond is getting even stronger. I read this morning on the BabyCenter website that at 14.3 months my baby should be able to say words like Mama, Dada and ball - and some babies might even be able to say up to 20 words but may not really know the meanings of the words or say them at the right times. Well, Sydney's got them all beat! Not only can she say more than 20 words, she can put words together at the right times! And of course, lets not forget that she loves to count to 10 and is already working on her ABC's! I have an example of how she knows what the words mean:

Yesterday, we were at Trader Joe's picking up a few things. I had Sydney in the cart in front of me and this lady looked over at Sydney and said, "Oh my, what a beautiful baby. Oh, and that outfit is so cute!" Sydney looked at her with her little grin and said "Thank yoouu!" The lady's jaw dropped at seeing such a young child say thank you when given a compliment (I was even shocked as she has never said this to a stranger after given a compliment). The lady exclaimed, "Oh my, and she is so polite!" It was all very cute and very unexpected...that's what I love about being with Sydney right now...you just never know what she is going to say!

We got her a Little People farm set and a Rain forest set with tons more animals this week. She LOVES them! You should hear her say "hippo" and "alligator"! It's so much fun watching her work with the animals. It's so good for helping her develop and utilize her imagination. Last night I was pretending to be an airplane (she loves airplanes) and she followed me throughout the whole house as I held my arms out and made airplane sounds. Eventually, she joined in and became an airplane also. It was kind of a surreal moment for me to be involved in this activity with her. We then turned her "bear-bear" into an airplane and she laughed and laughed...it was pure joy!

Tomorrow is Halloween and I am excited for the three of us to go trick or treating - it will be another surreal moment for me. I remember last year on Halloween, Sydney was still so young (remember that picture of her in the pumpkin hat) and I was still so nervous with her. A year later, I feel much more confident in my Mommy skills and look forward to walking down the street with her and Daddy, hand in hand, in her pink fairy costume!! Of course, there will be pictures!

Picture Overload!!!

Two days ago, this is how I found Sydney sleeping during her nap...doesn't it look so comfy!!

This is a new face that she is making when she laughs! She wrinkles her whole face and shows her teeth...it's so cute!

My favorite picture...look at those eyes!

Our pretty fairy princess.

She is clapping for herself because she was able to stand up out of the baby stroller by herself. This is one of those strollers for baby dolls - very small, she barely fits in it!

Here she is in the baby stroller again reading her favorite book!

Her Halloween costume! We had a Halloween playdate later that day.

Evening playdate at the park on Sat. night.

This is from our playdate at the park on Sat night. This little boy she is next to is her buddy Zack who is a part of are weekly playdate. This evening playdate was with a different group of people and Daddy's were there too. She is coloring a pumpkin.

Now she is coloring Zack...

The picture above and the ones below are from our Halloween playdate today. She had a blast. There were so many kids there of all ages plus the kids from our weekly 1-2 year old playgroup.

One final note...Sydney loves giraffes and this little boy (whom I didn't get a picture of) came to the party in a giraffe costume. Sydney was so excited she ran up to the boy and announced that he was a giraffe and then proceeded to stare at him until he took his costume off. It was so cute!!

Pumpkin Patch

Today, we all went to MacDonald Ranch where they have a hayride and a pumpkin patch. I have memories of when I was young in Minnesota, bundling up and going on a hayride and picking out the perfect pumpkin...good times!! Our trip to the ranch was quite different from those Minnesota memories...no bundling up as it was 85 degrees or so but it was still fun and exciting to take Sydney on her first hayride to pick out her first pumpkin.

Sydney was so excited to see the horses, and there were many as this is mostly a horse ranch. The first thing she said when we walked through the gates was "horsy". She was so busy checking everything out and so NOT interested in having her picture taken!! Enjoy the pictures!

Daddy starting her young...

The hay bale maze.

She wasn't too sure about this guy!

The horses behind them were nipping at each other and playing around, it was cute!

Sydney's first pumpkin!

It was soooo hard to get a good picture of her as she wouldn't look at the camera!

This was our hayride. Isn't it cool, huge horses, an old cowboy, a blue sky, dirt ground, and cactus in the background!

They had so many horses but this pony was my favorite!

Daddy's girl! Notice her shoes...she loves these shoes and would wear them nonstop if allowed!

Time goes by so quickly, doesn't it?? I told you all that Sydney started counting last week, well, she continues to get better at it everyday. She has also started working on the ABC's. It just amazes me how many words she knows already. It could be that I just haven't been around kids that much, but to me, it just seems like her vocabulary is extensive for her age. Yesterday we went hiking around 5pm. The moon was full and already up. Sydney pointed up to it numerous times and said "moon". I was surprised since I didn't teach her this word. Greg said he did a day or so ago. She repeats everything so we need to be careful! Here is a partial list of her words she uses already:
Mommy, Daddy, Ziggy, doggy, puppy, tiger, lion, giraffe, babies, play, bear-bear (whom she sleeps with), ubby (Luvy - whom she also sleeps with), eat, drink, up, airplane, bird, hot, Nana, Pap, dipie (diaper), oopsi, icky, "you see that", bye-bye, and I know there is more, I just cannot think of them off the top of my head right now. She also makes a roaring noise with her arms in the air for a tiger and lion. She does "mmmmm" for cow, she makes a bird and monkey noise and she also started imitating a butterfly - its so cute.

We have lots of Halloween play dates and activities coming up which means more pictures!! Gotta go for now. I just put her down for a nap and I need to clean.

More Video

Okay everyone, turn your sound up and listen as Sydney counts to 10!!! I told you she was smart! She will also tell you sounds of animals like a tiger, monkey, cow, etc. She is such a little spong and says SO many words. More to come...

Fun Monday

We had such a fun day today. After her morning nap, Sydney and I went to a play date consisting of 4 kids around her age. It was so much fun for her and so nice for me to be able to visit with other women with children the same age. We will be hosting this playgroup every 4th Monday from here on out - very exciting!

Poor Sydney is just not herself with all of these dang teeth coming in at once. I have had to give her a little Motrin twice over the last three days just to take the edge off for her. It seems to help. Considering the amount of pain she must be in, she is doing very well.

Once again I am going to brag about how smart she is. She can point out eyes, ears, nose, mouth, teeth, piggy toes, and belly button. Also, today as I was unloading the bags of groceries into my car, she counted with me...SERIOUSLY! I pulled out the first bag and said, "one" and then I grabbed the second bag and went to say "two" and before I could say it - she said "two"!! I laughed and thought to myself, it must just be a coincidence. Then I picked up the third bag and she said "tree" (three)!! No kidding!! So, we practiced our numbers and ABC's all the way home. What a sweetie!

Molars!!!

Sydney is getting in her 1st and 2nd molars on the bottom and on the top all at the same time!!! My poor baby!! She got her front teeth in so early and had 8 teeth by 10 months old! Now she is getting all of these molars in at the same time! She has been so fussy - so unlike her! And, it's so hard because she literally wants nothing to do with me when Greg is here. The first molars on the bottom are already in and they are huge! I gave her some frozen peas this afternoon and she loved munching down on them. They must have felt so good on her sore gums. Hopefully tomorrow we will all get some relief!!

Pictures

Sorry it has been so long since I have posted pictures but I misplaced the camera for a week!! Below are some picture from the kid fair we went to last week and the indoor play area from the mall last week. Enjoy...

This of course is when I still had my long hair!!





These are our neighbors





In the above pictures, we are standing by a camel. She was happy and scared at the same time and making the funniest faces and noises!!


How about that hairdo??? She just woke up from a nap!