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!