Fun Summer Days!

Yesterday was a fun family day. Jordan came over to watch the USA soccer game with "Daddy" while I ran some errands and Sydney slept. After her nap, we all headed out to the pool and played in the water for the rest of the afternoon. It was a beautiful day! Sydney is getting very brave in the water and actually jumped in few times (while wearing her floaties of course!).

Today was also a sweet day. Sydney and I were on our own as Daddy went to work. We ran some errands in the morning and then after nap time we went out to the pool again. I got in a great leg workout in the pool as I played with Sydney!! We then came inside, took a shower and had a snack. After snack time, we make homemade peanut butter and oatmeal cookies together. Sydney seemed to enjoy the clean up process more as I pulled a chair up to the sink and let her play in the water! Let's just say that the entire sink area got washed!!

The cookies turned out fabulous!!

Sydney's Bathroom

Oofta, today is a hot one!! Greg just took Sydney out to the pool so I thought I'd jot down a few notes before making dinner. I finally got around to finishing Sydney's bathroom. Oh my gosh, it really turned out cute if I may say so myself!! I painted it the same color as her room. It took me forever to find just the right shower curtain and accessories. Man those things are expensive!! We were at Target the other day and I happened to come across a very cute shower curtain and rings and towel set and they were on sale!! I never would have chosen them otherwise but once I got home and got it all up, it looked really cute. Sydney was napping when I put it all up. After her nap I told her I had a surprise for her and she followed me into the bathroom. When she saw everything up and saw all of her toys in the room and I said that this was "Sydney's bathroom", she was sooooooo excited. She climbed into the tub herself and took it all in and then started jumping up and down and saying, "I love it, I love it, I love it" over and over. I was so full of joy to see that I made her so happy!! She was so excited to take her first bath in "Sydney's bathroom" that I didn't have to drag her up there like usual before bed. I will try and get a picture up to share with you all.

Sydney announced to me today at lunch time that she was going to climb into her high chair all by herself today. I said, "OK, go for it. This should be interesting to see." That little stinker climbed her way up into the chair all by herself!! I couldn't believe it! She is growing up so fast!! I hope she doesn't try climbing out of her crib anytime soon. I am not ready for that transition yet. She needs to at least wait until after the Minnesota trip!!

Well, I better get downstairs and tend to dinner. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Father's Day 2009

Daddy had a nice Father's Day. He woke up to Sydney and I giving him his Father's Day cards and gifts. Sydney painted him a card and we had a T-Shirt made for him that read "I (heart) Projects". Anyone who knows Greg, knows how much he hates to spend time on projects - it's kind of a joke in our house. Daddy then went and played golf with a friend. Later that day, Daddy, Mommy, JoJo and Sydney went out to dinner. Below is a picture taken at dinner. Of course, Sydney has her Popeye face going - wonder how long of a phase this is going to be!

Sydney couldn't get enough of JoJo. She gave him several hugs during dinner.

This is a picture of our first "refrigerator art" in which Sydney painted this morning. I LOVE to look at it!!!

Matching Piggytoes!

Sydney was soooo excited last night. After I finished painting my toenails pink, I painted hers. She kept running around with her head down looking at her toes saying, "Pink piggytoes, pink piggytoes!" She kept putting her feet next to mine so she could see that they matched. It was so cute. And then this morning when Daddy went into her room to get her from her crib I heard her say, "Wook at my piggytoes Daddy!!" So cute!!!!

Pictures - 22 Months

Yesterday, Sydney had lots of fun. We started yet another play group/activity for her so she can continue to practice her social skills. It's called Tots Town. It's held at a local church 2 times a week. They convert their gym into a children's town with lots of fun toys and interactive stations to play at. Sydney loves it!!

Today, we had a play date at the splash park with our Tramonto group. We both really enjoyed ourselves. I am trying to keep her as busy as I can and trying to provide her with as many age appropriate activities as I can to help her learn the appropriate skills necessary to grow mentally and developmentally. It definitely seems to be working!

Sydney is doing really well at the gym daycare now. She never wants to leave when I pick her up. She LOVES to play with the Home Depot work stand with all of the tools.

Below are some pictures from the last two weeks. Enjoy...

Sydney and JoJo spending some quality time together.

I think Uncle Mike or "Michael" as Sydney calls him, would do just about anything she asked of him. I am not quite sure what they were doing under the pool table but I just knew I had to capture the moment.

The rest of these pictures are taken at the splash pad at Desert Ridge Marketplace right by our house. She loves to go to this place and play in the water.

The "Popeye" face!!! She still does this every time we say "Smile". It's soooo funny!

I just love to look at her backside. All of her little rolly-pollies!!! I just want to squeeze them!!

Whew, what a whirlwind of a weekend...

On Sat., Jordan came over to spend some time with us (he is home for summer break). It is so awesome and rewarding to see Jordan and Sydney play together. She does not sit still for one second when he is around! All of us then went to our neighbors for tacos and cocktails - lots of fun!

On Sun., we had Aunt Peggy, Uncle Mike, Brian & Annie, Todd, Mary and their kids over for Greg's famous sauce and meatballs. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, especially Sydney. She was in complete joy because her favorite person in the whole wide world was there, "Michael!" She said his name over and over the entire time and was at his side or on his lap almost the entire time. She LOVES him so much. In fact, in the middle of the night she cried out his name!! She also spent a lot of time with Aunt Peggy whom took her swimming! I was very thankful to have everyone there...Sydney is going through this phase lately where she wants very little to do with me when anyone else is around. I know its very normal but its so hard to be pushed away!! I hope Sydney and I have a relationship like my Mother and I did. I really didn't push my Mother away as I got older. Although, I went to daycare all day and didn't get to spend so much time with her.

We are definitely in the "terrible two's" stage! The temper tantrums have hit a whole new level of drama! She is definitely living up to the "Leo" characteristics! Although it can be quite frustrating when she is having a temper tantrum, it's hilarious when she decides she is done. She will be in a full blown tantrum, ranting and raving on the floor and in a blink of an eye she will stop, look up at us and announce very calmly, "I feel better now" and then move on as if nothing ever happened!!! All I can do at that point is just laugh.

Some other things she says now:
"It's okay Mommy" She says this if she thinks I am hurt or if I sneeze!
"Are you okay Mommy"
"I'll kiss it better"
She is constantly asking where "Michael" is
Seriously, at this point, you name it - she says it!!

Last night was very cute. We were getting her ready for bed. I went to give her a kiss as Daddy was holding her and was going to put her to bed. Sydney pushed me away and didn't want me to kiss her. She must of saw that I was sad because after I walked out of the room she started crying out for me. I went back in to her room and she put her arms out to me. We rocked and sang songs together. My favorite is when she sings "Rock a bye Baby" with me. Very cute!

She still doesn't usually sleep a full night without screaming out. Again though, she isn't usually awake when she screams out so we don't usually go in to her room. It would be nice though to get a full nights rest!!

No big plans for Father's Day yet. Jordan's club soccer team is at regionals right now in California and are doing very well. They have a good chance of winning which means they will be playing soccer over the weekend. Greg may end up going to watch the games. If so, he will not be home on Father's Day.

This and that...

Sydney's runny nose from Friday didn't amount to much, thank goodness!! It may still be just allergies - we both have had them for some time now! Our little silly girl continues to crack me up everyday. She says the most funniest things at the most unexpected times. As I was getting her ready for bed last night, I asked her "What are you going to dream about tonight?" Her response, "Ummm, Nana and Pap." Most 22 month olds wouldn't even understand the question!! She still continues to ask for "Micheal" her (very young:)) great-uncle. One day last weekend, I left Sydney home with Daddy while I went shopping. When I came home, before she even saw it was me, I could hear her running to the door yelling, "It's Micheal" over and over! She was a little disappointed when she saw it was only Mommy!!

Even though we have not been to Nana and Paps condo since April (they left to go back to Minnesota for the summer) she still remembers where to turn off to go to their house!! Remember, she is only 22 months old! We were getting off the freeway to go to Walmart last week and when I took a right off of the freeway she got mad and pointed towards the direction of Nana and Pap's condo and said, "I want to go that way to Nana and Paps". Poor thing was very disappointed when we pulled into the Walmart parking lot!!

Other things she says that crack me up...
"I have an idea" and she puts her finger up to her chin!
"I love it" when she eats something really good!
"Let's go to the library"

Some of her favorite things to do are to play with shoes, buckles, and dressing herself (at least that's what she thinks she is doing)!

And some things she says that we are working on changing:
"Go away"
"Leave me alone"

I used to say "Everyday is a new adventure with Sydney." But now I think it's more appropriate to say, "Every minute that Sydney is awake is a new adventure!"

I am just a facilitator in Sydney's world!!

Well, we didn't make it to the National Doughnut day event today. It got cancelled at the last minute. I guess it was for the best though because Sydney woke up with a runny nose and it proceeded to get worse throughout the day. We kept it very low key, drank lots of liquids and went through a box of tissues!! Her spirits are still high so hopefully this will all pass quickly.
I can always tell when she isn't feeling well because she doesn't have much of an appetite and she doesn't sleep well. Nap time didn't go to well and...ooppps..I put her to bed an hour ago and she is already crying. Could be a long night tonight...

A Funny Moment...

So Sydney and I were just kind of hanging out this morning waiting for her to have her daily "poo-poo" so we could go and do something. She's usually pretty regular!! This is how the conversation went:

Mommy: "Sweetie, do you need to go "poo-poo"?

Sydney: "I think so."

Mommy: "Do you want me to get your potty?"

Sydney: "Yes."

(Mommy gets potty and Sydney sits on it)

After a few minutes...

Mommy: "Do you still have to go "poo-poo?"

Sydney: "I think so."

Mommy: Did you go "poo-poo?"

Sydney: "I think so."

She finally got bored from sitting on the toilet and never did go "poo-poo" until later in the afternoon! What a little stinker (no pun intended)!!!

Fun Day for Sweetie

Sydney had such a fun day today and I was so proud to be her Mommy!!! We started out by going to a birthday party for a little boy from our Desert Ridge Playgroup. He turned 3 today. There were 4 other kids there and for the first time, Sydney initiated play with each one of them and wasn't so shy. It was so cute to watch. She went up to most of the kids and said, "I'm Sydney, how are you?" It was so cute and so unexpected as I didn't even ask her to introduce herself AND it was the first time I have ever heard her introduce herself by her name!!! The other Moms were astounded by her articulation as she spoke. She played and sang Happy Birthday and ate cake...all her favorites.

After the party, she took a long nap! After a snack, we went to the gym. We usually only go to the gym in the mornings, so this was a change for Sydney. We were very pleased when we saw that Miss Reyna was working and for the first time since the biting incident, Sydney didn't cling to me when we got there. Instead, she started playing almost immediately. After my workout, I went to pick her up and watched her play. She was interacting with some other boys her age and having a blast. We ended up staying for almost a half hour so she could continue playing and socializing. During this time, Miss Reyna talked about how much she loves Sydney and how smart she is. Miss Reyna then said that she babysits on weekend nights for a few of the families who attend daycare and that she would be happy to babysit Sydney if Greg and I ever wanted to go out and have some fun together. I thought that was very sweet!

We didn't get home until late from the gym and from the store. I quickly fed Sydney her dinner and cleaned her up. When I picked her up out of her highchair, she grabbed on tightly and hugged me and said, "Mommy, I want to go night-night!" Poor thing was exhausted!

Today I saw my daughter reach a major milestone...she has gained enough self-confidence to interact with the outside world without me initiating it first. She knew exactly how to introduce herself to others and how to initiate and share during play. Some people might overlook such an accomplishment by a 22 month old child...not me. As I tucked my Sweetie into bed tonight I told her how proud I was of her. She's my baby and will ALWAYS be my baby no matter how old she gets!!!

Jump...well almost!

Sydney's newest focus is learning how to master jumping. It's sooooo funny!! We got it on video on Sunday and hopefully we will get it on the blog. I just can't even begin to describe how funny and cute it is to watch her bend her knees, focus really hard, smile and then make her jumping attempt and laugh with us afterwards. OMG, I am sitting here at work laughing even as I write this! The little things we take for granted...