Keeping Up With Sydney: Jan. & Feb. Picture Overload!!

OK, so I am done procrastinating all of this!! I am going to try and catch everyone up in this one post!! So much has happened in the last two months!! I think the biggest change is that our sweet Sydney started preschool!!! I wasn't intending on starting her until the fall. We were just going to tour some preschools that I heard good things about and decide from there. Well, the moment I saw Sydney's face and how she just lit up like I have never seen before, I knew that she belonged in preschool. She is just so darn smart both intellectually and socially - she needs more interaction than I am able to give her alone. So, they had one opening left at the school we loved so we signed her up! The day we stopped by to get paperwork, the office assistant took Sydney into the classroom to introduce her to her new teachers and classmates. She took to them all right away. Her little friend Caden (our neighbor) is also in her class. We were only there to get paperwork and she was suppose to start the following week. Well, she was so excited to be there that the teachers said she could stay for the rest of class - a whole 1.5 hours! I wasn't expecting this at all. Sydney bagged me to stay! They took my phone number and said, "Go, we have it handled. She'll be just fine." I gave Sydney and kiss and left the classroom. I felt very strange...got into my car, drove a mile down the road to a strip mall, parked the car and thought, "I better call Greg and let him know what's going on." So, I called Greg, told him excited Sydney was in her new classroom, playing with the kids and working on art, and how her fact lit up with pure joy and....well, I started crying!! Yep! I sat in my car and cried - wasn't expecting that! I was so happy for my daughter and so excited for her new adventure BUT, I also felt this unexpected, overwhelming sadness...my only child is growing up into a beautiful big girl!

When I picked Sydney up from her classroom that day, she seemed bigger to me. She has now been in her school for a month - and as I am sure you can guess, she absolutely loves it! She goes on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the afternoon. At first I thought I would be getting all kinds of things done during that 2.5 hours BUT you would be surprised at how fast that 2.5 hours goes by! We have already signed her up for next year when she will be going 4 days a week!!

Enjoy the pictures...

In January, I took Sydney to an indoor aquarium we have here in Phoenix. It's nice but not very big. We went on a weekday when there was hardly anyone there but us!!

Here she is looking at some fish.

More fish

Here she is a little nervous because that is a shark tank behind her!!

We thought this fish was funny!

YIKES!

Bull sharks!!

Sharks!!

This was so cool - a glass tunnel to walk through with the sharks swimming all around us. Sydney was pretty nervous going through here also!!

Sydney being silly!!

Sydney loves to dress up now. She always wants to have jewelry on and bright, colorful clothes! She will often disappear into her bedroom and reappear with some very interesting outfits on!!

1st day of Preschool!! She was sooooooo excited!! She kept saying it over and over!!

She has her cute little backpack on but you can't really see it - so cute!!

Her classroom!!! She ran right in when they opened the door without even saying goodbye to me!! I had to run in after her and bring her back out so I could get a picture and kiss:)

This was taken right after her 1st day of Preschool!! She was so excited to tell me all about her day!! This was her 1st art project!!

Sydney and I were really bored one day at the beginning of Jan. So I took her outside on an adventure and we collected leaves - we then came home and made this project to preserve them. It was lots of fun:)

Sydney had her 1st sleepover and Nana & Paps!! This was a big deal for all of us!! She packed 4 bags!! She would have kept going but I had to finally put an end to it! She wasn't even going to be there for 24 hours!! At one point, she came down the stairs and had her all of her clothes from her bottom drawer in her arms, wanting me to put them in a bag!! It was very cute and it was a successful 1st sleepover!!

This is a diaper cake I made last week for a baby shower. Not bad for my 1st time! They are actually fun to make!!

I took Sydney to North Mountain today and let her walk up all by herself (holding my hand of course)!! This is the same mountain that I used to push her up in the jogging stroller all the time! She did so good!! I brought bread with to feed the little squirrels at the top.