First Step??? Not Quite Yet...But So Close!!!

It seems almost overnight Sydney has made leaps and bounds in her path toward walking. She has spent the past week pulling herself up on items and giving her balance some extensive practice. She is on to this next skill set, as her crawling has reached it's full velocity (do they make baby speed bumps for the home?).

To aid in the next step, which ironically is in Sydney taking her first step, friends Bryan and Luci were nice enough to lend Sydney a little Radio Flyer wagon that she can push and practice her walking. Really it acts like a baby walker. At first Sydney was skeptical of the contraption and approached with many reservations. Well, that inital trepidation is gone. She now stands up, grabs the handelbar, and is off like a bolt of lighting. I'm sure there will be some signifcant wear in the carpet prior to her first unassisted step. We can only hope the sparks generated from the speed of her accelerations do not cause the carpet to catch on fire.

This new form of mobility has ensured we continue fortifying our defenses in off-limits areas. I am looking into GPS tracking devices that can be placed on the baby, and will let the child know (through electronic digital voice), that she has entered an unauthorized area, and that her compliance with immediate withdrawl is necessary. So far I haven't found anything, but I'll keep looking.

On the food front, Sydney has expanded her menu greatly, and now enjoys many of different offerings when out to dinner with mom and dad. Although she hasn't tackled her first 20 oz. steak yet, she generally tends to get little morsels from both her parents plates.

On the social front, Sydney got to spend some time with Kate and Lily on Friday, both fellow birthing-class classmates. She looks forward to having them over in a few weeks with the rest of the motley crew for a 'Mini Monster Mash' halloween party. Those parties can go late at night and get a little out of hand, but hopefully the Five-O won't be called this time. Last time none of them could comply with the officers request to 'walk in a straight line.' The officer didn't seem to accept the fact they couldn't walk yet as a very good excuse. Perhaps this time, with the aid of the Radio Flyer, she'll stay on the right side of the law!...haha!

As far as other social events, on Sunday Sydney also got to visit with Grandma Gloria, as well as Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Pagels. She got to show off her new talents! Sydney also got her 10 month pictures with Rebecca this weekend. We can't wait to see the pictures...Rebecca does such a great job capturing amazing images. We thought It would be fun, now that Sydney is almost an old 10 months old, to show a picture from when she was in the hospital. She's come a long way!!!

Tip #13: Teething
If your child has begun to sprout teeth, he or she may have a painful and difficult time. To help with the process, there are a number of products available on the market. In fact, if you visit the pet aisle of your local supermarket you can find a variety of rawhide bones and other chew toys that are perfect for such an event. You will also find these aids are available at a much more affordable price.