The 'Sticky Phase'!

There are many phases of physical, emotional, and behavioral development. Now that Sydney is now one year old, we could probably assign some scientific term identifying her place in this world. I however, would like to use a much more practical approach and simply call this time in her life the 'sticky phase.' Honestly, if it's not food or milk or water, it's snot or drool or slobber. Sometimes it's even poop or pee. Regardless, there is a never ending supply of stickiness that a child can offer. No matter how much you clean hands, wipe noses, scrub surfaces...stickiness is the name of the game.

When Sydney eats, there is typically a radius of food around her. When she was younger, the radius tended to be smaller. But now that she is older, bigger, and more fascinated with the activities of throwing food, the radius has gotten bigger.

Although you would guess meal time already can get messy, it really expands into other activities, and certainly other parts of the house. Some of the stickiness has increased proportionately with her mobility. It's not uncommon to find sticky spots or items (most likely food) in the most unusual places. Sometimes it leaves you saying..."what in the world is that???" And sometimes you ask it in your mind, but you truly don't want to know the real answer.

In other news, Grandma Gloria was able to watch Sydney so that her mom and dad could escape for a little time. While it was great to get away and enjoy dinner, that was the most energy that could be mustered. Unfortunately, dinner was the climax of the evening, and the rest of the evening found her parents in bed by 9:00pm.

In other Sydney news, she has continued to labor on her spoon work coordination. She hopes to display dexterity that rivals any advanced 1 year old. Sydney also has been working on recognizing different parts of the body. When she's asked, she'll point at her nose, eyes, or ear. It's pretty exciting to see her learn some thing sooo quickly!!!

The Human Body

Last Saturday Sydney attended the Bodies Exhibit in Seattle with her parents, Grandpa Don, and Jackie. Sydney was fascinated to learn about the human body, and to see what truly is beyond skin deep. As perfect of a specimen as her father is, she enjoyed seeing internal organs, bones, muslces, the circulatory system, central nervous system, and many other fascinating parts from other specimens.

The trip greatly helped Sydney's awareness of the human body and her understanding of how she interacts with other humans. Sydney has now become aware of what muscles look like on the inside. She has often seen her dad show her 'this way to the beach'...and also the 'gun show.' While her dad's rippling muscles demonstrate obvious fire power, she hopes her own pipes will someday become more developed. One particular case in the exhibit showed three different bones that constitute the ear. This helped Sydney become aware of the particular bones that rattle in her parents heads when she cries or screams at home. She also liked learning about internal organs. She was happy to learn where the spleen is located and what it looks like. This has personal meaning for her, since this is often her preferred organ to kick at night when she is lucky enough to enjoy some time in her mom and dad's bed (note to reader: usually it is her dad's spleen while he is sleeping on four inches of remaining bed).

In other news, Sydney has found a way to get her groove on. With the right mood, beat, and encouranging and fantastic dancing display of her parents, she will start to boogie and move her little bootie. It was pretty fun to witness and participate in this.

Lastly, we attended our Baby Class Reunion today (Saturday). This was another great gathering, and all the babies have passed their first birthday. They grow soooo quick (single tear drop), and they are almost becoming toddlers. It was great to see the new talking, walking, or other skills they chose to display. Needless to say, all of the babies are doing great. That is no surprise since all of their parents are doing such a great job. We will post some pictures with an update in our next post.

Brave Rebecca Brethauer, our favorite local photographer who has taken all of Sydney's professionally taken pictures, will most likely have some pictures up on her site first. You can find all of her amazing work at http://www.rebeccabphotography.com/. Thank you for helping to capture this event, Rebecca, and I hope you enjoyed it too!

Have a great weekend!!!

Tat

So, Sydney expressed her interest in getting 'inked'. She felt that a tattoo was appropriate given her current age and love of life...and wanted to express herself through an image that demonstrated her current interests in life. While I conveyed my support regarding her current love of 'binkies,' I also shared concerns that she might be disappointed with a tattoo symbolizing that at a later point. She thought my points were valid, but was set on accomplishing her new goal.

Now having reached one-year of age, Sydney felt it was the appropriate time for a tat. Since she had her mind made up, I could only support her and be grateful for the scientific advancement of laser-removal. Although, if she has the same tattoo when she is in her 90's, perhaps it will be stretched to look like some other random object that perhaps she likes at that time. She did ask me to draft an alternative tattoo for her, based on love of the sea (see next picture).

In other news, Sydney continues to enjoy her walking abilities. Even though she has become proficient at walking with shoes on, she can often be seen wearing one shoe while trouncing around holding the other one in her hand. I'm not sure what the motivation is behind this act, but I guess it must be fun? I'll try it at work tomorrow and see if it's fun...or at least if it solicits any reaction from co-workers.

Sydney continues to work on verbal communication. While most of it is still ramblings (she gets that from her momma), she does manage to fit in a few words that are unmistakable. As with her walking, we know when she starts speaking more frequently her skills will take off exponentially.

Last Sunday Sydney got to help Maggie (one of her BFF's) celebrate her big first birthday. She liked the party, and enjoyed reminiscing about her own first birthday that seemed forever ago...or at least a few weeks ago. So, Happy Birthday to Maggie! Sydney also looks forward to the upcoming baby reunion, where she gets to see all of her other friends. Brave Rebecca, our local photographer, will try to tackle taking pictures at the event. All in all, a lot of great events and social time for Sydney and her buds!

See you on the playground!

Last week Sydney had her first experience on ‘the playground’ at daycare. She was all smiles when Karen went to pick her up. She’s enjoying her time on the outside, and has made us believe that we should let her out of her kennel more often at home. Haha, only kidding…you know how much stuff she would get into if we let her out more!

She is getting faster and faster with her walking abilities. If you stomp loudly behind her and act like you are chasing her she’ll try to pick up speed while screaming and laughing the whole time. She’s even decided it’s fun when the roles are reversed and she can try to chase you back. Unfortunately, she reaches a particular threshold where her acceleration exceeds her balance and she topples forward.

Sydney’s dad has also identified new tickle spots on Sydney. The neck is probably a common tickle zone for most people, especially young kids, but Sydney’s neck magically disappears and her head and shoulders create a lock tight formation when she believes you are going to ‘get her.’ She’s right to be on guard, but dad usually takes any opportunity when she is unsuspecting and has inadvertently revealed the target areas. With the right amount of strategic planning and patience, the target zones can be successfully compromised.

We have included more pictures from the holiday season, as we have finally been able to download them. A few pictures show heightened concentration during a 3-D Wii game. I don't know who was winning, but when you look like that who really cares? It was a great time, and we look forward to all of the rematches!!!

Have a great week everybody, and Happy 1st Birthday Maggie!!!

Naughty or Nice???

Well, it appears Sydney made the nice list in her first year. While she was grateful for the abundance of gifts bestowed upon her, she truly appreciated spending time with her family and friends over the holiday season. Since she was only a little over a week old for her first Christmas, she really got to have many of her first holiday experiences this year. She loved all of the lights, festive decorations, and activities. She also learned that Christmas is not just about presents...it's also about turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and apple pie!!! :) Included are a few pictures taken by Sydney's Great Grandpa Pagels. When our computer gets fixed, we'll provide some additional photos from the holiday season.

While Sydney sees Mom and Dad everyday, the holidays were special since she also got to enjoy time with other famliy members she doesn't get to see as often. Sydney had a great time with Nana Donna and was proud to show her walking, babbling, and laughing abilities. She also enjoyed seeing her Uncle Nathan and his family. She wishes the visits could be more frequent and longer, but she enjoys the time that she gets with each of them!

Sydney also had a great New Year. While she didn't quite make it to the drop of the big ball, she did manage to get her celebrating in earlier. She also took a few moments to reflect over the past year, and to also make some resolutions for the New Year. Some of her resolutions are logical choices for her age and development, such as learning to talk, potty training, etc. But she did also mention in passing that another goal she has for 2010 is to learn to make the perfect cappucino for her daddy :)

In other news, Sydney is really turning into a rocket on two legs. She loves to walk around all day, and she often picks up speed when she is being chased or has other motivations. We look forward to sharing more of the holiday pictures, and recent adventures from Sydney, in the next post...so stay tuned!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Next Post...

We just wanted to let you know that we're having some computer issues...which has temporarily prevented us from downloading pictures from our camera. So, we hope to have this resolved in the next few days and have our regular weekly post up shortly thereafter. We have some great Christmas and New Years pictures we're eager to share.

Happy 2010!!!