Hallow's Eve...and other things from the home front!

What a busy week for the Fuller household.  Sydney continued her aquatic escapades as she enjoyed another swim classes.  Her current swim class will end in two weeks, which I surmise to be sufficient time for her functional gills to fully grown in.  What can we say, she loves the water and loves to swim.  And, you know you enjoy taking her as a parent when you are looking to download songs that are sang in swim class :)  When she concludes her final swim class she will re-engage in another favorite of hers....tumbling!

On the home front, we have recently converted Sydney's bed.  I know what you must be thinking....this means we finally took the chicken coup wiring off of the top of her crib that prevented her from escaping....ha ha!  But actually, it just means that her crib was converted into a day bed (intended by the manufacturer).  While this means that she can enter and exit her bed at will, we found out quickly that when she is in bed for the night, she is there for the night (thankfully!).  Naps have been a different story, but that's ok :)

She continues to talk up a storm.  When I ask her to look for things, she'll respond with 'I find it.'  Or if I say 'ready', she'll say 'set...go.'  It's really funny, and you never know what she is going to say next.  One morning she woke up early and got to spend her last hour sleeping in our bed.  And when she the alarm clock finally went off we got to wake up to her chanting...."Sounders"....seriously, and I was so proud I had to respond saying, "Seattle," while fighting back a single proud tear from trickling down my face.  Of course, on the way to school, though, the conversation is usually 'more buses' or 'school bus.'  This is because we see WTA buses, as well as a number of school buses, on our route.  She is fascinated with buses.

The Halloween festivities also continued.  While we experienced the baby reunion Halloween party last weekend, this Saturday marked the actual second official 'trick or treating' event for Sydney.  She got to experience the event with Snow White (aka Maggie), with a million other kids that descended upon the downtown region of Bellingham.  The benefits of her second year were obvious...she could walk...she could pick out her own candy...and she could give the illusion that she would eat all of the candy she was profiting from.  Actually she did eat some.  But a stern note to parents: be sure to teach your kids the appropriate candies to select from the buckets...if you do not, you will undoubtedly end up with more dum dums than you know what to do with.  Teach them to be selective and grab the chocolate (or other non-hard candy) options.  Sydney also got to enjoy some 'worms in dirt' that she got to make at daycare.

Despite the fact that we did not perform the act of carving pumpkins, it was a rather enjoyable Halloween, and we enjoyed it with our little giraffe.  And let's just say since we didn't carve pumpkins we may still have the option of pumpkin bread!  We hope everyone else has a safe and enjoyable Halloween.  And remember, it's ok to 'call out' those homes that decide to handout raisins or popcorn balls at Halloween this year....I mean really, what are they thinking!

Trick or....

What has 14 legs, 70 fingers, and a knack for instilling fear and terror on others?....If you guessed 7 toddlers nearing the age of two at a Halloween party, you guessed correctly.  Actually, all of the kids were great and had a fun time playing with each other at their second annual mini-monster mash reunion.  All of the kiddos are growing so quickly, and it's amazing to see each of the kids excelling in different areas.

While a party is fun enough by its own nature, David and Sarah have a playroom for little ones, complete with a fantastic play tent, toys, and even a real bunny (sorry for any trauma, Jimmy).  They even had a tent in their playroom.  Tents are always fun, but I've always been fascinated when the question attempted to be answered is..."just how many of us can actually fit in here?"...ha ha.  Although I didn't include the picture, I think we managed six kids...really five toddlers and one Karen.  But throughout it all, the kids had a great time.  There was also great food, great company, and great dessert!

The biggest bunny you will ever see...
holding a real bunny for the kids to pet.

Now that the Halloween spirit is in full swing, Sydney is looking forward to engaging in the formal process of trick-or-treating, for her second year.  This year she has some huge advantages over year past (obviously it can't be years past, right?).  Those advantages include no small feat, like walking (certainly not overrated).  Her walking abilities will also be complimented this year by her speaking abilities.  While she is learning the all important and required "trick or treat" salutation, we are also trying to teach her to say "don't you really think I deserve two?"  We think she'll be able to pull this off and bring in some good booty this year.

 

Aside from the upcoming festivities, there's been some downtime at home.  And when at home, Sydney likes to kick back and relax with her hommies (aka...mom and dad).  She usually chills in her track suit and gold chain.  But, haven't you noticed how much this makes her look like a pimp?  I don't know where she gets it, but hopefully it is something she grows out of.  All I know is that 'I' would never be caught looking like that!

Me being caught looking like that...
oh well.

Have a great week!!!

Say Cheese...

Sydney has had a full schedule, lately.  She's resumed swimming classes, has enjoyed a recent trip out to Stoney Ridge Farm, and continue to actively support the Seattle Sounders as they head to the playoffs.  So, while there is much that can be said about her recent activities, I wanted to keep this post short and simple and share more pictures taken during our most recent session with Rebecca Brethauer.  It seems life gets so busy with activities that can be shared, we don't get much of an opportunity to share as many of the pictures from our sessions as we would like, and Rebecca does such a great job capturing life.

So, we will have much more to share in the coming posts...especially with a baby-class reunion, as well as Halloween, looming.  Stay tuned!!!

Green and Blue Fury!!!

What is about 26 pounds and displays green and blue fury like no one else???  If you guessed Sydney, you'd be right.  Sydney was prime to show all of her might in a tremendous display of team support for the Seattle Sounders this past weekend.

Sydney gets her game face on and

is ready to 'bring it'!

She helped to propel the Sounders to a 3-2 victory, collect a valuable three points in the league table, and send Toronto back home with the bitter taste of defeat.



We actually weren't sure how Sydney would respond to the extremely loud crowd (who chant continuously during the game), or other random loud cheers and music.  But, to our relief, she was actually very excited about the whole event.  She loved clapping when everyone else started to clap, and she started to dance anytime the music started playing.  She even knew one of the chants (albeit due to months of training ahead of time).  All of the festivities got her in the spirit and made the event great.





Sydney gets prepped for the occasion.



Having said that, as parents we do have some work to do.  Being a supporter not only means coming out of the gates fast and showing support, but it also means pacing yourself and exhibiting some endurance.  At the conclusion of a great first half, Sydney promptly fell asleep on Grandpa Don's lap and was out for just about the rest of the game.  Even through two more goals were scored, Sydney barely batted an eye at the loud ruckus.  We'll just consider it a learning process for her, and now she'll know what to expect next time.

Sydney loved watching the game with Grandpa!





In other news, Sydney continues to speak more than ever.  You can barely say something without her repeating it right back.  Most of it she understands (and in context), but there are a few things that I think she is just truly repeating, such as any Italian words we throw out randomly.  She's also gotten better at putting word combinations together, like "Daddy...milk...now!," and "Mommy right...Daddy wrong," and stuff like that...ha ha!  Actually, she really is doing quite well. 

 

Sydney's true first baby picture!...ha ha!

As you can see, she started her training to support the Sounders at an early age.  That practice has carried over and served her well as she turned those hours of practice into active support.



Although she takes her job seriously,

she still manages to have fun with it!

  Have a great weekend!!!



All about the Oregon Trail...



Sydney spells out her name in the sand...
with just a little help.


A mere 21 months old, but there is one thing that Sydney knows, it's traveling.  Even at her young age, she has already graced three different continents (albeit in her fetal state), and visited four different countries (Italy, France, and Canada also during her fantastic fetal stage...but Australia was definitely during life on the outside.) 

So, what does this worldly traveler do?...add the Oregon trail to her travel resume, of course.  OK...it's been a while since I took history, so I'm not completely sure the exact path of the Oregon Trail, and I'm sure we were no where close to it, but I thought this was just a fun way of saying Sydney got to go to Oregon to visit her uncle and cousins.





A quick visit to the Glass House,
but amazingly...no glass.



She had a great time visiting Florence and seeing family that she only gets to visit with just once in a while (and not often enough).  She spent Friday night getting in touch with her aquatic-side, to the point where I assumed her and her cousins would begin to grow gills, but it was a great time.  The fact that the hotel had a wade-in poll and also some other water attractions (automated sprayers and buckets, etc.) made it a very entertaining time.  Saturday resulted in some time at the beach, and although it was a little overcast, it was still great to be at the ocean.

Sydney is always entertained by her cousins, and she loved being able to show off her new words, spunky pigtails, and her love for books.  She enjoyed spending time with all of them...and she really hopes to be able to see them all at Christmas!!!





Sydney with cousin Desi :)

Karen, Nick, Thomas, Nathan, and Desi in back...
Pickle and Sydney in front...

Have a great weekend everyone!!!