If she only had a pot to....

After flushing she always says... "bye-bye."

Well, fortunately, Sydney does have a little potty.  She's at the age where the fun begins and the potty-training is underway.  We fully expect it will still be some time before she is aggressively seeking the toilet when she feels the urge to go, but she has already demonstrated some success in this area.  She has quite a few times at daycare, and also quite a few times at home.  In fact, she had one stretch where she went at least four days in a row (one time each of those days...not for four straight days...hehe). 

A good book is necessary for the task at hand!

She's always been good sitting on her little toddler toilet, but usually 'sitting' was the extent of her activity.  But now that there is action to accompany her time on the miniaturized throne, her parents are pretty excited.  Her initial successes have mainly come in the form of #1, but we fully expect that she'll put it together when she needs to 'doo' the duty.  And I fully expect we'll know when she needs to go...since I'm assuming that particular sign is when she's heading to the bathroom with some light reading...perhaps the Babies 'R Us catalog or something of that nature.  So, while I can see the time-saving benefits (and perhaps fun) of peeing and pooping in your pants, there is a lot of excitement around the fact that she is getting the idea of using the bathroom.  I wish I could say that it felt like there is a light at the end of the diaper tunnel, but I fear that when she graduates to pull ups, and then to no diapers at all, it will be replaced by a second little person that will start the process all over again for us.  Good thing we're well trained up now for when that day happens!

Sydney likes to try out different
hairstyles, including the unicorn look.

Well, as much as I enjoy talking about bodily fluids, I thought it also important to point out that Sydney is doing great in tumbling class.  She enjoys the class and tries to take some of the new behaviors home with her.  Sydney also continues to talk at an alarming rate.  In fact, Dad has already lost in two conversations with her....apparently Sydney takes good notes when she sees momma always winning conversations...haha!

A picture from January.  Look how
young she looks!

Have a great weekend!!!

Doppio Espresso Per Favore!!!

While many parents do the wrong thing and give their kids pop or juice (neither of which is particularly good for them), we strive to be better parents and give Sydney appropriate guidance and direction...so, we just give her Starbucks...haha!  Ok, she's not actually drinking coffee in these picture.  But, having said that, when people ask what she is drinking I usually tell them she likes a good double-espresso straight up.

While we were in Australia, cafes usually offered what they called a 'babyccino.'  A babyccino is just a little bit of milk, a little bit of foam or froth, and a little bit of chocolate, all placed into a small cup and ready for enjoyment.  They were also usually free when purchasing your own beverage.  I thought babyccinos were a creative way to include the little ones.  And since Sydney can already say 'Starbucks,' I thought it would be good for her to have her own Starbucks experience.  And because she can also say chai, she is all set to order on her own :)  You can tell a lot about a person from their preferred beverages.  In this case, I think Sydney is at least starting out with a strong foundation that she can build from. 

I thought it would be fun, once again, to share a picture of Sydney from when she was newly born.  It's just a nice reminder every now and then...and helps us to remember how quickly they do grow, and to enjoy it along the way.  From the womb to sitting at a table at Starbucks, sharing a scone and a beverage with her...pretty amazing what a little more than a year and a half can do! 

Have a great weekend everybody!!!

Stumbling or Tumbling?...Tumbling of Course!!!

Sydney, like other toddlers, is still in the process of gaining her fine-tuned agility and coordination.  Although her motor skills are still 'under construction,' it doesn't mean that she is dissuaded from any physical activities.  In fact, she loves the new tumbling class that she recently joined.  She loves to do somersaults, jump on the trampoline, and walk the balance beam.  And the fact that her BFF Maggie is in the class just makes it that much more enjoyable.  While I think Sydney did great in her first week, I am a little concerned about how well she will perform on the uneven bars scheduled for her third, and the rings on the fourth week...haha!  We'll have more to report on her progress in the class over the next few weeks. 

Ok, so what kid doesn't enjoy bubbles (with the exception of those created in the bathtub)?  Sydney recently got to experience a flurry of bubble activity at a recent wedding she attended (first picture).  She just couldn't get enough of them.

Despite her affection for the spherical wonders, she is not very good at creating them.  In her eager anticipation to create the objects, she often blows with too much force and vigor...which of course creates no bubbles and in it's place sends a big stream of soap hurtling toward the nearest object (it took two of her attempts for me to learn not to be that object).  Perhaps with time and patience, she will learn the subtle art of bubble making.  Until then, she can just enjoy the activity of chasing down each one and try to pop them.

Have a great weekend!!!

A'maize'd!

Sydney has never been a picky eater, and she will typically eat just about anything.  Sometimes when she is consuming a new food, it does require shoving it in her mouth, taking a few chews (maybe to test the texture...it's unknown to scientists at this point), and then pulling it back out to inspect it again.  If all is fine at this point and passed the additional visual inspection, it goes back in and down the hatch.

So, it's no huge surprise that Sydney ended up liking corn.  She's certainly had it before (and let me tell you little people digest corn about as well as adults do), but she had commonly had it either in a prepared meal or cut from a cob.  Well, we recently learned that she loves to eat it straight from the cob.  And, of course, there is no place for manners when eating corn.  Sometimes you just have to throw etiquette out of the window and just go right in for it.  It likely means butter squirting places, and colonels bursting...creating a short perimeter that is clearly the danger zone, but that is what it takes.  Sydney demonstrates no fear in putting her determination of corn consumption to the test.  We just can't wait for her to tackle some BBQ ribs with the same vigor!

Like other kids, Sydney has learned how much she loves to color (technically, she has only tried to eat crayons twice that I know of, and that was months ago).  So really her pleasure is in the act of coloring and being creative.  Sometimes she colors in the mornings at school, and she does it at home when her parents aren't worried about the walls or other objects being colored on.

Sydney's words explosion still seems to reveal new words on a daily basis.  While she has mastered saying "Starbucks," she is even starting to master phrases, such as 'I love you' and 'you're right dad.'  It's pretty fun to see her try out new words she hasn't said before, too.  Some come out sounding Dutch, while others are completely spot on.  For better or worse...I guess you just never really know what's going to come out of her mouth :)

In addition to Syd's recent corn adventures, I thought it would be fun to share some older pictures, too.  The picture of her flipping through the channels still makes me laugh, and the last picture I came across and was just amazed to see how much shes grown since then...so I had to include it.  She was such a cute baby...and now she's a cute toddler (I'm ok if there seems to be a little daddy-bias there :)

This coming weekend Sydney will get to see her BFF Maggie, and will also get finish her swimming class and start her tumbling class.  This will be a great new experience for her.  Sydney also wanted to wish Happy Birthday to her Grandpa Don, who adds another year of wisdom to his resume!  Really he is just a young pup in the scheme of things. 

Have a great weekend everyone!!!

Speaking of...

Sydney's rate of expressing words vocally is errupting at an exponential rate.  While both parents are ecstatic, her dad realizes that the days of him getting a word into any conversation are numbered.

But as she becomes more proficient at speaking, it is certainly interesting to see her learning process unfold, and the resulting audio outcome.  Some words come out crystal clear.  Sydney very clearly said 'bubble' one day while in the bath.  Some words she uses only in a high pitch...as she commonly does when she says 'thank you.'  Other words, or perhaps more directly cetain letter combinations, may pose a challenge to her.  When she says 'chai'...yes, as in chai tea, she sounds eerily like Daffy Duck.  It could be the 'ch' combination, because she often has that Daffy sound when she says 'cheese' for the camera, too.  It's certainly interesting to see the words she excells at, and others that are "under construction"....truly works in progress.  All in all, I would say her vocabulary has at least doubled in the past month.  I guess this might be a good time to pull out the 'swear jar' just to be safe!....haha!

Sydney, like most other kids, shares a fascination for trying to fit in adult shoes.  Sometimes she can actually manage to walk around the house with them on, and I'm sure that's no small feat...feet, get it?  Ok, I had to use another bad pun.  But she loves to play and have fun with shoes, regardless of whose they are.  It's possible she learned this from the cat, since the cat will actually pull slippers out of the closet and drag them all around the house.

Just a quick FYI...next weekend will be a blog-free weekend, as we will be preoccupied with soccer tournaments and other life activities.  I know you will miss the genius writing, the sure poetry in motion of this blog, the suspense and wit and humour that also comes with it (and again the modesty)...but I hope you can wait until the following week.  And if you only check out this blog for the pictures (more likely), then I hope you can wait, too...haha!

The second and third pictures were from when Reina was in Bellingham.  Just too many fun pictures to share!!!

Have a great week everyone!!!

Seeing Seeing Double Double!!

What do you get when you put nearly 36 months of active life force together in one area???...that’s right, four pigtails and a lot of trouble…haha! Actually, four pigtails is the accurate statement, but Sydney and Reina were anything but trouble.  In fact, on most occasions they were just cute.

Reina, along with her parents Chris and Jillian, made the long trek from Okinawa, Japan, to spend a little bit of time in Washington before continuing on to England. This gave Sydney a chance to have a great time playing with Reina, marking only their second get-together (see pictures at bottom of post of their first meeting).  They seemed to have a lot of the same interests, probably because they were born just weeks apart.

It became clear pretty quickly that Reina, much like Sydney, enjoyed the mystery and excitement of the rocking chair. On any given day Sydney usually squishes into the chair when I sit in it, and then quickly motions for the chair to start moving. But, with two little ones, I have been successfully relegated to Sydney’s little chair while the two of them have their own fun.  Chris has had better luck, lately, being able to manage possession of the chair than I have.

During their stay, I think Sydney may have picked up some words and mannerisms from Reina…I just hope Reina won’t take home any ‘bad habits’ from Sydney lol :)

It was great to be able to spend time with Chris and Jillian, who we don’t get to see enough.  We hope they had a great stay, and that their travels back over the blue are fun and enjoyable!

Stay tuned next week for all of the new words Sydney is saying.  Some are normal, and some seem completely random.  Have a great weekend everyone!!!

Will work for food...

Sydney loves pasta...but really what kid doesn't?  I thought I'd share this picture that was taken on Father's Day.   She loved that there were longgg noodles.  This gave her plenty to do and kept her busy trying to slurp them up.  And she figured...why bother with hands???  Might as well cut the middle man out and get the food straight to it's destination in as streamlined a manner as possible.  There is some wisdom in this...and she learned this new eating etiquette while on our latest travels.  While in Australia, we ate at a place called YumCha...in China Town in Sydney.  At one point, she decided she would eat directly from the plate.  Although we couldn't capture a picture of that, we thought we'd share a couple of other that we took during that lunch.

In other news, Sydne loved spending time with Grandma Gloria this past Sunday.  It gave Sydney's mom and dad a chance to escape for a little bit, but also gave Sydney a great opportunity to show Grandma just how funny and crazy she can be!

In upcoming news, Sydney will get a visit from her buddy Reina this weekend.  Of course, her parents Chris and Jillian will be with her.  Reina is just two weeks younger than Sydney, and she looks forward to playing and sharing her toys, especially since she only gets to see her once a year!

Once again, we also wanted to share a few other pictures that were taken in Australia. 

Have a safe and great 4th of July weekend everyone!!!