Hi All,
Since I last posted, one very significant thing has happened: Sydney Reese turned one year old! The party was a blast. She had some of her "friends" there and didn't seem to know the event was about her until everyone was signing Happy Birthday to her simultaneously. As far as the introduction to an extreme amount of sugar, she wasn't so impressed by cake (and Safeway makes a mean cake)! She was eating fruit before we passed her a slice and preferred it. Let's hope she's not a sugar addict like her mom aka me.
Sydney is not only trying to say words now, but she's making it clear that she knows the meaning of things. She'll point to various things and say what they are whether it be bottle, milk, duck, doggy, book, etc. The one area that's really mixing her up is this whole mommy/daddy concept. Unless she's just messing with us, she truly believes both of us are called mama no matter how many times we tell her Todd is dada. It is pretty funny.
We just got back from Omaha and Sydney had a blast with her six cousins! She talks about her Pop Pop, Grammy, Bubbie and Poppy often by mentioning their names and pointing to the room where they stay (not all at once- this isn't Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!). Soon we go visit Uncle David in Chicago. Can't wait!
Fall is my favorite time of year. What's not to love about pumpkin patches, crisp-smelling air (at least in the Midwest), and- most of all- costumes! Sydney will be dressed in a monkey suit and we're working on the sound monkeys make. I haven't had a chance to come up with a costume idea yet but hope to be struck by some brilliant idea soon. Help if you have one!
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Stand In the Place Where You Live
Growing up, my brothers and I thought nothing was funnier than the TV show "Get A Life". It starred Chris Elliot as a grown up paperboy who lived with his parents. "Stand In the Place Where You Live" was the theme song of the show and that's the title of this post. First, because the song is really fun to sing and brings back memories from my own childhood, but mostly because Sydney has started standing! Wow- talk about a long way of getting to the point! Sydney pulls herself up in her crib, on tables, and on couches then proceeds to lick everything like crazy. So far she has one tooth but I think she's working on some more.
Sydney- my almost one year old (!)- is definitely aware of her surroundings these days. She's hungry to learn what things are called and is still Chatty Mc'chatterson. She says a few words though we're not sure what she is assigning meaning to. So far she says: mama, dada, hi, up, thank you, book. She keeps saying "P" but we're not sure what that means.
Sydney was doing a more traditional crawl until we put her in dresses for Memphis and Omaha summers. Then, she began to improvise so she could get from point A to point B more efficiently. Thus, the "army crawl" began (a "crawl" on her hands and feet often accompanied by what sounds like a war cry).
For her first birthday, we'll grill, eat cake, and blow bubbles in Golden Gate Park with some family and friends. That's all for now. SO much has happened in a year! Syd the kid is an absolute blast and I couldn't be more grateful for her.
Sydney- my almost one year old (!)- is definitely aware of her surroundings these days. She's hungry to learn what things are called and is still Chatty Mc'chatterson. She says a few words though we're not sure what she is assigning meaning to. So far she says: mama, dada, hi, up, thank you, book. She keeps saying "P" but we're not sure what that means.
Sydney was doing a more traditional crawl until we put her in dresses for Memphis and Omaha summers. Then, she began to improvise so she could get from point A to point B more efficiently. Thus, the "army crawl" began (a "crawl" on her hands and feet often accompanied by what sounds like a war cry).
For her first birthday, we'll grill, eat cake, and blow bubbles in Golden Gate Park with some family and friends. That's all for now. SO much has happened in a year! Syd the kid is an absolute blast and I couldn't be more grateful for her.
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Action packed week and month!
Last week was a BIG week for Syd. She started doing three new things: waving, clapping, and crawling!!! It was almost too much for my heart to take! The crawl happened after weeks of the "worm" or flopping forward on her belly then getting up and doing it all over again. Now, after the crawl preview, she's back to the flop for now. It gets her from point A to point B- that's for sure! She continues to experiment with her voice and has a new sound that reminds us of a pterodactyl (Hey, thanks, spell check! I had no idea it was spelled that way!).
What motivated Syd the Kid to show us so many tricks in one week? Maybe it was the visit from Bubbie, Poppe, and Gma Jean!! She had a house full of cheerleaders and she was motivated alright!
May was the month of visitors! We were so lucky to spend QT with: Buddy, Fay, Molly, Lucy, Len, Gma Jean, my mom and my dad!! Now the house is just ours again and it feels very quiet. Usually, I get very emotional saying goodbyes to family, but this time I just feel incredibly grateful. Could this be a break through?? We'll see. But, it does feel good to focus on the positive and there are So. Many. Positives.
The working three days a week thing is still going really well. I just signed Syd up for "swim" classes or water play so we'll add that to our Rhyme Time at the library, play group and park going. Fun times! Work is keeping me busy and- while I'm not as challenged as I was when I worked full time and had the capacity to take on more- I still love my job and my colleagues.
What motivated Syd the Kid to show us so many tricks in one week? Maybe it was the visit from Bubbie, Poppe, and Gma Jean!! She had a house full of cheerleaders and she was motivated alright!
May was the month of visitors! We were so lucky to spend QT with: Buddy, Fay, Molly, Lucy, Len, Gma Jean, my mom and my dad!! Now the house is just ours again and it feels very quiet. Usually, I get very emotional saying goodbyes to family, but this time I just feel incredibly grateful. Could this be a break through?? We'll see. But, it does feel good to focus on the positive and there are So. Many. Positives.
The working three days a week thing is still going really well. I just signed Syd up for "swim" classes or water play so we'll add that to our Rhyme Time at the library, play group and park going. Fun times! Work is keeping me busy and- while I'm not as challenged as I was when I worked full time and had the capacity to take on more- I still love my job and my colleagues.
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
You Know You're a Parent When...
Hello friends. Have you ever read those email forwards titled "You Know You Were a Child in the 70s or 80s When..."? They then proceed to list things like:
1. You had a collection of t-shirt ties decorated in puffy paint.
2. You had a gigantic crush on Scott Baio.
3. Your hair had "wings" that stayed in place with copius amounts of Aqua-Net hairspray.
Well, I've been annotating a similar list titled "You Know You're a Parent When" in my head and I thought I'd put it down in words. Here goes. You Know You're a Parent of a Baby When...
1. Someone asks to scroll through your cell phone pictures and you worry not about risqué pictures but about someone seeing pictures of your baby's stool meant for the pediatrician. Ew.
2. You can't remember the last time you went to your close friends' houses unless it was on a weekend day. Thankfully we have friends who are willing to come to us at nights while Sydney is sleeping. You guys rock!
3. You think your 8 month old has so much personality when the personality traits are actually quite subtle (read: she smiles, she cries).
4. You have Disney and Jack Johnson children's music on your Pandora list of stations.
5. You have tried baby food. Recently.
6. One of your top three favorite things to do is to sneak into your baby's room and watch them sleep peacefully.
Ahh, how life has changed this year! I'm happy to say I've loved these last several months so much. It's amazing how many firsts are experienced even in a week! This week Sydney went to the beach for the first time (and screeched and kicked in excitement) and sampled real foods for the first time (mangos, cheerios). As she ate those new foods, she made faces like she thought they were the grossest things in the world then swallowed them and opened her mouth for more. I'm also laughing many times a day which was one of my goals pre-Sydney and now it happens naturally!
Sydney is spending a lot of time attempting to crawl these days. She is moving very rapidly towards people and toys by lunging herself forward, getting up, and doing it again! We think she'll be crawling in no time. She often says "da da da" and only says "mama" when she's crying. We're working on that. Todd has been trying to teach her how to give kisses and how to hold her own bottle- though she prefers when we hold it. That's all for the update for now!
1. You had a collection of t-shirt ties decorated in puffy paint.
2. You had a gigantic crush on Scott Baio.
3. Your hair had "wings" that stayed in place with copius amounts of Aqua-Net hairspray.
Well, I've been annotating a similar list titled "You Know You're a Parent When" in my head and I thought I'd put it down in words. Here goes. You Know You're a Parent of a Baby When...
1. Someone asks to scroll through your cell phone pictures and you worry not about risqué pictures but about someone seeing pictures of your baby's stool meant for the pediatrician. Ew.
2. You can't remember the last time you went to your close friends' houses unless it was on a weekend day. Thankfully we have friends who are willing to come to us at nights while Sydney is sleeping. You guys rock!
3. You think your 8 month old has so much personality when the personality traits are actually quite subtle (read: she smiles, she cries).
4. You have Disney and Jack Johnson children's music on your Pandora list of stations.
5. You have tried baby food. Recently.
6. One of your top three favorite things to do is to sneak into your baby's room and watch them sleep peacefully.
Ahh, how life has changed this year! I'm happy to say I've loved these last several months so much. It's amazing how many firsts are experienced even in a week! This week Sydney went to the beach for the first time (and screeched and kicked in excitement) and sampled real foods for the first time (mangos, cheerios). As she ate those new foods, she made faces like she thought they were the grossest things in the world then swallowed them and opened her mouth for more. I'm also laughing many times a day which was one of my goals pre-Sydney and now it happens naturally!
Sydney is spending a lot of time attempting to crawl these days. She is moving very rapidly towards people and toys by lunging herself forward, getting up, and doing it again! We think she'll be crawling in no time. She often says "da da da" and only says "mama" when she's crying. We're working on that. Todd has been trying to teach her how to give kisses and how to hold her own bottle- though she prefers when we hold it. That's all for the update for now!
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Mover and Shaker
As I write this, six month old (!!) Sydney is playing in her ExerSaucer. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this miraculous invention, it's a round activity area that has a place for her to stand/sit in the middle. She can turn herself around and play with whatever catches her attention in the city scene it provides. Right now she is howling and roaring at the street sign like she's Godzilla then putting it aggressively in her toothless mouth. If I were that street sign, I'd be terrified.
Ms. Syd is changing rapidly now and we're enjoying the ride as her parents. She is keeping us laughing and constantly in awe of how humans grow. Sydney is now sitting up by herself as of a few days ago. A month ago, she started eating baby food (and doesn't discriminate at all- like baby, like parents... the girl likes to eat). Her hair seems to grow each night in her sleep so now we're starting with bow barrettes to hold back her dark straight locks. She's seeming to love her daycare and likes to try to engage with strangers whenever we're out of the house.
We left her for the first time for a few nights with Bubbie and Poppy Nogg. She did great and seemed to have an absolute ball with her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Thanks for being awesome caregivers, Mom and Dad, while we went on Todd's work trip!
I hope everyone is doing really well! We're always up for visitors!
Signing off...
Ms. Syd is changing rapidly now and we're enjoying the ride as her parents. She is keeping us laughing and constantly in awe of how humans grow. Sydney is now sitting up by herself as of a few days ago. A month ago, she started eating baby food (and doesn't discriminate at all- like baby, like parents... the girl likes to eat). Her hair seems to grow each night in her sleep so now we're starting with bow barrettes to hold back her dark straight locks. She's seeming to love her daycare and likes to try to engage with strangers whenever we're out of the house.
We left her for the first time for a few nights with Bubbie and Poppy Nogg. She did great and seemed to have an absolute ball with her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Thanks for being awesome caregivers, Mom and Dad, while we went on Todd's work trip!
I hope everyone is doing really well! We're always up for visitors!
Signing off...
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Not Yet Walkin' In Memphis
2013??!! Wow. Sometimes I look at Sydney and am in wonder about where she came from. No, I don't need another birds and bees talk- I mean figuratively. I remember my pre-Todd days so well and sometimes am in shock that I actually met someone I wanted to marry and had a beautiful (in my unbiased opinion), healthy baby. Grateful does not even come close to describing how I feel about this.
There have been a few reminders lately that things can truly "turn on a dime". A close friend of a friend passed away last week without being sick first. A man at the doctor's office told me he's a single dad of four because he lost his wife in a tragic accident. These things happen all of the time. Rather than living in fear of the unknown or focusing on tragedy, it encourages me to focus on life and living as passionately as possible. Making it count.
As for the title of this post, we spent the holidays in Memphis this year with Sydney's Grammy and Grandpa. It was her first visit there and a very special time. Sydney seemed to discover her vocal chords. She was cooing before but there she liked to tell Buddy and Fay elaborate and LOUD stories each morning while playing with the stuffed animal zoo they set up for her. She also had what Fay referred to as her "coming out party" or "sip and see". It was so fun to introduce Syd to our dear family and friends in Memphis. Sydney was able to see her first snow and experience her first power outages there. Adventures!
That's all for now. Happy New Year everyone!! I hope it's a happy, healthy, and adventurous one!!
There have been a few reminders lately that things can truly "turn on a dime". A close friend of a friend passed away last week without being sick first. A man at the doctor's office told me he's a single dad of four because he lost his wife in a tragic accident. These things happen all of the time. Rather than living in fear of the unknown or focusing on tragedy, it encourages me to focus on life and living as passionately as possible. Making it count.
As for the title of this post, we spent the holidays in Memphis this year with Sydney's Grammy and Grandpa. It was her first visit there and a very special time. Sydney seemed to discover her vocal chords. She was cooing before but there she liked to tell Buddy and Fay elaborate and LOUD stories each morning while playing with the stuffed animal zoo they set up for her. She also had what Fay referred to as her "coming out party" or "sip and see". It was so fun to introduce Syd to our dear family and friends in Memphis. Sydney was able to see her first snow and experience her first power outages there. Adventures!
That's all for now. Happy New Year everyone!! I hope it's a happy, healthy, and adventurous one!!
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