Hat Girl

I'm not one to normally go on about things like this, but I must say that Sydney looks absolutely adorable in hats. I'm sure I'm probably just one of "those dads" that think their kid is the cutest thing ever, but seriously... my little girl is SO CUTE. For those of you that didn't know, Mommy has been making hats for Sydney to wear with her different outfits. Aside from how cute she looks, the most shocking thing is that Sydney actually leaves the hats on. For some reason she has no problem when we put things on her head or in her hair. It's awesome! Mommy is just thrilled that she can dress her little girl up. Here are some pics of Sydney in her hats that Mommy made. My favorite pic is the one with her in the car. Here Sydney is, this little girl in such a pretty, girly outfit sitting inside this dirty car. As they say, "You can dress them up,.... "

Living in fast forward

I cannot believe the time that passed since we “blogged” last!! So sorry to all our friends and family! It just feels like time is flying by! Where to begin! Boy oh boy!! Well, Sydney’s skills are increasing daily anymore. She is able to repeat most of what we ask her to say! But I have to start off with this one. Sydney, about 3 weeks ago started counting to 10! The three of us were sitting down to dinner one night and Jeremy was counting something out for Sydney and stopped around 4, well Syd picked right up with 5 then Jeremy said 6 and she continues with 7,8, 9 and “t” for 10. It was amazing! 17 months and counting to 10. I’m sure some of you with your baby geniuses may not be too impressed but we are!!! I’m hoping we can record this for you all and hopefully post it on the blog for you all to hear. Along with her many tricks, animals sounds are a favorite! She can do a dog, cat, monkey, sheep, coyote and our favorite the cow. Where she got this cow sound from, we don’t know, but she will never learn to moo because we incourage the “new” sound. When’s she’s in the mood, if you ask her what the moo cow says, she crinkles her cure little face up and yells out “new!” not moo but new! She’s able to recognize many different pictures and put some wood puzzles together by herself. Some of her vocabulary is: hello, see ya, baby, mommie, daddie, mimi, pappy, gi gi, more, please, thank you, drink, pizza, bath, shoe, swing, up, tickle, ducky, no, yea, oh no, uh oh, car, ball, boat, kitty, choo choo (train), fishy, cake, cookie, eyes, nose, ears, mouth, teeth, shoulder, elbow and elmo. These are all words that she not only she says on her own, but she can recognize too. Body parts that she can point too on command, hair, head, eyes, nose, mouth, chin, cheeks, tongue, teeth, ears, elbow, fingers, belly, knee (sometimes), and toes.

So now you see why we don’t have time to blog! Haha We will try to update more often! Hope everyone’s well!!

Our Big Scare!

I must preface this entry by saying.... please don't report us. Sydney gave me the biggest scare thus far as a parent. Our morning routine throughout the summer is pretty predictable. Sydney wakes up around 8:30am, and then we go downstairs. We turn on the cartoons and drink a bottle of milk. While Sydney is busy drinking her milk, Daddy goes out to the kitchen to get breakfast ready. It doesn't take that long --maybe 5 minutes or so-- but evidently that's enough time for something bad to happen.

Yesterday Sydney and I were right on schedule. After getting her breakfast, I walked into the living room to get Sydney and put her in her highchair so she could eat. As I get closer, I notice that she is chewing on something. I couldn't tell what it was, and since Sydney has been pretty good about not putting stuff in her mouth I didn't feel the need to rush over. That was until I saw Mommy's sewing basket on the floor. Just then I see what Sydney is putting in her mouth.... a straight pin!

Of course, I try to remain calm and say... "No, no, Sydney", as I carefully pull the pin out of her mouth. Investigating further, I realize that Sydney has more pins that she had already put in her mouth. So I start pulling one pin out... and another.... and another.... and another. Seven in all!! Never once did Sydney cry or fuss. After taking Sydney to the doctor and getting an x-ray, it was a relief to know that she did not swallow any pins. It was an absolute miracle that nothing serious happened. In fact, the only thing Sydney had to show for this experience was a tiny little scratch on her cheek.

On a more "positive" note, we lost one of the magnets to Sydney's Magna Doodle. We weren't too concerned that she had swallowed it since the magnets are pretty big, but we have looked everywhere for it. I guess the x-ray served two purposes by confirming that neither the pins nor the magnet was in her belly. Hmmm.... I wonder where that magnet is..... I guess we'll have to keep looking.

15-Month Check-Up

We always say it, but we have a BIG baby girl. At her 15-month check-up on Monday, Sydney was 34.25 inches long (above 95th percentile), and 27 lbs. 9 oz. (93rd percentile). It just shocks me as to how fast she is growing. I keep trying to remind myself that even though she is in the 93rd percentile for weight.... she is not fat. People always mistake her for being older than what she is. I swear, by the time she is 5 years old, people are going to think she's 10!

Sydney also had to get 3 shots at this appointment..... ouch! I think she is soon going to start associating the doctor's office with pain. It's obvious she is starting to make connections because everytime she sees Mimi and Pappy's house, she yells out, "Mimi!". I guess it's just a matter of time before she's kicking and screaming all the way from the car into the doctor's office.

A Day At Knoebel's

With Sydney getting older and July 4th making a long weekend, the three of us along with Mimi and Pappy went Knoebel's for a day of fun. Of course Darla was all about getting Sydney to go on the kiddie rides. Well, for the most part Sydney had fun. One of the words she says all the time right now is "ball". So we decided to take her to the ball pit. I think Mommy was reliving her childhood because she crawled right in there with Sydney and probably had more fun! After that, we took Sydney to the air trampoline thingy... but this time it was Daddy's turn to go in with Sydney. She had a lot of fun in there, but had a very hard time walking... so she just crawled everywhere she wanted to go. Of course Mommy hadn't tortured her enough, so our next stop was the little Carousel for kids. Sydney didn't seem to mind it at first, but as the ride continued you could see she was getting scared and started grabbing on to me. Overall, though, it was a great day! We had a lot of fun. A lot of food. And a little fantasy. All I have to say is Sydney better like the rides, because Mommy and Daddy need somebody to ride with them on the rollercoasters.... we can't just let our kid(s) running around without supervision. I know it will be a few years until then, but maybe next year Sydney will have more fun on the rides that are her size! I can't wait!

A Day at Rickett's Glenn

All I have to say is, if you haven't been to Rickett's Glenn lately.... you need to go! We had so much fun. This past Saturday we took a trip with some friends from church and had a picnic at the beach area of Rickett's Glenn. After we were done eating, Darla and I went on the paddleboats. And by the way, I had to paddle most of the time..... Darla whimped out for some of time. Anyways, after our fun we decided to let Sydney play in the water at the beach. She had a blast!!! She loves water as it is, but then to be able to walk up and down the beach in the water was just amazing to her. Darla eventually had to take her out of the water because she was getting too cold. It didn't bother Sydney, though. She would have stayed all day long! While Mommy and Sydney were playing in the water, I decided to go for a hike on the Falls Trail. It has been so long since I've been on those trails, and I had forgotten how beautiful the falls are. It is so awesome how big some of these waterfalls were! The biggest waterfall was over 90 feet tall!!! Grant it, this is not Niagra, but still.... for central Pennsylvaia this is pretty awesome! You really need to go visit Rickett's Glenn, but be prepared..... the hike back up the mountain is a killer. I had to stop a few times to catch my breath. In fact, the one area was named Ozone... kind of ironic since that was where I was struggling for air. Here's a picture of one of the "small" waterfalls. I think it was only 30 or 40 feet high!

Narcolepsy??

So this is going to sound stupid, but ever since Sydney has been able to walk around I think she has developed narcolepsy! I know.... I know.... She isn't narcoleptic, but seriously.... this child can fall asleep at the drop of a hat and in the most peculiar places and positions. In the first picture, I was in the living room picking up her toys and heard Sydney playing with her refridgerator toys. After about 2 minutes I didn't hear her making any noise. You know what that means..... she's in something she's not suppose to be. So I walked out to the kitchen and find Sydney sprawled out on the floor sound asleep. Enjoy the pictures of Sydney "passing out"!