A New Chapter

This was a big week for Sydney. Last Friday, we went to her 9-month check-up at the pediatrician's (already?!). She measured 15 lbs, 5 oz and 27 inches-- sweet teeny girl! The doctor encouraged me to "fatten her up" and gave us the thumbs up to begin table food. "But how?" I asked him. "She doesn't have any teeth!"

"Yes she does!"

Yep, this slacker mommy didn't even see my baby's first tooth when it finally appeared! In my defense, just the top corner had broken through, and it was on the backside of her gums (and I had just nursed her that morning) so I'm pretty sure it was FRESH! I felt pretty rotten, though, that he had to point it out to me. I did, however, find the second one when it appeared a few days later! Syd has been a champ, and we haven't noticed any changes in her behavior or other "symptoms" of teething at all this week.

In celebration of her teeth and the green light to eat real food, Syd has done some MAJOR trying new things this week! I'd have to say at this point, I think her favorite is the chocolate shake from Sonic that we shared (but who can really blame her?). She's also had waffles, pancakes, Nilla wafers, ice cream, cheese, mashed potatoes, and mexican rice. And loved it all!

It's been a fairly quiet week aside from Syd's food adventure, but the days have been so sweet. The weather has been beautiful and we've gotten out a lot, and Sydney is just so much fun lately. I love the personality that's developing in our precious girl- she's funny and independent and fun and sassy and thoughtful and inquisitive and fearless... It's a blast around our house!

These are the days...

Wordless Wednesday

Happy

Today was a really fun day. We didn't do anything exceptional, it was just a good day with my girl!
We went to playgroup this morning, which is always great. We've been meeting weekly with four other moms and babies since February. It's been so cool to see the five of them grow up together. The first time we all got together, we laid the girls on a blanket and watched them kick their little feet. Today we watched them come crawling and nearly tackle each other to get to the Cheerios! The two boys better watch out-- they're going to get run over one of these days!
After Sydney's afternoon nap, we went to Publix. It was about as exciting as grocery shopping can get (ie: not at all) but it's fun going anywhere with Syd when she's in a good mood. She smiled and waved at everyone in the store, which always makes me proud. When we got home, I let Syd play in the living room while I put away groceries. She got a notebook off the coffee table and pulled it into her little lap on the floor. When I walked over to see what she was into, she quickly looked up with a sheepish, guilty grin, pushed the notebook aside, and crawled away as quickly as she could- giggling all the way. I'm pretty sure if she could talk, she would have said, "What? I'm not playing with anything I'm not supposed to!" It was adorable, and I couldn't help but laugh.
Tonight, when I was feeding her dinner, she was so excited about squash & zucchini mash that she nearly jumped out of the highchair.
And a few minutes ago, we heard a soft cry and turned on the monitor to check on her. Rob and I watched her fumble sleepily around her bed for about a minute before she finally found a pacifier and snuggled down into the corner of her crib with her booty up in the air.
Like I said, it was a pretty ordinary day. But it makes my heart happy to have "ordinary days" like this.

Wordless Wednesday

August 17 - Nine Months Old

Sweet Baby Girl-
It's official- you've now been on the outside longer than you were inside! I remember what life was like before you, but that seems so very long ago. I was thinking today how thankful I am that God chose me to be YOUR mommy... I am so lucky!

- We're going for your nine-month check up at the end of this week and will get your official stats then, but I'm pretty sure you're still around 15 lbs. You can still comfortably wear most 3-6 month clothes and size 2 diapers. You're the oldest and smallest in your playgroup. I love that you're so tiny and petite.
- You're a girl on the move! In addition to crawling everywhere, you are cruising now too, walking along the furniture. You easily move from the ottoman to your exersaucer to your play table. You pull up to a stand all the time, and have let go and stood alone once or twice. Sometimes you crawl on your hands & toes, instead of the traditional hands & knees, and I'm afraid that's my doing. You learned to accomodate for all the pretty dresses I put on you, and I think you just automatically go up on your toes sometimes. I'm so proud that you figured out how to adjust and not be slowed down.

- You still don't have any teeth, although you've expanded you menu. It's pretty clear that you prefer homemade food purees to the store bought baby food. Plums are a new addition this month, and I think you like them. You go nuts over zucchini & squash with garlic! You're getting pretty good with your sippy cup and you've mastered feeding yourself puffs & cheerios. I've given you several different fruits to try feeding yourself, but you seem more interested in playing with them than eating them. (I can't say I blame you) You have been trying to help me feed yourself with the spoon lately. It's messy, but you're learning and doing great!

- We've been working on signing with you. Your first "sign" was touchdown! You're also learning more, daddy, mommy, eat, and milk. You're still babbling a lot, however you haven't said your first true word yet.
- When you're really happy, you clap your hands and bounce up and down and squeal. You do this every day when Daddy gets home from work.

- We started going to a "Play & Learn" class at Gymboree; we call it "Baby Gym". You seem to really enjoy it and interact well with the other babies in your class. Your favorite activities are bubbles and parachute time.

- You haven't been napping very well during the day. You have started waking up after about 45 minutes... almost every time! Sometimes you go back to sleep; sometimes you refuse. I never know how long you're going to sleep, which makes it difficult to get things done. Fortunately, you still nap really well in your car seat and do great when we're on the go. When you're at home in your own bed, you are an excellent nighttime sleeper. You usually go to bed around 7:30 and wake up between 6:30 - 7:00. You drop your pacifiers over the rail of your crib when you're upset.

- You love going to the pool, especially now that you can walk around the baby pool. You're getting more and more brave about sticking your face in the water. Lately, your favorite toys are Mommy's laptop, the remote control, cell phones, laundry in the hamper in your room, springy door stops, and paper.

Syd, every day, Daddy & I wake up and look at each other and ask, "Do you want to go get her, or can I?" We love seeing your face each morning! Every night, I walk into your room "to check on you", but really it's just that I want one more gtlimpse of you before I go to sleep. It seems like you are changing and growing leaps and bounds every week, and each new phase or step is better than the last. Daily, we think we couldn't possibly love you any more, and then something happens and we KNOW that our love is constantly swelling. We love you, Sweet Pea, in ways we didn't even know were possible. Happy Birthday, Big Tiny Girl!

love,   mommy

Wordless Wednesday - Flashback

*** My camera is still in the shop (tear) so I haven't taken any new pictures in TWO weeks!

This picture was taken seven months ago today.

SLOW DOWN!

How do you stop the clock? It's not that I want to keep Sydney from growing up, but I'm enjoying her so much and I want to savor these days just a little while longer. Ok, a long while longer.
Rob and I took Sydney to the pool this weekend. The last time we were there, she figured out that she can stand on her own in the baby pool when she's in her float. She's been "cruising" for the last week or two around the furniture in our living room (and getting better and faster by the day, I might add), and our little Braveheart started walking on her own in the pool! It was just a few steps at first, mixed in with some spinning and twirling. Then she took off by herself! She was all over the place, wearing her little float like her own little bumper boat. She fell face-first into the water a few times, but she was undaunted. The girl is fearless! Well, except for the vacuum cleaner... hehe

** Sadly, there are no pictures or video to show of these first water steps. Our camera is in the shop for a lens repair, and our video camera liked Hawaii so much it decided to stay there! We're working on remedying both of these issues.

Sassafrass

Sassafrass. That's one of Sydney's many nicknames. She's a sassy little thing, in a good way. That's one of the many reasons I love this girl!

She used to have a reputation for being an excellent sleeper. No one has asked lately, but if they did, I'd tell them she's not living up to the hype these days. She's still sleeping really well at night, but naps are another story. They're very sporadic.

Yesterday, for example, Sydney woke up about 30 minutes into her afternoon nap. In this mommy's book, 30 minutes doesn't count as a full nap! I think one of the reasons Sydney has always been a pretty good bedtime sleeper is because we've had a good routine since she was about nine weeks old. The last thing we do, right before we lay her in bed, whether she's awake or asleep, is sing "You Are My Sunshine." It's our sleepy time song, and we only sing it when it's time for sleeping. Anyway, yesterday, I went up to Syd's room after her brief 30 minute pause. I felt sorry for her, since she'd been sick all week, so I picked her up and sat down in the rocking chair with her. We rocked and I shushed, but she was fighting sleep with all she had. In my final effort, I was forced to sing THE song in an effort to get her back to sleep. She immediately realized what I was doing and poked her little bottom lip out as far as she could as she began to cry. I kept singing. In her final effort, she picked up her pacifier, held it up for a minute, and then TRIED TO STUFF IT IN MY MOUTH! She really thought she was going to shut me up?!

Sassafrass.

Wordless Wednesday

Tuesday

First- yes, I changed the look of the blog again. I liked the stripes that we had going for the last couple of months, but it had changed the way my pictures posted and I was getting frustrated with it. I hope this one will work better for me. We'll see.

It took us a couple of weeks to get back into the swing of things after our vacation. To begin with, Sydney & I went to Vacation Bible School the week we got home. She was TIRED, but she was a trooper and did great. She moved up into the "crawlers" room in the church nursery that week and I think she enjoyed being in a new room with new kids. She may be the smallest one in there, but she's holding her own and has done great in her new class. Her VBS teachers said she loved going on walks and listening to the music in worship with the big kids.

Last week, we went to our first Gymboree class. It was great- I was so impressed! We were in Play & Learn 2 with other 6-10 month old babies. Two of Syd's friends from playgroup, Caroline and Evan, also went to the class. All three of them seemed to have a great time. We sang and played soccer and played with scarves and a parachute and popped bubbles and see-sawed. Sydney crawled up a step for the first time there, too!
And speaking of crawling, Sydney is all over the place. She really took off after we got home from Hawaii and she was back in familiar territory. We can't turn our backs for a second. She's also pulling up on everything these days, and has even tried taking a few steps while holding onto something! I'm definitely motivated to vacuum a lot more these days.

This was supposed to be a busy week for us, with fun stuff planned every day; we've been side-lined by a yucky stomach bug though. Poor Syd has had a rough couple of days. I thought this afternoon that it was all over and she was in the clear, but the bug came back to bite after Syd ate dinner. It has been so hard seeing her feel bad; she's been just pitiful. I hope the worst in behind us now and we can resume our previously scheduled activities soon.