Fall Fun

On Thursday, Sydney and I drove over to Jackson to meet her new friend, Emma, who was born in August. Emma's parents, Neal and Erin, are close friends of ours and I couldn't wait to meet their sweet girl! We had a great time catching up, and decided to take our girls to a pumpkin patch that afternoon for some fun and pictures.

It was a blast! From the minute I got Sydney out of the car and into her stroller, she was smiling and clapping and bouncing up and down- and she kept it up the whole hour or so that we were there. It was so much fun watching her! I told Rob later that I felt like it was our first outing where Syd was really enjoying herself, and not just along for the ride. She literally rode around on the edge of her seat in the stroller. Her good mood made it easy to get some good pictures. This will definitely become an annual tradition!

Me & my happy girl

Emma & Erin

Another photo op- still excited

Cutest pumpkin in the patch

Tonight, we took Syd trick-or-treating to a few of our neighbors' houses. She wasn't thrilled with her hat at first, but funny enough she cheered up when we clipped a bow on! (She wanted to be accessorized!) We had some friends and family over to join us in the fun. Our neighborhood is full of young families with kids, and our street looked like a scene from a movie tonight- kids and parents EVERYWHERE, laughter mixed in with squeals... it was so much fun! Although Halloween isn't a favorite holiday of mine, I really enjoyed tonight.



Yes, our Jack-o-lantern had a bow too!



Wordless Wednesday- Edition: I love baby bed head!

Playgroup

Syd and I have been blessed with some great friends, in particular, our playgroup. Our church experienced a baby boom last winter. Actually, it was more like a baby sonic boom! Our playgroup was born not long after our babies.

At the Nashville Zoo last month

We initially got together to form a support group and just called it playgroup because it sounded less pitiful! We were all brand new moms who had just quit our jobs to stay home with our babies and were trying to figure things out. Our babies were all about the same age, so they were experiencing a lot all at the same time. The support was amazing! Don't get me wrong- I've got plenty of family and other friends who have had babies and are great moms, and they've all been incredibly supportive since the day I found out I was pregnant. But these four friends were right there with me-- struggling with the same things and celebrating the same tiny victories that other people might not have understood. We haven't always been able to answer each others questions, and we don't pretend to know everything! We agree that there is no confidence killer like having a baby. We've discussed everything there is to talk about relating to babies, and a whole lot more. I love that Syd now recognizes these other babies as her friends in other settings. I hope we will still get together regularly until our babies go off to school (and maybe then we'll still need the mommy support group!).


The girls at our very first playgroup back in February



The girls last week

Wordless Wednesday

October 17 - Eleven Months

Sydney Claire,
This is the last "monthly update" before you turn ONE YEAR OLD! Time is flying by, so Daddy & I are doing everything we can to enjoy every single minute with you. You make us smile all day, every day, and we are so thankful that God chose US to be YOUR parents.

- Slowly but surely you are growing. Most of your fall clothes are 6-9 months, and you wear them well. You won't be outgrowing them anytime soon, but that's ok- we'll just enjoy them as long as we can! You wear size 2 shoes, and we're about to start buying size 2-3 diapers.
- You are loving that you can eat most everything we eat now. You're still eating some baby food, until we run out of what we already have. Last weekend you went your first day with no baby food- all regular food- and you did great. You are your mommy's girl- you love Mexican food!

- I'm not sure if we can officially declare you a "walker" just yet, but you are soooooo close! Last Thursday, you took two steps. You took 2-3 at a time for a few days, then Tuesday of this week you started taking 4-5 at a time. Today is Sunday, and you took 6 one time and 10 one time!!! Daddy and I are so proud of you- and I think you're pretty proud of yourself too. You are trying to walk short distances now instead of crawling, and you stand very well on your own. It is so much fun watching you learn to do this!
- As you've practiced walking, you've learned to play Chase around the coffee table. I get down on my hands & knees and tell you, "I'm gonna chase you!" and you throw your head back and giggle-and take off! We've run hundreds of laps around the table; so much fun! You also love playing with books, moreso than any of your other toys lately (and that's great!).
- When I put you down to play by yourself in your play corner, you like to take all the toys out of the basket before you start playing. Same thing in your room- you don't begin to play with anything until all the books are off the shelf. You do not play well in your corner when the gate is up.

- You spent your first night away from us this past month. You spent a night at Nana & Papaw's house while Mommy & Daddy had a late anniversary celebration in New Orleans. We missed you like crazy, and we're pretty sure you missed us too. You weren't your usual, cheerful self that day, but were obviously sad. I hate that Nana & Papaw didn't get to enjoy the real you, but they still had a good time with you. Unfortunately, you've had pretty bad separation anxiety ever since then. I'm so sorry you're having such a hard time with this, and I hope you'll become more independent as you grow. We're trying out a few things to work on that now.

- You're starting to understand and respond more to commands. Daddy's favorite is "give me kisses." You kiss on the nose. It's slobbery and awesome.
- You've got a few more words now: bye-bye, mama, dada, ni-ni (night-night) and ba (book, ball). I think uh-oh may be your next one.
- I tell Daddy all the time that you have a smile ministry. You are such a sweet, friendly girl, and you bring smiles to strangers wherever we go. Last week, one lady even waited to walk out of a store until we were at the door because she wanted to see you up close. You smile and wave at everyone. I hate that one day we're going to have to teach you about "stranger danger" and discourage you from talking to random people.

Oh, Syd, you're not going to be a baby much longer. We may call you "Baby Girl" forever, and you may still be small, but you are growing and changing and learning so much. Daddy and I could not love you more!!

Love,   mommy

Public Service Announcement

REPLACE YOUR BATH TOYS REGULARLY!
We were given several sets of very cute bath toys for Sydney when she was born. She LOVES playing in the bathtub, and it's one of my favorite times with her. I've always been careful to squeeze all the water out of her toys and allow them to drain when we're not using them-- or so I thought.
A few weeks ago, I noticed that one of Syd's rubber ducks was starting to look a little gray (instead of a happy yellow color), so I left that one out of the tub that night. Then I took out her other squirter toys, leaving her with one rubber ducky and a plastic cup. Not sure if I was being paranoid or not, I grabbed a pair of scissors and decided to investigate.

Yep. That's some nasty mold growing in Syd's toy that she wanted to put in her mouth.

GROSS!!

Just a warning- those toys don't drain and that is dangerous! Guess who's going to be playing with her ducks and fish on the carpet now...

Rewind

I've definitely let time get away from me- but we've been too busy living life! Let's see if I can recap the past two weeks now...

A LITTLE MORE THAN TWO WEEKS AGO
Sydney and I met up with her play group friends for our first zoo trip! It was a beautiful day to be outside walking around. Although Syd didn't seem very impressed with the giraffes or elephants, she was excited to see the flamingos! Maybe it was because we were able to get pretty close to them and they were fairly active & moving around, or maybe it was because they're pink! I think we'll start there next time instead of saving them for the end. I'm not sure we're ready for a zoo membership just yet, but it was a fun day out.


Strolling around the zoo




Syd & her friends & their moms













TWO WEEKS AGO
We went down to Louisiana for a long weekend. Even then, there was plenty going on! Rob and I had a belated anniversary celebration while Sydney went to spend the night with my parents-- our first night away from each other! I cried that night, Syd cried all the next day. It was hard being apart, but Rob and I had a great time in the French Quarter. We stayed at the historic Le Pavillon hotel, where we had the best hot chocolate we can remember! After brunch at Brennan's the next day (wow- YUM!), we took a city tour; it was fun to be a tourist in my hometown. That Saturday, we drove over to Baton Rouge to see the Tigers & Vols go at it. Rob was a good sport about all the chants of "Tigah Bait!"- most of which came from my family! It was a close game, down to the last seconds. Even though both teams did a victory dance, it was LSU who came out on top when it was all said and done. We had a fun time tailgating before and after the game, and I think Rob even enjoyed himself. Sydney got to spend some good time with Nana and Papaw; it was a great trip.


Syd with Aunt Joey

Syd, Nana & Olivia



Me & my LSU roommate, Courtney



The lonely Volunteer at our tailgate

 ONE WEEK AGO
We went to the Biscuits & Bluegrass festival at the Loveless Cafe. Our trip to New Orleans prompted us to start doing more "touristy" things around here and enjoying Nashville. We chatted with some of our neighbors, listened to some live bluegrass, and sampled some homemade biscuits & jam.


She couldn't take her eyes off those biscuits!

Also last Saturday, we celebrated my sweet niece Annabelle's first birthday. She and Sydney were born five weeks apart. It's been so fun watching them grow and change this year!  Syd had a great time with her "big cuz" and her friends. We are thankful that she has a cousin that she'll get to grow up so close to! 

Sydney & the Birthday girl



Wordless Wednesday

Seriously

I know I've got a lot of catching up to do. And it's coming. I promise.

If you've ever had a ten-month-old, you understand why I'm behind!

Dinnertime!

Syd is eating about 75% table food now and only 25% baby food (which I think is impressive considering she still only has two teeth!). I enjoyed making her baby food- it was a lot easier than I anticipated and I liked knowing that I wasn't feeding her a lot of unnatural preservatives. We're working our way through the last batch of homemade fruits & veggies in the freezer now. Here's a little "taste" of Sydney enjoying her favorite meal- pureed squash & zucchini with garlic, mixed with rice cereal.