Party Pics

November 17 - Twelve Months

Dearest Sydney,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET GIRL!! I can't believe it's been a year since we first laid eyes on you. And what a year it has been- full of laughter and tears and learning and loving and fun... The world is so much better with you in it.

I thank God daily for you! He is already at work in your life, using you in amazing ways, and you don't even realize it yet; I pray that you will realize it soon, and choose to allow Him to continue using you. He's got great plans for you, Baby Girl, I know it. The most significant thing I've learned from you this year is the depth of God's love for me. He sent Jesus, His ONLY Son, to die for us. Syd, there is no one I would sacrifice you to save. It thrills my heart when you hug and kiss me, or when you sit in my lap and cuddle, and I imagine that's similar to the desire God has for us to spend time with him, just enjoying being near. I am convicted in those moments that I need to make sure I set a good example for you. I want you to see Jesus in me.
Syd, you bring so much joy to Daddy & me. Your laugh is the most precious sound in the world- I wish I could bottle it. But for now, I'll just tickle you like crazy to hear it as much as I can. We think you are the smartest baby we've ever seen, and we are SO proud to be your parents.

- You've got tons of personality inside that tiny body of yours! You wear mostly 6-9 month clothes and size 2-3 diapers. We'll get your official stats at your checkup this Friday, but they don't really matter. We know that you are just the right size for YOU!
- You are walking everywhere these days! I've had a hard time finding walking shoes small enough to fit you (size 2 or 0-6 months). You're a prime example of why they call babies at your stage "toddlers", and I love the way you toddle! People tried to "warn" me that I would be sorry when you started walking, but they were wrong. I don't mind chasing you down a bit, and I'm excited for you.

- You eat most anything we offer, and you always want a bite if you see me or Daddy eating without sharing. You're not very picky (so far), and I'm thankful for that. You're getting pretty good at feeding yourself finger foods, and you're improving with the sippy cup. Some of your favorite foods lately: blueberry pancakes, cheese, and enchiladas.

- You LOVE books! You play really well with all of your toys, but I think books are your favorite, with one exception-- your new car! Daddy & I gave you your first car and we've already walked miles around the downstairs of our house pushing you in it. And we love that you're enjoying it so much- we'll happily push you around anytime.

- You've struggled with separation anxiety the past three or four months, but I think it's getting better. You get upset when we leave you (even just walking into another room), although I think you get over your sadness pretty quickly. At least, that's what they tell me in the nursery at church.

- You make me nervous with your daredevil stunt attempts! I'm learning that there is a fine line between wanting to protect you from ever getting hurt and letting you explore the world and learn from your experiences. I'm still working on finding just the right balance between the two. I definitely don't want to squash your adventurous spirit.

- Your communication is improving all the time. You are now signing "more", and we're working on "please" and "thank you." I can tell that you understand a lot more than we give you credit for. You don't have any new words this month, but you're beginning to try to mimic sounds. You say "bye bye" when I get off the phone and you hear me say it.

Sydney, there is so much I could say to you. The most important thing, though, is that Daddy & I love you way more than we can ever say. You're the best thing God has given us in the past three years and we're so blessed to call you our daughter. You are beautiful, strong, feisty, fun, sensitive, bold, funny, intense, and thoughtful. We couldn't ask for anyone better. We love you, Chick Pea.

Happy Birthday, Syd.

Lots of love, mommy

Some Things

Seriously, there have been so many times over the past couple of weeks that I've thought: "I should really put that on my blog" but then life happened and I never made time to sit here and type it out and here I am now- finally. I don't know where the times goes... oh yeah- to chasing after my almost one-year-old who is now WALKING!!  I can't believe I didn't even make an official announcement here. I suppose it's because I was waiting for the day when she just quit crawling and suddenly became a "walker" and I didn't really expect that it would happen slowly until one day I would realize "Yeah, she's totally walking more than she's crawling now." But she is. And I love it!! I guess she "started walking" all the time sometime last week. I feel like I should know the day; Mommy: fail. Oh well!

I don't have time to organize all my random thoughts (since I'm not certain how long nap time will last), so here they are in no particular order, except the order I thought of them...

- I find it hilarious and a little disturbing that when I snap Sydney's bib on her in her highchair, the first thing she does is check the pouch to see if there are leftovers from the previous meal. (Have I put a dirty bib on her that many times? For the record, no- she doesn't usually find anything, but she always checks!)

- I know I've said it before, but she's fearless! We bought her a slide a couple of weeks ago and gave it to her (an early birthday present). It only took her a day to figure out how to climb up by herself. She loves to stand on the platform, raise her little hands, and cheer for herself (and make Mommy extremely nervous).

- She loves reinforcement, and has come to expect applause for certain things. I was trying to teach her to put her blocks back in the bucket, and worked on it with her several times. When she finally dropped the block in by herself the first time, I cheered like crazy. Now she likes to take the blocks out and play with them for a minute, before she drops them back in-- and looks up at me waiting for the cheers. And I oblige. She's so funny!

- This was supposed to be posted last week on Wordless Wednesday. Sorry it's now Monday, and there are plenty of words.

Yes, she's climbing the stairs now. By herself. She's actually only done it once by herself, but you know what I mean. We still haven't figured out how to teach her to go down yet, though. She's not interested in going backwards on her belly (in reverse of how she gets up); she gets too distracted and starts going back up again. And she's too little to sit on her bottom and scoot down- I tried that for about a minute when I realized that her little legs are still too short- she just sat on the edge and leaned forward, which works great on her slide but is a recipe for disaster on the stairs.

- My friend Shanna called today to share a sweet story about her little boy, Aiden (almost 3). I get to teach his Sunday School class every week. Aiden holds a special place in my heart because he loves Sydney, and always has! Anyway, this morning at Publix, he asked Shanna what the bagger's name was, and she told him, "Ellis." Aiden replied, "Like the team Ms. Dixon likes." "What are you talking about?" "You know, EL-LIS-YU- Ms. Dixon's team! (LSU)" Love him, love him, love him!

- Today is November 15; last year, it was my due date. I jokingly put on Facebook this morning that I observed a moment of silence in remembrance of the longest day ever (since Nov. 15 came and went last year with no baby). But I wasn't really joking. I've spent a lot of time today thinking about what I was doing last year in these final days of waiting to meet Sydney. I got excited all over again remembering the anticipation. I teared up (confession, am tearing up again) thanking God for how He changed me a year ago, and how He has blessed me beyond belief every day since. I am SO thankful.

We had a big party here on Saturday, but you'll have to wait for the details on that until Wednesday (Syd's actual birthday). And although Wednesdays are usually wordless, I can't make any promises this time. I'm more excited than she is! Here's a little sneak peek...

Wordless Wednesday