Video Update

I finally sat down today and edited video from March & April. Here are a few snapshots. Its so weird to see how much she's changed in just the last 2 months. Her walking is still pretty wobbly here, and she's a fast cruiser now. She's also progressively more & more talkative. Sydney loves to listen to her Kindermusik CD's. She's so mellow while they're on and she just totally entertains herself. This is the only way I get to cook dinner in the evenings. In this clip she's stolen her blankie out of her crib and the dish towel from the kitchen.
Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

Trevor came to visit the weekend before Easter. Here's proof positive that they have fun playing together now that Sydney is old enough to be good company.
Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

Sydney is obsessed with Jeff when he mows the lawn, or does anything outside. This was during dinner time, but I couldn't get her interested in eating, so we just watched Jeff for an hour instead.
Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

Just a little diddy on our nightly routine. This was shot over separate nights, obviously, since the series of events don't quite flow logically.
Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

The vacuum is another Sydney fave! She gets all excited & chases us around while vacuuming, while the cat is scared to death & hides for 1/2 a day.
Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

Happy Mother's Day

To all my pregnant friends....this is oh, so true:

Time is running out for my friend.

We are sitting at lunch when she casually mentions that she and her husband are thinking of "starting a family." What she means is that her biological clock has begun its countdown and she is considering the prospect of motherhood. "We're taking a survey," she says, half jokingly. "Do you think I should have a baby?" "It will change your life," I say carefully.

"I know," she says. "No more sleeping in on Saturdays, no more spontaneous vacations..."

But that is not what I mean at all.

I look at my friend, trying to decide what to tell her. I want her to know what she will never learn in childbirth classes. I want to tell her that the physical wounds of childbirth heal, but that becoming a mother will leave her with an emotional wound so raw that she will be forever vulnerable.

I consider warning her that she will never read a newspaper again without asking "What if that had been my child?" That every plane crash, every fire will haunt her. That when she sees pictures of starving children, she will look at the mothers and wonder if anything could be worse than watching your child die.

I look at her carefully manicured nails and stylish suit and think she should know that no matter how sophisticated she is, becoming a mother will immediately reduce her to the primitive level. That a slightly urgent call of "Mom!" will cause her to drop her best crystal without a moment's hesitation.

I feel I should warn her that no matter how many years she has invested in her career, she will be professionally derailed by motherhood. She might successfully arrange for child care, but one day she will be waiting to go into an important business meeting, and she will think about her baby's sweet smell. She will have to use every ounce of discipline to keep from running home, just to make sure he is all right.

I want my friend to know that everyday routine decisions will no longer be routine. That a visit to Mc Donald's and a five year old boy's desire to go to the men's room rather than the women's room will become a major dilemma. That right there, in the midst of clattering trays and screaming children, issues of independence and gender identity will be weighed against the prospect that danger may be lurking in the rest room. I want her to know that however decisive she may be at the office, she will second-guess herself constantly as a mother.

Looking at my attractive friend, I want to assure her that eventually she will shed the pounds of pregnancy, but will never feel the same about herself. That her life, now so important, will be of less value to her once she had a child. That she would give it up in a moment to save her offspring, but will also begin to hope for more years, not so much to accomplish her own dreams, but to watch her child accomplish his.

I want her to know that a cesarean scar or stretch marks will become badges of honor. My friend's relationship with her husband will change, but not in the ways she thinks. I wish she could understand how much more you can love a man who is always careful to powder the baby or who never hesitates to play with his son. I think she should know that she will fall in love with her husband again for reasons she would never have imagined.

I wish my modern friend could sense the bond she will feel with other women throughout history who have tried desperately to stop war and prejudice and drunk driving. I want to describe to my friend the exhilaration of seeing your son learn to hit a baseball. I want to capture for her the laugh of a baby who is touching the soft fur of a dog for the first time. I want her to taste the joy that is so real that it hurts. My friend's quizzical look makes me realize that tears have formed in my eyes.

"You'll never regret it," I say finally.

by Dale Hanson Bourke
Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Seriously, we had a monsoon this weekend. It just won't quit raining. We now have mushrooms growing in our yard because its so freakin' wet! The sun hasn't been out much, so the next 2 pictures are kinda dark-hope you can see them.

This is the new river running down our street.Jeff went out to the creek across the street to take some pictures. Most were too dark to post, but you can tell from this one that the creek had class 3 & 4 rapids from the flash flood.

So, needless to say, we spent the weekend indoors. Sydney played with all her favorite toys. Here she is with her LeapPad which she prefers to just turn on & off instead of reading the books that came with it.Her red car is back in working order after being low on batteries for several weeks. I couldn't take the out of tune music anymore!

Of all the fancy toys Syd has, my cell phone is still one of the favorite. She'd love to get her sticky little hands on the camera too, but Mommy has won all these battles so far.

Sydney was happy to join Jeff on the couch and cheer for the men's volleyball championship. She didn't care which team scored, she clapped and squealed every time anyone scored. She started running a fever last night, and its still hanging around. Looks like tomorrow will be a sick day off work for me....darn! (I secretly love any excuse to stay home with my girl, even if she isn't feeling well). She wanted to be held a lot today, so the only picture I could take was while I was holding her (hence, I chopped off the top half of her head). Here she is trying to tell me that she has boogies in her nose. She either sticks her finger up there to let me know, or she starts blowing it out while I run to get a tissue. She's getting pretty good at communicating her needs, and if she doesn't know the words for what she wants she finds a way to get her point across. She could play a mean game of charades.

Good news! We've successfully loaded weeks worth of video onto the computer. Now we just have hours of editing to do-yikes. Hopefully I'll get some up in the next few days. Stay tuned....

Sydney @ 15 months

We had Sydney's 15 month doc appt last week. Apparently she now associates the doc's office with shots. She had fun playing in the waiting room with Tanner-who just happened to be there for his 18 month appointment at the same time as us-neat! She did not have fun getting naked & weighed or measured. She had fun reading books with me while waiting for Slaymaker. She did not have fun once he entered the room. She absolutely HATED having her ears and mouth looked into and her privates inspected. Everyone was perfectly nice, and we love our ped's office, but Sydney has learned that when someone comes into the room with the paper table, that means shots and she starts her protest immediately. She clings to me and holds on for dear life. Once the shots were over, she cried for a minute, and then it was over. Not really worth all the effort spent on preparation. So, I decided to get her first milkshake on the way home so she can start to associate something more pleasant with going to the doc's office.
Here are her stats:

Weight: 23 lbs 3 oz 50%

Length: 31 in 70%

Head: 18 1/2 in 77%

Shoe: size 5 (we had to buy her new shoes last week, so she was measured at Stride Rite, not at the doc's)

Baby Parade @ 15 months:

1 month3 months6 months9 months12 months15 months

When we came home from kindermusik tonight, I sat Syd down for her picture in the chair with the lamb. She was all happy when she had a book to read, then Mean Mommy took the book away and expected her to smile for the picture.....this is the face I got! For everyone who thinks Sydney is well-mannered all the time.....that's not entirely true. I'm afraid she has inherited my trait for temper-tantrums. I was awful when I was little....just ask my folks. There was a calendar with a reward system & everything. I think it lasted until 3rd or 4th grade. When she gets mad, she looks me right in the eye, grinds her teeth, and yells. Its not pretty!With her book back, she's content again.To make sure the tears were gone, we did the Itsy-Bitsy Spider. We took a break for pj's and she was ready for smiles.We like to call this "Chair Surfing"

Last week we had out her baby swing from little Camryn Talcott's visit (brettsarahtalcott.blogspot.com) Sydney discovered it and demanded "UP!" to be put in. I guess it can still hold her weight...because its still in one piece, and she loved it! She was snuggling with the pillow and looking up at the mirror and flying butterflies. (Yes that is a bottle in her hand, but no she doesn't drink from one. She was feeding her baby just before this)I snapped this picture really quick before we left this morning. Its still raining every day here, and the humidity is out of control. I feel like I'm back in Florida. It has made her curls so tight that the ringlets are wrapping around themselves. Its so darn cute!

I have tons of video to post, but our computer isn't being cooperative. Its not recognizing that the camcorder is plugged in. I'll try again tomorrow & will hopefully have better luck.