Summer fun!

This week Sydney and I have had many opportunities to play indoor and out. Hooray for summer time! One of the big adventures we (well, I) took on was blowing up a little pool that Grandma Ponton had bought for Sydney last year. We didn't get to use it last year but I thought it would be great to start off with before heading out to the public pool. Soon after using all of the air in my lungs (which Joe didn't think I would have any problems lacking the "hot air" necessary) we carried it to the backyard to fill it up with water. As the little pool was filling up with ice cold water from the hose, Sydney started splashing her hands in it and flinging water everywhere and saying "brr!" and laughing and having fun. Then came the hard part: taking her away from the pool so the water could warm up. Yikes! She threw one of the biggest fits I have ever seen our little girl throw. It took her at least ten minutes to calm back down; then it was time for lunch! After eating lunch Sydney laid down for her afternoon nap and I started getting things situated to head straight out to the pool once she awoke. When she finally woke up from her nap, I got her all slathered in sunblock, got her in a Little Swimmers diaper, got her hat and swimsuit on and we were "off"! I imagined this lengthy stay in the pool (much like her bath which she would stay in all night if she could) but I bet we were out there thirty minutes before she started getting antsy. (Later I figured that was probably pretty typical of a 17 month old!) At least we were home and didn't pay admission! She had fun though and I can see that we'll be doing that many times this summer!

Sydney loves exploring and just being outside. She'll just sit and watch the cars go by or dig for rocks or color with sidewalk chalk. She found two rocks yesterday and she treated them as if they were her treasures! I'm trying to get her to understand that to play outside during the summer she needs to wear her sun hat; so now instead of remembering to get her shoes for outside--she needs her hat too. She does well for awhile and halfway through playing she gets sick of it. :) (then we move to shady parts)
Our little lady still loves to read and I bet I have read more stories out loud this past week than I did the entire last month or so of teaching! :) (Some of those stories are read over and over and over again!) It's great though to find her in her room just looking through books or "reading" them. I know that she's at a very active and mobile age and so to have that quiet, quality time with her snuggled in my lap is great. She especially likes the times when her dad reads to her! He's always up for stories when he gets home from work--she'll bring him one, they'll read it and she'll go get a new one, and so it goes like this for probably 5 books!
Her new thing lately is playing/carrying with her Hokey Pokey Elmo that Traci and Justin got her for her birthday. She loves watching him dance/sing but mostly she carries him around and loves on him. She even will point to him as if to say "stay" when she has to eat lunch or get her diaper changed! :)

A few "proud mommy" moments...

Yesterday Sydney was running around with a few miniature books that were given to her by a colleague of mine. They are just the right size for her to double fist a couple of them and run around! The book about the number 4 had been laying on the kitchen floor nearly all afternoon and I just assumed she had forgotten all about it. While I was prepping supper I noticed she was no longer in the kitchen and I found her in her bedroom. She had found the 4 book and put it right back in the very little spot where it belonged! I almost cried I was beaming with pride! :) It's incredible the little things that just make your day.

Today we read books for one hour...yes, one hour. She would crawl in to my lap with one, we would read it once, sometimes twice, and she'd crawl out to find a new book to read and crawl right back in. She has that move down pat! Anyway by the time we were done we had quite a mess of books on the floor! So after saying "bring mommy a book please" and pointing and modeling, etc. about fifteen times, she finally started bringing me one book at a time (carrying her shoebox, i.e. "purse" the whole time). We got all of the books put away and I was so proud of her! She's becoming such a little helper and acts so GROWN UP! :) Where did our little baby go? She's still there (when she's tired or comes over for the occasional sloppy kiss or "love")...just in a bigger, more independent version. :)

Pigtails and "purses"!

Well, today Sydney took the next big step towards looking like a big girl! She set patiently in my lap as I put in a hair clip and evenly parted the back of her hair and used little miniature hair ties to make pigtails. *sigh* It totally changed the way she looked to me--she looked so grown up! She actually didn't mind them either and they lasted a long time until she fell down and in my upset-ness, I just took them out. Now I know they can be done--so expect more! :)

Also, last night Sydney discovered my pretty pink/white zebra striped lunch bag could totally act as a purse for her! So she spent the entire time between supper and bath time walking around the house (kitchen floor and bedrooms) dragging (or draping it on her elbow) the bag. She later added her pink and white mini-soccer ball to the bag and carried it around as well. It was SO funny watching her carry it around. All of these really girly things she's doing lately (i.e. chattering on the phone/remote, carrying purses, etc.) makes me wonder if these are just innate female tendencies?! I don't feel that I talk that much on the phone when she's around (must get that from Aunt Bailey ;) ) or carry a purse either (it's Syd's diaper bag!). It's been fun watching her grow and change and become a little lady! :)

Summer vacation--yay!

Today officially marks the beginning of our summer vacation together (well Sydney and me anyway! :) ) Our weekend was wonderful...Saturday Sydney was pretty dramatic but Sunday and Monday were both great days. She is catching on to so many new things nowadays that I am so blessed to be able to spend this time with her! She's growing and changing so quickly and I am thrilled to be with her this summer!
Here are some new things she knows to say or do:
1. says "bi-buh" (translation: big buck) and hold her open hands by her ears--she even did this when she saw a baby deer in a book...she knew that a deer=big buck. I was shocked!
Here she is finding the "bi-buh" in the book!
2. if I ask her if she's poopy and say "we need to change your diaper" she'll take off for her room
3. she knows to go get her shoes (her "doos") if she wants to go outside
4. she'll cook with her little kitchen and give all of us bites (including Maggie!)
5. LOVES stories and being read to...I think we read at least for 45 minutes this morning, one book after another.
6. One of my favorites: she will pick up after herself! Obviously I encourage/remind her and give her some direction, but she will pick things up and place them back where they need to go. I am hoping this will become a habit for later on....one can only hope! :)
7. She is walking all over the place and loves to sit on the bottom stair that leads up to our bedroom. Yesterday she had 6 or 7 books sitting on the steps. I think she feels like quite the big girl! (Hooray for a baby gate--finally...otherwise the freedom she has on our main floor would not be possible!)

We tried going to a park this morning but it was still wet from last night and they were really lacking any kind of toddler toys. Luckily we brought her shovel and bucket so she scooped up some rocks for awhile before we headed home. I'll have to do some asking around for more parks. She is just taken aback by our sprinkler and loves getting wet! She also loves this little tree we have in our yard--here she is noticing the leaves blowing in the wind!
Joe and I decided awhile back that our big family vacation this year is going to be going to the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, NE. I am SO excited because I just know in my heart that Sydney will have a blast! She loves animals and being outside so I am thrilled for her (plus I have always wanted to go as well. :) ) No set date yet but we're planning on staying for at least a few days so we can have a flexible schedule to work around weather and everything else.

Lots of stuff to update!

It's been several weeks since I have posted and we've been quite busy! We have had several things going on and the one situation that has dictated how we spend a lot of our time has been that my mom has been in the hospital. She spent some of her time prepping for surgery and then now recovering from it. However we are elated that she is now home and able to recover in her most comfortable surroundings.

Lets go back to Mother's Day. Joe told me I could choose anywhere I wanted to go to eat so I picked Granite City. They have a Sunday brunch that is supposed to be really nice and Mother's Day and brunch just sounded like a nice fit. So we went to the first location and it was going to be an hour long wait (yeah RIGHT with a toddler) so we went to the 2nd location and it was going to be a TWO hour wait (not even a CHANCE with Sydney). Luckily On the Border was right next door to Granite City so we ate there instead. When we were done we headed over to Joe's niece's softball game and were able to watch her for the afternoon. While we were there Sydney really took off walking more and more around the sidewalks. I was shocked at how brave she was becoming right before my eyes!! It was fun watching her though discover things on her own--even if her forehead did meet the sidewalk one time! I found myself pondering the whole idea of celebrating just me on Mother's Day and discovered that if it hadn't been for my husband and daughter being in my life I wouldn't even be celebrating that wonderful day! So that night I made a meal to celebrate them and thanked them for making me a mom. It's truly the most amazing experience I think I will ever have. Nothing can top the snuggles and grins and kisses from my sweet little girl. She is the most perfect little person in my life and I thank God that He chose Joe and I to be her parents. What an honor!!

This past weekend we had so much stuff going on. We headed back to Delphos Friday night and ended up driving through this huge storm coming up from Emporia (we tried missing the one in Topeka by going a different way and ran in to this one). Luckily we arrived safely and enjoyed a couple of drinks with my dad after putting Sydney to bed. The next morning we were going to visit my mom when she called to say she was being discharged at 10:30 a.m.! With the thought that she would be home shortly we decided to go see my cousin and her husband's house house as they had just moved back to the area from Topeka. So we went up there and took the grand tour and talked for awhile (Sydney played with their dogs Kya and Scout), then headed back to my Grandma's house for some more social time. :) Sydney got to play with her cousin Addison for quite awhile! It was so much fun watching them toddle around Grandma's house (Sydney toddled, Addison walked briskly! :))

Sydney enjoyed a morning with Aunt Bailey and an empty milk jug!


After lunch we went to Joe's cousin Cory's high school graduation in Glasco, Kansas, not far from Delphos. Sydney did great until right near the end she started getting quite antsy so I had to get up and just stand with her. That was all she needed was a change of scenery!

Here's Syd in her pretty graduation/party dress!

Once we returned to my mom and dad's house I got Sydney's supper ready and then got myself ready for a night out on the town with my wonderful hubby. Mom (who was home by then) and my sister Bailey volunteered to watch her while Joe and I went to eat and to a movie to celebrate my birthday which was the next day. We ate at Martinelli's which is a lovely little Italian restaurant in Salina. We enjoyed some wine and shared a salad--I even got their most expensive dessert for free (because of my b-day). It was so yummy!! Once we had stuffed ourselves full we went to the movie "Angels and Demons." We had seen "The DaVinci Code" on t.v. and I had read the book and we really kind of liked it. This movie was good as well--it was full of action and twists and turns.

My birthday-day was spent at our niece Robin's graduation in Onaga. I have kind of grown accustomed to spending my birthday at someone's graduation...and years ago it kind of bothered me, then I was "eh" about it, but I realized that I was truly lucky to spend my birthday with family from both sides of my own little family. We were surrounded by people who care about us and love our daughter--I felt truly blessed to celebrate it with them!

Sydney pooped out on the way home from Onaga--I bet she walked ten miles at the party!

We have a walker (and a talker)!

Sydney in her "starting block"!

Big girl!

Sydney took her first steps several weeks ago and is just now starting to get the hang of things! She has gotten to the point where she will take off walking towards something and not just in between Joe and I or me and her little chair. In fact this weekend she pulled herself up on to me and next I know she is walking out the door of the basement to the stairs and starts climbing up! She's become quite the little daredevil, but we're loving every minute of it! Here are some pictures of her walking towards me. I just love the look on her face; she is SO excited about walking and you can tell that she is very proud of herself as well!

Sydney has also picked up on a few new words lately! Her dad shot a turkey (he's a hunter what can I say?) and she learned word "turkey" the hard way. :) She picked up on it right away! She also says "dirty" (thanks to Aunt Bailey's dirty Kleenexes in the basement :)) and "big buck" complete with open hands on her head!

I was so sad yesterday though having to leave her all day long. I went to visit my mom in the hospital and I usually have her with me when I make that trip. Although Sydney stayed home to play with her daddy I still would often glance at her car seat expecting her to be there making a face or "talking" to me. Luckily she held out for me just long enough when I got home to read her a night-night story and to give her lots of love I had missed out on that day!!! :)