The Candle Part 2

I finally got the pictures so, as promised, here they are. If you didn't catch the story go here to read it.




Thanks for the crazy fun candle, Aunt Katie! Next time we'll know how to use it! :)

Random

I don't typically do much cleaning while Sydney is awake but on this particular day I did. I was amazed at how quickly this little girl picked up on what I was doing! On that same note I was changing her diaper today and she reached beside her and touched the top of the lotion bottle with her finger twice. Then she proceeded to rub her little hands together!!! She did this every other time that I changed her diaper today. Really, now??? I'm going to have to start being really careful about what I do around this little one. I know everyone says this, but I have now seen it in action. Your children do what you do!! And as soon as she starts talking I'm sure she will be saying exactly what I say, heaven help me!

Sydney had her first trip to the zoo on Tuesday with our play group. She did very well, I was a bit worried since she has a 2.1 second attention span. Her favorite exhibit was the penguins, sadly those pictures didn't turn out as I forgot to turn off the auto flash, but here are a few others.

Playin on the alligator

Checking out the Meerkats

Playing on the reptile exhibit

Sydney got these Alphabooks for her birthday. There are 26 little books, one for each letter of the alphabet. She absolutely loves these! She takes each of them out of the box, one at a time, then puts each of them back into the box, one at a time. Yesterday while she was pulling them out she actually stopped long enough between books to let me read through one before she moved on, we made it through five books!! This is fantastic for my little girl, she is a mover and has never been able to make it through an entire book, unless she has a bottle. Just another reminder that she is growing up. It's so much fun but still a little sad.

Jeremy and I got Sydney her first doll for her birthday. We got her a bath baby because bath time is one of her favorite times of the day. As soon as we got the baby out of the box she was hugging it. It was so sweet. I named her baby Matilda. I don't remember where that name came from but I'd been brainstorming for several days (thanks Julia:) ) on what to name her and that's the name that stuck.

Sydney has become more affectionate towards Jeremy and I lately. She has given us kisses since she was 6 months old but now she's started hugging(lasting hugs) us and laying her head on our shoulder while she talks or sings to us. I can't imagine out lives without the hugs of this precious little girl.

Candle

So I promised the Facebook world the story of the candle at Sydney's first birthday party. So, here it is without pictures. I didn't actually get still pictures on the candle incident just video and I still don't know how to format video so it will post on the blog. There are pictures of the candle I just haven't been able to snag them from the family that took them, so I'll add them to the post later when I get them. ANYWAY, for the story...

So, Aunt Katie sends Sydney a birthday package. Included in this package is a very elaborate candle that, once lit, lights 10 additional candles, falls open, spins around, sings and has sparklers shoot out of it. The candle is from her new home so the instructions are entirely in Mandarin. There are however three "very useful" pictures on the side of the box. Included in the box with the candle is a stick approximately the width of 2 tooth pick and twice the length. I pulled the candle out on Friday night and had my dad and Jeremy, both engineers, look at it to figure out how it worked so that we would have no delays at the party. It was decided that the stick should be lit then put into a hole on the top of the candle. Needless to say that route was tried for about 3 minutes then several others were tried, none were successful. So after about 10 minutes of trying, 8+ matches, a lighter that ran out of lighter fluid and a very frustrated 1 year old, it was decided that we would just light the 10 individual candles. Well, lighting these candles set of the sparkler in the middle which set the whole candle off just the way it was suppose to be, go figure. About 3 seconds after the candle was lit the smoke detectors started going off, Sydney started screaming and every adult in the room was absolutely rolling. Thank the Lord we just had family at this party and no other little ones, I can't even image the chaos that would have caused. Sydney did calm down enough, though to finally sit back down and eat her cake.

I know this would be so much better with pictures but I will add some when I get them. Maybe I'll even be ambitious and try to figure out how to post video.

Some Birthday Pics

Two posts in less than 24hrs. Don't ever count on that happening again! :) The hat did not go over very well, I was a little disappointed. I was expecting her to do ok since she kept her ladybug antennas on this past weekend. oh well...
Sydney got her first baby doll for her birthday. We got her a bath time baby since bath time is one of her favorite times of the day. She liked the baby better than I thought she would at first she kissed and hugged it as soon as she got it in her arms. She had a banana muffin(she's going to get cake on Saturday) with cream cheese icing, but wasn't quite sure what to do with the candle. Daddy ended up blowing it out for her.

Daddy trying to teach me how to show people I'm 1.

"I don't really care for this hat on my head!"

"That's better, mommy you keep it on your head"

"This seems like a lot of work"

"Mmmm, keep this stuff coming"

One Year

November 4, 2008

Less than an hour old

Getting ready to go home

I'm sure everyone starts their "1 Year" post this way but I really can't believe this little girl has been in our lives for a whole year! It's been a crazy year but I have loved having this little girl in my life. She is my little mover, from the time she was six weeks old she has had the need to move and see everything around her. Now that she's walking, and really she's almost started running, there is not a waking moment that this girl is still. This makes life very interesting. I have to keep the pantry (one of her favorite places to play) open and Tupperware on the bottom rack of the dishwasher (another of her favorite places to play) in order to get the 5 minutes I need to make lunch.
My strong willed girl is definitely going to give me a challenge this coming year. Currently she laughs at me when I tell her "no" and swat her hand. She does not, however, laugh at her daddy when he tells her "no". He doesn't even have to be half as firm in his tone as I get and that little girl is in tears (it breaks my heart when she cries like that). Sadly enough due to this issue in our household we have had to make a Mr. Sad. I've only had to use it twice, but I don't expect I will be as lucky in the coming year.
She makes us laugh all the time. She will do something she thinks it funny then get a huge grin across her face and wait for us to laugh. She climbs in and off of everything. We finally had to get rid of the exersuacer because she was using it as a jungle gym. She loves to play outside and go for walks. She also loves to explore and has become comfortable enough in her abilities that she will explore any place we go (only when she can get away from me).
We love this little girl more than anything in the world though, and while it's not going to be easy I can't wait to see what God has in store for us in the second year of our daughters life.

Always on the move

My sweet little girl!

We love you Sydney Ann, and thank the Lord everyday for giving you to us.
Happy First Birthday!