Animal Sounds

Sydney's vocabulary is moving right along. Here's a clip featuring some of her favorite noises to make.
We are looking forward to spending a relaxing Thanksgiving in LaCenter with the 'rents, Murrays & Uncle Tim. Wish me luck, as I'm making my first ever pumpkin pie. I don't even really care for the taste, it's more for the challenge (although I hear it's super easy!).

Although Sydney loves the books, she often does not savor the food I prepare for her (see above). When this toddler-control-issue-picky eater thing started, honestly, I got kind of stressed about it. Wanted to make sure she was getting her proper daily consumption of vegetables, dairy, protein, grains, etc. Steve talked me down from the ledge, reminding me that I wasn't in control of the situation, etc. Blah Blah Blah. Well, actually, it kind of helped, and I decided there are better things to get stressed about in life!
Now, most days I just wing it. And yes, I have succumbed to giving her french fries & chicken tenders....From Burgerville (as if that makes deep fry healthier or something)!!!
Some days she gobbles her food, other days, she prefers to eat her hat.

Little Bookworm

Much to my extreme pleasure, Sydney has become very excited about books. She loves to pull out a book, walk over to you, turn around & plop herself in your lap. She points at the pictures exclaiming "Dat?" when something catches her eye. Once you're done with that one, she'll get up and grab another one. This can go on for quite some time. Sydney also likes to 'read' by herself. We often see her clamber on up into the rocking chair with a book, and just hang out for a few minutes. I've also found I can get some good mileage out of handing her a book while she's in her carseat.
Now, so you don't think I'm trying to tell you that I've got the makings of a child genius on my hands, the books we're talking about aren't novels. Think pictures of entertaining things: ponies, dogs, cats, bananas, goldfish....But, it's been interesting to see how the different stages of development sometimes just seem to appear overnight. One day, a book is just something to shove aside. The next day, it's a wealth of exciting information. :)

Love those Raspberries

When we moved to our house, the previous owner left a small bed of raspberry bushes. After several moves around the yard to find the perfect spot, according to Steve, resident berry-gardener-master. And we must have found it, cause now the raspberries now consist of a very long, bushy row. They start bearing fruit in July, and haven't stopped yet! It is unbelievable that they can keep going this long, and it wasn't until this last week that the berry production has begun to slow down. One of our favorite things to do is pick berries when we go outside. I will miss them when they kick the bucket for the season!

Doing the Halloween Thing

So, to celebrate Friday the 31st, Sydney has been participating in several fall celebrations. This past Saturday, she & I went to the zoo with my longtime friend Theresa, and her son Aidan (he's ~3 yo). We had a good time, and Sydney seemed a tad more interested in the animals than the last time we visited the zoo in late spring. Just a tad...Seeing tigers from a distance is only interesting for a 1 year old for so long. I found the baby elephant to be quite adorable, he is only a month or so old and I just wanted to hop over the concrete wall and give him a squeeze!

We were invited to a Halloween party by our neighbors up the street. Our street is teeming with kids these days--Sydney isn't the youngest anymore! The older girls love to baby her, and her friends across the street Will and Olin love to amuse her. Will is particularly smitten, and loves to chase Syd around and get her squealing with laughter. The party was great, with lots of activities and snacks. In case you can't tell from the picture, Sydney is a dog for Halloween. I'm lucky if she forgets the hood is up, and it stays on her head for 5 minutes.
On Friday, I imagine we'll make the rounds to the neighbors houses, and then retreat to our own house to dole out candy.

K-Boy

Much to Erin's relief (although personally, mealtimes are my least favorite activity of the day now), Kelan has decided to enjoy the wonders of mushy food. He put up a decent fight, but eventually succumbed to one of the passages of life.

Mad Skills

Sydney has always been an active girl, and now she is flexing her muscles. She seems to walk this world viewing any stationary (or sometimes non-) object as a potential obstacle to be climbed and conquered. Steve loves it-- he keeps raving that she's a natural born rock climber.

It is quite a sight to behold her attempting the challenge...All body parts, including her head/face, are involved in wrangling up & on to the object.

I was walking down the hall to our bedroom the other afternoon, and stopped in my tracks to see Sydney lounging in the rocking chair in our room. One hand clutched Pink Pup, the other her smoothie. She looked as if it were perfectly natural for her to be sitting there soaking up the warm sun.

The next day, I was airing out my rugs on the back deck, and as I returned from a trip back inside, came across Sydney relaxed comfortably in a lounge chair on the deck. Again soaking up the sun! She doesn't just have the climbing abilities of her father, but has also learned developed love of a good rest in the sunshine.