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.

Pumpkin Patch

Sydney & I made a trip out to Lakeview Farms...acres and acres of pumpkins, complete with a short train ride & a boat ride to and from the farm. Oh, and a petting zoo too.

We were supposed to meet a group of moms/kids from the neighborhood out there, but all of them ended up sick with colds. Or so they said :)
Regardless, Sydney and I enjoyed ourselves. Not that you can tell from the pictures, cause I discovered it is quite challenging to get a picture of Sydney where she's standing still, and smiling pleasantly up at the camera. Lots of climbing of hay bales, staring at big kids, and plenty of running through the hay bale maze were involved in our little adventure. Oh, and I picked out a pumpkin :)

Fun New Stuff

Sydney has a close companion, Sam, whom she shares lots of things with..including sippy cups, Cheerios, and viruses. Sam & his mother Lydia (and his dad John) live up the street, and we often hook up to kill a few hours together during the day. We bought Sam a buggy for his first birthday...It's lovely, all bright spanking new. And he liked it so much, I bought Sydney one off Craigs List. It's not as clean as Sam's...it has chalk marks all over it, is missing a taillight & a headlight sticker, but it still has a functioning seat belt & loud gritty wheels! So far, we've gotten a lot of mileage out of it-Sydney loves it!

In addition to the 'ghetto buggy' (as it's referred to), Sydney is now the proud owner of a doll & a doll stroller. She clutches the doll, and lovingly calls it a baby (her only real word). It is cute to see her snuggle with it, and try & stuff a binky in its mouth.

Rockin' the Jean Jacket

For Sydney's birthday, Oma Jude gave her a dress & a jean jacket. I think this is such a Jude thing to give...I remember growing up that my mom has always loved her denim jackets. She has had several over the years, and is always on the search for the world's most comfortable, easy to wear clothes. And I guess a simple jean jacket fits the bill. For the record, Sydney thinks she is hot stuff when she has this on. She loves to play with the buttons & the fringe on the cuffs.

Family Vacation

This past weekend the Vander Sluis/Murray/Forster families all trekked down to Sunriver (Central Oregon) for a long weekend. We had a great time in the fabulous weather. We rode bikes all day long, kayaked, played in the pool, visited Smith Rock and just relaxed together.

Sydney had her first experience in a bike trailer. Sometimes she liked it... other times not so much!