After getting all the first visits out of the way, things were a little calmer when we stopped by yesterday. Lauren was crying a little here and there but Mike was a natural and had her pressed tight in his arms which she loved. Sydney has yet to meet her little cousin (due to a runny nose), but I showed her these photos from the visit.
Now that Mike has put some incredible photos up at the link below, I can share a couple I caught the first night!
With our backs sore from walking bent over holding those two little precious hands we love, we've been trying to get her to do a little on her own. So last Saturday night standing on the beach she took a falling step in mom's direction, and then Sunday at a picnic stop on our 11 hour drive back to DC, she took a full four steps and is on the verge of a breakthrough. We were convinced this was going to happen at daycare so to have her take her first steps in front of us was a joy. This is a picture from outside the church where we picnicked. I couldn't get the actual steps as I was too busy clapping and cheering her on.
As with everything, she waved goodbye to the beach like a beauty queen and turned her sights to the exciting eleven hour drive ahead. It was a fun week and here are some parting photos from the last day.
Before all the people, before the umbrellas....before the brightness of the sun and before the smooth sand is disturbed, there is the sunrise beach with only a few motivated souls walking and waking up. This is the beach Sydney likes and she finally got her turn to play in the sand without hoards of children running around her and the sun glaring in her eyes. She waved at passing runners and all the dogs out on their morning walk and made lots of friends in the process. Here are a few pics courtesy of Tom Priddy so I could actually be in some photos for a change :) 
Our second day here provided the sun and fun we were hoping for, so off to the beach we went. We had everything to make it a fun day for little one including a pop up tent to keep her out of the sun, but all the toys couldn't keep her from being a little concerned about all the action of the waves crashing and wind blowing and people talking. It was a lot for those little senses to take!
A rainy start to our beach week gave us a good excuse to take Sydney out for her first aquarium visit which she loved. We stepped onto a conveyor belt and traveled through a tube in the huge tank so the fish were all around and she couldn't stop pointing at them. Especially the big sharks! 
In many ways Sydney wants to mimic the grown ups and points to the food we're eating, the cups we drink from and the big people chairs we sit in. We couldn't resist when we saw this one and she just loves lounging in her own chair now with her favorite pal of the week, Monkey.
It's almost here we keep telling her. No, not like the Florida Keys of February we explain, with it's rocky shoreline and reef laden waters. No, this is the real beach she is about to experience. The wide, hot on your feet, shell scattered beach. The lay in a hammock under the cottage beach. The relax and do nothing beach. The picnic at sunset beach. The why don't we live here all the time beach. The South Carolina beach. Of course she won't really understand what we mean until she digs her own heels into the sand a few inches and feels that coolness below. She won't understand until she feels the breeze just as the sun sets behind a never ending ocean. But soon she will and I'm sure she'll never want to leave. It should make for some good pictures :)
Hopefully the tide of ear infections has reversed as of Wednesday when Sydney had very tiny ear tubes placed. The placement took about 10 minutes and this picture is about 30 minutes after the procedure. She was a little groggy and bobble head like but soon returned to her waving ways as shown here. The nurses all just got a kick out of that and we had a good laugh at her hospital gown and booties she's wearing here.
So what does a dad do on a Saturday night before a second father's day when he knows he doesn't have to get up early? He watches golf (yeah for a US Open on the West Coast), follows that up with some baseball (yeah for the Nationals playing on the West Coast) and peruses pictures of the reason he gets to celebrate father's day. So here are some of the pics I took today of Brady and Sydney as we said goodbye to the Miller's before the long drive tomorrow. I thought the black and white was funny because it almost looks like some old photo and they are in jail together. If you picture a tin cup and "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" it's pretty humerous. The last photo is just part of our daily fun as she decided that kissing the clear gate we have set up was hysterical.
As usual, Sydney had a wonderful time at the party we went to this past weekend. Sadly, it was the going away party for some of our best friends J&B and Sydney's friends Brady and Ainsley. She was pretty torn up but Elmo (in the background) and this monkey eased the pain. What I actually liked about this picture was that it captures a little bit of the couch in the background. That now old blue and white couch that has been in our circle for a long time. It was in the first house we all got together after college and the townhouse that followed that. It saw Saturday parties and lazy Sundays, many a house guest crashing on the cushions and a couple of moves. Sometimes it's that meeting of old and new, our old couch and our new baby that make you look at a photo just a bit longer. Now it makes the long move to New York and with it our friends, but with any luck we'll see them both very soon and often.
Without a doubt, Sydney's favorite thing about her birthday has been the cards. The prospect of a colorful new sheet of something that she can chew on is almost too much too bear. She has at times appreciated her other gifts though, such as this table that she can cruise around and which seems to sing the alphabet in spanish unusually loud.
An entire year has passed, so fast that it seems like a blink of an eye. Through sleepless nights and cuddling mornings we have watched our tiny one grow and grow. She needed a lot, but she gave back so much more. She watched us grow as well, from disheveled and worried into two people that at least appear to know what they're doing. In one year I can't count the diapers we've changed, the books we've read, the bottles we've made, the pacifiers that fell on the ground, the times we've cleaned the carpet or the trips to the pediatrician...but I can count 365 days of a permanent smile on my face. Happy Birthday little one.
Hope all the mother's out there have a wonderful weekend and get all the praise and pampering they deserve!
Such a beautiful day outside called for banana apple juice popsicles, frozen on Mickey Mouse popsicle sticks no less. As we realized I'm usually behind the camera, Maggie made it a point to grab a couple of us enjoying the relaxing afternoon. Watching her eat anything cold is hilarious because she likes the cold on her mouth but hates it because it's so cold...and then she shivers every couple of minutes which is just ado
rable.
It started innocently enough. Jacob and Sydney both eyeing the bench telling us that they just wanted to swing. It looked liked so much fun. So we set them down and pushed them off, each sneaking peeks coyly at one another. And then, there it was, without any notice...Sydney's first kiss. I couldn't have been happier with her choice of Jacob as he's a handsome boy with a good head on his shoulders, but I of course told Marc that if his son ever touched my daughter again we'd have a talk :) She babbled on and on as we drove home from the party, presumably letting mom in on all the gossip until finally she drifted off, dreaming of that sunny day on the swing. 
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