In The End

In the end we had an incredible first trip with little Sydney and were so happy we got to share it with friends. The plane ride back went smoothly and for all our fears of Sydney or Natalie screaming for two hours, they were quiet and it was in fact another little girl behind us who screamed for two hours and made the flight nearly unbearable.

There were many big changes about vacations with a baby but some small changes that were funny as well. It was about day 3 we realized there was little point in putting on heavy suntan lotion for example. At the pool where we'd normally soak up the sun, we sat in the shade. At restaurants where we'd take the sunny table on the water, we needed the table with lots of umbrellas to cover the strollers.

The pictures below are a before (last year in Aruba) and after (this trip) which I thought was a funny comment on how things have changed over the past year.



Lots of pictures and video on the trip as it's one hobby I can do with her, so here's a very short clip of some of the highlights. (there's music so make sure your volume isn't cranked up too high :) )

Hammock Days

Maggie is passing on her love of hammocks to the little one day by day, here on a nice walk around sunset last night. We both agreed this is about our favorite time of the day after you get all cleaned up from the pool, the colors in the sky radiate and the wind dies down to reveal a calm that just makes you take a deep breath and soak it all in. We'll soak it all in one more time today before we start packing for the adventurous trip back home.

The picture to the right was from my daily sunrise walk with Sydney this morning. An incredible way to start the day.

Birdies

What better place than on vacation to cut her fourth tooth, so at least the short nights are followed by a day off. Symptoms we had taken as a cold took us about three days to realize that a dab or Oragel would fix, and she's been much happier.

Sydney has been enjoying the birds of the Keys and we've seen lots of different small birds as well as some large pelicans waiting for the fisherman to come back. She continues to love our afternoon swims in the pool and just enjoying the breeze anytime we get outside. In one picture here, the six of us enjoy a relaxing lunch out by the water while we listened to some great Carribean music. This was followed by a trip to the large Worldwide Sportsman (Bass Pro Shops like) just down the road where I honestly pondered a purchase of a little pink tackle box for my fishing buddy :) If I didn't fear checking one more thing on the plane ride back I would have walked out of there with it.

Sun Drenched

The girls (Sydney and Natalie) are both enjoying the sun and being outside. In fact Sydney moans as soon as we go inside now which could really be a problem when we get home. They both love the water and we spent a couple pruny hours in the pool yesterday splashing and slapping the water.


Here's a picture of Sydney who just can't wait to try out her new floaty boat (the light is too harsh but I love her smile in the pic), Natalie with a local flower in her hair and the sunrise we can see each morning from our deck which looks out over the marina and ocean beyond. Oh yes, we're up each morning well before the sunrise so I can have a nice cup of coffee and take my time preparing to see it. I remember when we actually had to set the alarm to see a sunrise, so I could take see this as a positive thing if I wanted. :)

Up, Up and Away

When
all was said and done, Sydney did a great job on her first flight. She wasn't scared. Her ears didn't seem to bother her and with the exception of a brief crying period she gave the other passengers around us a break. It helped that it was an afternoon flight to Florida so the vacationers were all drinking and didn't really mind a couple kids making noise (Kaija, Josh and little Natalie were next to us). Here are a couple pictures of daddy showing her everything about the airport and the airplane, and then we watched the safety video together of course. Not so much for the safety but more for the distraction of a small tv :) She loved watching outside the window and seeing the clouds after we took off. Then she settled into her car seat and fell asleep after all the excitement of the afternoon.

Flying

Another picture from yesterday as we tried to show Sydney what it will be like her first time on an airplane tomorrow. Now begins the payback for all those kids that have punched my seat, screamed for two hours, threw up, and pooped on too many flights to count. She'll be traveling with her friend Natalie as well so there should be safety in numbers.

Warming Up

A holiday and perfect weather, at least for a couple hours. It doesn't get much better so we went and sat outside on the grass and took in the sun. I couldn't help but snap a few photos so here's one from Maggie holding Sydney over her head against the bright blue sky.

On a Roll

We know there's no curve. No certain age where your kid should be doing this or that. We tell ourselves over and over. But then every book proceeds to tell you when your kid should do what and when they should be crawling. You walk into the doctor appointment and they make you fill out a sheet that starts with "development activities your child should have mastered by now". And it seems like every other kid is ahead of this curve that doesn't exist, crawling here and there, pulling themselves up. But then we realize, and people tell us, that we really should enjoy the fact that we can just sit her down somewhere and not worry about it. She is starting to roll pretty well and that's just fun to watch. We've talked and agree that in the end, it's probably not development related, she's just really lazy.

Happy Valentine's Day!

A Happy Valentine's day to all.

I usually give Sydney her bath each night and she started doing this a week or two ago. She'd be holding this duck up and chewing away, probably working on soothing that tooth, and then she'd drop her hands and look right up at me. I'd start laughing and then she would laugh and the duck would drop down and we'd start over again. I figured I had to get a picture of this, so finally Maggie was home and could watch her while I snapped away. Just too cute.

Teething...again!

Although it's painful for her, I'm feeling some pain as well. Not acute pain like her, but this growing aching feeling day after day. It's partially in my biceps because she refuses to be put down and apparently carrying her around somehow soothes that aching, almost there tooth. My legs ache too because I have to do squats to pick up anything as I certainly couldn't put her down down for two seconds. My ears twinge from the barely audible moaning and my fingers are swollen from the knawing she inflicts hour by hour. If that were not enough I'm cold from all the drool I can't keep up with on my shirt....and each day Maggie and I look at her upper gum hoping to see the tooth finally erupting but no, just a white mark and another day of aching. I'll check again tomorrow though...maybe tomorrow :)

Sydney's grandpa did a fun, what I almost liken to an old 'VHI bubble video' of Sydney's ride home from South Carolina a few weeks ago. In lieu of a picture this posting, check out this short and terribly creative work of art!

http://webpages.charter.net/tompriddy/MISC/SYDNEYS_WEEKEND/

The Great Outdoors

We're not there yet, but Sydney got a taste of walking around outside again this weekend as the temperature rose a little. I think she takes after her mom with the cabin fever and her face lights up at the site of the Baby Bjorn and the sunlight. As her cute bear hat no longer fits and we were starting to look like negligent parents, Maggie picked up this gem at the store which at the very least keeps her warm and makes us laugh when we look at her.

2008! and kisses....

After a nice hiatus to South Carolina for Christmas and then to India for a two week trip around the country, I've finally gotten things organized enough to start taking pictures and writing about our favorite little girl's antics. Two weeks seemed like a good idea last summer but I never knew leaving Sydney (and Maggie) for that long would be such a tough experience. Now...don't get me wrong, had I been sitting in Hawaii sipping Mai Tai's it probably would have been slightly easier, but when you're worried every time you take a sip of water or take a bite of food for two weeks....that's just hard. So I came back to a little girl that was sitting up more, that was grabbing toys more, that ate bananas more, and was more....everything. It's amazing how they change now and two weeks away magnifies it all. So I've spent the last month holding her as tight as I can and look forward to documenting all that continued progress here. At least I hope there's progress or I'm spending way to much time putting up all these gates :) Here are a few pictures of Sydney who apparently just couldn't wait to give herself a big wet kiss!

Christmas Eve

With parents in Virginia and South Carolina we have the privilege of having two Christmas's with the first being completed this weekend. Sydney enjoyed her stocking, toys and especially the tasty wrapping paper. Now onto Christmas #2!

Let It Snow

Sydney's
first trek into the snow was not met with smiles but more an extended look of concern as she tried to figure out what was going on. To be honest I'm not sure the snow itself was most interesting but rather this large snow suit we wrapped her up in which was just hilarious. It's too big now but by February she'll fit right in. We had a nice walk around the neighborhood anyway and she put up with us for longer than we deserved.

Happy Holidays

Things have kicked up quickly after Thanksgiving and we've got the tree set up for Sydney to see and her first ornament front and center! (right next to her other first ornament from Dee Dee and Grandpa). Like everything else that lights up, she's been staring at the tree intently this morning. We're going to enjoy this Christmas tree as much as we can as next year we'll be running around trying to keep her from pulling it over I'm sure.

Carrots and Potatoes and High Chairs, oh my!

Sydney's foray beyond oatmeal and rice cereal has now taken us through sweet potatoes on Thanksgiving and now onto carrots! It's probably hard to tell from the picture but Maggie has all but stripped our little girl of anything but her bib as the cleanup process was far too intense when clothes were involved. It's seems like it could be a clean process, if it were not for her hands grabbing at every spoonful and then flinging carrots around. At least she seems to like her vegetables so far!

Thanksgiving

I think this picture pretty much sums it up. We had a wonderful morning all watching the parade and getting in the holiday spirit followed by your traditional 9 hours of football, a dunking of the turkey in a boiling vat of oil while drinking beer, and capped off with too much pie. It's almost like we're one with the pilgrims this time of year. Sydney enjoyed her Thanksgiving outfit which Maggie couldn't resist when she saw the "gobble gobble" on the feet. She's seen Santa now on TV now so our next step is a mall siting :)

Around the Turn She Comes

Six months old! Between some sleepless nights, visits to the grandparents, a stop by the pumpkin patch and a first Halloween we managed to capture some memories of her second three months compiled below. One picture she wouldn't let us get was her first tooth that poked through in the last couple days right up in front. Now chomping on our fingers isn't as cute as it used to be. Turn up the sound and enjoy :)

A First Halloween

At five and a half months of age there is probably nothing about a big bulky costume that Sydney could like, but she put up with us and we had a wonderful first Halloween with her. With beautiful weather we set up in the driveway with some chairs and enjoyed seeing all the kids come around.

We realized that children have become immensely picky in their candy habit and on multiple occasions turned down one piece Maggie would offer and ask if we had anything different. Can you believe that! I honestly think when I was a kid we would have happily accepted a sugar packet and been on our way. So Sydney enjoyed all the bright costumes and finally tuckered out on Mom's chest after a Halloween lesson from us on how to avoid "raisin packet" lady on your candy run. Oh, there's one in every neighborhood!

If I'd known

Had I known this before we had a baby I would have kept my eye on all new parents I saw in a restaurant as it would surely have provided some entertainment. What I've realized is that when we go out now we usually arrive at the restaurant with our little one fast asleep in the car carrier and it becomes a game on anxious relaxation. If you were to watch us, we sit down and act as though we're totally fine and there isn't a ticking time bomb next to us. We order and have some nice conversation and maybe the salad arrives which we both eat together. Then a leg moves in the car carrier. Is she waking up? Oh no..the food isn't here yet...will she be happy or does she need to eat? Is it feeding time? Is there a changing table in the bathroom? Our eyes dart around in search of the waiter. Mom dares to peek under the canopy and sighs at the sight of two huge blue eyes staring back at her. From here you will watch two parents begin a dance of how they can get all three of them fed and out of the restaurant as fast as possible. Sure there are times when the baby wakes up happy but the other times must be so much more fun to watch.

Bubbles

With such gorgeous weather outside today and a good breeze, we decided to break out the bear hat and some bubbles and see how long we could hold our little girl's attention. The good breeze worked so well that I don't think she ever actually saw a bubble but Maggie had a lot of fun running around the yard, and Sydney enjoyed some fresh air propped up in the Bumpo.

Staring Contest

A couple photos from last week which included a
staring contest with a bee. The bee was holding strong until Sydney decided that swatting it off the chair was her secret weapon. Later, when she lost her paci in the crib and we wouldn't give it back, we explained that the bee had stolen it. Next was our first trial of rice cereal and as with many babies before her, we think she probably got zero rice cereal in her mouth and most of it all over her. We were essentially pouring formula and rice cereal all over her. As we approach Halloween we're getting really excited about getting her dressed up in her outfit. That will be a big picture day and we might even take her out to get Mom and Dad some candy.

Caught in the Act

As we'd been told it would happen, we walked in one recent night to find Sydney had figured out how to roll over and she was having fun practicing tummy time all by herself. Maggie figured this was the perfect time to fire up the flash in the totally dark room and scare the living the daylights out of her. In true "deer in the headlights" fashion we captured the moment here.

Fall Days

Sydney's first Halloween is approaching and we thought it would perfect to take her on a totally inappropriate trip to the pumpkin patch where she would have no idea what was happening. Like most parents with a 5 month old this was of course more a trip for us but after the fact I think she enjoyed the brightly colored pumpkins after all! My best attempts to get her near a pumpkin for a picture though were unsuccessful but we managed a corn husk picture. There's still time though!

Fall Days (cont.)

The cooler weather has finally made it tolerable to take Sydney out for more than a few minutes without the fear of heat exhaustion so we gathered a few of Sydney's friends and headed to the park.