Mothers Day

Almost to the day, we took a month off posting for a big move which drained every ounce of energy from all three of us. Sydney fared well and the adjustment to a new daycare and a new house has been easier than we thought. A couple weeks in and we were settled enough to have a bbq and celebrate the mom that kept our little one happy through all this turmoil.

Here are some pics from our backyard (we have one now) family bbq which includes a whopping 6 Ms/Mrs Ivey's. Now that I have an office again I'll keep the pics coming a little more frequently :)

Backpack, Backpack

Sydney continues her desire to be just like Dora. We heard her stirring the other night and in her sleep she was saying "backpack, backpack". With everything out and about for the move I happened to point to one of the crates the next morning and mention we were going to pack up Sydney's backpack. She insisted we put it on her and she walked around all morning pointing to her back and saying "Sydney's backpack!".

Swiffer

No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't bring myself to tell her that swiffering the carpet just wasn't helping anyone.

Style

Sydney has started to define her own style and it starts with one word. Hats!

Moving Out

In preperation for the move this month, Sydney is thinking of downsizing and finds the cradle that holds bears very comfortable.

Remember when you were a kid...

..and you just liked to sit around in tupperware. Oh, the good old days.

Baby

Sydney apparently has some fatal attraction thing going with baby dolls. She has claimed the one baby doll at day care and has lost the urge to share it with others. When I pick her up, it's now a screaming nightmare to remove it from her grasp. We may have to buy a few dolls to donate to day care to alleviate our embarrassment.

Concrete or Bust

Much like the beach, Sydney had no interest in getting near or touching snow. A true city girl who loves her pavement and concrete, she would only admire from a distance while safely in the garage. She found the snow on the table of interest but would point to it and say "No". We weren't sure if she was trying to say "snow" or "hell no, I'm not going out there".

"Doha"

Syndey hasn't mastered "r's", so Dora the Explorer comes out sounding like "Doha". When she'd like to see Dora, her new favorite obsession, she repeats this phrase 60 or 70 times in a row with such exhuberance in her voice and pleading in her eyes that we just sit and laugh at her. The singular focus with which she can zero in on one character is fascinating and has left us wondering what we're going to do with all this Elmo gear.

Here's a pic from a recent trip out to the park where she's learned to love the curly slide.

Planes, Barges, and 4 Wheeling

Sydney put up with a lot on our trip from a twin engine Cessna to this barge that ferried us from St. Thomas to St. John and back. I've noted where the girls are enjoying the ride on the right :) You can kind of see Maggie waving in the close up.

St. John Mornings

Our typical winter morning routine at home has been to hunt down Big Bird and Ernie figures and make up as many games in the basement as possible to keep us happy and quiet. Luckily, here she's as content as I to sit on the hammock and enjoy this view for a few minutes while Daddy gets coffee into his system :)

Putt Putt

What better to do on a Monday afternoon in the islands than putt putt? So began Sydney's first putt putt experience and she's hooked!

Baby

Sydney has been teaching Lauren that baby doll needs lots of kisses...but also that baby doll is Sydney's and Lauren shouldn't get too attached.

Work Horse

Sydney plays herself out like crazy in the pool so car rides become nap time. Amazingly, 4 wheeling puts her to sleep and the bumpier the better. At some points we've worried about her neck flying back and forth from the bumps but she doesn't seems to mind.

Swimming Lessons

Sydney never really came around on the sand. Even when we switched the name of our twelve step program to "Sand and You...let's hug it out", she still never really gave it a chance. Maybe this summer we'll just have to put some sand in the yard and work up to it. Daddy has resigned himself to pool work but Sydney still needs to have sight of the stairs so his back will hurt for about three days now.

Multitasking

My brother. I'm not sure whether I'm impressed or concerned :)

My Valentine!

Maggie and I got a night away from Sydney on Valentine's Day and decided that sitting on a beach for a while with only the waves and wind was a good way to celebrate. With only a few people around the best we could do was a shadowed self portrait. Sydney celebrated the day with Valentine doggie stickers and a musical card!

Love Hurts

While mommies and daddies continue to sun by the pool, the cousins are slowly becoming best friends. Sydney has also assumed her role as big "cousin" sister and I'm pretty sure we caught her giving Lauren a noogie.

Our Beach Monkey

Even on a small island we were able to track down a jungle gym. Our little monkey was trying to climb a ladder and was determined to get up there herself. In our continuing twelve step "I can conquer sand" program, today Sydney was able to hold a shovel and touch it to the sand from a safe distance.

Sun

Sydney enjoyed the ride down here and is definitely enjoying the pool at our vacation house. The beach is another story and if one grain of sand gets on her foot she screams in horror. It's going to take some time for her to figure out we can't lay blankets across the entire beach. (She also likes to apply her own suntain lotion which is a nightmare)

One Smart Cookie

I've looked but can't for the life of me find the babycenter.com update that starts "Month 20 : This month your daughter will outsmart you....". We sat by the bathtub waiting for the water to fill up; Sydney waiting impatiently in a diaper holding her cloth ducky. I was trying to calmly explain that ducky is for sleeping with and taking it into the bath would not be good for ducky's "skin". Her dead stare spoke volumes. I explained further that if it was wet we'd have to leave it here and she'd have no ducky at all. She clutched it even harder. So I firmly stated "Duckies do not go in the bath". Sydney calmly stood up and walked over to the bath, looked around and pointed down to a floating Ernie holding his rubber ducky and looked up at me. I tried not to laugh but it was brilliant ... I had no comeback ... I'd been outsmarted by my 1 1/2 year old.

Postscript : Ducky did not go in the bath and I listened to crying for 10 minutes. My logic that daddy's socks don't fit her also doesn't seem to apply as you can see. Pictures are getting harder as she anticipates a flash at night and closes her eyes :)

Long Day

Sometimes after a long day working at daycare, Sydney likes to come home and settle in, take off her pants and put her feet up. This is the "don't bother me, I'm decompressing...and can you get me another stiff drink of milk" face.

Hugs All Around

Up to this point the encounters have been cordial at best. A knowing glance, a nod or the occasional brush as Sydney walked past. Putting them next to each other elicited only cries of horror. Finally, at a no name restaurant on a random Sunday evening, the cousins decided it was time to get to know each other and got down to being friends. So started the hug fest and Sydney could barely be torn away from Lauren. Lauren loved every minute of it as well (as you can tell from her face) and the two agreed to meet more often and knock out some good play dates.

An Everyday Workout

Sometimes people ask me how old my daughter is or how much she weighs (she's a little small for 20 months). The surprise usually comes when I respond that she's 20 months and weighs 40 pounds. Oh...by herself she's only about 22 but the chances of me ever carrying her around alone are slim to none. First, there's two baby dolls that must go wherever we go. Then there's a ducky. Then there are multiple tiny bears. Pacifiers. A book perhaps. The babies bottles, blankets and sometimes clothing for all of them....and this wrapped up in one big daddy hug where going down the stairs now becomes a treacherous activity. Help us all if I drop a bear or something because the "uh oh" song starts and I won't hear the end of it until everything is picked and safely back in our arms. So while she may weigh 22 pounds, to me she's the 40 pound gorilla in the room.

Christmas #1

Here was a shot during Christmas #1 in SC as we (Aunt Carrie, Aunt Abby, mom and Sydney) put out cookies for Santa. As you can see, Sydney did not feel that Santa would miss a few cookies. In the morning we tried to point out the cookies were gone and Santa had left a note, but the Abby Caddaby doll sticking out of her stocking stole all the attention she had to give.