The Cutest Ever

Sometime last week, Sydney and I were playing and I started singing "Pat-a-cake." Sydney totally joined in by clapping, then even said "Woll it, pat it," right on cue, motions and all. I've been making her do it like 50 times a day now because I think it's so adorable. "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" is another one of our favorites.

We also usually bust out "Baa Baa Black Sheep" and "Row, Row, Row Your Boat."

And if that's not cute enough, she's also been requesting to wear these ladybug boots (which are a little too big and sort of heavy).

That makes walking a little awkward.

So she goes really slow and watches her feet, and it cracks me up.

Today

Today was busy, mostly because I'm coming off of two days of being more or less out of commission. A few hours after going to bed on Saturday night, my stomach started to hurt. I pretty much had lay in the fetal position to even be sort of comfortable, and I was restless for the next several hours. That all culminated into puking a few hours before church on Sunday morning. While Spencer and Sydney went to church, I slept. And when they came home, I slept. I then on Monday when Sydney slept, I slept. Needless to say, my house reflected my "absence." I woke up this morning finally feeling rested. My appetite was back, my back wasn't achy, and I didn't feel dizzy after standing up for long periods of time.

I cleaned the kitchen and did the dishes, then we went outside to play. When Sydney went down for a nap, I washed 2 loads of laundry, dusted, Swiffered the floors, and cleaned the bathroom. When she woke up, we played outside again. Then we came inside to make dinner, which we didn't eat until around 6 pm when Spencer finally got home. Unfortunately, he had to turn around and leave again at 6:30 pm, so Sydney and I played "kitchen" upstairs until it was time to get ready for bed. After she went down, I gathered up my baskets of dry laundry, threw in New Moon, and got to folding. Spencer got home around 8 pm (and made fun of me for watching New Moon again), then made a bunch of calls to arrange things for Scout Camp next week. So after the laundry was done, I headed outside to mow the lawn before it got too dark. Just before I got it started, Spencer came outside to relieve me. I opted to pull weeds while he mowed. When he got to the side of the house, he said Sydney was standing up in her crib and pulling on the blinds so she could watch him out the window. How cute is that? She was still awake when we came in, so he went in and rocked her while I put away the clothes.

There is just something fulfilling about getting so much done in one day. And there's nothing like getting sick to remind me how wonderful it is to be healthy!

This Girl

Sydney is 19 months old, and growing every day. In fact, our little 4 yr. old neighbor Macie keeps telling me, "You baby is growing up!"

I've been trying to think of all the things she can do now, and the list is certainly much longer than what I would expect anyone would actually want to read. But here it goes:

• talk- She continues to be a great repeater, but she uses a lot of words on her own. She has even been putting short phrases together to make requests like, "I want hold you," or "I want eat," and "I want kitchen."

• play- Her favorite thing to do play with her kitchen, and she thinks I'm funny when I pretend to eat food that's not there. But she joins in and feeds her baby or grabs a few "be beans" (green beans) for herself. Like most kids, Sydney loves to be outside too! I think we go knock on Addie's door every time we walk by her house. Sometimes we take Sydney's dog Stella for a walk around the block, and she'll usually have her baby in one hand and Stella's leash in the other. She loves going down the slide, but has become a little more timid after falling off the steps several times. She really likes to dance and spin, and she loves reading books. Her favorite book right now is a book of Mother Goose nursery rhymes, and she loves it when we sing the songs that go with the poems.

• manners- She's pretty good at either saying or signing please, but sometimes needs to be reminded how to ask nicely. We also love that when we give something to her, she'll sometimes say "You're welcome." She has also started being much naughtier, including pinching, hitting, and biting (only once). I put her on a little seat in the corner for time-out, but I still don't know if she understands all of that yet. I've also noticed that she is BY FAR the whiniest when she's with me. During Spencer's break when I'd go to work, he said she would be totally happy all day, and then just cry and cry once I got home. No me gusta.

• help- She loves to sweep the floor with the swiffer duster, help me throw clothes into the washer or dryer, take things out of the dishwasher, help me water my plants, and pour ingredients into whatever I'm cooking.

• food- She continues to be a pig! I swear Sydney could eat a 4 course dinner and then still ask for a "nack" (snack) like 10 minutes later. Her most common food requests are berries (loves blueberries and strawberries), pretzels, and "bishies" (Goldfish). She rarely drinks milk, and since we've never introduced juice or anything else, she just gulps down plenty of water every day.

• potty- She has used the potty once so far- a fluke last Tuesday. I bought a potty chair that fits over the regular toilet seat, and she loves to sit on it. I put her on it that night while I was filling up the tub, and she totally started peeing! It was just good timing on my part, but now she is always telling me when she goes "pee-pee" in her diaper. I'm hoping to potty train her this summer!

Love this girl.