18 month doctor's visit

As most of you know, I began student teaching in January. I was really nervous about it, but I'm having a great time with the students. Sydney is going to an in home daycare while I'm at school everyday and she's running through the typical sicknesses. She had a pretty bad cold after being there for a week, followed by pink eye last week and we just had her 18-month check-up Wednesday and found out that she has an ear infection. On the upside we killed 2 birds with one stone finding the infection during a routine well visit and caught it before it got really bad. So, right now she's on antibiotics - caramel apple flavored. When did they come out with that? I'd like to pour some on vanilla ice cream it smells so good.
Sydney is in the 75th percentile for weight and between the 75th & 90th for height. She has really thinned out ever since she began walking and now running and climbing and dancing... she's forever on the move. She babbles a TON and there are a few recognizable words. She's a girly girl carrying around her baby doll with her purse on her shoulder and sometimes putting my shoes on.

Christmas at Home

Yes, I've been slacking big time and my excuse is that it's been the holidays and we were in Key West for Christmas and New Years. A whole 2 weeks in FL and it was awesome! Coming back to lots and lots of snow was not so cool... but hey, it's what we get for living here.

Sydney has gone to her soon-to-be daycare a few times to get her acquainted and comfortable there. She is the youngest, so I feel like each time I pick her up she's grown up so much just from being around the older kids. It's hard to believe she's almost 1 1/2! She's saying lots of words and seems to understand what we say to her. She's beginning to learn animal sounds and still LOVES Dora the Explorer :) She will sing row, row, row from Row, row, row your boat. She'll say boat too. She remains being a good eater, however, she has some strange favorites. She really likes dill pickles and even ate an olive the other day... both of which I hate. Cucumbers, carrots, peas, corn & green beans are still at the top of the list. She'll pretty much eat all fruit too. She can't get enough raisins & craisins. She's not a big meat eater. She loves soup, but will spit out the chicken pieces or seal her lips if she sees chicken on the spoon before it gets to her mouth. You take the chicken off and she opens up. Too funny. Yogurt, toast, crackers, cheese... all part of her diet too. Unlike me, she is not a big dessert fan. Still doesn't like chocolate much. Her downfall is plain munchkins from Dunkin' Donuts.

We got together with my side of the family a few weeks before Christmas to celebrate and exchange gifts. Sydney had fun playing with her cousins. She got lots of fun toys and adorable clothes from everyone for Christmas. While she's still young I figure we can get away with being gone for Christmas Day... but I'm not sure what will happen when she gets older. We'll see...

Wearing her new snow boots & winter jacket. She had a hard time walking in the boots at first. It was pretty funny.
Grandma Halstead doing "this little piggy"

Family pic

Geoff & Sydney at my parents for our Christmas gathering

November recap

Sydney had her 15-month pediatrician visit in the middle of November. She did very well. She had 3 shots - flu, H1N1 flu, and HIB (Haemophilus Influenzae type B). Once again she was told she was "amazing" for not crying. She weighs 25.2 lbs putting her in the 80th percentile for weight and 32" tall putting her in the 90th percentile for height. We have to go back in 4 weeks to get her DTaP (diphtheria, tetamus & pertussis) and polio vaccines. They didn't want to give her too many shots at once since she had to get the flu shots.

She's giving kisses to Dad through the glass door

Sydney & Zach (Cortney & Josh Giarrusso's son)
We went to a birthday party for Jaden Scott and all the kids got to play. Zach is about 2 months older than Sydney, so they will have lots of fun growing up and playing together. I was happy to hear that he gets into everything just like Sydney. Misery loves company :)

Grady, Madeline (2nd cousins) & Sydney
We went to visit Lisa (Hanifin/Gaudet) and her kids for a playdate. It was so nice to go to a baby-proofed home. I could actually sit and have an adult conversation without wondering what Sydney was destroying - well, somewhat. Grady is about 2 months older than Sydney too. Thats Maddy in the background. She's a good helper and unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of Sam, the newest baby. He's a cutie though. They've got their hands full!

Sydney & Grady playing

Sydney the Kangaroo & her baby Joey

I apologize for not updating the blog sooner. I don't know where the time goes. Actually, maybe I do, my day consists of chasing, cleaning up, feeding, changing and repeatedly saying "no!" as Sydney climbs up on chairs and uses her arms like windshield wipers to clear whatever may be on the table. Today it was my cup of coffee (luckily no longer hot), a remote, magazines, salt & pepper shaker... I think you get the point :) Bringing her to the store with me is no longer easy. She insists on standing in the cart in order to get down and run. I have about 5-10 minutes until that happens, so most of my errands happen in the evening now, after Geoff gets home. I'm making her out to sound like a monster, but she's really a good baby... or toddler? She still sleeps all night. We put her down around 8pm and she wakes up around 7:30am. She's officially off the baby bottle. I was dreading it, but it really wasn't bad at all. She was having a bottle before her afternoon nap and before bed. I weaned her down to 2 oz. of whole milk and on the day she turned 15 months I ditched the bottle. I now give her a sippy cup of milk before she goes down and read her a few books. She's completely fine with it. It took 1 day. She naps from about 1-4pm. Yeh, I know... I'm lucky. It keeps me sane :)

Sydney got a Dora 'lil Quad for her birthday, but I didn't want to put it together until she was walking steadily. Can you imagine if she went from crawling to driving and completely skipped walking? Luckily we've had a mild fall so she's been able to use it outside quite a bit. She's not a fan of her helmet, but she doesn't have much choice. She doesn't ride long before she's off and running to the neighbors playground or into the road.

Sydney and I went to Critz Farms in Cazenovia and got to see a pumpkin patch along with some goats, ducks, donkeys, bunnies, horses, etc. She loves animals so she certainly enjoyed herself there.

There was also a play area that she had fun on.

Maybe she was more interested in the rocks & dirt than the pumpkins.

Sydney was an adorable kangaroo for Halloween.

She loved the baby Joey that came with it. She's squeezing him in this picture.

I was surprised she didn't seem to mind having the hood up on the costume.

Happy Autumn!

For those of you that live here in CNY you will agree that fall is definitely here. I think that winter is here, actually. Sydney and I miss our summer walks around the block with bare feet and spending our weekends at camp, but thats okay. She's already been tailgating for the SU football games and had fun running around the parking lot and pushing around her baby stroller.

Sydney's new favorite thing is talking on the phone. For at least a month now she'll hold something... anything (it can be a green bean, her cup, toy frying pan, etc.) to her ear and say "o?" which is hello in her language. Within the last few weeks she has started talking on the real phone. She'll jabber away walking around the house not even letting the other person talk at all. Then she'll throw a hissy fit when the phone is taken away. It's pretty funny to watch. She'll even start laughing like the other person just told her something funny. Is she mocking me? Probably. We have a talker on our hands. She can talk for up to an hour before she eventually falls asleep for her nap. Kathy said she thinks she's telling jokes to her stuffed animals and then laughing at them. Its hysterical to hear.

Geoff and I had our first non-family babysitter a few weeks ago. We put her to bed before we left, so it was pretty easy, but the sitter has been back since to watch Sydney while she's awake too. My nervousness is much better now that she's older. As we left Geoff said, "I feel so old... we have a babysitter at our house!" It just doesn't seem that long ago that I was babysitting!

As for other news, my brother Adam and his wife, Tammy, are expecting in March and find out soon what they are having! Geoff's cousin, Bryce, and his wife, Mary, just found out that they are having another boy also. Congrats to them both!

Yes, I have Sydney's Halloween costume - I'll post pictures when I have them.

Cracking up at Dad

She still puts EVERYTHING in her mouth!

What are these things and why am I allowed to play with them?

My favorite picture!

Carrying around the mini pumpkin

Corn on the Cob

It's hard to believe how big Sydney is. We looked at some of her old baby photos the other day and had to laugh at how chubby she was. She's completely thinned out now that she's all over the place. I call her my little monkey. She's a very cautious child, but she has no fear when it comes to climbing things. She tries to put her feet into the sink of her kitchen set so she can stand in it, she climbs up slides, and I found her on top of our glass coffee table the other day on all fours.

I can't leave anything out. If I leave the pantry door open she is immediately in it ripping things down. I left the garbage out from under the sink the other day. I heard a little evil giggle and it was way too quiet. I found her digging through the garbage AND she had something in her mouth. I scooped out what looked like carrot. I had just cut some and she found the ends, so it wasn't that bad, but honestly... she sees the refrigerator open for one second and b-lines it to climb inside and pull things out. I'm sure all of you parents are laughing and remembering those days! Here are some of my recent photos:

I love the little curls of hair on the back of her head

Sitting in the sun coming through the window

She loves corn on the cob and it doesn't even have to be cooked! I tried it raw for the first time the other day - it's really sweet! You should try it.

12 month visit to the doctor

On August 5th Sydney went to the pediatrician for her 12-month check-up. She weighed 23 lbs, the same as her 9 month visit, which shocked the doctor. I explained that it's a good thing... she was pretty chunky and is now moving and burning calories. She was 31.2" long, which means she's grown almost 3" taller. So, she's dropped to the 85th percentile for weight and is just above the 95th percentile for height.

She got 3 shots - varivax, hepititus A, and MMR. She didn't cry, again, for her first two shots (still a toughy!), but the MMR shot stings, so she cried after that one. Then the nurse came in to prick her finger for a lead test, which came back fine, but made her cry even harder. She couldn't stand the band-aid on her finger and managed to bite it off shortly after it was put on.

About 3 days after her shots she had a fever of 102.2, which lasted a couple of days, and then she had a minor rash on her back, belly and a little on her neck. She also lost her appetite and just wasn't herself. The doctor said that she could have some reactions from the shots for up to 2 weeks. She seems to be better now.

We went to Saratoga for our annual family visit with friends the weekend of August 8-9. We stayed with our friends Joe, Jess and Jack. We had a good time with them at the track and Sydney and Jack got to play together. Sydney was good considering she was sick with a fever and not eating well. Sydney also had her first non-family babysitter when we all went out to dinner. Sydney and Jack were already sleeping, so Joe's cousin, the babysitter, had it pretty easy :)

In this picture you can see the Dora the Explorer band-aid on her arm after the shots :(

Grandma & Grandpa got Sydney a chair for her birthday and she loves sitting and lounging in it.

Sydney loves all of her new birthday toys. Here she's sitting next to her new kitchen set and playing with her tea party set.

She wants to brush her teeth by herself, which is really more like chewing and biting the brush. I try to brush her teeth quickly before she grabs the brush, but she gets mad when you don't let her do it herself.

Playing in her pool in our backyard

She drinks pool water, bath water... pretty much anything that resembles a cup, like this sandpail, becomes her drinking glass.

Floating in Panther Lake at camp

Playing in the sandy shore at camp

Playing squirt guns with Aunt Kristin & Dad

Flying high with Dad