Hurricane Sandy has begun...

Just wanted to write a quick update while we still have power. All is well here so far (5pm on Monday). It's been raining since last night and the wind has recently picked up. We've got plenty of food and are prepared for the power to go out. Flashlights, candles, beds ready in the basement, plenty of water (thank goodness for 5 and 6 gallon glass carboys for daddy's homebrewing), plenty of non-perishable food, iPads, iPods, and phones are all charged. Now fingers crossed that all of the trees in our backyard stay put.

Mom's office and my school were closed today and mom's office is already closed for tomorrow. Metro and all local buses are also canceled, so it's best to just stay put. We had a pretty fun day today and got to play a lot, drew some pretty cool pictures, took a nice warm bath (in case we lose power and our hot water heater goes out), and even took a nice nap. Mom shared her bed with me (the only way she can get me to nap these days) and we both got *almost* an hour rest. Then I started playing with the buttons on one of my toys and that seemed to annoy mom. I don't understand why! We made some apple cinnamon muffins and I got to stir it all up and scoop the mix into the muffin cups. I even ate one of the muffins for snack this afternoon, but we're saving the rest in case we need them tomorrow. Now, we're waiting for dinner to cook (mom's heating up a frozen baked ziti and is hoping the power stays on till it's cooked. Dad and I are going to carve my pumpkin that we got at the pumpkin patch on Saturday (a separate post on that once we get a chance to edit photos).

Yesterday we got to watch a lot of our friends run the Marine Corps Marathon! They ended up having a pretty nice day ahead of the storm. Angela, Sofia, Molly, Jay, and Alex all ran and did extremely well!!! Daddy left earlier than mom and I did and met Steve so they could run around and spectate in a few different spots (crowd support is pretty critical, especially for a long race like that with impending crappy weather). Mom and I went a little later and were planning on spectating in one spot (it was hard for her to walk too far). She and I went and staked out a spot that we thought would be at mile 18, but was probably more like just shy of 19. We stood there for a while and unfortunately missed Angela, Sof, and Alex. It was SOOOO hard to find people. We were lucky enough to find Molly and Jay, though, and I gave them hugs and high fives. They looked GREAT and I knew they'd finish strong. They all did finish very strong and we met up with them at Jay and Molly's house afterward to celebrate their run and Molly's birthday. I had a blast playing with all of Jacob's toys - sorry Jay and Molly for making such a mess of all the toys!!! Feel free to come over and return the favor anytime :)

I'm going to sign off for now and go work on my pumpkin. Will post updates as we can, but for now, we're all doing well and still have power. Stay safe, everyone!!!

Mom's a sucker :)

I got to spend yesterday with Grandpa Coble while mom and dad went to a concert. We had so much fun! We swung in the hammock, rode my bike, put some puzzles together, and even had bunny shaped mac and cheese for dinner! Then I got to have a piece of candy from Alanna's birthday - I think grandpa can come back any time :)

Mom and dad ended up leaving the concert a little early because it was REALLY crowded, so they got home before I was done with my bath. I even got to open my birthday present from Aunt Laurie, Uncle Dan, and my cousins Courtney and Kaylee. They got me some AWESOME dresses and leggings that I can't wait to wear! Will post pictures soon, but it's been hard for mom to carry her camera, so she'll have to wait till she gets the pictures from grandpa.

Grandpa read to me (and I read a little to him) at bedtime, then I said night night. I got mom good, though. After grandpa went back downstairs, I called for mom on the monitor:

Me: Mom - I want to cuddle with you!
Mom: But we just cuddled downstairs, Sydney. It's time to go to bed.
Me: But mom, I'm laying here with my turtle just thinking about cuddling with you.
Mom: Oh yeah?
Me: Yes. If you come cuddle with me, I'll be able to sleep tonight.
Mom: OK - I'll be right there (as she hobbled back upstairs on crutches).

I win!

Brave Girl

Mom and I went to the pediatrician today for my 4 year well visit. The last time we were there was September 27, 2011, meaning that I was for the most part healthy ALL.YEAR.LONG! Dr. Glassman was happy about that (and so were mom and I)!

I got my first vision screening and a follow up hearing screening and both were PERFECT. Because I was in the NICU at birth and had a little trouble with the hearing screening, they've checked my hearing pretty regularly, but they haven't checked my eyes yet. Mom wasn't too worried about my eyes - I haven't showed any signs of having any issues, but since both mom and dad wear glasses and dad's eyes are pretty bad, it's good news that my eyes are ok.

The four year visit is a rough one in terms of vaccinations. I got 4 routine vaccinations plus my flu shot. I usually get the flu mist in the flu clinic in the pediatrician's office, but they're now able to give the shot right in the exam room and bill the insurance directly, so that's what we did. I had to sit in mom's lap and she held my hands. They brought in an extra nurse so they each gave me two shots in each arm and it was over really quickly. I was SO brave and stoic and didn't cry when I was getting the shots. The nurse could see on my face how much it hurt and told me it was ok to cry. I turned around, put my head on mom's shoulder, and sobbed like crazy. Mom just held me and rubbed my back and told me how brave I was. I really loved the bandaids - they were silver and sparkly - pretty cool! The nurse even gave me TWO tokens for the bouncy ball machine and told me I could also get TWO stickers on the way out!

The doctor weighed me and measured my height - 41 inches and 36 pounds. 75% for height and 50% for weight - right on track from where I've been for years now, so that's good! Everything else checked out perfectly and Dr. Glassman even told me that I don't have to get any more shots (other than my flu shot) until I'm ELEVEN! That's pretty cool :)

Mom got her flu shot on the way out and then I picked out my two stickers and we went home. I was pretty excited to tell daddy how brave I was and we had to leave the bandaids on so I could show my teachers the next day.

I'm absolutely loving my new school (I think I will forever call it my new school). I'm the oldest in my class, but am still learning a lot of new things every day. Now that the school year has started, we get to participate in the enrichment activities such as gym, music, yoga, sign language, and Spanish.

I've learned the following signs in sign language: great, happy, sad, and a bunch more that I don't feel like telling mom at the moment :) I do know a bunch of the letters, please and thank you, and some colors. Yoga is a lot of fun and I teach mom the poses that we learn. We're also learning about rhythm in music class - pretty cool stuff.

Till later!!!