The Thanksgiving Song

Check out this new song I learned in music class :)

Sleepy Girl

Guess I should have updated that we made it through Sandy and are perfectly safe! We lost power for about 2 hours, but it was no big deal. Dad was in my room helping me when it went out and I was sleeping when it came back on. Mom and dad sat in front of the fire (huzzah for the gas fireplace!) and read books while it was out. We had no tree or water damage, so we were really lucky. Seeing the news coverage of NY and NJ makes me so sad and I wish we could do more to help those people who have suffered so much. So sad :(

I was so thankful that we got to celebrate Halloween as normal on Wednesday this week. I dressed up as Cinderella (I'm just slightly obsessed with princesses these days). This was Tuesday night when I had to gather my costume to get ready for my school parade on Wednesday morning. We had to make sure it all fit and that we could find all of the pieces. The dress is really short, but it's a size 6!!! Crazy. The tiara is mom's that she bought for the Princess Half marathon in February. It even blinks :)



We went trick or treating with Ken, Marie, Arabelle, and Cole on Wednesday. How fun! We had pizza, then got in our costumes and headed out. Look how excited we were!



We walked all over Belle's neighborhood and got tons of candy. My bag got SO heavy and I could barely carry it anymore. Dad kept asking me if I was done trick or treating or if I thought I could carry the bag some more. Needless to say, I carried the heavy bag and got some more candy! It was late by the time we got done, so we came home and I went to bed. We sorted through my candy on Thursday night and I got to eat some Hershey's Kisses (from Marie's mom) while we watched Charlie Brown. Pretty cool. I even shared with mom and dad - I gave dad a Milky Way and Mom a 3 Musketeer's bar. Yum.

This morning I got to go to PT with mom. She had a really early appointment and she didn't have time to get me to school beforehand, so she took me with her. I got to play with her iPad and was really, really good the whole time. I counted for her while she was stretching and got to touch the ice pack and e-stim when she was done. That was fun. I got to school late because of PT, so it was snack time when we got there. It was also pizza Friday, so we didn't have to pack a lunch. I told mom that I ate two whole pieces (but not all of the crust) and a whole container of applesauce. Dad made pad thai for dinner and I totally devoured it :) Yummy shrimp!

I had a nice, long, warm bath tonight, then mom and I read a book. Then I laid my head down on mom's shoulder, and...



Out cold. Mom says she loves still being able to rock her "baby" to sleep :)

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!!!

Happy 4th Birthday!

I am officially FOUR years old! Can you believe it? Mom and dad can't, either. On Thursday night when mom put me to bed, I reminded her that it was my last bedtime as a three year old. Completely melted her heart. I was really excited and had a hard time falling asleep. My birthday was on Friday and I got to take some Rice Krispie treats to school to share with my friends and teachers - I was SO excited about it! I got to wear a fancy dress and sparkly dress shoes to school - mom doesn't usually let me do that because of all of the running around we do, but she said it was a special day so it was ok.

I opened my gifts from mom and dad after school and before dinner. I got some really cool things including a beginning electronic circuit set, some new blocks, a new lego set, the Snow White movie, and my very own iPod!!! Three guesses what my favorite was. The iPod had all of my favorite apps on it and I was excited to have one of my very own.

We went out for sushi for dinner and I had a GREAT dinner. I had a bowl of Miso soup, split a plate of edamame with mom, had a few pieces of mom and dad's sushi AND had my own two sushi rolls. Yum. I told mom we'd do a sushi dinner for my birthday and Dogfish for her birthday - she laughed :) After dinner, the waitress brought us 3 cookies and a lollipop. Mom let me have her cookie, so I got to have TWO cookies and a lollipop in the car on the way home. Talk about a special treat :)

We read a very special book at bedtime on Friday. Grammy and Grampy Clements wrote a children's book called "The Runaway Hanky." We all sat in my bed and daddy read it to me. What a special book - I even got the very FIRST copy of the book! When I opened it, I saw Grammy and Grampy's picture on the back and asked mom and dad if they were the authors. When they said yes, I was really excited. I always ask mom about the authors of books, so it was really cool to see my own grandparents on the book!

I slept well Friday night - I was probably exhausted and crashing from all of the sugar. I was also pretty excited about my birthday party on Saturday. A lot of friends who I haven't seen in a while were there, so that was really fun! I got up pretty early on Saturday and helped mom get stuff together. Dad had to run all the errands (cake pick up, grocery shopping, etc.) since mom's still on crutches and can't shop too well. Grandma, Grandpa, Great Grandma, and Great Grandpa got to our house around lunch time, so I was excited to spend some time with them. I got to open their gifts, play, and spend time with them before my party. They stayed at the house and rested when we went to the Gym for the party.

I had a lot of fun at my party. My favorite part (aside from the cake) was the "snowball" fight with daddy. The pictures aren't great, but check out this series:

Getting ready to start the fight...



Jumping over the slide...



Daddy went down!



Nice recovery, dad!



And after all the gym fun, my absolute favorite part - the chocolate princess cake!





I'm so excited to be four!!!

Dance Recital for Grammy

It's been a while (again!) Will write more later, but it's been a fun and busy weekend. We had a great night on Friday and a bunch of my friends came over to play with me while our parents hung out. Delicious pizza for all and wine for the grown ups.

Grammy, Grampy, and Aunt Terry came on Saturday and we've had a really fun visit so far! Yesterday we played at home and I even read a book to them and then they read some books to me. I got to sleep in the guest room and let Aunt Terry have my bed. We got to go to a playground today (mom was dying to get out of the house) and went to a restaurant for a late lunch. Now we're watching football and playing.

Grammy brought a fun toy for me to play with and I had a dance recital for Grammy :)