It's definitely summertime!

Wow - I can't believe how hot it's been the past few weeks! It's been in the mid 90's and has felt even warmer than that. Thank goodness for air conditioning and lots of water play at home and school!

I've been sleeping a little better, though have gone back to waking up a few times at night the past few nights. I do love my big girl bed, though. I've been drinking a *lot* of water because it's been so hot. I must have had too much water last night because I woke up early in the morning and my pj's, sheets and blankets were all soaked :( Mom changed everything and I went back to sleep for a few hours. She put up some light blocking shades in my room and they help me sleep a *little* later now that the sun comes up so early. Only one night have I climbed out of my bed and mom found me sleeping on the floor when she came to wake me up in the morning. I didn't seem to mind, though!

My vocabulary has absolutely taken off. I repeat almost everything and babble incoherently at times. I'll tell you what I want to eat (or not), what I want to read or what toy I want to play with. I'm back to being a pretty picky eater about half the time. I've been loving steak on the grill, but don't do so well with the veggies. Mom made us some kabobs the other night and I did well with those, but I didn't like the onions. I guess it's good that she's still making me some chicken "nuggets" with veggies hidden in them. And I *love* hummus, so at least that's a good source of protein!

Last weekend I had an awesome play date with Alanna, Zachary, Rachel and Jacob! We went to the Adventure Playground that's at the soccerplex near our house. I met everyone through school and they are all such good friends. I think our mom's all had fun hanging out too. Here are some photos of me at the playground:





Saturday afternoon, we went to Gemmell State Park to hang out with some more friends. Marie was kind enough to blow up Belle's pool for us to play in - we had a BLAST!!!



Mom brought some popsicles since it was so hot. I'm not sure why she thought it was a good idea to give me the wild berry flavored one when I was wearing my white swim cover-up :)



Belle was kind enough to share her car with me. I was yelling "Bad Driver!" as mom often does, ha ha.



Belle was lounging and trying to dry off after our dip in the pool.



I painted a picture for daddy for Father's Day. It was a lot of fun and I ended up dumping a plate full of paint on the carpeted floor of the dining room :( Mom got it cleaned up, but once again was reminded how terrible of an idea it is to have a carpeted dining room!







We went to Angela's baby shower today, but mom forgot to take the camera :( It was incredible, though! They had a Dr. Seuss theme and the food was awesome. I had so much fresh fruit and didn't want to eat anything else :) I was pretty well behaved which mom was surprised about given that I had missed my nap. I fell asleep on the way home and then mom was able to transfer me to my bed and I slept for another hour and a half! Mom even got a quick nap in there in the process. I was so excited to see Molly and Angela and kept saying their names the whole way down there. I can't believe that we'll get to meet Baby Huie in less than a few weeks! We're wishing them all the best and I promise to give him some pointers as he grows up :)

When I got up, we finished watching the US Soccer game (boo) and then went shopping to get some more summer clothes. I had fun there, but started fussing on the way home. Apparently I had a pretty bad tummy ache and had the worst diaper explosion that I've ever had! Mom had to completely disassemble my carseat, remove the cover, wash it, wash all of my clothes, and wash her clothes. Fun times. Now she has to put everything back together tomorrow morning :(

I just *had* to have this hat while mom and I were shopping this afternoon. Pretty cool, huh?



With that, I will say good night!

Big Girl Bed!

That's right! I made the move to my big girl bed on Sunday :) Mom ordered the conversion kit for my crib about 4 months ago, but it finally came in and she decided it was time to try it. Off came the front rail of the crib and on went the bed rail. I was SO excited that I couldn't get out of mom's way while she was trying to put it together. She *finally* got it tightened up enough and let me climb in. I put all of my toys, books, blankets, and pillows in bed and was so proud of myself :) I've done great and haven't gotten out of bed at all at night and have actually slept through the night for 4 nights in a row now! That's the first time in probably 6+ months, so mom and I are feeling *much* more rested. I've only had one nap so far since I've been at school all week, but I slept for 2.5 hours on Sunday afternoon (that's a pretty good nap for me!) and when I got up, I opened my dresser drawers and was playing with the diapers that were folded in the drawer. If that's all mom has to worry about, she's ok with that. That's easy enough to clean up and there's not much else I can get in to in my room. These aren't the best photos, but this was me the first morning that I woke up in my big girl bed.

Still sleeping...



Just wakin' up...



I guess I should update on the past few weeks! Memorial Day weekend was pretty busy. Mom ran another 5K on Saturday morning and beat her previous time by over 2 minutes, but she thinks the course distance was off by about a tenth of a mile. Still a pretty good race, though. I gave her a big "Hooray mommy!" when she got home :)

Mom and dad *finally* introduced strawberries to me and I adore them. They were waiting to give them to me because they are so allergenic, mom's mom had issues with strawberries, and given my issues with dairy, they are trying to be extra careful with what I eat. Thankfully I didn't have a reaction to strawberries, so they took me to a local orchard to go strawberry picking on Sunday. I call them "strawbubbies" and could eat them by the pound if mom would let me.

Here's me picking a strawbubby off of the vine.



Me and daddy with our buckets of berries!



Me and mommy




Here are some other photos from the past few weeks:

I found the "soccer horn" and have figured out how to make it sound funny.



I love books at bedtime :)



I wake up happy and with HORRIBLE bedhead! Mom doesn't want to cut my hair again, but it gets quite crazy while I sleep.



Daddy and I waiting to get in to the VA Wine Festival. He was trying to plan out which booths we were going to stop at. Thankfully mom and dad let me stop at the Balloon Lady on the way out and she made me a Kitty Cat! The Kitty Cat is still inflated and is "sleeping" on the shelf in my bedroom. We had so much fun at the Wine Festival! Uncle Jay was so much fun and Molly and Baby Huie walked around with me for a while and kept me occupied :) Mom and Molly got me a frozen Cherry Limeade to cool me off and it was so yummy.



Eating sushi with mom while dad was out of town. I had a vegetable roll and actually enjoyed it once mom cut it up :)



My kitty and blankie - two necessities for bedtime...



Last weekend I got to spend an afternoon and evening with Ms. Laurie, Mr. Chad and Zachary!!! Ms. Laurie was my favorite teacher at school and she so graciously agreed to let me stay at her house while mom and dad went out for the evening. They went to see Thurgood at the Kennedy Center which they say was truly amazing. Mom and dad can not thank Laurie ("Lolly") enough. She is a wonderful friend and I'm so happy to know her.

Hope everyone is doing well! Hopefully I'll have some more time to update in the coming weeks / months. Take care!

Ears are finally clear!

Mom took me to see the doctor again this morning, fearing another long and sleepless weekend. I've been poking at my ears, not eating well, and waking up at least 2-3 times a night, even since finishing my last round of antibiotics earlier this week. I am now 23 lbs 10 oz, though that was with my diaper and blankie which I would NOT let go of. We were supposed to go back in 2 weeks for an ear check anyway, but decided to go today since it's a long weekend and we wanted to be sure. Turns out my ears are FINALLY clear, so that is good news. This means we might avoid having to see an ENT specialist and get tubes. But it also means that the cure to my lack of sleeping is still a mystery. I'm getting 2 of my 2 year molars, so that probably has something to do with it. Who knows how long those are going to take to pop through, then there are still 2 more to come in on the other side! Even though they are "2 year" molars, they can come in anywhere from 18 months to 3 years, so hopefully I'll get this phase done and out of the way SOON. I'm also going through a pretty bad phase of separation anxiety, so the doctor felt that could be making me wake up at night too. What can I say, I'd rather snuggle with mom in the glider than be alone in my bed! Speaking of which, my big girl bed is almost here!!! We're going to convert my crib to a bed as soon as the conversion kit comes in, which should be in another week or two. I sleep on a cot at school and did pretty well on the air mattress in the hotel last week, so we're going to give it a shot. I'm not sleeping well anyway, so it can't hurt and will hopefully make bedtime a little easier. Right now I go back and forth between wanting to sit in mommy's lap ("I sit in mommy's lap) to wanting to be in the crib ("night night"). We do this at least 5 times before I actually lay down and say "Night night mommy, I love you." It's pretty frustrating for both of us to keep getting up and down, so maybe the big girl bed will solve that problem. Well, better get going. Hope everyone is able to enjoy the long weekend ahead of us!!!

Congratulations to Jennifer and Beanie!

It's been a while since mom let me post anything again! We had a fun filled weekend and I have a lot to update you on!!!

Two of my cousins, Jennifer and Christine graduated this weekend! Christine graduated from Bishop Kenny High School in Jacksonville and Jennifer graduated from Elon University in North Carolina. Wouldn't you know that both graduations were the same day :( We had to make a tough decision and chose to travel to Elon this year and will plan on going to Mary Washington when Beanie graduates a few years from now :)

Mom and dad tell me I did a pretty good job traveling this weekend, but we're all glad to be home. We left home Thursday night at my bedtime and mom drove for a few hours until we got south of Richmond. When we stopped for gas at some point, mom and dad switched and we drove just in to North Carolina and stayed in a hotel there. Dad has a ton of Hilton points from his work travel, so we were able to stay for free :) Only problem was that we drove from 8 to midnight and I was WIDE awake by the time we got there. I was up until almost 3, then finally fell asleep. Mom and dad got me a really cool air mattress instead of my pack and play, so I had a fun new bed, but unfortunately (for them at least) it meant that I could get up and wander around.

Friday morning, we woke up and mom and I had breakfast and did a quick shopping trip to Target while daddy got to catch up on a little sleep. We drove the rest of the way to Elon, which was a little over an hour away. We met up with Aunt Laurie and Uncle Jeff in the hotel, got changed and went to the Baccalaureate on campus. I didn't make it too far in to the ceremony before I started "singing..." Mom had to leave and walk around the halls with me. When the ceremony was done, we took a tour of campus. It was so beautiful and smelled SO good. We walked all over and got to walk inside a bunch of the buildings. We got to see the library and "reading room" which was beautiful. The campus is very different from Penn State, the only other college campus I've really been on. After our tour, we got to eat dinner at a cool place called the Mellow Mushroom! I had some hummus for dinner because I couldn't eat the cheese on the pizza. I didn't eat much, but that's ok because I snacked all day :) It took me several hours to fall asleep again once we got back to the hotel, but I slept pretty well once I did fall asleep. I woke up once at 4am and then mom got me up a few hours later for breakfast and I was bright eyed as can be!

Here are some of the photos from campus. I'm sorry I don't know the names of all of the buildings, but you can see how beautiful it is!







The organ :)



My cousin Jen!



Cousin Jen and Uncle Jeff! I had such a fun time with them :)




Saturday morning, we met Uncle Jeff and Aunt Laurie in the hotel before the graduation ceremony. We all drove over to campus and parked and walked to the Oaks where the ceremony was held. It was supposed to rain at some point on Saturday, so we were all hoping that it held out for a few hours. We all got seated and waited for the ceremony to begin. The weather turned out to be wonderful - it was actually a little chilly, but at least wasn't stifling hot! I got a little restless, so mom walked around with me in the stroller and I got a bit of a nap. I was asleep when they called Jen's name, otherwise I was fully prepared to yell HOORAY JEN! It started to rain a little near the end of the ceremony, so mom took me to the back of the seats and put up the umbrella (which I'm really good at saying, by the way...). We met up with the rest of the family after and walked over to find Jen. We did find her and were able to get some cute photos.

Jen and Ricky



Grad Jen and Proud Dad Jeff



After the ceremony, mommy, daddy, Aunt Laurie and I grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed back to the hotel to try to take a nap since I had napped so early in the morning. We all finally got to sleep and had a nice long nap, then met everyone for a wonderful dinner at a Japanese steak house! I had never been to such a place, but had a great time watching the cook make our food :) He gave me a whole big plate full of fried rice and noodles that were SO yummy! I ate really well and was pretty well behaved the whole time. We stopped at a book store on the way back to the hotel and I got a few new books :) Bedtime on Saturday was a LOT better, though I was still up way past my bedtime.

Sunday, mommy, daddy and I drove to campus so we could go for a run around campus. We did a lap around the campus, then mommy stopped with me and dad kept going for another lap. Unfortunately, by the time we were done, we had missed Uncle Jeff and Aunt Laurie :( We showered and hit the road... I fell asleep in the car almost immediately and about an hour later we stopped for lunch on the UNC Chapel Hill campus! We had a great lunch at the Carolina Brewery restaurant, then walked around campus for a bit. I can't even believe how HUGE that campus is! We probably only saw a quarter of it, but stopped at the bookstore and got me a t-shirt on the way out :) When we left, we drove by the Dean Smith Center! What an impressive site - it's enormous!



When we left there, we drove to Duke! We didn't really get out of the car there, but we did drive around and got to see a lot of the campus. Mom thought it was really pretty, but dad said he didn't think he could go there. We stopped at Cameron Indoor Stadium and dad took some photos there too :) There were some lacrosse players on the field across the parking lot and we were wondering if they were the Duke team, but turns out they were a high school camp...



From there, we left to drive the rest of the way home. I slept the whole way through the Duke campus and slept for several hours on the drive north. I only woke up when we stopped to switch drivers just south of Richmond. Daddy had to drive through some TORRENTIAL downpours and was not thrilled about that. Mom lucked out and the weather was pretty clear once she started driving. But she did get stuck in a 6 mile long traffic jam around Fredericksburg (where Mary Washington is!) and I was awake and quite unhappy through that bit. We finally were able to get off of the highway and grab some dinner. Daddy sat in back with me and we made it home around 8pm. Surprisingly, I got my bath and went to bed pretty easily! Hopefully we can get back on a normal schedule now.

In other news, I have my third ear infection in 2 months. During that 2 months, I've had constant fluid behind my ear drums, even when my ears weren't completely infected. So I'm on a stronger antibiotic this time and if my ears aren't clear 2 weeks after I stop the antibiotics, we'll have to go to an ENT specialist and I'll probably have to get tubes in my ears :( Mom doesn't think they're getting better because I haven't slept through the night in over 2 months and I'm still pulling at my ears and saying "owie." We go back to the pediatrician in 2 weeks, so we shall see. Thank goodness we have good insurance, because mom and my doctor are getting to know each other quite well.

Here are some other random photos from the past month:

Penn State proud...



Helping daddy put the new pot rack together



The ball that I wouldn't let mommy leave Target without :)



Riding the bike at school after the spring gala



Thinkin' about what to draw next...



Enjoying a sunny day by my pool in the front yard :)





I think that's enough for now! I hope everyone is doing well!

Much love,
Sydney

Huzzah!

Mommy, pound it!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! I was pleasantly surprised this morning when I woke up - the Easter Bunny left me a basket full of goodies! I got a stuffed bunny, bubbles, three books (Mr. Brown Can Moo Can You, Olivia, and I Love You, Good Night), a swim diaper, a bathing suit, two plastic eggs shaped like animals that had crackers in them and three soccer ball shaped eggs that had money in them! Mommy let me put the money in my piggy bank and that was fun :) Much like my toy piggy bank, but with the real thing!

I went to the DC United Home Opener last night with mom, dad, and a bunch of their friends. The weather was perfect and I had a lot of fun at the tailgate. It's so much better now that I can walk around and kick the ball. Dad taught me to say soccer ball and now I'm obsessed with saying it. Mom forgot to take the camera, so no pictures from there :( I did pretty well given that my bedtime is before kickoff! I had a miserable day today though - I think I was just overtired from last night.

I had to go back to the doctor last week to have my ears checked again. I *still* have a double ear infection and am on my second round of antibiotics now. I have to go back next week to have them checked again. Hopefully they'll be better!

Here are some photos from my playdate with Arabelle a few weeks ago:

I loved to crawl through this tunnel.


My best buddy Belle :)


Belle's giving me some driving lessons here.


Mommy found some coconut milk icecream that is dairy free, so I got a treat! Yummy!


My cool new sunglasses from Grandma and Grandpa Coble! I don't leave them on when I'm outside, but I sure love playing with them!


My Easter baskets.


Mom and I tried to dye eggs, but it didn't work too well - I made a pretty big mess, but oh well. We had fun anyway.

18 Months Old

Well, not quite, but tomorrow morning I will be! And today is Grandpa Coble's birthday. I got to talk to him this morning and told him what a cow says, blew kisses, and said bye bye :) Mommy and I were supposed to go to the zoo this morning, but poor Gabo came down with a stomach virus. We hope he's feeling better REALLY soon!!!!! So mommy and I went shopping instead. I got some new spring/summer clothes and shoes :) All my clothes that fit have long sleeves and my pj's are almost all too small to zip anymore. Mom's doing laundry while I sleep so I can maybe wear some of the new clothes tomorrow.

I had my 18 month checkup on Thursday and all looks great, EXCEPT that I have a DOUBLE ear infection! I haven't been sleeping well the past week or so - waking up 5-6 times a night and sometimes staying up for several hours at a time, but that was the only sign that something wasn't quite right. I have also been putting my hands in my mouth, which everyone thought was due to teeth, but now we know better. Mom felt horrible when the doctor told her that :( I have a feeling we'll be calling the doctor a lot more in the future for something as simple as a change in sleeping pattern! I finished day 3 of my antibiotics and have been sleeping a little better, though I have been REALLY fussy at bath and bedtime.

Anyway, I'm 22 lbs, 14oz, and 32.25" tall. 75% for height, 25-50% for weight - right on track :) The doctor wants me to stay dairy free at least until I'm two, then we *may* start to slowly re-introduce foods with casein in them (probably start with butter and yogurt, but will take a while to try straight cow's milk again). I suspect that I still get some dairy at daycare in foods like waffles, pancakes, and other foods that are baked with either milk or butter, but it's so hard to completely cut those out. Mom makes me dairy free pancakes and dairy and egg free french toast and freezes a bunch for home, but that doesn't exactly work at school!!! The doctor said we could try to introduce eggs once I get through my ear infection, so we'll see about that. I have to have my ears checked again in a month since I never really showed signs of infection in the first place.

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous and we've been able to go outside a lot. Mom took me to the Adventure Playground the other night while daddy went for a run at the soccerplex. It was so much fun and I had a FIT when mom put me back in the stroller. I've perfected the art of tantrum throwing :) Arabelle and I are going back to the playground tomorrow and mom tells me we're going to have a picnic lunch there - I can't wait!!! Maybe Belle will show me a few things since she's a little bigger than me :)

Here are some pictures from Zachary's birthday party a few weeks ago. Zachary's mommy is my favorite teacher at school :)



I'm a budding musician! I think mom and dad need to get me a cowbell or tambourine to take to the soccer games - what do you think?



Mommy caught me! I was listening to music on her iPod while sitting on the potty :)



My first attempt at corn on the cob. I did pretty well except the few times that I tried to eat the end of the cob. Yummy corn.



I don't want ANY help eating anymore. I even feed myself my oatmeal in the mornings.



I got one shoe on, but couldn't figure out how to get the other one on!



My new table! Mom bought me a stool to go with it, but it tips over pretty easily, so she put it away. We just have to wait for the normal chairs to come back in stock. But I can still use the table while I stand.



My new easel is awesome :)



We've eaten dinner outside the past few nights. Hooray sunshine!



Enjoy the spring weather everyone!!!