What a good little boy

Following Sydney's birthday excitement, he had a late bedtime and irregular awakenings in the night last night. This morning, he nursed around 3:30, woke again around 5:30 (but I ignored that call) and then again at 6:30. Eventually, after having a nursing snack and visiting with Grandpa Olson & Beamer, it was time to go back to bed. That is, until Uncle Mike arrived and decided that it was time to wake up. 

We went to Galena today for my first visit. Sydney fell asleep with 5 minutes to spare; then, refused to fall back asleep for fear of missing something. It wasn't until the ride home until he fell asleep. While browsing the streets of Galena, it was confirmed that: INDEED, WE HAVE A VERY GOOD LITTLE BOY! Despite being tired... or OVER-TIRED... he was NOT fussy in any way, shape or form.

What a good little boy!

Sorry, little man... we will TRY to get back into a normal routine again so that you can function at optimum performance level(s).

What a difference a year makes (and Birthday Thanks)

What a difference a year makes!

In 365 days, you have changed A LOT! You outgrew your SharPei puppy look and grew into your skin. 

You mastered the art of breastfeeding after a VERY ROUGH start. 

You went from a newborn-sized diaper to a size 3.

You grew from 21" long to 30.5" long 

AND gained from 8 lb. 11 oz. to 20 lb. 3 oz.

(Although, you have been hovering around that same weight since February - when you learned how to walk. Because you are like a pinball machine and never stop moving, we are having a hard time getting you to gain any weight.)

You learned how to: smile, hold up your head, recognize mommy and daddy, support your own weight on your legs, coo, laugh, eat solid foods, pet a cat or dog, play peek-a-boo/Pat-A-Cake/SO BIG/When you're happy and you know it clap your hands, babble, crawl, walk, run, dance, turn the pages of a book, play in the sand, drink from a cup, feed yourself, climb UP stairs, communicate MILK/MORE/DRINK, wave bye-bye, blow kisses, splash in the bathtub (or the water bowl of our cats or dogs Beamer/Bishop), turn on/off the television, retrieve your shoes when we tell you to, push your cars around, pull a wagon, climb the outside of your playpen, shimmy down backwards off of our bed... the list goes on and on...  

By your first birthday, you have acquired six teeth and warmed MANY hearts with your presence! You ARE loved.

Birthday Thanks:

Uncle Mike & Aunt Karin - 

for the Army uniform 

(which will be a GREAT costume when Sydney gets bigger!)

Grandma Carol - 

for the colorful balloons and the bag of goodies - 

bubbles, balls, bucket, shovels, sidewalk chalk and gift of money

Grandpa Lowell - 

for the swing

Aunt Sue, Uncle Willy, Rachel & Kristen - 

for the Elmo doll and talking book

Aunt Betty -

 for the “Guess How Much I Love You” book 

(which is one of mommy’s favorite children’s books)

Grandma & Grandpa Olson -

 for the box of summer clothes and summer jammies

Mommy & Daddy - 

for the two puzzles, the Sesame Street ABC book, 

the Sesame Street “Follow that Bird” movie, 

the talking Fridge Farm and a life preserver

Great Grandma - 

for the $20 check

Happy 1st Birthday Sydney!

Hand-made party invites for Sydney's first birthday:

Inside:

Made a carrot cake and cream cheese frosting. Made a paper template of a monkey face so that I could dust cocoa powder onto the cake. Should have used chopped walnuts instead because the cocoa was BLOWING around. Sydney is not an art critic yet though; he smiled at the MONKEY, MONKEY, MONKEY on his cake.

Also, I made a banana cream pie and created a NUMBER ONE out of banana and decorator frosting.

Sydney showed off his skills at the table: SO BIG!

And, check out this SUPER CUTE "Birthday Boy" tshirt (and a matching bib, not pictured.)

Following our serenading of "Happy Birthday" and blowing at the candle, Daddy gave Sydney the candle to lick off the frosting. Sydney decided to eat the candle. (Guess we can't save that one until he turns TEN!)

It appears that Sydney has lost some of the THRILL of  eating wrapping paper (like he did at Christmas). We got the most reaction out of his ELMO present from Aunt Sue, Uncle Willy, Rachel & Kristen. The BIG BIRD movie and SESAME STREET alphabet book from mommy & daddy also sparked a BIG SMILE on his face. (This kid LOVES Sesame Street, as demonstrated this morning as he sat on the floor in front of the recliner, watching his favorite muppet friends!) He also recognized the bottle of bubbles from Grandma Carol. (Sydney LOVES bubbles! In fact, we contemplated getting him a bubble mower for his birthday this year, especially since he LOVES to watch Mike mow the lawn, but it was rated for 2-year-olds; maybe next year, little buddy!)

Dear Sydney,

For nine months, I had waited to meet you, wondering what you would look like, how you would act and who you would become. I felt you inside of me, keeping me company, as well as dancing on my bladder and conducting exercise classes inside of my womb. I talked to you (inside my belly) so that you would recognize my voice when the day came that we would finally meet. Towards the end of my pregnancy, I would wake up each day wondering if TODAY was the day that we would get to sing "Happy Birthday to you!"

One year ago today, we welcomed you into this world and our lives have NEVER been the same. Gone are the days that we can pick up and go at a moment's notice because much thought, planning and preparation now goes into all of our trips, as well as LOTS and LOTS of extra LOVE! As parents, we try to think of everything we'll bring to satisfy your needs, as well as to occupy your curiosity and inquisition. We don't travel light, but each day is a wonderful, new adventure and we are SO HAPPY that you are here to join us on our journey.

I have discovered that being a stay-at-home mom is hard work, but is the most rewarding job in the world! This has been THE BEST YEAR OF MY LIFE (with YOU in it) and I look forward to many, many more!!! 

I love you little man!   Love, Mommy

P.S. Sydney, Thank you for sharing your crackers...

and your love - with mommy!

Scuffs, scrapes and smiles

This afternoon, we noticed that our neighbor friends had just arrived home and were standing in their driveway inspecting their strawberry strip so, Sydney and Mommy went over to say HELLO. 13-month old LISE and 3 year old CLAIRE absolutely LOVE Sydney (or "Cindy" and Claire pronounces it) and he LOVES THEM!

Sydney and Claire were having races in the driveway. Obviously, Claire always won, but she is a lot taller and has 2 more years of experience at running. He sure had fun though! (He did, however, fall down and scuff his knee, but it didn't seem to stop him from finishing the race.)

Later, at home, he was demonstrating some new skills - as he started to climb the step ladder in the kitchen. (Little stinker!) Somehow, he slipped, and cut/bruised his leg.

Despite some bumps and bruises today, he's still a smiley, happy kid. (We'll hope to refrain from bumps to his face before his birthday party.)

Thanks for playing (photos)

Grandma Carol came to town late last night and woke to the sounds of pitter-pattering feet running in the hallway upstairs. Surprisingly, Sydney played SHY this morning and clung to Mommy's pajama bottoms - pulling them down a little more with each tug. He warmed up quickly though... perhaps the unseasonably warm temperatures helped in that.... just kidding!

Grandma Carol took Sydney for a stroller ride this afternoon, as well as had a playdate in the sandbox; although, I think Sydney was the only one who actually played.

Thanks for playing, Grandma Carol!

Too close to dinner, ACK!

Playing in his sandbox.

Wearing a HARD HEADED shirt... must get that quality from his dad, right?

Hmmm, I think he might be hungry.

MOMMY: Sydney, what are you doing?

SYD: Who, me?

Mom, this doesn't taste very good, but I'm hungry so, I'll keep trying to see if I'll change my mind.

ACK! (Yep, that means to eat it faster or else mom will take it away from me.)

On 5/17, we must have been playing in the sandbox a little too close to dinnertime... Sydney kept attempting to eat the sand in his sandbox. ACK!

Each day, he gets a little better at playing in there. He's understanding the concept of digging with the shovel and filling up the mini flower pot with sand. He also tries to put the mini flower pot into the center hole and fill it with sand.

We noticed that there is a bumble-bee type bug that keeps hovering around the sandbox. It landed on Sydney a few times... must be because he is so darned sweet! We must have thrown it off because I set a few pavers blocks near the outer edge so that 1) Sydney's leg wouldn't fall into the hole under the sandbox and 2) he would have a mini step to climb into the box and 3) it gave Mommy a more comfortable place to sit. The bee, however, must not have liked the additional blocks since they were impeding the entrance to his home - under the sandbox. Hmmm, plan B says that we'll need some more dirt and fill under there to prevent the bees from making a home there.

Playdate with Havner kids

Today, we got a call from the wife of Mike's boss. Annie invited Sydney and I to come to their house for a playdate and some lunch. So, we got out of our pj's and headed over to play.

Sydney was rather overwhelmed, I'm afraid. I thought he would be SUPER EXCITED to play with kids since he seems to be drawn to them as if by a strong magnetic force. He seemed timid almost. Perhaps, it was overstimulation...

We were brought into the younger son's bedroom to play with trains. Sydney has never played with trains before. The younger son started to make a track for Sydney to drive trains on, but soon, we were surrounded by a large tote filled with dinosaurs. Then, the older daughter brought in her baby doll and diaper bag to add to the chaos. Sydney was fascinated with the baby doll's sippy cup and bottle that had just gotten filled with water... he couldn't wait for the little girl to let her guard down so that he could taste the water inside. Of course, she wasn't very happy that the home intruder was putting her baby doll accessories into his mouth.

We attempted to eat some lunch there, but there was a lot of commotion going on. Hard to imagine how they function with 4 kids in that house. (The oldest son was at school and the newest addition - baby girl - was napping and breast feeding on and off throughout our visit.) 

Sydney liked to play outside in the sandbox after lunch. It was the same sandbox that we have; although, theirs had some water pooled into it where we opted to keep ours strictly sand (since Sydney has such a fascination to play in water). Ours is also burried into the ground so that it is at a proper play level for a baby instead of as a table height.

I think Sydney fell asleep before we got out of their neighborhood.

It was a lot of stimulation; although, a nice change of pace to get out of the house.

Played at Havners. 

iPod desktop for Grandma & Grandpa's new computer

Family friend, CyberBob, has called me "Little Mac" for years and years. When I was pregnant, we needed to think of something that was smaller than "Little Mac" and came up with "iPod" as a reference to Sydney.

Since PC-fanatic CyberBob is giving Grandma & Grandpa Olson his old laptop, I figured that it was only fitting for it to have a supercute new desktop pattern for it so, I emailed this to them. ENJOY!

Clump of dirt, earth worm and dandelion fluff

Our neighbor, Kate, was outside pulling weeds today so, when Sydney woke up from his morning nap, we went over to say HELLO. While we were there, Sydney decided to help Kate with the weeding by throwing her clumps of weeds from the pile in her yard back into her pristine beds. Eventually, he attempted to start eating clumps of dirt. YUM-O! (I'll bet you never saw that coming, right?)

From there, we tempted him to play with an Earth Worm that Kate had just dug up; that is, until he decided that it was best to EAT it. EEWWW!

Right before leaving, so that Kate could go eat some lunch, Sydney was playing with a fuzzy dandelion head. All of a sudden, he popped it into his mouth as if it were a tasty lollipop. Instantly, his nose crinkled up and he stuck out his fuzzy tongue with all of the seedlings hanging onto his tongue's wet surface. With muddy little hands, he reached into his mouth to scrape off his tongue.

The thought of it all made me cringe a little, sending the slightest shiver up my spine. The city girl in me keeps getting reminded: Boys will be boys.

Triscuts in the Toaster and Clean Tray

Gosh, we wish we knew what Sydney was trying to say. He sits in his high chair, pointing at the table and grunts or jabbers. We attempt to guess what he wants; sometimes, actually guessing right once in a while. (We understand that the sign for MILK or when he points at his cup and says "AHH" means that he is thirsty.)

We laughed among ourselves, watching Sydney clear off his tray tonight. He has gotten scolded for throwing his food onto the floor; we think he now understands that throwing food is not acceptable behavior. Now, however, he takes the food - piece by piece - and sets it next to him on the seat of his high chair, as if he is saving it for later. Tonight, we watched him strategically transfer pieces of bread from the tray to the seat until the tray was cleared off. (Now that the video camera is charged, we caught it on video, too.) It was kind if cute to watch, but eventually we will have to let him know that it is OK to leave his uneaten food ON his tray. Hopefully, he will learn and utilize the sign language sign for DONE one of these days.

One day at a time.

He has been on a Nabisco Triscut phase lately. We like the Rosemary and Olive Oil ones; Sydney included. Attracted to the yellow box, he notices them sitting on our table or in the rubbermaid tote in the dining room (since the kitchen is ripped up).

After dinner, Sydney noticed that we had the toaster at a level he can reach. Interested by it, he peered inside and then put his Triscut into it. Shortly after, he decided that he should put his entire hand inside the slot. (Probably to retrieve the cherished cracker.) For the record, the toaster was NOT plugged in, but still it is best NOT to allow him to play with a toaster. Under ordinary circumstances, the toaster would sit on the counter (out of reach) in the kitchen and NOT be considered a toy.

Mike and I agreed that it was better for him to put a Triscut into the toaster than it was for him to stick items into the VCR. (At Grandpa's house, he attempted to shove a stalk of rhubarb into the VCR.)

What a silly boy!