Sawyer

What can I say about this child? She is so awesome and so happy and so adaptable! Last week was a week for change for the girls. Sydney and I really started to potty train and she has been doing wonderfully. Last week was also the week I started working with Sawyer to go to bed on her own without having to be put to sleep. I started with naptime and she immediately took to it right away. I was a little more concerned about bedtime but she proved that she is as easy going as her big sister. I can now give her a sippy of milk before bed. She finishes her milk and then I take her up to her room while she is wide awake. She babbles and talks for a few minutes, and then she is sound asleep. Just like that! First try and she nails it.

How is it that I have had such easy kids from day one? I wonder if their teenage years will be this easy...yeah, not so much, I'm sure. That will probably be my payback time for having such easy babies/toddlers.

Funny Girl

Some little girl thought it would be funny to use her markers on her face! Crazy girl. I wonder what she is going to do with the food coloring when we paint Easter Eggs this weekend?? She is going to have colorful hands, that is for sure! My silly girl.

Family day at Lake George

We finally made it back up to camp! We haven't been there as a family since the beginning of August, just before I had to go back to work after my maternity leave. We have missed our visits there so much. Sawyer wasn't even crawling the last time we were there. Both girls had an awesome time. Sydney was right at home as soon as we walked in the door. Sawyer enjoyed running all around the house and it didn't take her long to find the stairwell! Go figure. Guess we need to buy another gate.

We relaxed, took a long walk through the tree lined road, went to the bay for a very short time as it was too windy to play by the water and then we packed it up and headed home. Both girls passed out before we made it out of our lane!

Sawyer had so much fun running around. The last time she was here, she was barely 6 months old. Now she raced around the house, tested out her big sister's trike and generally just had fun.

Both girls were tucked in the stroller and ready for a long walk through the woods. Sydney wanted to walk for some of the time. She had so much fun watching the dogs run in and out of the woods. She and I picked up pine cones and rocks. She was a riot to watch walking along the road in the woods.

Here are the dogs racing down the lane ahead of us. We were heading down to the bay. Both dogs were so sore last night. Izzy could hardly walk after we got home. Poor doggy.

Double trouble! Both girls love hanging out on the deck. Excuse the bad picture! Couldn't catch them fast enough.

Hopefully the nice weather will get here soon enough. We can't wait to spend lots of time at "George" (as Sydney calls it).

Potty Training Part 2

I should have done this potty training thing much sooner. I may have saved a lot of money on diapers! Sydney is doing great. I knew that she would since she was always happy to use the potty whenever I asked her too. I just never pushed the issue!

I was chatting with a friend this morning about Sydney's potty training. Jon's son, Sam, is Sydney's buddy. Sam had to use the potty awhen they were vacationing in Florida and Jon couldn't find one so he had Sam pee in the bushes! It would be so nice to be a boy sometimes.

This story reminded me of one of my favorite moments as an Aunt to a small toddler boy. This story goes back 8 or more years ago when "Jared boy" was learning to potty train. Uncle Jimmy, Bethany, Jared and I were at a beautiful wooded park near our house in Pennsylvania. Bethany and I were at the far end of the park and Jared and Uncle Jim were hanging out playing when he said he needed to go to the bathroom. Jim called for me and I told him to take him to the potty. A few minutes later, Jim calls out to me saying he didn't know how to take off the pull up diaper (yes, this was years before he became a daddy!) Apparently in the confusion, he asked Jared to just pee against a tree. Jared, in his little toddler speech, told Uncle Jim "I not a dog, Uncle Jimmy!!"

A moment we will never forget and one that is worth sharing as I am in the midst of training my little toddler. Too bad she can't just pee against a tree!

Still thinking with that tongue

Aunt Jess bought Sydney one of these floor activity tables the last time we were in PA. She loves it so much, but she and Sawyer were constantly at battle over it. I swore I wouldn't buy two of every toy, but I made an exception with this one. Now Sydney can continue to create her pictures without the little lady tearing everything up!

Still thinking with that tongue sticking out!

Baby Dolls

I couldn't let this moment pass by this morning. Sawyer is really enjoying baby dolls now. She spent 15 minutes or so just playing with this doll and stroller. The sun was streaming in the window so brightly but thank goodness for my off camera flash for filling what would have been really unattractive shadows and a completely blown out picture. I was able to catch this sweet moment and I absolutely love to see her so intently playing with something. She is a typical busy 13.5 month old, but on occasion, she will concentrate on something for a little while.

Excuse the snot draining from her nose. We have all been under the weather. I, of course, was the only one that required a prescription for my infection. Poor Soybean's nose is so red from wiping it all day long.

We spent a quiet day at home yesterday. None of us seemed very motivated to go anywhere. Here are just some funnies from the day...

Sawyer still loves these baskets! She would sit in them all day if I let her (well, not really, she is too busy to sit for long).
The new potty training look. Sydney refused to keep her shirt on and I keep her pants off for easier potty training pit stops. She likes her new spring/summer shoes...can you tell? She wears them with her undies. Great look.

Hanging out on the Elmo chair.

Just like Daddy

Not only does she look like Daddy, she wakes up just like him too! She wakes up and immediately needs to rest before she can face the world. She can barely keep her eyes opened! Just like Daddy! Give them both an hour of quiet time and then they are ready to face their day. Sawyer and I are the get up and go type.

Sawyer's Boots

Soybean likes her new rubber boots as much as Sydney loves hers!

Roosters and Hens

We spent a lot of time outside this weekend. The weather was so beautiful. Our neighbors have hens and a rooster and Sydney loves to go over and visit them. Now that the snow is completely gone, she visits with them everyday and feeds them grass or straw.

Here are a few pictures of the girls enjoying the beautiful weather. I love how the early evening sun glowed on their skin.

Potty Training

Let me start by saying that Potty Training is a chore and should be a paid job, but thankfully, my little lady is making fantastic strides! She has been going #2 on the potty for months now, telling me when she needs to go and getting herself to the bathroom in plenty of time. She will also pee on the potty whenever I put her on the potty and she would always sit on the potty before bath time. We just never pushed the pee pee and no diaper thing on her until now! So the other day I said NO MORE DIAPERS (except nap and bedtime). To say that she is doing great is an understatement. Like most things in her life, she takes everything is stride. Just like her daddy. I am very proud of her. We haven't let it stop us from going places (we put the little potty in the back of the truck and take the necessary potty breaks) and she has only had a few accidents. I still have to remind her that it is time to go, but she is going to be a quick study, I think.

Someone is all about the books

Books, books, books. This little lady loves her books (just like her big sister). I feel bad that we don't read to Sawyer as much as we do Sydney. Nighttime routine is harder with two of them and Sawyer still likes to be rocked to sleep, so we don't read to her at night like we do Sydney. I try to read to her during the day as often as I can and I also have to start reading to her at night as I am going to push for her to go to bed without having to be rocked to sleep.

She loves to sit down and look through books and she often grabs a book, brings it to me and sits down in my lap. It is so wonderful. Her new favorite is the Little Ladybug (thanks Kathy).

Goldfishies

Sawyer Molly loves her Goldfish! Sometimes she eats a ton of them and then sometimes she feeds most of them to the doggies! Excuse the rumpled hair. She had just woken from her nap.

Dress Girl

She likes her new dress. She really loves it because it has horses on it! Her favorite animal.

I'm sick

No pictures to post as I haven't been feeling well. After a busy weekend, I caught a touch of a stomach bug and now I have a sinus infection! Lovely. The seasonal changes always cause me such issues. Advil cold and sinus is my new best friend.

It hasn't slowed us down too much. The girls and I have been running around during the day and getting outside as much as possible. Soybean likes to pick up rocks and carry them around and Sydney is enthralled with all of the bugs! She was carrying one around yesterday afternoon while we were playing. My little bug girl.

I put Sydney into a dress today for our trip to the Parent Teacher store and Panera. She looked adorable (yes, you read that correctly, I put her in a dress). She might just become a fan of dresses as she was having so much fun spinning around and watching the skirt twirl around. She didn't want to take it off when we sat down for a spaghetti dinner tonight! We had a good day even though I feel like crap. I took the girls to the store to buy flash cards for Sydney. I figured reinforcing her colors, letters and basic shapes would be a good thing to go over this summer before she heads to pre-school. I love this store! I used to visit it often when Bethany and Jared would come up for visits in the summer. Lots of educational books and games and fun toys. Both girls were entertained with all of the stuff! I only walked out of there with a few packs of flash cards and a gift for a friend. Pretty good! I refrained. Then we had a yummy lunch at our favorite spot. Once a week I treat myself and the girls to a Panera lunch. It is more exhausting than anything, but we do have fun. We have three favorite locations depending on where we are running errands for the day. Sydney scarfed her lunch down today! I haven't seen her eat that fast before. You would think I had starved the poor girl. Soybean finished off Sydney's grilled cheese crusts and lots of bites of my grilled chicken salad.

I promise to take pictures soon!

No posts lately

Haven't been very good about posting in the last few days! We had a busy weekend with Jim's family in town. Grandma, Papa and Teddy came to visit in between skiing the VT slopes. Sydney and Sawyer loved visiting with everyone. Sydney followed Teddy and Papa all around and enjoyed wrestling with Ted. Not a single picture of the weekend! Soybean says Papa very clearly. It is so cute to listen to her call his name out!

The girls and I spent this morning playing outside because it was so beautiful. Sydney went to the neighbors yard to say hello to her rooster friends. She missed visiting them all winter long! The yard is a soggy mess, but hopefully this nice weather will dry it up pretty soon. In the meantime, both girls love their new rubber boots. I will post pictures of Sawyer with her new boots on too. Just haven't downloaded pictures for a few days.

Boots

So my kiddo rarely, if ever, obsesses about anything. It isn't her personality. However, since we purchased her new rubber boots, she hasn't wanted to take them off too much. I think she found something to obsess about. Funny kid.

Trying out the spoon

Look who is getting so big! She and I have decided it is about time for her to hold her own spoon. Yogurt just wasn't tasting as good when I fed it to her. Amazing that once she got the spoon all to herself, she wolfed the yogurt all down! She was a little ticked off when I said enough is enough.

As you can see, she did great on her first attempt at using the spoon. My little Soybean, what a big girl!

Spring has sprung

Sydney and I spent 45 glorious minutes out in the beautiful sun this morning while Miss Sawyer took her morning snooze. We cleaned out the truck, rode bikes, colored with sidewalk chalk and seached for more lady bugs. After the little lady woke up, we took a trip to Target to buy rubber boots. Hello Kitty boots for Sydney, nothing for Soybean as they didn't have her size. I will try again next week. We want to go exploring on the property but the grass is so wet and dirty, only rubber boots will do!

Spring is coming! I can feel it in the air and I can feel it in my nose...I love spring for so many reasons but spring is also my poor nose's worst enemy. Here is hoping I can deal with the allergies!

Miss Manners

Sydney Elizabeth has become little Miss Manners lately! We used to remind her to say please, thanks and you're welcome. Now she rarely needs to be reminded. She is also pretty free with excuse me and sorry! I love it. I am reminded everyday what a big girl she is becoming. Wish the manners extended to her baby sister : -]

Top Toy

Sawyer loves this Top. Nana and Pap Pap bought it for Sydney and now it is one of Sawyer's favorite toys, just like it was Sydney's when she was Sawyer's age. Soybean will pull it out of the toy chest and walk over to me and whine until I spin and spin and spin it for her. Over and over again. She is learning how to spin it herself.

Nappy Time

I love spending my days with the girls, but I would be a liar if I said I didn't look forward to nap time! Catch up time, quiet time, reading time or chores time for me, but uninterrupted in what I am doing time! I am lucky enough to have two little ladies who enjoy their naps at roughly the same time each afternoon. I love to go upstairs and wake them up from nappy time. Friday afternoon I got them both up and this is what they looked like! Both in the most disheveled state. Crazy hair.

Lady Bugs Everywhere!

Lady bugs! Sydney loves them! I hate them. They have invaded the master bedroom and bathroom. I hate the mess, I hate the way they smell, I don't care that they are supposed to bring luck! Ha, forget it. But somehow, my little lady has decided they are the best things ever. She carries them around everywhere. She pets them as though they are a dog or cat. She says "I hold the lady bug." She climbs on the toy chest to reach them! Obsessed might be a good word. It is hysterical!

The other day she was carrying her lady bug friends and put them on the activity table to admire them. Remington thought they looked tasty so he ate them!!!! Right in front of Syd. I was laughing so hysterically as she was saying "Remi ate the lady bugs!" I couldn't stop laughing. At first she looked a little irritated then my giggles caught on and she started laughing too.

Here she is playing with her lady bugs shortly before Remi decided he needed a snack!

Melting Snow

I love the sound of melting snow it the gutters. It means spring should be coming soon. The girls and I went outside to ride bikes for a little while. Bright sun, dry driveway and lots of energy to expend! Too bad Soybean got tired quickly. Sleepy baby. We'll be back outside this afternoon!

Choo choo

This choo choo train found itself in a '"time out" yesterday because the girls wouldn't share and take turns using it. Amazing that when one child has a toy, the other one wants that same toy! I love having babies so close in age, but they are competing for the same toys these days, so I think I will be playing referee most everyday! I refuse to buy two of the same toys!

Dr. B.

No, not Dr. James B., PhD, but Dr. Sydney B., MD...

Poor Remington is finding himself the "victim" of Sydney's imaginary play a lot these days.

My dishtowels are becoming the blanket of choice. Yuck. Know how many loads of laundry I do a week? Blankets and towels on the floor all the time create crazy amounts of laundry.
But she is having so much fun. I guess I need to start another load of laundry.

Monkeying Around

Silly Soybean borrowed Sydy's monkey stuff animals for a few minutes. She loves cuddling with stuffed animals now. Guess I can put some in her crib now that she is one year old. Sydney didn't mind her borrowing the monkeys for a quick picture. She kept her eye on them though!

Then exhaustion took over and the usually happy baby wanted to go to sleep!

Pre-school

I am about to register my "baby" for preschool! How is it that she went from baby to toddler? I have mixed emotions about sending her to preschool because I just started staying home with the two of them. I know it will be the best thing for her since she is such a social kid and loves to interact with others. She will learn so much more at school than she would from me. I know several people whose children have gone through this preschool program and they love it. The facility is beautiful and the teacher is awesome. I have met her on several occasions.

Wow, my Sydney is growing up.