Skate with Santa

Last Saturday (12.15) we crashed the Skate with Santa party at the West Lafayette ice skating rink. Sydney is a bit young for skating so we were spectators. Here is Brian trying to help Sydney keep her cheeks warm.



Even though we were just watching the skaters, Santa (a skinny teenage boy in a Santa suit) skated to the side of the rink to visit Sydney. She enjoyed her introduction to the jolly man in the red and white suit and maybe next year she will be skating with him.



I wrapped up my Christmas shopping this week (he, he, 'wrapped,' get it?) and have resolved to start the retail process earlier next year.

My sisters and I exchange "Suggestion Lists" every year. We share suggestions, so the gift-giver has a better idea of what someone may need or want. We each keep saying we have too much stuff, and the lists help us with our selections.

The lists are also fun to read because I always learn something about my sisters. However, it's a guarantee that Jackie will list warm stuff, ie, fleece blankets, socks, hats, scarves, etc., every year. Based on Jackie's warmth stockpile over the years, you would assume she hibernates during winter.

While shopping for her last week, I found myself wondering what she would do if Christmas was not a winter holiday. I guess she would celebrate the winter solstice (which is tomorrow). It's amazing to think how different the holiday would be if it took place in August ...

Instead of buying scarf and hat sets for friends, would we give sun glasses and Speedos? Snowmen would probably not be so prevalent. What would replace them, ants? No more penguins or polar bears (this is foreshadowing global warming). Toucans and alligators would replace them. Gourmet cooks would pass on heating their ovens (no peanut brittle or fudge). Tomatoes would probably be a common gift and stockings would probably be filled with sunscreen.

I pledged I would start shopping earlier this year. Maybe I will hunt for gifts in June and surprise my family and friends with pool toys or Tiki torches. Those items would be fun to wrap.

Christmas during winter, especially when it snows, is magical. I wouldn't want it any other way ... but it is fun to imagine ... Here is wishing for a little snow Tuesday morning so Sydney can test her new purple boots.

Digital Baby

This fall I clipped an Associated Press story that highlighted the pros and cons of digital technology recording today's kids. "Digital technology leads to the most documented kids ever" featured a mom that shot more than 6,500 photos during her daughter's first nine months.

Brian and I have not calculated the number of images we have, but we know it doesn't take long to accumulate oodles of images ... often of the same pose, expression, outfit or moment. I remember back (and I mean just a few years) when I had to carefully budget the 24 or 36 images assigned to each roll of film.

Now, we can snap a moment with one of two digital cameras, two cell phones or a digital video camera. Oh, and sometimes Brian records Sydney's chirps and peeps with his hand held recorder.

Yes, this is one documented kid.To illustrate my point ... here are three photos of Sydney (August 2007) from the same moment:).








We have so much material that I easily get overwhelmed trying to organize, develop or post the photos we do have. I spent Saturday evening catching up on photos from October and November when I panicked: we have very few (only about 30 photos) of our daughter in November. How did we fail we to chronicle the month as she approached her 11 month milestone?

The article points out that all of these recordings (photos, videos, blogs and audio clips) would be a gold mine for an anthropologist, but who is really going to wade through all of these? Will Sydney ever look at every photo or video? I know my mom set aside a box of photos for each daughter and I am excited to look through its content some day. At the rate Brian and I are snapping, Sydney will have a library to peruse.

The number of days Sydney is a baby are passing quickly. Brian and I realize this, and it is comforting to know that somewhere we have photos of Sydney at various stages of her babyhood. Just one month and one day and our baby will be a little girl!

Turkey Day

We had a lovely Thanksgiving holiday. Brian's parents visited from New Jersey and we all spent Turkey Day with Jackie and Graham. They planned a lovely meal for more than 20 people including the Neuberts, the Pattersons, the Peelles and family friends.

Chow time: Here is Sydney waiting for her meal from Aunt Jackie.



Sydney loves Bailey and Bauer (pictured). And, I am sure Bauer loved the baby food that Sydney smeared on his face.



Dancing with the stars: Aunt Julie Turkey Tangoed with Sydney for entertainment.



Scaling the stairs: Our own little butterball burned some calories climbing the stairs ... of course, Julie and I followed her.



However, Sydney did not like the idea of napping at Jackie's house, so Brian and I spent two hours of the day driving the deserted streets of Indy trying to lull the cranky baby to sleep. She really liked the idea of sleeping in her car seat because the following day she napped sitting up in her crib.

Turtle soup: Halloween

Sydney and Brian on Halloween evening



Sydney first donned her turtle costume at the Lafayette Columbian Park Boo at the Zoo. However, she was cold and complacent, so it was a short visit. A few days later we celebrated the upcoming holiday at the Hess Halloween party. Sydney was indifferent to her costume as well as everyone else's. She did enjoy the toys.

Days later on Halloween she was quite happy ...

Brian brought Sydney to the News Service Halloween morning.(Thanks for the picture Dave!)



Halloween evening (Before)



(After)






The best part of this costume is watching Sydney crawl.



It will be fun to see what kind of costumes Sydney selects for herself. What will her selection say about her personality? This one represents her mobility. I found the turtle costume just a couple weeks after Sydney started crawling. It seemed perfect.

The wordsmith

Photo taken 10.9.07

Sydney's babbling continues to evolve. She started with the baby basics - "da da," "ma ma," "ga ga" and "ba ba." She associates "da da" with Brian. Granted, she sometimes refers to inanimate objects as "da da" too, but she is making the connection. She also calls Norton and Vader "gat" A couple times this weekend "cat" came out of her mouth. "Gat" may be short for "Get the cat."

This photo is Sydney sitting by the caterpillar statue at the Colombian Park Zoo in Lafayette. The zoo re-opened its renovated sections this summer. Sydney and I spent a lovely fall day at the zoo during fall break. Looking forward to spending more time at the zoo next summer.

Fear

What do pumpkins, tape and vacuum cleaners have in common? Sydney is afraid of them. Our bold, brave daughter is usually quite the Marco Polo, but when it comes to these three things, her curiosity and fear collide.

I put 'sticky paw tape' on the bottom stair to keep Norton from expressing his sibling rivalry. It also keeps Sydney away. She approaches the tape, pokes at it, then starts to whimper. She takes the same approach with her pumpkin (named Jack, Jack Sparrow). It's obvious Syd is excited and wants to explore, but something triggers her whimpering and quivering. It's the same with the vacuum cleaner, only she doesn't get real upset until the vacuum cleaner is turned off.

The 'books' say to take the fear serious and comfort the child. Then help her learn about the object she fears. I found quite a bit about babies' fear of vacuum cleaners, but am not sure what I will find about tape and pumpkins ...

I can only imagine how vast the world is for an almost 10-month-old and I am surprised she is not anxious about more.

I was going to post an old photo with this post but the Photo Uploading tool is unavailable. I would draw a stick figure of Sydney but my pen just keeps smearing on my computer screen.

Speaking of pens ... I am searching for a Pens for the Poor charity. We have more pens (in part because Brian tends to pick them up naturally like Velcro picks up lint) then two writers who type on laptops need.

Think Pink

'Thinking' is what I failed to do Friday night. I was a few days behind with Sydney's laundry, so I crammed everything - including her new red hoodie - into one load. I hope pink is a popular fall color this year because about 80 percent of her current wardrobe (12-18 month clothes) was in that load. Her white pants are pink. About a dozen pair of socks are pink. But, don't worry the bibs will match too because they are pink :)

This photo is from Sept. 28. Sydney was enjoying a Friday morning with her Dad.