Sous chef or Suess chef?*

Here is Sydney in her apron, which features dogs, also known as PUH-pees. The apron's purchase was twofold: 1) it's adorable, and 2) Sydney gets to wear it when she 'helps' in the kitchen. Her assistance usually amounts to unloading the spice cabinet or her cabinet, which is full of toddler-friendly gadgets. Then, she relocates their contents to various parts of the house. Brian is usually in pursuit to retrieve the items or at least identify where she stashes them.

Sometimes Sydney gets to be more hands on. One night she befriended a green onion, then would not relinquish it.


It was bath time and Sydney was forced to give up the goods. I didn't need her soaking in an onion soup. We tried the switch-and-bait to distract her, but it obviously did not work.



* Brian gets credit for the 'Seuss chef' reference :)


Another fave: The apron is from Kitchen Art, which is a delectable kitchen store in West Lafayette. I was a attending a class the night I bought the apron. The class was devoted to chocolate: 1,0001 chocolate chip cake, three-chocolate torte, peanut butter & chocolate fudge, chocolate fudge swirl cookies (my favorite) and chocolate chip cheese cake. We sampled everything and I even had leftovers to share with Brian.

The opposite of the affirmative

Sydney is saying dozens and dozens of words: yellow, puppy, grass, table, car, puppy, bus, purple, blue, cow, puppy, puppy, turtle, etc.

What surprises me is how infrequently she says the toddler preferred word ... No! I'm glad this word is not part of her regular vocab. Because its use is a rarity, I'll admit that I think it's cute when she says it. The first time I heard it was one morning when I encouraged her to return her beloved frog to the crib. (This is a routine every morning when she wakes. We lift her from the crib and let her drop Webster in.) This particular morning, she clutched him close and said, "No."

I've heard it a couple other times when I'm sitting in the floor to read to her and she comes over and snatches the book I chose. She says, "No," then hands me the book she wants read.

Maybe such little use of the word means she's the "glass is half full" kinda gal.




She still declares "Book!' regularly. It's never a question, it's always a command. She says it just like someone whose hoisted himself to the counter of a bar and just keeps ordering one shot after another.

Favorites: Sydney's affection. She's starting to give hugs and pecks on the cheek.

Wildlife Works: I recently dug out my summer wardrobe and found my Wildlife Works shirts. This company has a great mission, but I'll admit that I'm not as enthralled with this year's clothing selection. http://www.wildlifeworks.com/mission/mission.html Still, it's always fun to window shop.

Anniversary

Monday was our 7-year anniversary. It's hard to find current photos of us without Sydney, so I'm posting these old hiking photos.





Hiking is one of the many hobbies we share.

Of course, being married means we share interests, but we also support each other in our individual interests. For example, I try to keep straight that there is a difference between Painter the coach (bball) and Painter the quarterback (fball). I once tried to entertain Brian by naming Purdue football players and their respective positions. My attempt was certainly entertaining.

Brian takes an interest in my enjoyment of Gilmore Girls. He does this by mocking me, and when the show was on-air, he occasionally commented on the plot. (Shhh. I'm pretty sure, he's a fan but don't tell him I said so).



Here's to forever and dozens of other quirky mutual and solo interests.

Toilet paper

When Sydney is lifted onto the changing table she demands, "Book!" This girl needs to stay current with her reading material.

"Book" is the word of choice now. We still hear "Puppy" but its use is less frequent. This makes sense because every time she says "book" we hand her one. We never gave her a puppy when she said "puppy."

A favorite of mine: Haagen-Dazs chocolate peanut butter ice cream. Apparently, the ice cream company is mobilizing its consumers to help save the honey bee because the population is on the decline and 40 percent of the company's ice cream relies on honey bee pollination. Now, this is a cause I can get behind. Must buy more ice cream!

My parents are such idiots

It is not my intention to speak for Sydney, but I feel as if I really know what my daughter is thinking at times.

Mommy: "Hey Syd, what sound does a sheep make?"

What Sydney's thinking: For real lady, how many times do I have to remind you what sound a sheep makes. Good grief. Daddy can't seem to remember either.

Daddy: "What does a pig say? What does a snake say?"

What Sydney's thinking: This is ridiculous. If you can't remember what sounds these animals make, then I'm not going to tell you.

Mommy: "Look Sydney, your sitter Ashlee just arrived. Can you show her what sound a sheep makes?"

What Sydney's thinking: Now, I am really embarrassed. I think Ashlee knows what sound a sheep makes. She's in college. Please stop asking. I'm just going to continue looking at my books and pretend like I can't hear my parents. Why can't my Mommy or Daddy remember simple animal sounds? I think they've asked 9,374 times.

Miss Piggy

Sydney donned pigtails for the first time. Her up-do is a bit messy. I am out of practice with styling pigtails. Wait, I don't think I was ever in practice. I can't remember the last time I made pigtails. Don't worry Sydney, I'll have it down by the time you go to prom.

Brian and I exposed Sydney to the retail world again today with a trip to the mall Saturday night. Forget shopping. We just enjoyed watching Sydney skitter like a mall rat and dart into stores (she prefers the ones with loud music and colorful window displays).

Nothing else too exciting this weekend. I have less than two weeks left of class - my final test is Tuesday and my paper is due the following week. This could be the very last class I take. Hmmm. Probably not. It may be a while, but I'm sure I'll take advantage of the class offerings at Purdue again, as well as the tuition discount for employees. I know I'll need a refresher in algebra before Sydney starts asking for help with her homework in the 7th grade.

The weather is rainy and chilly this weekend. This is a good thing in regards to encouraging me to study, but we're looking forward to warm weather. Walks. Running. Puppy-watching. Maybe picnics. Bubble blowing. Sidewalk chalk. Star gazing ... looking forward to summer.


A favorite worth sharing: Ollie the Stopmer, by Olivier Dunrea.

and

Quote of the day: "No animal should ever jump up on the dining-room furniture unless absolutely certain that he can hold his own in the conversation." Fran Lebowitz, Social Studies.

Guest Column

Brian sent this story to me earlier in the week. It's cute, so I thought I would share.

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Your daughter ... we're walking on the sidewalk outside when a guy walking two dogs approaches on the other side of the street, a good half block away. Your daughter tears her hand from mine like I have the plague and heads toward the street (to cross) going, "Puh-PEE! Puh-PEE!"

I, of course, didn't let her get to the street and she got Puh-ISSED!

(These were big dogs. Certainly not Puh-Pees.)

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Sydney has a thing for puppies. It's unrealistic that we could adequately care for a dog with our schedules, so only stuffed puppies will be residing at our house. When Sydney starts asking for a puppy we will tell her that she has two puppies that live with Jackie and Graham. Feel free to help us convince our daughter that this is true :)

Sydney on Easter with her puppies, Bailey and Bauer.