Bon Voyage!

The Strickland family will be MIA from the blog world for awhile. It's time for our big summer vacation. Finally! Many pictures and stories to follow.

Weeknight out

The Strickland family does not do a whole lot outside of our normal routine during the week. By the time we pick Sydney up, get home, maybe take a walk, eat dinner, maybe Skype with a family member or friends, take a bath...it's time for Sydney to go to sleep. This past Wednesday, though, we had the best time going over to our friends Kelli and Adam's house for dinner. We made our own pizzas and had salad and wine and visited for a long time. Sydney was a sweet girl (which is very important when we're around friends who don't have kids yet - ha!). She had her dinner at their house and we put her in her PJs and she went to sleep in her carseat. What an easy traveler - locally and out of town!

Kelli and Adam's home backs up to a field with cows which were quite the entertainment for Sydney. Here are a few photos from the evening.Sydney is 7 months old today - July 30! I would say I can't believe it, but I say that almost every day. So, I'll just say it's really fun watching her grow :)

Under the Sea

Yesterday we had a fun, FULL day in Tulsa! We went to the Oklahoma Aquarium and Sydney was fascinated by everything to see there. We learned a trick when going to an aquarium with a baby: go through once so she can see all the big, exciting things, and then while she's napping in her stroller, go back through again so the parents can see everything else :) It was awesome. Pictures and videos from the visit are below.

We then went to the mall (another indoor activity in this HEAT!) and shopped for a couple of hours, and we finished the day with dinner at a German restaurant that we would love to go to again.

(You may notice Sydney never has on shoes. Well, she has very small feet first of all, and we have a hard time finding ones that fit! She has one adorable silver pair that goes with most anything, but she loves her feet and would prefer for them not to be covered. Shoeless is the answer...at least while it's hot. We'll have to force the issue this fall.)
I love her cheesy grin in this picture!
It's a lovely Sunday morning here ... Randall just left to play golf and Sydney and I are going to run a few errands. Our friend Rachel is coming over to visit this afternoon, so I might decide to clean the house a little, too!

Who needs help? Not me!

Tonight after feeding her dinner, we gave Sydney a sippy cup with a little bit of formula in it for the first time. I thought she was a little young to try, but she had a pretty good idea of what to do (first video). The idea caught on apparently because in the second video you can see her giving herself a bottle a little later in the evening. Miss Independence all of a sudden! Oh the best part of the second video is her new gargling trick. Cracks me up!

Sweet memories

Recently, I was looking at all the videos we took from Sydney's arrival into the world. I also looked through those first days of pictures, and this is one of my favorites. It reminds me how lucky I am to have a loving husband who is crazy about his family, and a healthy, happy little girl. Randall looks so content in this picture, and little did Sydney know she became a daddy's girl that day. This will always be one of her first father/daughter photos. (And maybe when she's a teenager and she hates us both, I can show her this sweet photo and she'll try to be nicer! Ha!)

Snoop Doggy Dogg

Saturday night, we hung out with our good friends Aaron & Erin. They have two big dogs, Joe (Anatolian shepherd, we think) and Jessie (a chocolate lab). Sydney has been around dogs quite a bit, but this was her first experience with ones this size! She and Jessie became fast friends:
I'm not sure how many readers know of our history with dogs, but because of aggression issues, we were unable to keep our pup after Sydney was born. It was an awful time for us, but an easy decision as far as safety for our family was concerned. That said, we do hope to welcome a new dog to our family in the coming months/years. We both love dogs; we just need time to be fully prepared again!

Hi-Tech Baby Blogger

I'm not ready to invest in the "Your Baby Can Read" system, but I am all about buying toys that encourage learning. Today, Sydney got her first laptop that has all kinds of activities. It lights up and has buttons to press, so of course any baby would love it. For just $14, Sydney has become high-tech. Well, except for when she tried eating it.

Taste update: Another food she loves ... corn! She had it for lunch today, freshly made. Spinach is on the list for this week as well, followed by pears. We have so much fun deciding which food to try next ... strange, I know. The doc said to introduce finger foods at around 7 months, which is just around the corner, so I bought "puffs" snacks today. Where is the time going???

Big Tub?

Not quite. Sydney has outgrown her baby tub, but the big tub seemed soooo big, so the sink seemed like the next logical location where she could sit up :) Here are a couple of pictures and a quick video. I just love her Princess crown towel! I'm sure she'll be in the big tub before too long. She fills up the sink completely!

Swaddle Me? Swaddle Free!

Sydney is officially swaddle-free (finally). She started napping some without being swaddled at daycare, so we decided to give it a shot overnight, and it worked. Now, we put her to bed awake — unless she drifts off during her last bottle — with her pacifier and she falls asleep on her own. This is a photo I just took of her during an early morning nap. She prefers sleeping on her tummy or side with one leg bent. She was about to outgrow her overnight swaddle, and we were already in the larger size, so this was a necessary change :)
(Little does she know we're heading to the pool when she wakes up.)
Side note: We introduced her sixth food last night, green beans, and it was another hit. So far, she has liked five out of six foods - avocado got a big "no" from the taste buds! Next up? Bananas.

After Shots, All Smiles!

I always take the rest of the day off after Sydney's check-ups that include shots. I don't like the idea of taking her back to daycare after she's stuck with needles, and truth be told, I like having a fun afternoon with her so she's reminded that just because mommy took her to the doctor, mommy is still mostly good :-) She only cried for about 30 seconds, and the doc (as always) said she is as healthy as can be. 16 lbs. 9 oz. healthy - 60th percentile! He was quite impressed with her sitting up during most of the appointment and her typical cheery demeanor.
Here she is, happy to be home.

American Girl

Sydney's first 4th of July weekend has been tons of fun! Here are a few pictures and two videos. We went to a cookout on the 3rd, and we went with friends to the Naturals baseball game on the 4th. The fireworks shows both nights were good, but the show after the game was incredible - probably the best I've ever seen. The whole group agreed. Way to go, Northwest Arkansas! My friend Carly was in for the weekend from Dallas, and Sydney enjoyed meeting her, too!

A Whole Half a Year

Sydney is six months old, and it's like a switch flipped and she is suddenly such a big girl! Here's a photo from the morning of her six month birthday - June 30, 2010. She is so proud of her sitting skills these days.
That same evening, I was folding clothes in the living room and put down a quilt on the floor for her to play. I was busy with my chores, and the next thing I know, Sydney is hanging out on her back, GLUED to the TV (Never Been Kissed was on). At least she has good taste in movies :)
Last night, we went out to dinner and they didn't have the typical wooden highchairs that fit the carseat carrier. So, we figured she's been sitting up so well lately, let's try it out. This really "grew her up" --- it's the little changes and developmental milestones that make your head spin. I just hated I didn't have her stylish high chair cover with me!!
Quick update on Sydney's food exploration. She has had sweet potatoes, green peas and applesauce. This morning, I've been getting carrots and avocado ready to add to the mix. We get the sense she will like whatever we give her, and it's fun to see her facial expressions when she recognizes a new flavor. Here's the post-food processor/pre-freezing step in this morning's process. I enjoy making the food, and I really enjoy the pennies saved :) YUM!

Long overdue post!

The Stricklands have been MIA from the blog world - sorry! Danielle's mom was here all of this past week and she and her husband, Patrick, just left this morning. It wasn't too tough waving goodbye since we'll be in Virginia in 5 1/2 short weeks - yay! Mom and Patrick enjoyed lots of time with Sydney and many, many walks around our 'hood! The little hat she's wearing is one of two new summer hats Grandma brought with her. Babies are so adorable in hats!
Sydney is loving all her strollers. This is her newest - the umbrella stroller. It's great to throw in the car for quick trips. We use the jogger mostly for walks, but this one is great if we're just strolling around the block.Soon after they arrived in Arkansas, we celebrated Randall's very first Father's Day! We cooked a yummy steak dinner at the daddy's request, and Sydney gave him an adorable new picture of her for his desk at work as well as a new golf shirt. Here they are posing the next day when he wore his shirt to work.
Of course all parents love to spoil their grandkids, and Danielle's dad sent along a couple of early Christmas gifts for Sydney since Mom and Patrick were driving and could transport a few things out to Arkansas. This beautiful painting of Sydney's name - made with animals and flowers - now hangs above her crib. What's funny is we have been trying to find something we like with her name to hang in that spot. Thanks, Grandpa, for handling that for us! It was too cute to pack away and save for Christmas morning :)
During this week, Sydney also hit a few milestones. She started eating "real" food (sweet potatoes were the first one - she loves them!) and tonight we are having peas. I've decided to make her baby food, and so far, I am really enjoying it...almost as much as she loves eating it. The second milestone is demonstrated in the video below. Our little girl is getting so big and we love her more and more each day if that is even possible!

Flying High!

Sydney and I flew to DC last week for four days! It was the perfect opportunity to get together with friends and to see a couple of new babies and one newly engaged couple! Here are a couple of shots from the second leg of the trip to DC ... we lucked out with our own row so I was able to bring her car seat on board. Sydney was PERFECT on all the flights --- not one tear! She was a hit with all the passengers :)
Here are a couple of shots of Sydney meeting her new friends: Laura's son Isaiah (two months younger) and Tracey's daughter Alexa (two months older). It will be fun to watch all these babies grow up!

Oh Happy Day

People ask if Sydney is always happy. Of course the answer is no, but we are very lucky that the honest answer is "usually." Here are a couple of shots of her recently: Quite proud of herself after rolling from belly to back, and then back again (smiles due to our cheering, probably), and then playing peekaboo all by herself after waking up one morning. You can see she easily comes out of her swaddle blanket when she wants to ... but she still needs it to fall asleep.