Weekend Round-up

This is a hodge-podge post from the last couple of days. Saturday morning, we went back to the drive-through safari we enjoyed so much on Mother's Day. Here is a video of one of the stops along the drive.

Sydney was worn out by the time we did the drive-through part, petting zoo and ate lunch. I thought this was so cute, watching her fall asleep just a few minutes into the drive home.

Sadly, this was also the first day Sydney sported clothing from my alma mater, JMU! The University of Arkansas is such a part of our lives now, I've neglected to get her in touch with my one true collegiate love back in Virginia :-) I'll make sure she knows JMU is a very good college option, too!

 

This Wednesday, we get to find out the gender of baby #2! I am trying not to go crazy, but I'm not exactly the most patient person in the world, and I am so ready to start prepping! Here's a shot of the belly at 18.5 weeks --- almost halfway there!

Last but not least, here are two videos: one of Sydney showing off her dance moves a few nights ago, and one of her doing a puzzle — two of her favorite activities. This one is her newest puzzle - the pictures underneath each piece do not match the piece itself, so she has to match the shapes of the numbers more than in other easier puzzles.

Parks and Utensils

What do parks and utensils have in common? Sydney loves both!

Saturday morning, I got some video of Sydney eating with her spoon. I know kids start using utensils (regularly) at very different ages, so for Sydney, it's been a part of her routine for about a month. She MUST have a spoon on her tray, and even if the items don't call for a spoon, she picks up each piece, puts it on the spoon, and then eats it. Utensil usage is not always a neat experience, but I like that she's into being independent! Here's a video from yesterday morning.

After breakfast, we decided to get in some time at the park while Randall was golfing. We stayed until we were both sweaty and ready for a nap!

 

I also did some great shopping yesterday....first at Kohl's with Sydney (who was so good, she even let me try a few things on her!) and then in the afternoon with my friend at a consignment sale....the one I've mentioned before that happens a couple of times a year. I got lots of great fall/winter items for the little lady, so maybe we'll actually get some fall weather in the not-so-distant future!! A girl can hope...

Fashion Forward?

I love picking out Sydney's outfits every night. From the bow down to the shoes, I just enjoy putting everything on the rocking chair in her room in preparation for the next morning. But when we are at home, all bets are off. I thought this evening was a perfect demonstration of this. Credit goes to Sydney for the holiday shoe choice, and Randall gets credit for the pigtails. I could not stop staring at her, even if she did look ridiculous.

After she's bathed and in her pajamas, she likes to wear multiple bows until she goes to bed. She picks whichever ones she wants for that night, and it is always.....interesting. Here is the outcome of tonight's choices (and you can see the Crocs about to go on to complete the look). She is too much!

Georgia Peach

Last week, we spent a wonderful week in Helen, Georgia with members of both of our families - my mom and step-dad and Randall's mom, brother, two nieces and nephew. We had two condos and stayed busy the whole time! We went tubing down the Chattahoochie three times (twice with Sydney, who loved it - sadly not a camera-friendly activity though!), spent time at a lake and beach area in a state park, hiked up to beautiful Anna Ruby Falls, went to the Cabbage Patch general hospital (sooo much fun!), went to an American Idol concert one night, walked around the adorable Alpine Village downtown, and had some great meals and quality time together. I will post more photos on Facebook, but here are a handful of my favorites from the week. It was very sad to leave, and we can't wait for our next trip - a long weekend in Rhode Island for my cousin's wedding in September!

Hiking with Grandma and Pop up to Anna Ruby Falls!

First time at a "beach" - LOVED IT

Mike, Ryan and Randall golfing

The ladies at the Cabbage Patch Babyland General Hospital

Sweet kisses for a baby waiting to be born. Sydney got her first two Cabbage Patch dolls here - Logan Keira and Hannah Penelope!

Just a cute picture after the babyland visit. I can't even tell you how many new outfits Sydney got from her Meme and Grandma as soon as we arrived in Georgia. I didn't even need to pack. :)

Artist, Swimmer, Librarian

So many new activities have made their way into our lives lately! Sydney now likes to sit and color in her booster seat. It usually keeps her interest 15-20 minutes. She calls every color "blue" so we need to work on that. :-)

 

The last two weeks, we've been taking her to swimming lessons - a parent/tot class. Randall and I both went with her each day, and she got very comfortable going under, blowing bubbles and jumping in. It was four days each week, and she loved it. We get in lots of pool time on the weekends, so she was comfortable already, but this helped her even more. Last night was the final lesson, and she was not too pleased when diving board time was over! Randall didn't get in the water the first night so he could get some pictures.

 

The final new activity was just this morning - our first trip to the public library! I was worried she was too little and wouldn't understand that we had to leave the books there, but it worked out great. There was story time going on in the kids' area, so we sat in for some of that, and then played and played with all the books. We selected five to take home with us, and she didn't care that I had to put most of them back on the shelves when we left. As long as she had one in each hand, she was happy.

 

 

The only library-related meltdown was when we were leaving. We had to walk down a lot of stairs, which is one of Sydney's favorite things. When we got to our floor in the garage, there were more stairs, and she didn't understand why we didn't need to keep going. Oh well --- at least the only screaming took place outside of the library, technically :-)

BABY News & Toddler Stats!

We're not exactly sure if the world is ready for another Strickland, but we are going to find out in January!! Here's the first peek at Sydney's little sister or brother. He/She had a very strong heartbeat of 169 beats per minute at yesterday's ultrasound. I've been feeling great - just like with my first pregnancy - so here's hoping all the good news continues. It's such a happy time for us, and we couldn't be more excited!

In toddler world, Sydney had her 18-month check-up yesterday. She weighed in at 24.5 pounds and was 29.5 inches long ---- 50th percentile on both. We, of course, don't think our little gal is average in many areas, but happy to see that she is in these areas. Haha!

Dropping Sydney off in her new classroom this week continues to suck - pardon my French. She is thriving according to her teachers, but the initial hand-off is just awful. I am sure this will get better, but today was day three of me wanting to cry right along with her (I did cry Tuesday, which I realize was counterproductive). This too shall pass!!!

Firecracker, Firecracker Boom Boom Boom

I hope you all had a very fun 4th of July weekend! We enjoyed lots of family time, including time at the pool, a trip to see fireworks Sunday evening, projects around the house, short walks around the neighborhood -- it was hot!!! -- all in all, a fantastic weekend. Here are a few pictures from the weekend and a cute video that shows Sydney just before the fireworks started. Thank you to my mom for the adorable outfit!Unfortunately, the flag shirt only lasted half of the day before a drink was spilled, so she had to switch to plain white for the evening activities. :)
I love looking at this side-by-side comparison from last 4th of July until now - WOW!

 

 

I was laughing watching this video clip because she had a mini-tantrum in the middle of her dance moves. :-)

And this last picture I had to include... It's of Sydney before school Friday morning. She wore this cute dress I found at a consignment sale this past spring. And this is her doing her "ta-da!!" presentation when I asked her to stand on her toy box for a picture (I know, bad mama). I think her expression is priceless ... if only I could be this excited for work each day. Haha!

One year and a half!!

I can't believe we have an 18-month-old. It's amazing to watch her grow, learn and change. Some days I wake her up and I think I still have a little baby, and other days I think I have such a big girl!

At 18 months, sweet Sydney Drew:

• would live outside. We hear "side, side, side" as she runs to the back door every single day...many times.
• thinks sitting on the potty is funny, but we haven't seen any action there yet.
• moves to a new classroom in a new building next week! This next level does so many fun things; I know she'll love it once the adjustment period is over.
• is shy with strangers or people she hasn't seen in awhile, but normally warms up after a little while.
• is sooooo silly. Her sense of humor gets more and more mature all the time. It's amazing how she finds things funny that I think are above her level.
• is still a wonderful eater and sleeper. We try to always remember how lucky we are for that.
• loves to mix up mama and daddy. We assume this is on purpose, but calling Randall "mama" too many more times may give him a complex.
• is a puzzle pro.
•  learns new words all the time, and the ones we hear most often are "bow," "snack," "bubble," "[out]side,"no," and "book."
• is obsessed with her hair bows. She wears one to school and then a different one at night after her bath. We do put it away before bed, which is an improvement :)
• is quite the expert with her animal noises. Current favorites are the horse, rooster and monkey.
• has favorites at school. If your name isn't Emery or Max, she isn't really interested in playing with you. And if you like puzzles, you get extra points.

We have Sydney's 18-month check-up next week, so we are excited to get her updated height/weight stats. We also start swimming lessons Tuesday evening. Happy 18 Months, sweet girl!!

 

Father's Day Fun - Daddy's Turn to Blog

I usually leave the blogging to Danielle, but she and Sydney made sure I had such a nice Father's Day today, that I wanted to write about what a great day it was.
This is my second year being honored as a father and it was so much fun! Danielle brought Sydney in to me after she woke up, and it was so much fun being woken up by a smiling Sydney this morning, with lots of hugs and kisses.

 Shortly after that, Danielle brought in a couple of gifts and cards that she and Sydney had picked out for me.

My cards were so sweet and I absolutely loved my gifts! The first was a new bottle of cologne. It is called Black by Kenneth Cole and it smells great.

The next gift, I was so excited about! I recall a couple of school years in the mid 80's when some of the coolest shoes on the market were suede Puma's. They came in many colors, but as I shared with Danielle many times, the coolest ones came in navy blue. I never did have a pair...but now I do!

 

 

After gifts, Danielle told me that she had made a reservation for us to have brunch at one of our favorite restaurants, Copeland's of New Orleans. The meal was amazing, and as predicted, we completely overdid it, but it was so good and Danielle and I had the most fun with Sydney, who was an angel at the restaurant.

I wanted to post this picture because it shows Sydney's cute curls.

After such a big and delicious meal, all I wanted to do was come home and relax and spend the rest of the day with my girls. Sydney took a (short) nap when we got home. Later in the day we spoke with several members of our families and it was nice to share our day with them. The last part of the afternoon was spent in front of the TV watching the final round of the U.S. Open. I want to thank my wonderful wife for helping Sydney to give me such a great and fun Father's Day! There is nothing more special to me than the time spent with my beautiful family and I am so grateful for them. Here's hoping all Dads enjoyed their day as much as I enjoyed mine!

Little Fishy

One of the great things about our golf/pool membership is that we have access to a whole suite of courses and pools around Northwest Arkansas. Today, we went to a pool close to our house, and we finally got a few quick pictures. Going to the pool with an active toddler is much busier than last year! This pool has an inclined shallow end, so Sydney loved walking in until the water was up to her neck.

 

Her other favorite activity was being thrown back and forth between Mom and Dad. The next time we go to our regular pool, I'll have to get video of her going down the slide with Randall catching her. I think her favorite part was watching me slide down after her :-) We start swimming lessons in July - can't wait for that. I'm so glad she likes the water!

Grandpa and Golf

We enjoyed all last week with my dad. I worked shorter days so I could have time with him, and that also meant he had some quality time with Sydney alone. We loved having him here. He got a lot of good pictures, so I need to get those from him to complete my collection from the week. We will see him again in September for a family wedding, and we can't wait! Syd warmed to him right away, so I think there was some recognition from all our Skype sessions since the last time we saw him in person, which was at Christmas.

 

 

Today, on Memorial Day, we spent a little time at the golf course --- Sydney's first time there. She loved riding in the cart and I think I got some of the cutest pictures of my two golfers. I just hope Sydney has a tiny bit of skill and/or interest as she gets older so her daddy doesn't cry!

 

 

 

 

And here's one last picture from our cookout Saturday evening. We got Sydney her own little chair so she fit in with the rest of the group. Before our guests arrived, she kicked back for a quick read in the sun. :-)

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, too!