A little help from a big brother

The allignment seems to be slightly off on our bubble-popper riding toy. Or, more likely, Sydney hasn't quite mastered how to steer it.

Regardless of the reason, Sydney had a few problems running into the rocks in our garden. But never fear! Big brother AJ was happy to come to her rescue over and over again, pushing her up and down the sidewalk.

AJ often tells me that Sydney is his "best friend in the WHOLE world." I'm writing this down so I'll be able to remind him of that in years to come when he complains that she's bugging him.

I have to give him credit. He continues to show amazing patience with her (except when she grabs the remote and changes the channel in the middle of Sponge Bob), and sincerely shares in our excitement when she develops a new skill.

One last note – if you click on the photo at left and enlarge it, you can see how hard AJ is working. His tongue is hanging out!

Mommy's new hairstyling doll

No real story here. Just a photo that's so cute I HAD to post it. I'm having so much fun putting little rubber bands and barrettes in Sydney's hair. I tried doing this back in December, but Sydney's hair was so fine that the barrettes just slid off. Then, one day last week when I arrived to pick up the kids from daycare, I found Sydney with a little binder in her hair, courtesy of Melissa, one of the teachers. So of course I had to go out and buy a bunch of "hair pretties". Thankfully, Sydney's been pretty patient with my efforts.

A side note... we bought a new camera on Sunday, and it's allowed me to capture some amazingly sharp photos of the kids. The zoom lens is awesome!

Grilling a cow named John

Recently, Grandpa David and Grandma Elouise found a cute Little Tikes vanity for Sydney at a garage sale. Just don't tell AJ that's what it is.

While Daddy was busy grilling steaks, AJ grabbed a spatula and went to work at his new "grill", making me an imaginary pizza, complete with pepperoni and "hangaber" on top.

Later, as we ate dinner, AJ held out a piece of his steak and asked if it came from a pig or a chicken. I told him it came from a cow. He slowly chewed the steak, then asked, "What's the cow's name?"

I told him I didn't think the cow had a name.

AJ didn't buy that. Just before taking another bite he announced, "I think his name is John."

How do you like your creativity? Rare or well done? AJ seems to have mastered both.

Look what I can do!

Look out world, here she comes!

Sydney set a personal best Saturday night, toddling 12 steps before finally losing her balance. Even more impressive, she seems to have decided that walking is now her preferred means of transportation. When she falls down, she gets back up again and continues on her way. And boy is she proud of herself when she reaches her destination.

Life as we've known it has changed forever.

Our little patriots

Firetrucks and army tanks and more candy than we could eat in a year! And Grandpa David and Grandma Elouise came with to share in the fun. In AJ's words, "It was a GOOD day!"

We love the 4th of July parade in Cloquet. AJ's bucket was two-thirds full of candy by the time the last float had passed by. Even Sydney got in on the action. Hanging onto my hand, she toddled out to grab her first tootsie roll. Way-too-smart child that she is, she quickly figured out it was much easier to grab candy from her brother's bucket than to chase down some of her own.

Just average is just fine

Our chunky little sweetheart isn't so unusually chunky anymore.

At her one year weigh-in, Sydney tipped the scales at 22.8 pounds. That puts her just above the 60th percentile. Quite an achievement considering her weight was off the charts at six months. Like all good weight loss success stories, Sydney didn't diet. She just adapted a more on-the-go lifestyle.

Meanwhile, her height has remained consistently in the 50th percentile range, and her head circumference is still off the charts.

She's still not walking, but gets closer every day. Last night she was traveling 3-4 steps solo before lunging for something or someone to hang on to. She can't wait to climb and chase after AJ at the "castle" park (the playground by Esko's school).

Think inside the box

I've always considered myself to be a fairly creative writer. Having a three-year-old, I now realize that I'm really just a pretty conventional writer.

With the exception of a big stuffed duck, which he apparently felt he needed to use as a pillow, AJ pulled all of his toys out of his toybox. He then proceeded to climb in and play peek-a-boo with Sydney, lifting the cover up and down. Sydney absolutely loved the game and squealed with laughter each time AJ would pop his head up.

Writer that I am, I immediately started envisioning the caption for this photo to be "AJ in the box". I must have said something to that effect outloud, because AJ stopped and corrected me.

"No, Mom. Not a box. This is a rocket ship."

Of course it is. THAT'S creativity.