Do I Need A Title?

Sydney was outside playing when she suddenly decided to crawl across the yard. What could possess her to do such a thing?

Why Grandma and Grandpa M were visiting, of course.



Grandma and Grandpa M arrived just after Labor day and left again about a week ago. The plan (they say) is to get the final things done at their house in Las Vegas so they can sell it and get moved up here full-time.

Sydney was actually a little hesitant around Grandma and Grandpa M for the first week or so. She didn't want to go to them and generally gave them a wide berth.

A lot of that we think was because a few days after they arrived Anne and I went out. Sydney stayed with Grandma and Grandpa. She wasn't too happy about watching Mommy and Daddy leave without her. So every time Grandma and Grandpa came over she was probably a little leery that we would leave again.

But it eventually all worked out and she was happy to have Grandma and Grandpa around.

Thursday, October 5, 2006, was Sydney's 18-month birthday. We were going to take a picture of her specifically for that occasion, but forgot. So we were going to do it on the weekend. And forgot.

Her 18-month check up is actually next Monday, October 16. That's during our vacation time so we plan on doing a picture to correspond with that. I will also try to get an entry posted with her statistics and any other important news, but there's no guarantee. We fly to Michigan early Tuesday morning so packing and getting ready may interfere with that.

Last Friday while I was getting ready for work Sydney wanted to get up on the bed. When Mommy gets home from work we go upstairs and while Mommy changes Sydney and Daddy usually play on the bed tickling, laughing, crawling away and getting dragged back and so on. I figured she wanted to play a little early. I was getting ready for work, though, and couldn't put her on the bed right then.

She had woken up later in the morning (7:30-ish instead of 6:00-6:30-ish) so I hadn't given her a morning nap. She's also starting to transition to one nap a day sometimes.

I had told her we would play on the bed after I got ready for work, so when I was dressed I picked her up and plopped her on the bed. She proceeded to crawl back to the pillows and fall back, resting comfortably. After a minute she sat up, reached for the covers and tried to pull them over her.

I snuggled with her for a few minutes before we went downstairs to greet Mommy.

On Saturday while we getting showered and dressed for the day Sydney wanted up on the bed again. When we finally could she plopped back on the pillows again.



When Sydney wakes up in the morning she usually starts making noise before she's fully awake. By the time she's fully awake I usually am, too, so we get up to have breakfast.

On the weekends Mommy is usually awake early (because of her work schedule) so she hears Sydney when she's first waking up. She will go get her out of her crib and bring her into bed to snuggle with us while we wake up.

Sunday Sydney wasn't quite ready to be out of bed yet and fell back asleep. That didn't bother Daddy one bit.



I usually eat breakfast after Sydney. I'll usually eat a bowl of cereal a little later in the morning while she watches a show on PBS Kids. (Usually Big, Big World. She likes the music.) Of course, when we try to eat when Sydney isn't she wants some of what we're eating. I've started putting a little bit of her dry cereal in one of her bowls and giving it to her as a snack when I eat to keep her out of my cereal. That usually appeases her.

Last week, though, Sydney decided to see what I was eating. I was sitting on the floor in front of the sofa on a pillow, but holding my bowl up. Sydney came over, put a hand on my knee, pushed herself up onto her feet and let go of my knee as she looked in my bowl. She stood on her own two feet for about two seconds before toppling over.

We're practicing walking with her daily but she isn't on her own yet. She holds our hands and walks around supporting herself on us. She will sometimes move a few steps around the sofa or some other surface she stood up to reach. There's progress, but no walking on her own yet.

She still goes on her knees without a problem. (Even over cement and rocks. Ouch.)

Vocabulary is slowly expanding. Anne said yesterday (Tuesday) she was trying to say "hi," but it came out "eye." Anne was trying to help her but and Sydney would keep going "eye" and laughing.

This past Sunday she was going around going "ow" and then laughing.

When I changed her diaper the one morning after she woke up she patted her stomach (belly) and went, "buh, buh." I said, "belly," and then it looked like she mouthed the word. She didn't say it out loud, but her mouth moved to look like she was saying the word. She now regularly pats her belly while she's being changed so I say, "belly" to her.

"Bye" has become a more regular word for her. Saturday we had lunch at Applebee's. (We don't go there that frequently, but there usually seems to be a good Sydney story that comes from going there. Maybe we should go more often.) Half-way through our meal the table behind Sydney and Anne left. Sydney turned around and intently watched them leave. After they had walked around the bend she turned back to our table and started waving and going, "bye, bye." For the next couple minutes she waved and said bye to every person (mostly wait staff) that walked by our table.

There's probably more to tell, but I can't think of it right now. I'm writing from work on a slow night while I'm answering phones and it's almost time to leave. So I'll end here.