Happy Birthday to Me!!!

Happy 2nd Birthday to Sydney!!


"Birth Day" 9/3/08


Birthday 9/3/10
Syd has grown so much in the past 2 years. Since her arrival back in 2008 she has had many adventures! She has visited every state on the east coast from Florida to Maine, she's lived in 2 houses, she has flown on an airplane a dozen or more times, she has spent 100s (yes really) of hours in the car with Mom and Dad driving to various adventure spots, she's hiked a few mountains, been to Disney World and other amusement parks, seen some waterfalls, learned to swim, started school, and much more. She has yet to make an international trip but she has her passport and we are hoping to break it in some time next year.

At 2, she can say her entire alphabet and can recognize all 26 letters. She also knows her numbers 1-10 (and some through 20). She has just started dressing herself. She speaks in full sentences and communicates all of her needs fairly effectively. She is not potty-trained yet but has started to express an interest in it.

Syd loves organizing her toys and cleaning. She often takes food or toys and dumps them all over the floor, so she can then get a broom and towel and clean it up. Very helpful. She tells Mom..."I clean messy" and loves to be a helper.

Sydney is a very sociable little girl. She loves to play outside, continues to have boundless amounts of energy, and remains to this day a true daddy's girl. She loves swimming, going to the beach, being chased (by anyone), reading books, and playing with princesses. She absolutely adores her Daddy and whenever he is home she hates to be separated from him. Despite this, she still only lets Mommy rock her to sleep and snuggle her at night. =) She rarely ever tires (which can be exhausting for Mom) and likes to engage in physical activity literally the entire day. We are still looking for various ways to control her energy level and are thinking sports will be the way to go in the future. She will begin taking gymnastics, dance, and swimming this fall and as soon as she is eligible to play other sports, we will enroll her in those as well. She seems to have a natural affinity (and love) for swimming so we are thinking this may be something she will become very involved in. Being that this helped drastically control Mom's high energy level as a child, we are hoping it will do the same for Sydney.

She takes one good nap (2 hours) a day and sleeps from 8pm to 7pm (if I'm lucky). She still loves her blankie (although the blankie of choice changes often) and she also still loves her 2 white cats. She sleeps with a Winnie the Pooh pillow; however, it must be positioned exactly to her liking in order for to be willing to sleep on it.

Sydney is very adaptable and flexible. We have worked hard to constantly expose her to new situations. Although she does have a schedule, we often push Sydney to her limit and are constantly modifying her schedule (some by choice, some by necessity). She has no difficulty adapting to her new situations and is able to nap at different times, eat her meals whenever we have time, and in general, is willing to go with the flow.

Sydney has inherited Dad's laid back philosophy of life and Mom's intense level of physical energy. She is somewhat emotional like Mom (and can get very upset at times), but in general she appears to be a worry-free child (like Dad who has never worried about anything his entire life).

Syd weighs about 30 pounds and seems to be of average height for her age. She still amazes us with her physical strength and runs so fast these days that we have trouble catching her when she gets away from us. She can be rather mischievous at times and sometimes is difficult to control when she gets overly excited, but overall she is one of the happiest kids we have ever seen!!

True to form, we have decided to celebrate Syd's birthday with another trip. We are heading to New Hampshire for a few days to celebrate with some of our best friends! More adventures to come!