January 31, 2005
Mango Madness
Kim took Sydney to the park today while I went to work. It was pretty normal until this grandmother and child came up where Sydney was playing. The grandmother was Chinese and didn’t speak any English. She and Kim exchanged nods. Then the grandma started feeding her child some mango from a spoon. Sydney watched. Then the grandma decided that Sydney should have some mango too! So she started following Sydney around with a spoon full of mango. Sydney didn’t want any. But the grandma insisted. She kept following Sydney around while Sydney tried to escape. She is in the distance in this picture. If you see her, run away!
Wave to the camera.
Smile! Seems like she thinks she is a model.
Looks fun, right? Well, Mom forgot to put pants on Sydney so when she went down the slide it caused some friction burns. Sydney would slide down and then yell at the slide — No slide!
January 30, 2005
Welcome to the Jungle
Today we met our friends, the Toombs family, at The Jungle in San Jose. This is sort of like Chuck E. Cheese on steroids. The entire place is one big play structure inside. And since it was Sunday, it was packed!
As always, I entered the maze with Sydney to guide her through.
Tunnels everywhere! Slides everywhere! Kids everywhere!
And of course…they had germ…I mean ball…pits. Sydney didn’t like them at first but after about an hour she warmed up to it. Jump! And Sydney would jump off the ledge and jump in.
I had take pictures of Rachel, our host, but they were all blurry because she was always moving so fast. Too much fun!
The Dads did cop out and go race during the middle of the Jungle adventure. But we came back to some tired kids and probably more tired wives.
January 28, 2005
January 27, 2005
January 26, 2005
January 23, 2005
Big Hands
I was working in the yard today wearing gloves. Sydney came out of the garage ready to help.
January 21, 2005
First Sickness
Sydney returned from her visit to Indiana with an ear and sinus infection. This is a milestone because — believe it or not — this was her first fever ever! We made it 21 months with no sickness. That was a pretty good run I would say. Takes after her Dad. I get sick once a decade it seems — unless you count the occasional bad meal that has you up all night. Anyway, Sydney is pretty whiney as she moves around the house.
But oddly every few hours, this random burst of energy comes out!
January 12, 2005
Rest in Peace
We got word today that Sydney’s Great Grandmother, Joan Coburn, passed away sometime yesterday at her home in Florida. This was a picture of Sydney with Joan this past Christmas. She will be missed.
Services are likely to be held in Fort Wayne, Indiana, sometime next week.
January 10, 2005
GameGirl
Forget the GameBoy. This is the GameGirl! Since I got a new handheld Nintendo for Christmas, I willed my previous one to Sydney. Nintendo has videos you can watch on the GameBoy now. Guess which one Sydney is watching? You guessed it — Dora the Explorer! Yes, Sydney can take her own “Dora Movie Machine” with her wherever she goes. That should keep her busy — for another 5 minutes.
January 9, 2005
Eating On The Run
Sydney ate lunch today running around — at Chuck E. Cheese. This was Mom’s idea. Mom wanted Sydney to experience it.
We tried lots of games with our 10 tokens but Sydney really only enjoyed Hungry Hippos. Here is a somewhat blurry picture of her so you can tell how much fun she was having with this game.
They don’t have the ball pit anymore — darn. And Sydney was a bit too small to get herself up into the tunnel that hangs from the ceiling. Never fear — when Mom wasn’t looking we went up in it!
Don’t worry — parents are allowed in this. Except I was the only one in there. Go figure.
Morning Ritual
Wake up. Get Ta Ta and Dora dolls. Get cup of milk. Climb into big chair. Cover up. Turn on Dora. Don’t listen to anyone for 30 minutes.
January 8, 2005
Downhill Dora
We took Sydney for her first sledding adventure today. We drove out to Rocky Mountain National Park. It is about 30 miles from our house. It was about 50 degrees at home but it was nice and snowy up there.
Time for the first ride. Mom caught us in action.
I was getting tired hauling Sydney and the sled back up the hill. The elevation is the issue. We got a few good runs in. This is a pretty tame sledding hill.
On the way out, we stopped to see a herd of elk grazing. Sydney was really confused. Were these moos? Or were these neighs? She kept alternating.
January 6, 2005
January 5, 2005
January 4, 2005
My Retrospective on 2004
Well, another busy year has passed so I have decided to give you all insight on how the year went for me. Here are just a few of the things I have accomplished in 2004.
- Gained about 8 pounds and grew about 5 inches
- Got my first tooth, plus 15 others
- Learned to walk
- Learned to run, jump and climb
- Traded in the boob for the bottle and then for the sippie cup
- Began to feed myself with utensils
- Learned tons of new words
- Had my first birthday party
- Mastered the slide and swingset
- Discovered the joys of stickers and crayons
- Took a swim class, hated it
- Became a master gymnast
- Became a master musician/dancer
- Fell in love with the Wiggles, Blue, Dora, and Elmo
- Had my first real trick or treating adventure
- Had a blast ripping open presents at Christmas
- Went to the zoo for the first time
- Went to two aquariums
- Went to a real rodeo
- Spent my first New Years in Las Vegas
- Vacationed to Hawaii
- Spent my first Spring Break in Florida
- Went to San Jose twice
- Went to Monterey and San Francisco
- Toured all of Washington D.C.
- Went to Indiana twice
- Attended a National AACVPR Convention in Long Beach
- Hung out with Mickey at Disneyland
- Visited AJaye and Nathan in Detroit
- Spent Thanksgiving in Cabo, Mexico
- Hiked and Hummered throughout the Colorado mountains
- Learned to say the all important word — MINE
2005 should be even better…until the other kid arrives.
January 3, 2005
How to Scare Your Mommy to Tears
Mommy and Daddy have decided to start eating at home much more often then the maybe one night a week we did before. I have become one of those nightmare children at restaurants who throws tantrums and will not stay in their highchair. Hence, the restaurant boycott.
So, last night Mommy was baking a chicken and wine dish and I as always was supervising her work. The chicken was done so Mommy took the dish out of the oven and was carrying it over to the stovetop. I was walking right in front of her being the helper I am and then suddenly we heard a huge POP sound, so I ducked down. The next thing you know I was being showered with hot wine sauce and tiny shatters of glass. Mommy screamed really loud, picked me up and gave me a full body search, and even had a few tears in her eyes I think. She was really freaking out over me. I don’t know what the big deal was, I ducked so I well protected. Mommy had a few mild burns on her hands and was sprayed in the eye with the hot wine, but no lasting ouchies.
Daddy heard the commotion and came running into the kitchen. The baking dish Mommy was using was about 10 years old and very well used. Her very first set she had bought while in college. I guess it had had enough and just completely shattered in her hands as soon as it came out of the hot oven. She did not know this could happen. Needless to say, Mommy is throwing out all her old baking pans today and buying all brand new with her Christmas money. So we are going shopping this week. At least something good came out of all this.
Oh, and it took Daddy close to an hour to clean up all the juice and tiny shards of glass. We decided to eat the salads Mommy already made and a grilled cheese to be quick. A few bites into the salad and Daddy was spitting out glass. He is convinced Mommy was trying to kill him. We are still finding glass all over, from the kitchen table to the couch, all tiny shards. There were no pieces bigger then a dime left of the dish, complete shatters.