All the world's a stage

Sylvia has had many performances on her new "stage". Here are a few little excerpts:

Oh, this little girl makes me laugh! She does adorable renditions of "Ba Ba Black Sheep" and "I'm a Little Tea Pot" - I just have to catch them on video!

the future's so bright we need shades!

Happy New Year Everyone! The future is looking bright!!

if I could talk to the animals...

Let's meet the animals.

We have the much loved, Daisy the Dog:

Kayla the bear (?) being examined by Dr. Jackie:

Abe, the monster buck (I think his antlers fell off!):Kayla, the cuddly reindeer:
and, well, I'm not sure what kind of animal this is, but it sure looks rabid to me!

Christmas chaos

If you want to have some fun, try to take a picture of five little girls 6 and under in front of a Christmas tree at the same time. No Easy Feat! (and lets not forget Daisy the Dog, to add a little extra excitement!)

There was singing:

And laughter:

Silliness:

And Tears:
At times, I think a crash helmet was a very good idea:
And don't forget, these girls all have their own personalities and opinions; they were not all in the mood for a photo at the same time:
Could these have been the best group photos?:Well, better luck next year. Although we'll have another baby girl in the mix, so I'm predicting similarly chaotic results :)

my valentine

Sylvia is going to LOVE Valentine's Day, because there is nothing more fun than "making hearts". Add some stickers to the project, and her day is complete. A few weeks ago she spent an hour or so working on a special heart for her daddy, who had just returned home from a work trip to New Hampshire. Unfortunately, while she understood that she was making it for Daddy, the thought of having to give away her beautiful masterpiece was more than she could handle, as you can see from the photo below:

let it rain

The first time I really noticed Sylvia playing pretend, she had a blanket on her head, which she was calling an umbrella. "It is raining, Mommy!!!" About a week ago, I dressed her in a little Eagles hooded sweatshirt, and from the time we put it on until she woke up from her afternoon nap hours later, she refused to pull the hood down. "I can't; it's RAINING!!" The photos are from breakfast. I have a feeling we will have some battles of wills in the future. For now, let it rain, and let there always be a hood to keep her dry.

every little thing is magic

I am so thankful for my happy, healthy, incredible little girl, and all the ways she made the holidays (and everyday) simply magical.

- Each ornament on our tree and every single Christmas card got the same sincere response from my little one-year-old "OOoohhh, Pretty!"

- Each trip in the car was interrupted every 32 seconds by a shout from the back seat "LIGHTS!". It may have been a regular street lamp 1/2 mile away or a yard full of color right outside her door; she was thrilled by it all.

- I will never be able to sing the correct lyrics to "Do You Hear What I Hear?" again, thanks to Sylvia's favorite Christmas DVD. The words will forever be "Do You Hear What Elmo Hears?"

- For some reason the pretty ornament with two cardinals on our tree was referred to as "Bad Bird!" by Sylvia from the moment she saw it. I have no idea what that was about.

- I still smile when I think of the ornaments John brought home for Sylvia from New Hampshire....The cutest little Cookie Monster and Big Bird you have ever seen. Her Response? "Where's Elmo??"

- The Ames Clearance Angel on the top of our tree never got such special attention. Each day when we left the house: "Bye tree; Bye Angel!!". Last night Sylvia put the angel back in her box and kissed her good-bye until next year.

- John and I were very excited that Santa brought Sylvia a wagon. Sylvia was a bit more excited that Santa brought her underpants. She was still talking about it today, and will probably associate underpants with Santa for the forseeable future......

- Every time I put Sylvie in her little red "Santa's Helper" dress, she shouted "Halloween!!"

- On Christmas morning, Sylvia was so excited by each present, that I really didn't think she would ever open all of her presents. She was far more interested in investigating whatever she had just opened. In the end, she spent the most time playing with one of her old dolls and a water bottle that happened to come with a purse that Santa brought. Simple joys.

early birthday

I've had a few friends warn me that Sylvia is the age their child was when they started escaping the crib. I told them all, and sincerely believed, that Sylvia was too timid, too little, too much of a little princess to attempt a daredevil feat like that.

Then tonight, I opened the door to her room where we had just tucked her into her crib, found her standing at the door, and just like that, her crib days are over. She showed us how she did it, and although she claims to have landed on part of her "rocking elephant" toy, she does not seem to have been injured. While I know she would try it again if we put her back in there, I am not convinced she could do it without injury. We set up a temporary bed on the floor, and used a dimmer switch to create a night-light out of her lamp (thanks Chrissy-Mark!).

We were considering getting a little toddler bed and setting her up in her new room (aka Grammy's room) for her birthday, but it looks like she didn't want to wait that long. Happy early birthday little girl - looks like you are moving on up to a Big Kid Bed!!

baby on the move

We had another baby appt last week, which was very uneventful (a good thing). My stats are all normal, and we heard the baby's heartbeat - always fun! For the last 2 weeks I have felt baby girl very consistently everyday. Last night, for the first time, John felt the baby too! We're excited for Sylvia to feel her; it is only a matter of time now.