Little Miss Sydney

New Favorite Sayings

mwhowell — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 02:39:06 +0000

Here are some of the funny/cute things I noted Sydney saying over the past few months:

Mommy, can you help me get all the icing off this cupcake? Sure – where do you want me to put it? In my mouth.
Here Mommy – you take this (her flashlight), since you can’t have this (the popsicle I was in the middle of eating)!
I have to collect all my things in this bag Mommy. Where are you taking them? I’m packing for college.
I’m blowing hot air on you Mommy.
Tigger and Puck are the nicest pets in the whole world.
I didn’t get enough sleep last night. I need to come cuddle with you (peeking her head over the top of the bed while I’m taking a nap on Sunday morning)

I have the best gifts ever. Mommy, Daddy and Sabrina. And Tigger and Puck too!
Uh oh Mommy – I just peed in the playroom.
Sydney’s so excited that her own self went potty!
I went in to say, “Happy Valentine’s Day” to Sabrina and she said “Thank You!”
Ella (a finger puppet elephant and her new favorite friend) needs some floss – she has popcorn stuck in her teeth. From the movie.
I think I want to buy that house right there. Is that okay Mommy?
I’m making a pretty picture for my Sabrina girl because I love her so much.
Daddy – Can you say “What’s up G?”
Sally thinks I’m nuts. Sally thinks I’m pistachios.
I don’t want to be an actress. I’m going to be an animal trainer when I grow up. I’m going to train elephants. And if I don’t like the elephants, then I’m going to train whales.
I decided I don’t like boys. Why? Because Jesse hits me. But some boys are nice, right? Yes. Hunter’s nice. And Daddy. And Uncle Jakey. And Grandpa.
Is this a helicopter Mommy, because it has rotor blades on it? Yes – that’s a helicopter. He just popped out of his mommy’s tummy on June 1^st.

Time Outs

mwhowell — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 02:32:26 +0000

We’ve been testing time outs for a few months, really waiting until Sydney was three to enforce them on a regular basis. Sydney gets several warnings before a time out unless she isn’t gentle, which results in an automatic time out. She’s been getting time outs for two main reasons. The first is pushing Sabrina over, or sitting on her, or stomping on her, or being very “ungentle” in some other way. The second is for the everyday things she knows she isn’t supposed to do – like throwing things – but she does anyway to test us.

Here’s an example of an interaction after one of her latest time outs.

Sydney – “Can you ask me why I’m crying Mommy?” Me – “Why are you crying?” Sydney - Because you put me in a time out and I don’t like time outs.

20 minutes later: Sydney – “I decided I like time outs Mommy.”

Hmmm. Maybe this time out thing isn’t working. I guess time will tell.

Swim Class

mwhowell — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 02:09:49 +0000

Sydney is taking swim classes once a week at Emler’s Swim School this summer. We’ve been careful to call it “swim class” instead of swim lessons after the disaster we had last year. This time around we’re going slow and so far she’s enjoyed it. We started with the mommy and me class but our teacher recommended Sydney move uo to AquaTots where they swim with other kids and their teachers can be the “bad guys”…

We’ll have to wait and see how she does this week – it’s time yo go under the water!

Best of Hawaii

mwhowell — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 02:04:29 +0000

Click Here for some of the best pics from our vacation in Hawaii!

Sydney Addison Miller – 3 Years Old

mwhowell — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 01:40:01 +0000

Sydney Addison Miller - 3 Years Old

Swimming with Dolphins

mwhowell — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 03:52:10 +0000

Sydney’s new favorite animals are dolphins and whales. I don’t remember how it got started, but like the others before – goats, deer and rhinos – this one’s lasted a while. We’re going on two months of playing exclusively with her dolphin and whale friends for tea parties, in the bath, to bring on adventures, to talk to, etc. I love to listen to her talking to them. ”Here’s your tea. Don’t worry, I have another fish for you!”

So when we booked our trip to the Big Island of Hawaii, the first place I called was DolphinQuest to reserve a spot for Sydney to swim with the dolphins. Sydney enjoyed everything but the dolphin splashing her in the face and the fact that, when it was over, she hadn’t actually “swam” with the dolphins. She cried for 10 minutes and felt very cheated. I’d prepared her for how short it was going to be, and we’d taken her to see what it was like a few times before it was her turn, but obviously she had pictured something completely different than what she got, which was to pet the dolphin, feed him some fish and shake his fin.

Negotiations

mwhowell — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 02:45:38 +0000

I’m sure it’s totally our fault because we give her so many choices and because we let her negotiate sometimes, but Sydney now things EVERYTHING is a negotiation. Here are two great examples:

I want 4 treats. Just 1. 5 treats Mommy – did you say okay? Just 1 Sydney. 3 treats.Sydney – I can only give you 1. 2 treats (with her two longhorn fingers up). That’s okay, right Mommy? Just two. I prrrrooooommmiiisseee. (I really have to get the “I promise” on video!)

Mommy, I want more milk. It’s time to go to sleep. Just a little, tiny bit more – like this much (with fingers squished together). Sydney, this isn’t a negotiation – it’s time for bed. I promise I won’t negotiate tomorrow.

When Are We There Mommy?

mwhowell — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 02:39:17 +0000

Sydney’s been asking a lot of time-related questions lately. I give her lots of examples, but I don’t think they’re doing much good yet! Here’s a great example of one of our exchanges:

When are we going to gymnastics mommy? In an hour. How long is an hour? About the time you play on the playground and slab at Westminster.

(5 minutes later) Is it time to go yet mommy? No, not yet. I can’t wait any longer. We don’t have a choice sweetie. They aren’t open yet. What time do they open? In 30 minutes. When is 30 minutes.

(10 minutes later) If I eat a yogurt, will it be time to go to gymnastics afterwards? Yes. Right after? About 15 minutes after. How long is 15 minutes?

(5 minutes later) I’m not having any fun any more. Can you ask me why mommy? Why? Because I can’t wait to go to gymnastics.

No More Diapers

mwhowell — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 22:58:53 +0000

It was a slow process that started so long ago, but Sydney is finally potty trained. She first tried out the potty at one and a half, so if you told me it would be more than a year before she was out of diapers, I wouldn’t have believed it. But then, we didn’t push it at all because Sabrina was on her way and we thought a new baby in the house might cause some setbacks.

It was a challenge, and I didn’t really have a strategy at first, which was part of the problem, but we’ve found that when Sydney really wants to do something, that’s when she’ll push forward. And one day she was suddenly ready.

The great thing about potty training at this age is we never had to worry about accidents at night – she was already keeping dry every morning.

Learning to Catch

mwhowell — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 17:04:51 +0000