Christmas...

Well, Sydney turned 12 weeks on Christmas Eve.  Three months...hard to believe.  All is well.  Our girl is definitely growing and changing every day.  She is still sleeping about 10 hours every night.  (Thank You Lord!)  Sydney loves to talk and smile...even if it is only to herself.  (Although if we get Nanna on the phone to listen, then of course the talking stops and the phone stare-down is on.)  Her first Christmas came and went without too much excitement.  She's three months old; not much you can do with that.  :)  We spent a little bit of the day at Grandma and Grandpa Wilson's (once she finally got up at 11:30!) and then Brian was off to bed as he was working the night before and the night of, so Sydney and I just relaxed and enjoyed the day (with a few naps in there as well).

"Where's the popcorn, Mom?"

This is what Brian and Sydney were doing while I was slaving away in the kitchen making my annual Christmas Cookie Plates.  Thanks for the help you two!  :)

Grandpa and Sydney on Christmas.

Grandma spoiling Sydney...

Uncle Carl can't get enough of his little niece.

And she's spent...

Can you tell that I was the only one who cared about getting a family photo on Christmas???

Sydney meets Santa for the first time...

This may look like Sydney was upset by Santa, but really she was upset beforehand and just would not quit crying, so we decided to stick her on Pappy's lap anyway.  O-well, such as life.  :)

Grandma Wilson and I decided we wouldn't get a better picture, so with Sydney still crying, this would just have to do.

Kalei hugging Santa, even though he told her she had to clean her room to be a good girl.  She compromised and said she would clean it on Christmas Eve before he got there with her presents.  Oh to be 5 again.  :)

Just a few pics...

Sydney's auntie Gretchen used to suck her thumb like this with her finger up over her nose...

Sydney's "big sister" Kalei.

"Helping" Grandma work.

Getting so big!

Thumb sucking update...

I mentioned the other day that Sydney was sucking on her thumb and finger, well, as of this morning, she has now figured out how to suck on just her thumb and she now calms herself down.  I had a proud mommy moment when she first did it.  I was so proud it was a little ridiculous really.

It was nice this evening to not have to play the pacifier game with her as she just went right to her thumb. 

Now...let's hope she isn't like her auntie Gretchen and sucks on that thing like there's no tomorrow and empties our pockets dry with orthodontic work!  :)

Thumb sucking and smiles...

Sydney is just the cutest little thumb/finger sucker.  A couple of weeks ago I had put her down and a few minutes later I heard her pacifier drop and was waiting for her to start crying.  The crying never came, but this strange smacking noise started.  I wasn't really quite sure what it was and when I went and checked on her, she was trying to suck on her thumb and pointer finger.  It was the funniest thing.  Her little fingers are so much smaller than the pacifier, so she can't ever get a good hold, but it satisfies her, so more power to her.  She now sometimes prefers her thumb/finger to her pacifier.  You know when adults grab little kids' noses and they hold up their hand showing their thumb in-between their fingers, trying to pass that off as the nose?  That is how she holds her thumb when she puts her little digits in her mouth.  So sweet. 

Anyway, between that new treasure and her smiles, we are just head over heels for her.  We get frustrated sometimes when she is crying and we can't figure out why, but as soon as she looks at you and smiles, it's all over. 

She has been fussier than usual lately.  We took her in to the chiropractor last week and mentioned to her that my mom had thought that maybe Sydney was starting to teethe.  The chiropractor, along with another practitioner and a mother sitting in the lobby, all said it was way too early and we still had a few more months.  (Sydney was only 8 1/2 weeks at that point.)  But, when Treeka started working on Sydney, sure enough, she said she couldn't believe it, but Sydney was starting to teethe.  So, here goes I guess.  :)

Despite that, she really is such a good girl.  Even when she is fussy, we know we can't complain as we have it better than most I'm sure.  Her sleep got messed up for a couple nights, but she has been back to sleeping all night again and that is so nice.

Here are a few more recent pictures...

The ones of Sydney in bed... Brian was going to bed and we were tucking him in. I had to pee so I put her down beside him and this is what I came back to. She was just too cute to move...and she was actually sleeping...so, I guess this is the one exception to her sleeping in our room!  :)

8 weeks old

Sydney went in for her two-month appointment and checked out perfectly.  She has grown just a little over 3 inches and is now 24.5 inches total.  She gained a pound and some change and now weighs 11.2 pounds. 

She is definitely a happy baby and is now smiling all the time.  We just can't get enough of that.  She is also starting to babble now, which is so wonderful too...  Becoming such a little person right before our eyes.

Her sleeping is still fantastic.  We know we are so blessed to have such a good sleeper.  She is averaging 8-10 hours a night.  She normally takes a couple of good naps during the day as well.  She is pretty content when she is up, just hangin' out on the floor or in her swing...or of course, her changing table.  She is so alert and loves to just look around and watch what is going on.  She is getting so strong too...she holds her head up, whether she is in our arms or on her tummy.

Sydney enjoyed her first Thanksgiving early this year.  We went over to Grandma and Grandpa Wilson's on Tuesday night for snacks and games.  Then we had friends over Wednesday night for turkey and games...  Brian has to work tonight so we got all the festivities in beforehand.  Papa Eddy wasn't here to make us french toast and bacon for breakfast while watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade...I know Sydney didn't know what she was missing out on, but her mom sure did!  So, we just slept through the pain (waking up with only a half hour left of the parade) and will just have to move on I suppose.

Here are a few pictures of Sydney's first Thanksgiving.  She is so stinkin' cute!  I don't think we could love her anymore than we do already!

winter hat

Sweet Girl

We have the sweetest girl!  She is so darn cute and such a good baby.  We are so blessed to have her. 

Quirky is one way to describe her at this point.  She just kills us with some of the things she does.  I know I mentioned her changing table before, but it is just the oddest thing.  It has now gotten to the point where if she is crying, we can just put her on that table and she calms right down and is just as content as could be.  She just stares at the ceiling and the bottom of her shelf that is right above her.  We don't know what it is, but it works.  The other morning she was crying and I put her on there and I got a load of laundry done, the dishwasher unloaded and loaded, and I vacuumed the whole upstairs.  Forty-five minutes went by before she was ready to get off.  It is so goofy! 

Some of her favorite things (can 5-week-old babies have favorite things?!)-other than her changing table- are kisses, her vibrating swing, and showers with daddy- Brian won't let me take a picture of that which is unfortunate because it is adorable!  :)

She has now started sleeping most of the night.  YAY!!!  The other night she slept for 7.5 hours!  I couldn't believe it.  The last couple of nights she has slept for 5 or 6 hours, gotten up to eat, and then went back down for another 3.  Can't beat that...at least not compared to what she was doing a couple weeks ago.  Granted, now that I have actually typed this, she will probably not sleep at all the next few nights!  :)

We fall in love with her more every day.  It's amazing how she just grows on us by the minute.  She is so beautiful and we just can't believe she is ours.  God has definitely given us a special little gift.

Here are some misc. pics...

Such hard work looking at all the fishies...

Daddy having a few words with his girl.

Awww...

Quiet time.

George, Sydney's new friend from her Papa!

Her changing table time...just looking at the ceiling...

Still there...hanging out with George...

A month old...

It's hard to believe that four Thursdays ago we gained a new family member.  I don't know if the time has gone by fast or slow.  I was just saying to Brian the other day that we seem to always look back on big life changes...we don't always notice them when they are happening.  But with Sydney, we feel this big life change every day.  I think we are finally fully aware that we are parents and that this little girl is ours and here to stay.  We're slow I guess.

Anyway, Sydney is doing great.  She is much more alert these days and loves to look around.  We can put her on her play mat and she loves the lights, but she also loves looking at everything else around her as well.  She will now look at us in the eyes and will sometimes even follow us as we walk away.  Funny how that makes you feel a little more connected to her.

She is also working on potty training!  :)  Okay, so that is what we are telling ourselves...but, hey, she could be.  She hates being in a wet, dirty diaper.  So, when she cries we will put her on her changing table and she stops crying and just spends several minutes looking around finishing her business.  We kept changing diaper after diaper in the early days, so it finally dawned on us that hey, maybe she needs a few more minutes.  She will spend 10 to 15 minutes just kicking away and looking around.  When she starts crying it means she is done and ready for a new diaper.  We have started to read to her during this time and she loves that as well.  It's one of my favorite things she does...she is just so content and happy when she is on that changing table.

Pooping takes such concentration!

This last week was a big week as Sydney finally met her Nanna and Papa.  My parents flew up and spent about a week with us.  They came in the first night Brian was back to work, so that was good timing for me.  (He works 11pm to 9 am.)  It was so nice having them here as we actually got some sleep and had warm meals every day!  What a difference!  They loved spending time with her, and her Papa has even started to annoy her at this young age- see picture below!  :)

Papa annoying Sydney...

Sydney hasn't really gotten on any type of schedule.  We just need to stop thinking that she is going to get on one I suppose.  Even if she did have one, it would only be a matter of days before it changed.  Lately she seems to have her days and nights mixed up.  She slept a lot during the days while my parents were here- despite their many efforts to keep her awake!- and was awake most of the night.  Now that my parents are gone, she seems to be all over the place with her sleeping again.  O-well.

The other person in our family trying to get adjusted to things is Tucker.  He doesn't really take notice of Sydney unless she is crying, and then he just runs into the other room.  If only we could do that too!  :)