Sylvia is 23 months old!

Sylvia is just one short month away from being TWO YEARS OLD.

You know the deal... she keeps getting taller, heavier, bossier, and more communicative.

We've been very social this month. First we had a visit from our friend Elsa, and then we drove south to meet Sylvia's cousin Evan and see other relatives. In between (sometimes during) these social engagements, Max has been working on getting a paper ready for publication and getting a talk ready for a conference. And we've been working on transforming our patio into a nice play area for Sylvia.

We can't really even keep track of all of Sylvia's words and sayings anymore. Her favorite word, though, is definitely "mine". Fortunately, she also really likes "hugs" and "tee-chu mama" ("thank you"). From her dad, she learned to express confusion with a small, grunting, "huh?" At first, it seemed to be a genuine question. Soon, it seemed to be a little more tricky, as in, "Wait. I wasn't supposed to do that?" or "I can't hear you, so you can't get mad at me for not listening to you." Of course, this often makes us laugh, so it's taken on a whole new level of playfulness. I still usually can't hold in a laugh when I tell her not to do something, and she looks at me, cocks her head, squishes her face, smiles, and laughingly grunts "huh?"

This month, Sylvia got her first Fisher Price Little People and her first Thomas the Train. She's way into them! If anybody out there is planning to get her anything for her birthday, those are a safe bet. (Also, she has her very own Amazon wishlist.)

I'll try to come back and add pictures of this month's misadventures soon.

Sylvia is 22 months old!

Sylvia is continuing to transform from a baby to a kid in very noticeable ways. Her vocabulary seems to multiply daily, and she seems to be putting words together more and more. She has learned to ask for "un mor, pleeez". She has regular playmates who she enjoys seeing and interacting. She's capable of following our instructions very well (including things like returning pilfered toys or closing an off-limits cabinet), or of refusing to do so with a definitive little "nope" or "nope, bye-bye."

She can be pretty sensitive and emotionally volatile. (I have absolutely no idea where she could have gotten that.) But she can also be extremely sweet. She often comes up to me or Max and gives us hugs and kisses.

Today, Max & I got some disappointing news about a job opportunity. While there are a lot of benefits to remaining in our current situation for another year, we were really hoping to have some more financial security and to be able to to start making more longterm plans. On top of all of that, I had a headache all day, and Max is suffering from a sinus infection as well as the side effects of the antibiotic treatment for said infection. Sylvia had started out the day in a very good mood. She seemed to pick up on our moods, and rather than getting upset or demanding attention, she was very sweet to both of us. I was holding my head and laying down, and she kept coming to me and saying "ouch... sad..." and giving me hugs and kisses.

We can hardly believe that the tiny little bundle we brought home 2 summers ago is now this giant talking, running, screaming, fighting, singing, hugging, kissing little girl.

Maria is ONE

Dear Maria,

I don't know if I have ever been as scared as I was in the days before you were born. We were all so worried about them getting you safely into the world. From the moment that they decided it was time to bring you out, you defied every expectation and rose to every challenge.

We were so happy when we got to see pictures of your tiny little self.

We couldn't believe how small you were, and we wanted so badly to come see you for ourselves. We were so grateful for every picture and every report of how well you were doing, and we were so excited the day that you finally met your brother...

... and the day that they got to bring you home.

It was a special day for us, because we finally got to see you live in video chat.

Finally when you were 2 months old (just a little after your due date), we got to meet you and hold you and kiss you and squeeze you. We absolutely fixated on your tiny little hands and toes, and we held you as much and as often as we could.

Saying good-bye and knowing that you would be such a different baby when we met again was so hard. You came to visit us when you were 6 months old. So different from the tiny little lump that we had to leave behind, you were busy reaching and swatting and grabbing and playing.

And before we knew it, you were gone again. We saw you again only 3 months later, and you'd transformed again. So aware and determined. So mobile! Not quite crawling very much, but so close. Sitting on your own, but not for very long. Laughing all the time!

And now you're a whole year old! It is so very sad for us that we can't see you all the time and watch all the tiny little changes, but we're so grateful for the time that we've had with you, and so excited to continue to be there as you grow up. We love you so much.

Happy Birthday, Maria!

Love,

"Aunt" Danielle

P.S. Sorry Sylvia is in so many of these pictures. I just love pictures of you 2 together!

Sylvia is 21 months old!

It feels like Sylvia has gone through a transformation in the past month. If I had to put a name on it, I guess I'd say that she's gone from toddling baby to an earnest toddler. Which sounds kinda lame when I say it that way, but it's really awesome! Her language and physical abilities have been really taking off, and I just can't believe how she seems less and less like a baby and more and more like a little kid.

Sylvia had her second Easter. I expected it to be another year before she could hunt for eggs, but my aunt and uncle set up a hunt for her and my 10-year-old cousin. We gave her a basket, took her out to the lawn, pointed out an egg, and told her to go pick it up and put it in her basket. She did it, and we asked her if there were any more, and she was off! I won't pretend that she didn't continue to get some assistance, but she really had it figured out and had a really great time! And she learned a new word: "egg-ggie". She was pretty unhappy when all the eggs had been found and it was time to go in. Once I got tired of taking her eggs, laying them back out, and letting her collect them, we dragged her into the house, where she proceeded to begin a game of opening up the eggs, declaring them "boke", and handing them to the nearest adult for repair. She also entered into a game of hiding and finding eggs in my aunt's sweater pocket. It was a wonderful day, and Sylvia was totally ready when we had an egg hunt with some neighbors the next day. Several days later, and she's still hiding and finding eggs, and taking them apart and demanding help putting them back together.

We've started going to My Gym, where we attend classes designed for kids around Sylvia's age. She gets impatient with 'circle time' and with activities which require her to wait her turn, but it's probably good that she start to learn how to manage those kinds of situations. And she has a lot of fun playing with their stuff.

She's also had her first trip to the dentist and (today) her first hair cut. At the dentist, she enjoyed being somewhere with new toys. She was very pleasant to the people but resisted somewhat when they sat her down to poke around in her mouth. Then they took her away for a minute to get a treat, and she came back looking like this:

At the hairdresser, she enjoyed being somewhere with new toys, was very pleasant to the people but resisted somewhat when they sat her down to mess with her hair. She tried to get back down to the big train set a few times and kept trying to look at the hairdresser, but she was really quite good. The hairdresser offered to give her a lollipop, but I didn't think she was quite ready for that; we shared a donut instead.

Here's an 'AFTER' shot. Don't feel bad if you can' tell the difference. She barely had any hair to start!

Toddler Tales

My daughter is hysterical. Here are some anecdotes that I’ve been sitting on for a while (interspersed with cute pictures which are totally unrelated to the stories)…

Recruitment:

We were on a morning outing one day while Max was out of town. I think Sylvia was a little sick of spending all her time with me and starved for other company. We spent some time at the playground, and Sylvia was playing with a little boy a few months younger than her. It was time for him to go home, and Sylvia tried to follow him and threw such a fit that we started heading home ourselves. Along the way, a little girl who’s a few weeks older than Sylvia spotted us and called out “hi!” from her upstairs porch. Sylvia saw her and started screaming “Up! Up! Up!”, and Kira tried to squeeze through the bars while screaming “Dowwwwn!” Both girls started crying when I said “bye” to Kira and started to walk away, so Sylvia and I eventually went up and asked Kira’s dad if she could come out to play. We agreed to meet back at the playground in a few minutes. While we were waiting, Sylvia heard a cry from a nearby apartment and ran off straight to her friend RJ’s porch and started chanting “hi! hi! hi!” until his mom decided to bring him out. Kira eventually joined the other 2, and Sylvia thoroughly enjoyed the fruits of her first attempt at party planning.

Messy:

Sylvia and I were going through the grocery store. She was sitting in the cart, holding her little Big Bird doll and her “spill-proof” snack container. I’m going along and focused on my shopping list when I see Big Bird’s head has been shoved into the snack container. Sylvia is saying “yum yum yum” with delight while “sharing” her Cheerios with Big Bird. Sylvia pulls out Big Bird, who brings several Cheerios with him, which then scatter on the floor. Before I have time to react, Sylvia is pulling out more Cheerios and throwing them on the floor. I say, “What are you doing?!?” Sylvia’s eyes get very big. She points at the floor but is still looking me straight in the eye and says, “Messy!”

Baby:

All three of us were at the zoo. I saw a family with a newborn, and I pointed out the baby to Sylvia. She ran over to them, pointed up at the baby, announced “Baby!” and then reached up, obviously demanding that the baby should be given to her immediately. The parents laughed and asked if she was available to babysit. (This was actually a repeat of an almost identical situation with a puppy outside a restaurant, instead of a baby at the zoo. Interestingly, the pet owner was not nearly as good-natured about it as the parent.)

Dog whisperer:

A few weeks ago, we visited family & friends in San Diego. We left early, Sylvia slept most of the way, and we got to Max’s parents house without much drama or hassle. When we parked, Sylvia seemed to recognize the house and to be pretty happy to be there. She ran into the house, went straight for the back door, and immediately found the dogs. She got so excited and ran to them. Once she was about a foot away, she raised her hand, shook a finger at them and yelled “sit down!” This (along with the occasional “ssshh”) has since been her standard greetings for all dogs.

Sylvia is 20 months old!

Today, Sylvia weighs about 26 pounds and is about 32 inches tall. The other day, I counted about 45 words or phrases (like "all-gone!" and "where-go?") that she uses fairly reliably, and I know there are more.

At home, she has been more interested in her stuffed animals and her baby doll than her other toys. She walks around with them, gives them rides in my office chair, and puts them into "bed". She lays them down, tucks them into a blanket, says "night night", lays down next to them, and pretends to snore.

She's going through a defiant streak. "No!" is her favorite word, and she spends more time than she used to hovering around things she knows she's not supposed to touch, checking to see if we're watching, and inching closer and closer toward whatever she's not supposed to be doing. And she's gotten quite good at the tantrums when we get in her way. She's also really really sweet, though. She gives us hugs and kisses.

When weather permits, we go to a playground at least once a day. She can play by herself: she goes down the slide over and over and digs in the sand. But these days she's thrilled when she sees other people there. She has friends who she will run to and yell "hi" when she sees them, and she even sort of tries to play with them. Yesterday, her friend Alex was having a bad day, and she went to him and offered him a toy and tried to give him a hug. She cheered him up with the scruffy face that she made "smelling" flowers, and he taught her how to roll down a hill.

Since the previous post, the sun/moon has not consistently been effective at preventing early morning hysterics, but it generally does seem to be helping.

She amazes us every day.

"Sun!"

I'm a very proud & happy mama today!

Since we started using the 'The Sleepeasy Solution' method for sleep training, Sylvia's been sleeping much much better -- going to sleep easier, putting herself back to sleep when she wakes up, and staying asleep longer. A few months ago, she started waking up earlier... and then earlier... and then earlier. It's been rough. According to the method, you're not supposed to take them out of bed until the designated 'wake-up time'. It's supposed to train them to stay in bed, but it just wasn't working anymore. Meanwhile, we've been awake way earlier than we wanted to be, and listening to our miserable baby girl. And then we've all been overly tired from not getting enough sleep, and that just makes everything harder. (And, no, putting her to bed earlier or later does not help. And some people might say 'maybe she doesn't need as much sleep', but she's really not been acting like a well-rested baby.)

So, we recently bought the 'Good Nite Lite' which is supposed to help this particular problem. At night, it lights up like a moon. At the time that you specify as the 'wake-up time', it switches to a sun. We got it on Thursday. We showed her the moon and the sun, and we told her when she went to bed that if she woke up and saw the moon, that meant that it was still bedtime so she should try to go back to sleep, but that she could get up when she saw the sun.

You're supposed to do a little training, where you have the sun come on at their usual wake-up time the first day, and then incrementally make it later to help train them to stay asleep later. So, the first day was pretty uneventful. The second day was a nightmare; she woke up really early, and was absolutely miserable when we reminded her that she needed to stay in bed until the sun came out. This was the third day. She woke up 15 minutes before the sun was going to come on. She stood up, looked at the moon, said "ohhhhh. oh no!" several times, but didn't cry, and really tried to go back to sleep. When she couldn't sleep, she just stood up looking out and saying, "ohhhh". We were watching the monitor and wondering how well the light was synced to the time on our phones and when we could go get her, when she broke out in a grin, pointed at the nightlight and called out, "Sun!" I almost cried. It was awesome.