The good, the bad and the merry!

Once again we terrified Sydney with a visit to see Santa (aka the campus pastor) up at Westmont.  I didn't think she would remember last years visit:

But I think she did! She starting panicking before we could even see the merry old soul and I knew how it was all going to end! Try as I might I could not get her grip-of-death on my arm to release and thus James and I were both forced into the picture this year. Why is this funny to me? Why do I like torturing my daughter in this way? After we left Santa she was immediately back to her happy-go-lucky self. 

If Santa was the "bad" part of our Christmas festivities so far then the parade downtown was definitely the "good".  She was transfixed by this hokey pokey parade. She stood for 45 minutes straight in this position....neck craning to see the jr. high band that just past, tight grip on the rope, and smile perma-fixed on her face.  She loved the fire truck too. 

Going on 20

Sydney just turned 20 months this week. Where does the time go?  She is looking and acting more grown up then ever. In fact lately I have been wondering if the terrible twos aren't already starting.  With a flair for the dramatic she has recently whined, screamed, arched her back, and flailed around in an effort get what she wants or just to get attention in general. We still love her of course and still take much joy in being around her but my husband and I are catching ourselves eyeing each other as if to say "I didn't teach her that, did you?". It is in these moments we are warned that our once cuddly infant might one day be a  pre-adolescent! Lord have mercy on us!

She continues to have a rapidly developing vocabulary and here are some of her most commonly used words:

tup (cup)
oook (fork)
peas (please)
boobles (her word for blueberries but sounds a lot like bubbles, which she also loves)
wa-wa (water)
teat (treat)
snack (she now knows where to find these at TJ's and Costco)
nap or nappy (napkin)
tay-do (thank you)
nye-nye (night-night)
toat (toast)
tao (towel)
mock (milk)
yep
no-no (sometimes it is no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no....hmm I get the point Sydney)
yoda (the character from Star Wars, see dialogue bleow)

Sydney: daddy? (translation: where is daddy?)

Me: Daddy is at work.

Sydney: yoda? (translation: with the stuffed Yoda that I always play with that his office mate keeps on her desk?)

Literally every time I mention that James is at work she says yoda...one day I might be able to convince her that her Dad is really a Jedi knight in training.

She does take a stab at most new words and names when we ask her to repeat them, but this list are the words she uses on her own daily.  Notice please how many of them relate to food.  But she does have other interests that have further developed her vocabulary. For example when she says "eyes" excitedly over and over again it means she wants to watch the music video of the kids singing Be careful little eyes what you see.  And if she says "baby" in the same way (while pointing to the TV) she wants to watch the music video of Away in the manger. And lastly of course "elmo"means she wants to watch Sesame Street.  She also loves watching videos of herself from our blog, a bit narcissistic I know.  Her two favorites are "pop" which is the video from the little red house where the last song is about popping bubbles or she asks for "dumbo" from her ride at Disneyland.

Besides videos and eating the girl still loves to go bye-bye. It doesn't really matter where we go as long as we come across babies, dogs, snacks, people to pay attention to her , swings or slides. Two of our close friends have babies a few months old and Sydney now recognizes the carseat/ stroller combo everywhere we go. She points them out at the park and Costco and wants me to pick her so she can get a closer look at the baby inside. She loves babies. Real ones.  Sydney also loves to point out other things to me while we are out and about. She will say "bus" or "tuck"(truck) every time we pass one in the car. Then she usually says "more?!" after we pass one, like will we see more mom? 

Lastly Sydney loves packing and unpacking bags or bins. She is usually reliable to help clean up and put away her own mess or toys. Her latest obsession is getting into a bag of costume jewelry that I let her play with.  It mostly consists of necklaces and bracelets.  But the other day I noticed that one earring had fallen out. I showed Sydney the earring and I asked her where the other one was. She turned and walked out to the living room and picked it up off of her play table and handed it to me. So grown up! 

So this is a little of what she is up to these days. But I will leave you with one last fun story of me making coffee the other morning. I was about to press the button to start the coffee grinding (which is pretty loud I admit) and I look over and see Sydney doing this and saying "oh-no"! 

I thought it was hysterical. 

Thanksgiving and Four Square.

Thanksgiving Day at the Folmars. 

We rounded out a day of cooking, eating and drinking, card playing, Thanksgiving trivia, football watching and ultimate frisbee with a game of four sqare in front of the Christmas tree.  What did you say? Four square is only for elementary school kids? Nah. We had so much fun taking this silly game seriously we had to get someone to be "the ref" (see Mike in black button up shirt) in order to maintain civility. And in case you are wondering if my 80 year old Dad played too, the answer is yes. To both ultimate frisbee and four square. I hope this will still be a tradition that I participate in when I am his age. 

house guests.

Early morning milk and video time.

There were lots of great moments like this.  And no one can do this better than uncle James. 

Come back soon Mary and Kyle!

We do have weather here.

Our liquid amber tree has been telling us for awhile now that Fall is definitely here. 

We even have had our first rainstorm of the year. Sydney was ecstatic to have Arlen inside for a whole entire day!

"She's such a big girl!"

That is what I hear most from people. Sometimes it deviates slightly to "she is quite tall for her age?".  I am never sure if that one is a question or a comment. She is a big girl. Many people are shocked when they go to pick her up how much heavier she feels than she looks (sometimes I am too).  I am guessing she weighs around 30lbs. One gal the other day (who has a toddler herself about the same age) would not let the issue drop. "Well how does she compare with other kids her age?". And then, "Why do you think she is so big?". I was just about to develop a complex after that conversation! But we are just as bad sometimes. James says I need to stop saying things like "she weighs a million pounds" and I say to him that he can't call her "huge" forever! 

But today she really was a big girl in another sense of the word. Sydney has recently developed a curiosity with the potty. So I have been taking things really slow and trying to help her articulate when she needs to go.  I have also had some hang out sessions with her on "the pot" at what seems like opportune times.  But before today the most exciting thing that has happened was us reading an animal book together and her unrolling the toilet paper. And then this morning it happened. She was on her second sitting on the potty and I heard the tinkling sound I had been waiting for. I got super excited and so did she. We both sat there giggling. What a big girl!

Bragging Rights

James and I are in a fantasy football league together with my family.  Here are this weeks results.

Enough said.

Team RunLikeA_Mother (MOTH) (2-7)Marissa Allingham 164.3 Team SassyPants (FOLM) (4-5)james folmar 85 QUICK BOX SCORE | FULL BOX SCORE | FANTASYCAST MOTH Yet to Play: In Play: Mins Left: Proj Total: Line: Top Scorer: 0 0 0 164.3 -1.4 A. Foster 30.6 FOLM Yet to Play: In Play: Mins Left: Proj Total: Line: Top Scorer: 0 0 0 85 +1.4 C. Johnson 23.4

just for you

Sometimes I feel like I am blogging to no one, even though I check the stats and see the 'visits' :)  Especially since I get so few comments...hint, hint. But the other day James confessed to me that he checks our blog multiple time a day from his office to see if I have added anything new (he must be frequently disappointed) and just to "see" his little girl when he misses her. Sweet, huh? And just about once a week he mentions how lucky I am that it is me that gets to be home with Sydney. It is a good reminder because while it doesn't always feel that way I am very lucky.  So James, this video is for you since you never get to experience her Wednesday morning class at the little red house.  

I was just about to post this and then I remembered something. It is Veterans Day today. So to my Dad I also say thank you. Thank you for your service in the Korean War, especially when it wasn't your choice. Thank you for helping to make this country a great place to live and raise a family.

a sail and a spook!

October 31st was a big day for Sydney. We (me and S) decided to join my Dad for a day sail out of Ventura harbor. It has been over a year (sigh) since we had been out last. Sydney didn't quite know what to make of the boat, dock, marina, etc. She was kinda whinny in a I-am-really-not-sure-about-all-this sort of way.  And I won't lie...when we got to moving out on the open ocean I did kind of feel bad for her as she tried to stumble around the cockpit with nowhere to go, a huge life vest on and rope trailing behind her attached to the helm! Safety first!

However she did love it when we go really close to the 25 seals all trying to share one buoy at the entrance to the harbor. And once we were back in the slip we just let her explore the cabin to her hearts content while my  Dad and I shared lunch and a sip of wine.  It was a great day. Sunny. Clear blue skies. And did  I mention that the wind was just right allowing us to sail with ease out of the harbor...as in unaided by the engine? Who could ask for a better afternoon?

 Later that night we maintained our annual pizza and sushi dinner with our good friends the Suganos.  It was delicious if you were wondering :) Then Donna gave Sydney a light up pumpkin flashlight and we headed out around their neighborhood for a little Trick or Treating. Sydney loved holding the pumpkin bowl and light. She loved running around with all the other kids in the street and we loved how cute she was (and eating all her candy).  

And when was the last time I carved a pumpkin? I don't know but I think I did a fantastic job with this one:

Can you guess what it is?

Go Warriors!

 We have been having fun heading up to James' alma mater to watch soccer games...now that my nephew is on the team. I am still kicking myself that I missed the last game where he got some play time. And played well is what I heard! 

(So yes there is another reason that we go up to Westmont games other than the excuse to dress Sydney up in this adorable dress)

And this picture below is evidence that David is slowly but surely winning Sydney over to his team.

Wordy Wednesday

So Sydney is at a stage in life where she says (or attempts to say) a new word just about every day.  Just this week she learned to say umbrella and not because we have been using them but rather she loves her book called The Umbrella by Jan Brett. She has also learned to say Rachael (ee-all) and Kyle (i-ill).  In fact just the other day I went in to get her from her nap and she was pointing furiously to a picture of her cousins and demanding to see Kyle. It was pretty cute. And now every time I get her from a nap she says Kyle. She has not seen him (her cousin) in 3 weeks!

Her new obsession is riding on the back of our bike. She LOVES it. She CRIES when we take her off. She calls her helmet 'hat-y' and wakes up from every nap these days requesting it followed by 'bye-bye'. Haty, byebye, hatty byebye.  And now when she sees a bike she says "bop, bop" excitedly. Apparently that is bike in Sydney language. 

And just because she is so darn cute....

my little pumpkin pie.

wheels on the bus..it's a duet didn't you know?

My in-laws might not appreciate it but I had to. This video is priceless.
Melt my heart.

Good Stuff.

One of my favorite places to go is here:

These little bungalows are located in San Clemente close to the pier and perched on the cliffs directly above the beach. I remember the first time I visited. I thought "WOW" what an amazing place (this coming from a girl who spent 3 years cruising in the South Pacific). One the best things to do here is watch the sunset. As the photo above demonstrates. 

How happy does it make me that my daughter loves the ocean? Very. Happy.  Even when the water temperature is 61 degrees! We could hardly pull her away, but in the end she was very happy to be snuggled up in her towel too.

Yes it takes two. Two grandpa's. Not one. Two. What a lucky girl to have both. Very lucky.

And don't even get me started on her cousins. She loves them. In fact Sydney will not stop saying Kyle's name (but that is another blog post...coming soon). 

I think this last picture is too funny. This is life with kids this age. You are on the go or you are left behind. In fact I am surprised we got them to sit still long enough to take the pictures above.

.

one for each hand

One at a time is not enough for this little book worm. I found her like this one morning:

Sometimes I forget how good she is. How she can find her own ways to entertain herself.  Without my help at all. I guess when it is eerily quiet for too long she is not always doing something she shouldn't :)

And when I discovered her doing this one day (for like 10 minutes) I just about cracked up.

Our health insurance company should seriously consider giving me a reimbursement for this!!

an apple obsession.

My daughter has an obsession with fruit actually.  She calls most round fruit "apples".  I don't think I have ever witnessed S turning down any kind of fruit (actually she has refused to eat red bell peppers which are technically a fruit but you get the idea).  So at the end of my mom's birthday trip in September we went apple picking in Solvang. Here are some pics.

I think she thought that these too were "apples".  How disappointing that these are for look and not filled with sugary sweet goodness on the inside!

More.

The Year of BIG birthdays continues....

with a trip to celebrate my mom's 75th birthday to Disneyland.

Here are pictures of Sydney's FIRST trip to the happiest place (on earth that is).
DAY 1

Q: Adventure Island...who does this attraction? 

A. People with toddlers :)

I certainly don't remember doing this on my last 15 trips to Disneyland 

One of Sydneys favorite rides (a close second to Dumbo actually) was King Arthur's Carousel

It doesn't look like she is loving but you should have seen her face when we tried to take her off!

The parade had her captivated...so sweet.

 The whole gang:

 

Sydney loved the teacups, even this one that didn't move (I actually thinked she liked it more!)

Oh yes please! 

DAY 2

We ventured over to California Adventure after spending the morning in Fantasyland on the second day.
It's a small world...4 1/2 stars according to Sydney.

(I swear she looks kind of miserable in these pictures....but she had so much fun...honest!)

Okay so the characters didn't go over that great. When she saw them from a distance she was motioning excitedly for us to take her over to them.  But when we got close she quickly changed her tune. I think unlce Troy gets credit for the smile here.

Happy with her Troy and her Minnie.  

I wish that instead of this picture we had one of us all crammed into the Alice in Wonderland ride, we were all packed in so tight I could barely breathe...and then I was laughing so hard because our caterpillar barely made it up the slight incline with all the weight it was towing. Hilarious!

DAY 3

This picture captures Sydney's opinion dead on. Too bad because there isn't a more adorable character than Pluto...really there isn't.

I guess we were too busy chill'n on our last day in the park to take more pics.
 Fun was had by all on this trip.