My little girl...

THIS is how Sydney likes to sleep now. She pulls her blanket over her eyes and rolls on her side. The blanket never goes lower than her eyes. We cover her up with a smaller blanket (it is really hot here), but she manages to wiggle out of that one too.

We have had quite the adventurous month. Sydney and I went to Atlanta on July 9. On the airplane she laughed and "talked" to everyone who looked her way. She is such a great traveller! She finally fell asleep halfway through the flight (it is about a 4 hour flight) and slept until we landed. We went back to my parents' house for a few days and then up to my brother's.

We went to Lake Lanier with my sister-in-law and her family and rode on their ski boat. Sydney loved to ride and splash through the waves created by the boat. I guess it was relaxing for her because by the time we returned to the dock she was asleep!

We left Atlanta and flew to Billings, Montana on July 16 to meet Donnie for a wedding. We had a layover in Salt Lake. Sydney just talked and played the entire flight. She really likes other people - especially kids. Sydney might be upset, but if she sees another kid she stops fussing and smiles at them.

She is just such a happy baby and it seems she learns something new each day. I love having her with me and seeing her experience so many different things. I am glad she is not shy too - it makes it easier to do things if she can be entertained by others.

Test your skills....

I found this IQ test on another blog and thought I would pass it along. It's pretty tough, so good luck and remember, no cheating!

Your IQ Is 125

Your Logical Intelligence is Below Average Your Verbal Intelligence is Genius Your Mathematical Intelligence is Genius Your General Knowledge is Genius

A Quick and Dirty IQ Test

View from down here

Happy Holidays...

For the Fourth of July holiday, we went to Boise with Donnie's sister Deidra and her kids. We stayed with Donnie's parents and spent the weekend playing. On Saturday we went for a bike ride around the "Greenbelt." It's a trail that follows the Boise river and flows through a few parks. We went with Darren (Donnie's brother) and his family as well as Deidra and her kids. It was a lot of fun and a great workout!



On Monday we went to the Boise Zoo. It's not a very big zoo but it was fun. They have a butterfly area where you can walk through as the butterflies flutter around you. Some are even brave enough to land on people! Donnie had a few on his shirt and One landed on Deidra's camera. Sydney loved all of the bright colors and all of the movement. She's not quite six months old, so the splendor of the other animals continues to elude her.

After the zoo we rode on paddle boats around the pond in one of the parks. Donnie, Sydney, Kechi (Deidra's oldest daughter) and I rode together. Sydney seemed to like but by the end of our ride she was asleep on my chest!

We came back home today and went to my friend's house to watch fireworks. The excitement of the weekend tired Sydney out and she fell asleep before any fireworks began. I guess we'll try again next year. She'll be almost 18 months and so fireworks will probably be a little more exciting!

Our little beach babe...

For my dad's 60th birthday we took a family vacation to Panama City Beach, FL. Sydney had her first encounter with the ocean. Panama City is on the Gulf Coast and so the sands are white and the water is really warm. It was a great trip and we had great weather the entire time.

Sydney enjoyed being outside, but didn't think too much of the sand. The salt water was okay and the pool was great, but not the sand!

She had a cute little swimsuit and sun hat and stayed under the umbrella while she was at the beach. Donnie took her to the water, and after they came back to the beach she began licking the salt water off of Donnie's arm.

Sydney spent most of the "day" time inside with her great grandmother. It was great that they had time to bond and Donnie and I had time to play!

Can you believe?

Well, today is May 28. For the last four weeks or so it has been HOT. The temperature has been in the 80s and 90s, but now all of the sudden it has dropped into the 40s and 50s. Can you believe that?! We had to unpack some of Sydney's cold clothes - we thought we wouldn't see them again until a little sister came along - so she could get warm. We took a few pictures because she looked so cute and we wanted to share them.

SHE"S 4 MONTHS OLD!

Although she still has hair, it is crazy! She has 5, count them 5, crowns so her hair will not lay flat or in any one direction. She likes to talk and has the cutest laugh now. It sounds kind of like she's gurgling sometimes!






Last week she started on rice cereal. She really seems to like it (although you can't tell from this picture). She manages to keep most of it in her mouth, but every now and then some seeps out onto her cheeks. Dr. Adams said that next week we should start her on orange veggies like carrots and squash.



She now weighs 14 pounds, 10 1/2 ounces (75th percentile) and is 26 3/4 inches long (above the 95th percentile). Her body is still growing pretty fast, which is hard for her trachea to keep up. She still has a slight case of tracheal malasia (underdeveloped trachea), but will hopefully outgrow it soon. Her oxygen levels are great and she eats and sleeps well so the doctor said there is no need to be concerned.

She is developing well and other than the fact that she slobbers excessively, she is doing great. Dr. Adams think she might start cutting teeth soon - I guess we will see.

Another day down...

It has been almost two months since our last post - SORRY! Sydney will have her 4 month checkup and shots appointment this week. We recently switched doctors and so hopefully it will be a good experience. Her original doctor was Dr. Nielson. He was nice, but very young. Not that being young is necessarily a bad thing, but in this case it was.

At her 2 week checkup, Dr. Nielson diagnosed Sydney with thrush ( a yeast infection on her tongue; it's pretty common among newborns). He prescribed nystatin and thought that should take care of it. After the 10 days, dosing her 3 times a day, her tongue looked the same. So he went with Diflucan next. We used it for 15 days , as directed, and still no change. We went back for her 2 month checkup and he recommend that we use gentian violet - a purple dye you paint on the tongue and in the mouth once a day. It colors everything!

She had rather random breathing and Dr. Nielson said it was nothing to worry about. Donnie's sister mentioned it to her doctor when she took her kids in for their next checkup and he sounded concerned. We decided to take Sydney to him to check out the breathing.

We went to Dr. Adams on May 3 and he asked if she had any problems. I told him she was born 2 1/2 weeks early and had jaundice, and she was also being treated for thrush. He said her jaundice was gone (duh, she was no longer yellow) and then proceeded to check out the thrush. Surprisingly enough, Sydney's tongue looked the exact same as it always had. Dr. Adams asked if she ever had any diaper rashes or complained about eating. I told him clearly she had no issues eating ( she had already gained 5 pounds since birth) and I've never seen any rashes. It turned out Sydney didn't have thrush. In fact, the white on her tongue was merely a fat deposit from breast milk. Dr. Adams said that thrush causes a white rash all in her mouth, not just on her tongue and she would have a rash down bottom too.

We had spent the last 3 months treating her for something she didn't have! Unbelievable! Her breathing sounded gaspy/airy because her trachea is underdeveloped and as she grows and her trachea grows, she should eventually grow out of it. Well, that is why we now have a new doctor.

She is growing so big and strong now. She likes to play "Where's baby?" and watch the toys that hang on her carseat. She loves to talk too! We recently started her on rice cereal and SHE LOVES IT! She laughs and giggles the whole time. It's really cute. She loves bath time now and likes to splash the water with her feet.

Everyday I look at her and it is still hard to believe she is my little girl. She's perfect - and cute as can be.