Lydia and Grandma's Afternoon at Cooking School

Lydia and Grandma spent last Saturday afternoon at a cooking school near Cleveland. They took a class on making pasta and sauces. They had a great time! Lydia loves to cook, and she has been looking forward to the class for months. We've tried one of her recipes since she returned, and we look forward to trying more.

Morgan's Definition of Sharing

We need to work a little on Morgan's understanding of sharing. See the cool glasses she's wearing to brush her teeth? Dad was teasing her that they were his glasses, and she informed him that she's sharing them. She's explained this concept to us a lot lately. What this actually means is she went into Lydia's room, took something that appealed to her, and she's now sharing with Lydia. She just always seems to be on the receiving end of the sharing and the other person is rarely involved. Fortunately for her, Lydia thinks it's cute most of the time when Morgan takes her stuff. Other people may not share that opinion.

Hanging Out In Lydia's Room

The kids all hung out together in Lydia's room for a while this evening. It's fun to see the four of them spending time together happily without Mom and Dad. (Mom and Dad did keep an eye on Sydney though :-) )

Evenings with Dad

Sydney and Dad spend lots of time hanging out together in the evenings while Mom works after the other kids go to bed.

Sometimes Sydney sleeps or is happy....
Sometimes she wants to talk...

Sometimes she gets a little upset...

And sometimes she's not happy at all!

Our Future Librarian

We found Morgan on the stairs this way yesterday. She had arranged her books on the stairs and was working her way up looking at them.

6 Months Old

Sydney turned 6 months old on Saturday. She went to the doctor this morning for her check-up. He said she's doing well. She is 26.5 inches long and weighs 17 pounds 6 ounces. This puts her around the 75th percentile for height and weight.

"Congratulations Mom!"

Seth was very excited today to find out that Mom is married. (Mom has been married over ten years.) Mom thought she'd have to pull out her marriage license to prove it to him though.

She mentioned being married to Dad, and Seth informed her that they aren't married. She argued back that they are. He then told her that if she were married people would be calling her Aunt Jenny instead of just Jenny. He said he's never once heard anyone call her Aunt Jenny. He reminded her that when Sasha got married people started calling her Aunt Sasha. He was convinced that Mom was making up her marriage. He was insistent that when you marry, you become Aunt.

After a little explaining, Seth was somewhat satisfied (although he still may not be completely convinced) that Mom and Dad are married. He congratulated Mom and told her that was great that she's married :-)

Sydney's Bad Sleep Habits :-)

Mom and Dad were convinced after having Morgan that they were experts at all things relating to getting babies to sleep. Morgan was on a nap schedule, and she would go to sleep with no fuss in her crib pretty much every time you put her down. Mom and Dad attributed all the problems they had getting Lydia to sleep to their inexperience as parents. Then they had Sydney... they quickly realized that the personality of the baby has a lot to do with it!

Sydney likes to take short naps in her swing..
And she enjoys short naps in her carseat...
and she LOVES to sleep with Mom and Dad...

But she really hates her crib. She also resists any attempts to get her on a schedule, to get her to consistantly sleep more than a few minutes at a time during the day, or to get her to sleep through the night.

Mom and Dad have been trying to get a routine going with little luck. Sydney gets bedtime stories which she loves...

And her cool glow worm in her bed as well as her silky blanket and soft blanket. However, you can see in her face how much she likes her crib.

Last night Mom got up about every five minutes for an hour to squeeze the glowworm so it would play music and lights. Sydney finally fell asleep! Mom was feeling great about her efforts. Only to have Sydney wake back up about forty five minutes later :-( She ended up sleeping in all of her other favorite places to sleep before the night was over.

For Valentine's Day, Mom and Dad bought her the most expensive Valentine's gift they've bought a baby. She's getting little a projector that hooks to her crib, plays music, lights up, and projects teddy bears on the ceiling. Pictures to come next week :-)

Afternoon Nap

Every afternoon we look at books before Morgan's nap. Seth usually also joins us for the books, but he was busy with Lydia today. After books, Mom and Sydney usually stay with Morgan until she falls asleep.

Snow Day #1

The kids are off of school today due to the snow. We're supposed to get about eight more inches before it's over. The'll be out for at least a couple more days. If you look closely, you can see them playing in the snow.

Having Fun With Dad

The kids had a great time playing with Dad before bed tonight. They like to tackle him, and Morgan likes to be thrown up in the air. On a different note, don't you love Morgan's attire! She picked out the princess top, red pants, and pick socks herself to wear to bed. She was very proud of her selection. We thought she looked pretty cute in it too.

Shoveling Out

We missed the major snow that hit the midwest, but we still got a few inches. Dad and Seth shoveled the driveway this afternoon.

Nemo On Ice

We braved the bad winter weather this evening to see Nemo on Ice in Toledo. It was a good show. The kids (especially Seth) loved it! It surprised us how interested Sydney was in it.

The Ladybug Visits Connecticut

Seth's teacher assigned him and a couple other boys a project for now until school gets out. They are working together to write and illustrate a book. They (pretty much) can write about what they want. The decided to write about a traveling ladybug. Seth's homework for tomorrow was to research online somewhere interesting for the ladybug to go in Connecticut and bring pictures for the group. Dad helped him, and they decided to call Grandpa and learn about the submarines that go out of Connecticut. He printed some pictures of the submarines Grandpa was on and will be drawing them (with a ladybug on top :-) ) tomorrow.

There's nothing better on a snowy, cold February day..

than a bowl of chili. Morgan loves it! Our other kids aren't as fond of it.

Happy Day

I had fun playing in my exersaucer today! I also liked looking at my books. My big brother and sister make sure I don't miss anything in my book.