Sydney's Birthday

I think this 3 year old had a pretty great day. 

We had friends over in the morning for a playdate instead of a full blown birthday party.  I figure we'll be doing plenty of those for the next 15+ years.  She was SO happy in the morning just playing with her friends and it was so much less stress so was happy about our decision!  

We did a little baking/eating dough before nap time

Cole was happy playing with tupperware

He did this thing all day were he would stick his bottom teeth out over his bottom lip - made us laugh!

Naptime is over and it's party time!

Cheese!

*photo cred: Syd! *

Sydney, Daddy and Uncle Mark playing with play-doh :) 

Lighting the birthday candles

Cheese!

Seeing her cake come out

Singing happy birthday with Nani, Poppa, and Uncle Mark

Make a wish...

Our 3 year old!

I'd say she liked it :) 

And so did he!

Present time...

Lots of fun new toys and games!

Reading her birthday card

That came with a crown!

We gave her a balance bike (bike without pedals that is supposed to make the transition to a 2-wheeler much easier)... which she was not impressed with at all!  So, we will be saving it and re-gifting it to Cole for Christmas!  It's a good thing Cole can't read yet... 

Happy 3rd Birthday! We love you.   

Our 3 year old

Sydney turned 3 on August 5th!  The past few weeks she has been acting so much more like a 3 year old instead of a 2 year old.  We had a very easy year with few meltdowns and tantrums so keeping our fingers crossed the 3's are the same :)  

Once she was up, we went in Cole's room to get him out of bed and she says, "Cole!  Good Morning.  It's my birthday.  Say Happy Birthday Syd Syd!"

She is truly a JOY to be around.  So thoughtful, caring, loving and considerate. Always thinking of others.  If she gets something, she wants to make sure that Cole, Mommy and Daddy have something as well. 

 

She continues to love books, babies, running outside, play-doh, art and pretending she is at school/the doctors/etc. 

Her imagination and memory is incredible.  I am envious of these skills she has!

We took her off of gluten and cow's milk earlier in the year due to her stomach always hurting and random rashes showing up.  Now, she is an amazing eater (most days) and her rashes are gone!

Sydney and Cole have such a special relationship.  She is very protective of him and is always making sure he isn't left out (unless she doesn't want him included!).  I'm sure this won't always be the case but it's so nice now!

She still LOVES animals.  Every time we walk by a dog or see them running at the playground, she asks the owner what his/her name is.  She told me the other day that when she is 7 she wants her own dog that she can walk and feed :)  Not sure where she came up with this age but it sounds pretty doable!

Happy Birthday, sweet Syd Syd girl.  We love you!

End of July

It was tough to top the beginning of July when we had fun visitors but we tried to make the most of it:   

Fun at the safari park.  Can you spot the tiger (Anna) in her shirt??She kept it in there the entire morning!  Kept telling me to be quiet because baby Anna was sleeping :) 

Lion cubs.  They were so close and so beautiful!

Syd loved checking them out.  This was the first time we can remember that Cole was scared of them.  He held onto me for dear life and wouldn't look at them if I got too close. 

 

We found this awesome cave that they played in forever.  I had to drag them both out of there so another little girl could have a turn.  

We went to lake miramar one morning.  The kids were checking out the ducks:

Looks so old here!

Momma and Syd selfie

I had a Moms afternoon out at the winery one day so Daddy decided to have a party while I was gone.  He made party hats for all!

Cole not so sure... 

Until Daddy put one on and then he was all about it!

Cole trying on his new swimmers before getting into Nani & Poppas pool. 

Our preschool group had meetup at the zoo (they do them once a month for moms/dads groups).  This month was reptiles so we met a python!

Cole touched the snake but Syd didn't want to pet him - just look at him!

Tortoises!

Checking out the gators

Cole with the polar bears

Syd and the sea lion

Uncle Rich competed in the Lake Placid IronMan so we made him a sign for good luck.  

Happy kids with a popsicle after naps.

We've had some pretty warm days the past week but the sunsets have been gorgeous!

Puzzles at the library!  She LOVES puzzles and is getting so grat at doing them all by herself. 

Sydney's highlight for July was getting her Halloween costume.  Yes, I realize it's 3 months away but we saw them last week at Costco and I told her maybe another time so this week when we went she reminded me that I told her we could get a costume so we did!  She could choose any one she wanted and she chose my little pony!  It's a tad big but she LOVES it and has worn it every.single. day. since we got it.  We've gotten our $'s worth already! 

There are a few stores near us that have the little shopping carts - she LOVES them.  We go reallllllly early if I'm going to let her push them so we avoid most of the crowds.   

Stocking up on the essentials:  chips, salsa and raisins!

Two happy shoppers = productive morning!