Sydney is ONE YEAR OLD!!!

Where do I begin? Sydney has been with us forever. I vaguely remember her as a newborn but just vaguely. I truly have difficulty remembering days without her smiles, laughter, and mischief.

One year ago today we welcomed our sweet, sassy Sydney Louise into our world, and it's been absolutely amazing!

The day of Sydney's birth. What a beautiful girl! This time I was able to hold my baby immediately after she was born and it was a tender bonding moment. She was welcomed into a family who couldn't have been more excited, especially big sister Seoul.

 

At one month old Sydney started growing into her personality and showing us those adorable smiles. Life got into a routine with two kids in our household. She was a social little girl from day one and loved to see everything around her.

At two months old Sydney showed her chill attitude as she was schlepped around to various activities - story time, play group, errands, etc. Always alert she enjoyed the outings. She really started getting into playing and vocalizing.

At three months old Sydney started trying things whether she wanted to or not (such as the swing below) at Seoul's insistence that she play also. Don't be confused, she definitely let us know vocally when she truly didn't agree. She smiled and giggled lots, especially while observing her sister.

At four months old Sydney started sitting and rolling so that really helped with independent play. She really started engaging with others when we were out and about. Her first experience with swinging was a hit and since then she loves motion and action. She really filled out in her little body, and especially her face.

At five months old Sydney started being very expressive. She vocalized more and laughed even more. Her little teeth started coming in, and popped in at a somewhat rapid pace. She loved food from day one, and has always been a great eater. Her independent play and curiosity really started to develop.

At six months old Sydney is moving past the "stranger danger" phase and lets others hold her. She is into motion rhymes & songs. Everything we gave her to eat she loved immediately. Her excitement to be involved and active grew by leaps and bounds.

At seven months old she started truly playing with Seoul. It's clear they adore each other. Rolling gave her more freedom to get off her belly but she never did roll around the room or anything. She just became mobile by scooting. Her sense of humor is developed as she found various things really funny. Clapping and waving became a common occurrence.

At eight months Sydney started verbalizing with 'mama' and 'dada'. She discovered how much fun the water can be in the bathtub and the fountains. She started standing pretty solidly. Her learned she could investigate everything she was curious about as she scooted around

At nine months Sydney demonstrated she is going to be the messy, into everything child. Food ends up everywhere because she loves to share her table food with everything. She started the phase of getting out one toy then another, then another.... so she makes lots of messes while she plays. She started crawling! Of course everything is in the mouth because she's teething. By this point she had 4 teeth. She learned she can torment Seoul.

At ten months Sydney was everywhere. She crawled super fast and started pulling herself up on things, and even tried to free stand from a sitting position. Her sense of humor made us all laugh. Her personality started drawing in strangers as we were out and about, which added to her sociability. She discovered banging things together and loved making noise.

At eleven months Sydney started making super silly faces... all the time. Her classic face was puckered lips and raised eyebrows (totally from Kelley). Food is still a favorite, including trying all new foods. She draws people in with her happiness and personality. She is constantly waving and saying 'hi'.

At twelve months Sydney is just amazing! She smiles and giggles and shares and loves. Lately she does what I call a "horsey face" because she squints her eyes, scrunches her nose, and pulls up her top lip to show her top teeth. She crawls and cruises around furniture. Recently she started walking while holding our hands. She has 8 teeth, and has suddenly become a picky eater. Her curiosity is endless and she gets into everything. (I envision her as being the child that will throw my keys in the garbage and empty rolls of toilet paper into the toilet). She has no problem entertaining herself and investing things away from my side. She has started "reading" books a little bit. Perhaps oddly, she has no favorite toys or books or anything per se... it's all about a little of everything, or whatever Seoul is playing with at the moment. She is definitely her own littler person and is vocal about everything.

Happy 1st Birthday sweet Sydney!!