I think I'm having one of those moments...

Tonight I think I am starting to struggle with the balance between a mother's pride & a mother's fear.

For the last week we have started to get more "serious" about starting the whole potty training process. Sydney has showed some interest, so we figured we would follow her lead & start having her use the toilet. Well for the last week she has successfully gone on the toilet in the morning & for 60% of those trips she has told us that she needs to go. However, her success is not as great throughout the day, which is partly the fault of her "support" team not emphasizing this new learning opportunity & Sydney's keen interest to keep playing rather than running off to the bathroom. So, I must say I am proud of her success because we really have no idea what we are doing & have not "researched" the best methods before starting. So, we are truly playing it by ear.

The next "big girl" thing she is really wanting to try out is drinking out of a cup without the "safety" lid on. So, tonight at dinner we let her drink her milk without the spill-prevention lid. Again, she did pretty good considering she is just starting out. So I was feeling a twinge of pride from the moment, but there was something else there that just blocking the full pride moment.
Well, I think I have figured out what the block is. I am starting to realize that she is growing up & becoming a little girl, not a baby. Because of Baby T2's imminent arrival, we stopped calling her a baby awhile ago. But really it was more of a semantic approach, now I am realizing that she is no longer a baby- but truly a toddler...sniff, sniff.

Add to this realization of mine- I read my cousin's blog & she is talking about coaching her 3-year-old's soccer team. It made me realize that before I know it Sydney will be 3 and we could be looking at getting her involved in an activity that she can enjoy as her own independent person!

So my moments of mother's pride, seem to be mixed with wanting to slow things down & not have her grow up too fast.

May 2-4 Camping days are definitely a thing of the past...

I remember being in highschool & looking forward to our annual camping trip on the May long weekend. That seems so far in the past, that I can't believe it was ever warm enough to go camping. I do know that I have NEVER been so adventurous that I would choose to go camping on a weekend that was forecasted to be as cold as this weekend was...so I think it is definitely colder now.
Our weekend started with swimming lessons & Daddy came so that some pictures could be taken of Sydney's first set of lessons. Here are just a few...

Back float...she does pretty good, but does not like the water going in her ears.

Front float through the tunnel, but then with a big DUNK underwater.

After Dunk.

The rest of Saturday was just filled with doing...stuff. Maybe not the most fun for Sydney, but definitely a "must-do". On Sunday we made it more fun for her by going to Laura & Patrick's for lunch & play. Morgan has (or should I say "had") a very colourful play doh set, which is probably now mostly gray.

Happy Mother's Day!

On Saturday we had a wedding & Sydney stayed over at Grandma & Grandpa's. Therefore, my first present on Mother's Day was the absence of a 6:30 wake-up call from Miss Chatty in the next room. However once your body is conditioned to waking up at a certain time, it continues to wake up at that time. BUT...I did not have to get out of bed, which was a treat.
We picked up Sydney, Grandpa & Grandma and went to a Butterfly Conservatory for a Mother's Day brunch. We met Robb, Michele, Max & Michele's parents there & had a good time. Again, getting kids to pose is not always easy...

...we pretty much had to hold Max down & made Sydney do the "mermaid" pose.
Max was obviously much more interested in the millipede, while Sydney...
was not too sure about this thing.

After the butterflies we were off to Sandi's to visit with my Mom, sister, and extended family. Lots of fun was had with the girls playing tag (which I pulled a muscle doing- quite pathetic) and ring-around-the-rosie.

Sydney will play this forever if you are willing.

We finished the day with a couple of photo ops with Nana & GG before the drive home. All in all, it was a very good Mother's Day. I must admit that it crossed my mind today that this time next year we will have a 2.5 year old & a 9 month old...yikes!

Catching up with family...

This weekend my Mom came for a visit...well actually I can't call it a visit since she spent all of yesterday working around our house. Since I am not supposed to do any "heavy" housework, my Mom was kind enough to come down & wash our windows while Brad & I worked away at other items- no small feat with a year & a half year old underfoot. No surprise to anyone who knows my mom or me, but our windows look much better than if I had done them. My Mom has a clean fetish when it comes to windows.
There was a reward to my Mom's hard work. This morning my Aunt Marj, Cousin Lynn & her little guy Jack came by for a "play date". We have not seen them in years & it was great to see each other, meet Jack & gab. Again, what was Brad doing while Sydney & Mommy had fun? Painting. We did let the poor guy take a coffee break to meet the family.
Sydney & Jack are only a few months apart, so it was nice for her to meet her little cousin (second cousin, once removed- I think) & hopefully in the future they will be able to see more of each other.
It was nice to meet a Bowman grandchild that has brown eyes, since there sure hasn't been any yet on our side. Mom & Dad obviously passed the recessive blue-eyed gene to us since we keep having blue-eyed babies! I am holding out for Baby T2 to be our brown-eyed baby- only time will tell.

Here are some pictures from the morning.

Another belated post...First Haircut

A couple weeks ago, my Mom was here & gave Sydney her first haircut. I was going to save these pictures for when I didn't really have anything to post, but looking ahead we have a busy month & I am afraid if I keep waiting she will have had her second haircut & I still haven't posted the first.

I realize she doesn't have much hair, but I really wanted to get her hair cut before she turned two & she was starting to get some hairs that were much longer than the rest. Needless to say, there were not many clippings on the floor- but that means that we are keeping each piece rather than just one curl. Although she didn't really "need" a haircut, it does look much nicer now. Thanks very much Nana.

Happy Birthday to both Dale & Kim!!!

Today is my sister's birthday & my mother-in-law's birthday. I won't expose any of their secrets by sharing how many years apart they are- just in case they are age-shy.
On the weekend Sydney & I went to Kim & Pete's for a visit while Bradley stayed at home to paint Sydney's new room. Sydney & I had a very good time, but Brad's day did not go so well. First he did not get as much done in the room as he hoped & then his day ended by driving around for an extra hour to find the restaurant that Kim, Pete & I were patiently waiting at. A 45 minute drive took him 2 hours...Brad may be a very intelligent person, but he can be directionally challenged. Especially in an area that he is not familiar with...but we had a nice cold beer waiting on the table for him when he arrived. We discovered that yet again, directions provided by Mapquest led him astray.
While we were out for dinner in Toronto, Nana was a brave soul & took Sydney & Regan out for dinner in Tottenham. Apparently both girls were very good & Nana did not develop any new gray hairs.
Here are some pictures from our weekend.

Regan tried to teach Sydney how to jump, so that soon she can use a jump rope.

Aunt Kim taught Sydney the rules of soccer.

Regan let Sydney play with her sidewalk chalk because she heard that Daddy won't let her have any at home. However, Regan's Daddy once said the same thing! So we will see what the future brings.

Future plumber apprentice.

On your mark, get set...

GO!!!

Kissing cousins.