A change of scenery for lunch

For lunch today the whole crew went over to Cousin Aya's house, where Sylvie's Aunt and Uncle cooked up a delicious sausage-based lunch.

Baby Aya, who has adopted the 'sleep in day, play at night' philosophy, woke from a nap to join us in particularly good spirits. She has the same kind of fascination with Sylvie that Sylvie has always had for Madeline, which is fun to watch.

Sylvie had a great time chasing - and being chased by (and wrestling with) - her Uncle Ben (the first). A great time, that is, until she did a face-plant on the hard wood floor. Luckily she caught herself and her arms took the brunt of it. There was much crying, but nothing a few sips of Aunt Lia's grapefruit soda couldn't cure. "That's GOOOOD!!!," Sylvie proclaimed, miraculously healed.

She also had fun locking her various aunts (and Aunts to be - Kem!) in Aya's playpen with her.

As always, more in the November Gallery - including some particularly cute ones of Aya.

Happy Birthday Grandpa Steve!

A couple of days ago Sylvie came to Melissa and me and expressed concern that Grandpa Steve's birthday might get short shrift, falling as it does on the day after Thanksgiving. To alleviate that concern, Melissa arranged for the family to have a birthday lunch at Henrietta's Table, a Harvard Square favorite to which we hadn't been back in years.

Despite claims by several folks to still be stuffed with Thanksgiving bird, all enjoyed a good time and a good meal.

Sylvie and her cousin Aya are developing quite a nice little relationship. As you can see here, it is built on trust - in this case, Sylvie trusting that her discovery of Aya's teeth would not cost her a finger, and Aya validating that trust...

Happy Turkey Day!

Sylvie enjoyed her third Thanksgiving - she even ate some of the Thanksgiving fare for a change (though no turkey). Mostly she enjoyed playing non-stop.

We had a full house again, with all of Sylvie's Aunts and Uncles on her mom's side, plus soon-to-be Aunt Kem, Grandma and Grandpa, cousin Aya and Aunt Lia's mom and dad, all the way from Seattle!

Plenty of photos at the tail end of the now voluminous November Gallery. And here are the two cutest shots of the day.

Lots of pre-Thanksgiving fun

To celebrate the Day Before Thanksgiving, we had our traditional ginormous pre-Thanksgiving meal of Grandma Lynne's delicious BBQ beef, Mommy's delicious homemade mac & cheese, and assorted cakes and cookies. Just like the pilgrims and the indians did it on the last Wednesday in November.

Sylvie had a blast, primarily chasing and wrestling with her uncles and Grandpa Steve. That girl has some energy.

She got a big kick out of the dry ice that came with the iced cream that Aunt Amy shipped from Columbus (thanks Aunt Amy!). Uncle Ben was oddly disinterested in the dry ice, raising suspicions that perhaps there is a reason he looks an awful lot like Julia Roberts...

As for Baby Aya, she mostly had fun watching her cousin go hog wild. And she sure does love those kisses.

My new favorite photo

Caught Sylvie's joyful excitement this evening as she whizzed by, chasing Uncle Ben through the kitchen. You can tell a kid to "smile!" or "say cheese!" a thousand times and not catch a smile like this.

Welcome back, Grandma and Grandpa!

After a 12-hour trip in holiday traffic, Grandma Lynne and Grandpa Steve arrived safe and sound this evening. Sylvie was very generous with the hugs and kisses, and all three indulged my desire for an immediate photo session.

Got some GOOD shots!

Mommy's famous!

Not the greatest photo, but that's her, in the Holliston Reporter, volunteering at the annual Holliston Newcomers' Club Craft Fair on Saturday. I'll make her a townie yet.

Sylvie and I went down to the fair to visit about halfway through Mom's shift. Was Syl ever excited to see her mom sitting at that table! Big bug, big kiss... then off to get ice cream.

Happy Birthday Mommy!

Sylvie's mom enjoyed a nice birthday at home with Syl and Daddy. We had cake at lunch so that Sylvie could participate - she pretty much ate ALL the frosting from all three pieces.

Then she had a great time helping Mommy open presents - until, that is, she was given to understand that the presents in question were for Mommy. "No!! MINE!!" For whatever reason, Syl was particularly taken with the handheld blender wand that she got for her mom. She decided to repossess that one and was VERY upset when Mommy balked.

Eventually she allowed Mommy to reclaim her birthday booty - but not before taking one more stab at snarfing a small gift, on the "you lick it, you own it" theory. In the end she contented herself with the ribbon off of one of Mommy's presents... or at least, we think she did. She still has her eye on that blender wand.

Happy Birthday, Mommy!

Day at Play, part II

Mommy joined us for the second part of the Day at Play, at Oak Grove. Syl hit all the highlights - the swings, the slides, and the ladders. I got some cute shots of her with her mom.

Here are my favorites - as always, there are a bunch more in the November Gallery.

Day at Play, Part I

Sylvie had an excellent Day Before Mommy's Birthday today, spending a whole lot of time doing her favorite things - running, climbing, jumping, swinging, hanging, sliding.

This morning Dad finally got the chance to take her to "gym" class at the Little Gym in Millis. Of course I brought my camera.

The place is a madhouse! It is all a little insane, with the toddlers allowed to either follow along with the teacher in her songs and activities... or not. They all chose 'not,' leaving this poor woman in the middle of the room, singing, whacking sticks together and giving instructions into a void. Basically she looked like a lunatic, but I suppose she's used to it.

Anyhow, Syl really impressed her dad on the balance beam and the rings. For obvious reasons (had to spot!) I didn't get any shots of her walking the beam, but she's good at it!

Long, lean and little

Sylvie had her two-year physical last week, and she's a picture of good health (aside from the CONSTANT colds!).

Here are her stats:

Weight: 25.8 pounds (40th percentile)
Height: 33" (50th percentile)

Thankfully, they do not do the head circumference measurement any more. I thought that one was just creepy.

Ball Quake

You knew there'd be a video...

Having a Ball

Sure, it's a predictable title. But really, could there be any other?

Sylvie's pals out in Colorado, Boden and Beck Hamilton, sent her a whole TON of balls for her birthday. And when I say a ton, I mean three hundred. Undoubtedly their dad (the best man at our wedding? The one who dropped his drawers during his toast?) thought they'd end up all over the house, annoying Sylvie's Dad. But it turns out they also make her ball pit just exponentially more fun.

You'll also note in these shots that Sylvie is going through something of a new phase. She HATES shirts. Diapers too, but mostly shirts. Great phase for the start of winter...

Anyhow, I love the photos I caught of Syl in the ball pit. The first is my new favorite. The kid's little head is so round, she looks like one of the balls!

More in the November Gallery.

Video of the birthday bash

Don't ever let it be said that Sylvie's Dad isn't one focused son of a gun. As promised, here is some video of Sylvie's big day today. She hopes you enjoy it.

Get well soon, Uncle Ben

Sylvie sends best wishes to Ohio, where her Uncle Ben Seeley is under the weather and in the hospital. Get well soon, Uncle Ben!! We're all thinking of you.

Sylvie's Second Birthday Party

Sylvie was very lucky to have such good friends join her for a birthday lunch of pizza, cake and ice cream today. And WOW - between the wonderful gifts they brought and all the great stuff her family mailed to her, Sylvie had quite a day. She was almost buried in presents! Happily, she had a lot of help to unwrap all of them.

As you can see in the slide show below (and better in the video that Dad will get up ASAP), after unwrapping a comfy monkey pillow and blanket from Grandma Lynne, Sylvie decided to take a break right in the middle of all the bedlam - curling up for a little cat nap right there on the floor. Her friend Avery Green thought that looked like a grand idea, and joined her!

Needless to say, once everyone left our little two year old hit the hay - hard.

She wanted me to send thanks to everyone for all of the wonderful gifts and birthday wishes that came her way. She (and we) really appreciates it.

Some photos here, and more in the new November Gallery. Video coming soon!

A (messy) birthday message from Sylvie

Sylvie had a few thing she wanted to say to all her fans tonight, while she enjoyed a traditional birthday dinner of mac & cheese, prunes and Cheez-its.

Happy Birthday to our TWO YEAR OLD Bean!

Well, it's official. As of 7:01pm today, our Syl is a two-year old. No sign yet of the "terrible twos" (did I just jinx us by typing that?).

Sylvie's Mom made some cute little Elmo cookies for Sylvie's school birthday celebration - we're told they went over VERY well. No surprise there.  As you can see, Melissa is honing her skills with the frosting tubes!

We are celebrating at home tomorrow.  Sylvie's friends Jake, Madeline, Avery, Zach, Angela, Josie, Sophia and Lily, and her favorite cousin Aya are all coming over for pizza and cake, along with Aunt Mary.  She'll open the huge pile of presents that have arrived in the mail over the past couple of weeks then.  For today, Dad spent a good two hours putting together Sylvie's "big" present from Mom and Dad - a doll house.

Sylvie got right into a full-fledged game of house, sitting the little family together on the couch, putting the baby in the bathtub, having the daddy wash his hands at the sink - it was quite a show.

Of course, she got a little frustrated that the third floor is a little tough for her to reach just yet.  But she'll get there!

I'll take lots of photos tomorrow, and probably some video too.  Thanks to everyone who called to say happy birthday to Syl.  She appreciated it!  She got a real kick out of all the telephone serenades!