Friday, December 11, 2009

An inexcusable oversight (by Daddy) corrected

It just occurred to me as I (belatedly) went through Thanksgiving footage that we at Sylvie's place committed an inexcusable oversight earlier this year. When Uncle Pat and soon-to-be Aunt Kem got engaged, I initially wrote up a congratulations post, but then deleted without posting for fear of leaking the news to those who might not have heard it yet from the happy couple. Then, later, I neglected to post the intended congratulatory message.

So, Pat and Kem, by no fault of Sylvie's and with all of the enthusiasm felt at the first hearing of the news, here's a much belated and very hearty CONGRATULATIONS!!
(with video).


P.S. For those who might wonder - no. They did not in fact get engaged in our family room.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Get Well, Grandma Lynne!!


Sylvie is sending her love to Ohio, where Grandma Lynne is feeling really under the weather. Take care of yourself and get better soon, Grandma!

Surrogate blogging




I was in DC for work for the first few days of this week, and had the privilege of meeting Serafina, Kay Taylor Winthrop's new little sister, in person - not a week into her little life. Since her dad Dudley is clearly too busy these days to do her arrival justice on their blog, I thought I'd post a few Blackberry photos.

Serafina is a very cute, very pleasant little girl. She napped quietly throughout my visit, but did manage to wake up and give me a couple of little smiles, which were much appreciated. Her mom, Jen, is doing great - you'd never know she gave birth just last week.

Sylvie's buddy Kay Taylor was skeptical of me at first, but warmed right up when it was established that we are both Diego fans. She then was very pleased to show me a bunch of her toys as well as her belly. It was very nice of her to give me my cute little girl fix, as I was missing my Sylvie quite a lot at that point.

We look forward to getting our little one together with both Winthrop girls real soon.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Worthy of its own post


The professional shot of Syl's first Santa sit. An instant classic.

Sylvie is way ahead of us





We had grand plans to get our tree this weekend, but never got around to it. Sylvie, on the other hand, had a great time this evening decorating the little tree of her own that Grandma Lynne and Grandpa Steve brought for her. Once Melissa demonstrated one time how to hang an ornament, Sylvie took it from there - all capped off with her trademark, "I DID IT!"

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Breakfast With Santa!


Syl's first real exposure to Santa did not go so well. While we waited in line, Santa heard the call of nature and went running by us, ho-ho-ho-ing and bells a-jingling. Sylvie grabbed onto Melissa and squeezed tight enough to leave marks. Needless to say, five minutes later when we tried to drop her in Santa's lap, her reaction was basically, "WHAT? Are you KIDDING me?"

Happily, with Melissa by her side, she settled in for a calm, if stoic, photo. I love the shot of her looking up at Santa distrustfully. I'm sure she'll feel better about the jolly old guy on Christmas morning.

Aside from the Santa encounter, Syl had a great time at the breakfast. Dad spent a few hours volunteering with the Lions, serving hungry Hollistonians, before Syl and her mom arrived. Then Sylvie enjoyed some pancakes, met Santa, spent some fun time hanging out with Edward Daniels, her friend from school, and danced with mommy for a little while.

She was also quite impressed with all the snow on the ground this morning. Looks like winter is here for real!


More, of course, in the new December 2009 gallery. And if I can get the scanner working, I'll try and get the "professional" shot with Santa scanned and posted. It's pretty funny.

Big night out



Yep, that's MY wife.

Sylvie's mom and dad got all gussied up last night for a black tie dinner at Framingham State College, where dad is on the board. Well, Sylvie's mom got gussied up - and how! Her dad just dusted off the penguin suit.

Sylvie had a great time with Aunt Mary. She stayed up playing until we got home at 10:30!

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Starting a new month with a new book!




Sylvie and Mom say down last night with a brand new book - Fox in Socks. Both Melissa and I had forgotten just how hard Dr. Seuss can be on his readers! Talk about a tongue-twister. Even Sylvie got overwhelmed.

This one is going to take some practice...

First snow is supposedly coming tonight. It isn't supposed to accumulate much or last long, but we'll see if we can get some playing in tomorrow morning before it melts. Maybe on the way out to the Breakfast With Santa down at the elementary school...!

In much more important news, Sylvie was thrilled last night to hear news from DC that her friend Kay Taylor Winthrop is now a big sister, with the (reportedly very quick!) arrival of a happy, healthy, Seraphina Margaret Wood Winthrop. Congratulations to Dudley, Jen and Kay Taylor!

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Forgot this one - getting her doll house

I went to edit video from Thanksgiving weekend tonight, and realized I'd forgotten to do anything with my footage from Sylvie's real birthday, when we presented her with her new doll house. As you can see, her little imagination kicked in immediately, complete with several separate scenes of pretend domestic tranquility... and a baby crisis in the bath tub (no, I do NOT know where that came from).

"Big kid!"


This shot of Sylvie enjoying her Thanksgiving dinner might be the last photo I ever get of her in her high chair.

She has fully embraced the concept of being a "big girl." It's funny how at a certain age they just instinctively start wanting to emulate the older kids - and start to reject the trappings of toddlerdom.

Sylvie MUCH prefers her new night-time pull-ups to her diapers, though in truth there is not much difference between them. Whereas she fights a diaper to the death, she's almost eager at night to put on her "big girl pants."

The latest casualty of this evolution seems to be her high chair. All of a sudden, any attempt to put her in it triggers a tantrum. "NO - THIS ONE!" she yells, pointing at either the stools that sit in front of our kitchen island or one of the kitchen table benches. More troubling is the fact that she's even rejected the booster seat, meaning that she eats precariously perched on either a stool or a bench, with her food on the table basically at eye level. It's a tough way to eat.

As between the two (the stools or the bench) I much prefer the bench - if only because from the bench it's a much shorter fall to the hard kitchen floor in case of a probably inevitable tumble.

So last night she insisted on the stools. She was sort of crabby (seems she's coming down with - surprise! - a cold), and so we relented. When she started to squirm back and forth, though, I decided to try and coax her into the booster seat at the kitchen table. Thinking I had her figured out, I pointed at the booster seat and said, "Sylvie, do you want to come sit down here like a big girl?"

She looked at me pointedly, motioned at the stool where she was already perched, and hollered - "NO! This one for BIG KIDS!"

UPDATE: It seems Melissa has negotiated a temporary compromise. The high chair, sans tray, pulled up close to the center island so that the island is Sylvie's eating surface seems to satisfy both her "big kid" table impulse and our desire for a modicum of safety... We'll see how long this lasts.