Sydney can be very inquisitive. She usually saves up her best questions for bed time, a classic stalling technique.
This can be tough because we want to feed her desire to learn but it can take a really long time depending on how many follow up questions she can come up with.
Last night she asked me why power lines had to come up to your house. I told her that was how the power travels from the power plants to the house. We then use that power to turn on all of those things we have plugged in (lights, ovens, vacuums, etc.).
Sydney: How do the power plants make the power?
Mom: They can do it different ways. The workers can take things like coal from underground, burn it, and use the steam to generate power. They can use nuclear power…
Sydney: How does nuclear power work?
Mom [How do I explain nuclear power to a 6 year old?]: They use nuclear fission which is when you break apart atoms and a lot of energy comes out…
Sydney: “They break apart Adams?!!”
Mom: “Not people!”
Sydney starts laughing hysterically. We had to stop the conversation so her laughing wouldn’t wake up her brother down the hall. I really hope that she doesn’t talk to any kids named Adam at school today or she is going to scare the stuffings out of him.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Personalities
I (naively) thought before I had children that I would be able to raise them in such a way that they would turn out just like I planned for them. You know, smart, witty, well mannered…like tiny little Angies. And while I do believe they are meeting all of those criteria so far, their personalities are so different. How does that happen?
Take Sydney, she does not want to break any rules. She usually checks with you first if whatever it is that she is thinking about doing is potentially naughty. Her favorite thing to do to make Mommy happy is to help clean the house and make lists.
Now, she has been known to be what Steve refers to as a silly heart. She prefers to be dressed in some sort of princess dress, fairy wings, or tutu at any given time. She can be a little flighty at times, even when she is trying to be helpful. For example, this is a typical conversation at our house:
Mom – Sydney, please go get (your shoes, a diaper for your brother, etc.)
Sydney – Sure Mom!
[Sydney dances away]
[15 minutes pass]
[Sydney comes back…empty handed]
Mom – Sydney, did you forget something?
Sydney – Oh, yea [cue goofy grin]. I’ll be right back.
Halas on the other hand is more of a ask-for-forgiveness kind of guy instead of an ask-for-permission guy. Whenever I hear “watch this” come out of his mouth, my first instincts are to a) sprint to wherever he is to catch him, b) get a bag of ice to put on his boo-boo, c) get a bag of ice to put on Sydney’s boo-boo. Sadly enough, after enough of these exercises, if you hand him a bag of ice, the first thing he will do is put it on his head. I guess that makes him a tiny little Steve.
Maybe it is a girl vs. boy thing. Whatever it is, it keeps us on our toes.
Take Sydney, she does not want to break any rules. She usually checks with you first if whatever it is that she is thinking about doing is potentially naughty. Her favorite thing to do to make Mommy happy is to help clean the house and make lists.
Now, she has been known to be what Steve refers to as a silly heart. She prefers to be dressed in some sort of princess dress, fairy wings, or tutu at any given time. She can be a little flighty at times, even when she is trying to be helpful. For example, this is a typical conversation at our house:
Mom – Sydney, please go get (your shoes, a diaper for your brother, etc.)
Sydney – Sure Mom!
[Sydney dances away]
[15 minutes pass]
[Sydney comes back…empty handed]
Mom – Sydney, did you forget something?
Sydney – Oh, yea [cue goofy grin]. I’ll be right back.
Halas on the other hand is more of a ask-for-forgiveness kind of guy instead of an ask-for-permission guy. Whenever I hear “watch this” come out of his mouth, my first instincts are to a) sprint to wherever he is to catch him, b) get a bag of ice to put on his boo-boo, c) get a bag of ice to put on Sydney’s boo-boo. Sadly enough, after enough of these exercises, if you hand him a bag of ice, the first thing he will do is put it on his head. I guess that makes him a tiny little Steve.
Maybe it is a girl vs. boy thing. Whatever it is, it keeps us on our toes.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Santa's Little Helper
Sydney has been asking the question that many parents have heard over the years “How does Santa know if we are being good or naughty?” Steve had been responding with the simple answer “magic.” When that didn’t satisfy her unending desire to know more, he told her about the special elves that Santa has hiding all around. They watch the children and report back to Santa.
To Sydney’s surprise, Santa came by our house yesterday to drop off a special package! It was a book called “The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition” (http://www.elfontheshelf.com/). We sat down with the kids and read them the story. It told us about Santa’s scout elves that stay in your house. First you have to name the elf, then he will receive his Christmas magic. He will stay in your house and be Santa’s eyes and ears. Each night, when you go to bed, the elf will fly back to the North Pole and give Santa the scoop on how the kids are behaving. In the morning, the elf will fly back and be in a new spot in the house. There is only one rule, you cannot touch the elf or he may lose his Christmas magic. The elf will stay in your house until Christmas Eve when he will fly back to the North Pole to stay until the next Christmas season.
After hearing the story of the scout elf, I told Sydney that an elf was already in our house watching and that she should go find him so we could name him. Sydney said that we should team up to look for him. She picked her daddy for her team. Steve and Sydney found him first. (Halas was certain we would find him in the dog food.)
The elf was on our mantle. They named him Fred. Fred watched the kids all night. Sydney swears that he moved a couple of times. When she woke up this morning she was already asking where Fred was. I told her we could go look for him after she got dressed for school.
Side note (has nothing to do with the elf…I’m just venting here) - this had to cut about 15 minutes off of the time it usually takes her to put her uniform on. Seriously, what takes her so long to get dressed? It’s not like she even has to pick out an outfit. How long will this process take when she is a teenager?
Back to my elf story – We found Fred this morning hanging out on the TV. I would love to be a fly on the wall when he starts telling Santa what goes on in our house.
To Sydney’s surprise, Santa came by our house yesterday to drop off a special package! It was a book called “The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition” (http://www.elfontheshelf.com/). We sat down with the kids and read them the story. It told us about Santa’s scout elves that stay in your house. First you have to name the elf, then he will receive his Christmas magic. He will stay in your house and be Santa’s eyes and ears. Each night, when you go to bed, the elf will fly back to the North Pole and give Santa the scoop on how the kids are behaving. In the morning, the elf will fly back and be in a new spot in the house. There is only one rule, you cannot touch the elf or he may lose his Christmas magic. The elf will stay in your house until Christmas Eve when he will fly back to the North Pole to stay until the next Christmas season.
After hearing the story of the scout elf, I told Sydney that an elf was already in our house watching and that she should go find him so we could name him. Sydney said that we should team up to look for him. She picked her daddy for her team. Steve and Sydney found him first. (Halas was certain we would find him in the dog food.)
The elf was on our mantle. They named him Fred. Fred watched the kids all night. Sydney swears that he moved a couple of times. When she woke up this morning she was already asking where Fred was. I told her we could go look for him after she got dressed for school.
Side note (has nothing to do with the elf…I’m just venting here) - this had to cut about 15 minutes off of the time it usually takes her to put her uniform on. Seriously, what takes her so long to get dressed? It’s not like she even has to pick out an outfit. How long will this process take when she is a teenager?
Back to my elf story – We found Fred this morning hanging out on the TV. I would love to be a fly on the wall when he starts telling Santa what goes on in our house.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Potty Training
I am already emotionally scarred from when we had to potty train Sydney. When Sydney was 2, her daycare decided to have a "panty week" where all of the children would wear underwear through-out the day. They said that everyone would be potty trained by the end of the week. All the parents had to do was bring in back up clothes. [in case I can ever go back and talk to a younger version of me...Warning to 2-year old Sydney's mommy - this is too easy to work.]
Day 1 of Panty Week: Sydney has an accident in the morning. They change her clothes.
Positive: Sydney has no more accidents for the day.
Negative: Sydney stops peeing all together.
Day 2 of Panty Week: Sydney still has not went potty.
Positive: No accidents!
Negative: This can't be healthy.
Mommy calls the doctor. The doctor says to go to the ER if there is no progress by the afternoon. Any guesses where we were in the afternoon? That's right, the Children's ER.
After we had to pin a two year old down for them to put a catheter in her, I will not look at potty training the same again.
I wasn’t even there when Sydney officially became potty trained. I was on travel for work and gone a week and Steve had her potty trained by the time I got back.
[Note to 2-year old Sydney's mommy - let Daddy handle potty training.]
A couple of months ago Halas was grabbing his junk after bath time and I asked him if he wanted to go pee-pee on the potty. He said yes and ran into his bathroom, sat on his potty, and let it go. Of course, the seat was still on his toilet so it was going on the floor. Sydney ran in because she wanted to see him pee in the potty and started freaking out since it was getting everywhere. I told her to relax (I didn’t want to scar him this early...I was getting ER flashbacks) and that it would just be a little pee we could clean up with a towel when he was done. What I didn’t know is that he apparently has a bladder the size of Steve’s and there was more than just a “little bit” to clean up. Still, I was happy that he went in there on his own accord.
To prevent the same occurrence, I took the lid off of his potty. Sure enough, a couple of days later after his bath time he was grabbing his junk again. He ran into his bathroom, looked at his potty without the lid, and in a panicked voice said “Nooooo.” He hung his head, and while still holding himself, went over and got a diaper for me to put on him.
Now I could just put the lid on the toilet but that seems to defeat the purpose. So, we are going to wait for while before we start potty training. I don't think anyone in this house is ready yet.
Day 1 of Panty Week: Sydney has an accident in the morning. They change her clothes.
Positive: Sydney has no more accidents for the day.
Negative: Sydney stops peeing all together.
Day 2 of Panty Week: Sydney still has not went potty.
Positive: No accidents!
Negative: This can't be healthy.
Mommy calls the doctor. The doctor says to go to the ER if there is no progress by the afternoon. Any guesses where we were in the afternoon? That's right, the Children's ER.
After we had to pin a two year old down for them to put a catheter in her, I will not look at potty training the same again.
I wasn’t even there when Sydney officially became potty trained. I was on travel for work and gone a week and Steve had her potty trained by the time I got back.
[Note to 2-year old Sydney's mommy - let Daddy handle potty training.]
A couple of months ago Halas was grabbing his junk after bath time and I asked him if he wanted to go pee-pee on the potty. He said yes and ran into his bathroom, sat on his potty, and let it go. Of course, the seat was still on his toilet so it was going on the floor. Sydney ran in because she wanted to see him pee in the potty and started freaking out since it was getting everywhere. I told her to relax (I didn’t want to scar him this early...I was getting ER flashbacks) and that it would just be a little pee we could clean up with a towel when he was done. What I didn’t know is that he apparently has a bladder the size of Steve’s and there was more than just a “little bit” to clean up. Still, I was happy that he went in there on his own accord.
To prevent the same occurrence, I took the lid off of his potty. Sure enough, a couple of days later after his bath time he was grabbing his junk again. He ran into his bathroom, looked at his potty without the lid, and in a panicked voice said “Nooooo.” He hung his head, and while still holding himself, went over and got a diaper for me to put on him.
Now I could just put the lid on the toilet but that seems to defeat the purpose. So, we are going to wait for while before we start potty training. I don't think anyone in this house is ready yet.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Sydney's Mass
Each week, the Kindergarteners – 8th graders have an all-school mass on Friday. Sydney’s kindergarten class was in charge of the school mass this week. Her class did all of the readings, led the songs, brought up the gifts, etc.
Today was also the day that her school was celebrating Grandparents’ day. All grandparents of children from each grade were invited to come to mass, have breakfast, and then participate in other classroom activities for the rest of the day.
I got to the church about 15 minutes early to get a good seat. It was a good thing I was there early because by the time I got there the church was almost full. Also, they had a special area for the Kindergarten parents since their kids were leading the mass. By the time mass started, I didn’t see one open seat. Here is a picture of Sydney when she saw that I was there.
This had to be one of the cutest masses I have ever been at. They broke up the readings between the kids so there wouldn’t be too much for one child to have to read. To see each of those kids go up to the podium, climb on the stool to reach the microphone, and read in their little voices was so adorable. They even had some children go up to a microphone and lead the songs. Some kids you couldn’t hear with the microphone and some looked like they were ready for Broadway!
Sydney had been working on her lines this week. She was very proud when she told me last night that her teacher told her “You don’t have to practice anymore. You are great!”
Here is a quick clip of her doing the reading today. Her lines were:
“The Rosary is a living prayer, because as we recite the Our Father’s, Hail Mary’s, and Glory Be’s we meditate on the mysteries in the lives of Jesus and Mary.”
Great job Syd!
Today was also the day that her school was celebrating Grandparents’ day. All grandparents of children from each grade were invited to come to mass, have breakfast, and then participate in other classroom activities for the rest of the day.
I got to the church about 15 minutes early to get a good seat. It was a good thing I was there early because by the time I got there the church was almost full. Also, they had a special area for the Kindergarten parents since their kids were leading the mass. By the time mass started, I didn’t see one open seat. Here is a picture of Sydney when she saw that I was there.
This had to be one of the cutest masses I have ever been at. They broke up the readings between the kids so there wouldn’t be too much for one child to have to read. To see each of those kids go up to the podium, climb on the stool to reach the microphone, and read in their little voices was so adorable. They even had some children go up to a microphone and lead the songs. Some kids you couldn’t hear with the microphone and some looked like they were ready for Broadway!
Sydney had been working on her lines this week. She was very proud when she told me last night that her teacher told her “You don’t have to practice anymore. You are great!”
Here is a quick clip of her doing the reading today. Her lines were:
“The Rosary is a living prayer, because as we recite the Our Father’s, Hail Mary’s, and Glory Be’s we meditate on the mysteries in the lives of Jesus and Mary.”
Great job Syd!
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
First Day of School
Sydney has officially started Kindergarten! So far she likes her new school pretty well. She is still adjusting to having to sit at a desk for most of the day but so far that has been her only complaint. She likes her teacher and is making new friends. Unfortunately none of the kids she went to pre-school with are at her new school. It doesn’t seemed to have phased her though.
On her first day of school we got to walk her into her class and she was fine when we left. After school she went over to the after school program that the school has. When I went to pick her up that afternoon she was pretty upset and about to cry. I asked her why she was upset and she told me that it was because I was there to get her. She wanted to stay longer. I suppose that is a good problem to have. After that we started dropping her off in the car line and she walked herself into the school. I think that was harder on me than the first day.
Halas is still adjusting to dropping Sydney off and being in the car without her for a while. When she first gets out of the car we have to sing the “Sydney’s coming back” song. Then he calms down and starts counting, and talking, and singing to himself for the rest of the ride. I guess it isn’t too often that he gets to hear his own voice when Sydney is riding with him.
We got to go up to Illinois for Aunt Lori’s wedding a couple of weeks ago. Sydney was the flower girl and Halas was a ring bearer. It is my opinion that they did perfect at their jobs. Sydney took her job very (very, very) seriously. She was taking the whole day in and I’m pretty sure that she already has ideas for her own wedding. 20-some more years of planning and Daddy is going to have quite a bill on his hands. Halas made it down the aisle with his pillow in hand and was very well behaved during the ceremony. You can’t really ask for more from a 1 and a half year old. My mom and sister took some pictures so I will post some when I get them (hint hint Mom and Tiffany).
We wish that we could have stayed longer while we were up there and get some more family time in. Now that Sydney has a real school schedule that is going to be more difficult. I did get to see a lot of Steve’s family from both in-town and out-of-town at the wedding. Halas got some good play time in with his cousins. I have a feeling that he was soaking in what two-year olds can do (x3). Monkey see, monkey do. We even got Sydney, Halas, and the triplets in the pool for some good summer time fun before we left. [If I was taking pictures like my sister was, I would insert a shot of all five of them together right here…]
Ang
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Swim class
Here is a short clip of Sydney at swim class. I think all of the pratice she got during her Illinois vacation paid off.
Now that she knows that my phone has a video camera too, she has decided to start sending out personalized messages. Here is one she sent to her Grandma the other day.
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