The Little Notepad: April 2009

a big milestone

Sydney will be 10 months old in a week and she is neither crawling yet, nor has any teeth. BUT....today she clapped for the first time! The first real, intentional clapping. I was spooning her applesauce this morning and, without paying much thought, started singing one of our usual songs, "Clap your hands, clap your hands..." and she immediately started clapping with a big smile on her face. This is a big day for us. :)

1 comments

, by Aria

We're Mean

What is it about babies that's so fun to tease? They have no idea the silly things we put them through just to get a good laugh. Thanks, Sydney, for being our favorite source of entertainment.

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, by Aria

Vance Style Waffles

I was making waffles this morning and trying to think of something yummy to put on top. Then I remembered an old home video of all us kids around the kitchen table eating pancakes. To most people, it probably looked like a pretty unappetizing selection of toppings (or should I say amount of toppings). Our pancakes were drowning in syrup, oozing with mounds of grape jelly, and piled with applesauce. So I tried it again this morning (going a little easy with the toppings), and let me just say...it really hit the spot. Mmmm...

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, by Aria

Sneak Peek from the Houston Wedding...

Here are a few shots from the wedding in Texas last week. For more images, check out my photo blog.

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, by Aria

First Booboo

Sydney was playing with her empty plastic easter eggs the other day when suddenly I noticed her tiny finger gushing blood. It was probably from the rough edges of the eggs, and she didn't seem to even notice or care (much better than her mommy's reaction). It took forever trying to put on a bandade on her miniature finger. And it didn't last long on there. She sucked, chewed, and pulled until it popped off minutes later. I'm going to have to get used to my kiddo getting cuts, scrapes, and bruises, because she's becoming more and more curious and mobile these days.

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, by Aria

look what I'm missing out on

I get to play in warm Houston, photographing a wedding with my friend Marcy, while Tommy and Haley have to stay home in this:

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, by Aria

daddy daughter time

I wonder what it's like to be tossed in the air by a giant 6'4" guy. Sydney was smiling and squealing with her daddy the other day while I was playing around with shutter speeds. But now when we try to toss her in the air, she clutches tight to our arms so she can't go anywhere!

It's one of my favorite things to see my sweet hubby with his little mini-me. They are so much alike. Whenever Tommy's home, Sydney stares at him with big, awe-struck eyes, and reaches for him when he walks by. Often when I'm trying to spoon her food or something, she has this little smirk on her face, and I follow her gaze across the room where Tommy's standing there, watching her with an identical expression.

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, by Aria

Mason in the Studio

Look at this adorable little guy! Mason hung out with me in the studio the other day while I played around with some props. He made the funniest faces the entire time! He was scowling for the first few minutes until Malinda started singing one of his favorite songs, and within seconds he was bouncing around with a huge grin. I'll have to bring Malinda along with me on more photo shoots! :)

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, by Aria

Raindrops and Puddles

I've been enjoying all the April showers recently. Rain is one of my favorite things. So I decided to play around with water drops. It turns out to be a lot more difficult than it looks! I had a big blue bowl filled to the rim outside and shot hundreds to get just a handful of good ones. But it was a lot of fun and I learned a lot. I think I'll try it again, but next time with a tripod and a flash.

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, by Aria

my fishie

It turns out that my daughter is a fish just like me. She loves anything to do with water. If there's a running faucet, she lunges from my arms to play. She especially loves bath time, and will try to stay in the tub even after all the water has drained out. She usually comes out looking like a raisin because she plays for so long. I've been impressed at how much ease and confidence she has in the water. She maneuvers around like a pro, slithering and sliding from sitting, to her back, to her tummy. Maybe someday we can have a pool so her mommy can join in on the fun.

3 comments

, by Aria

Easter in a Nutshell

Easter was a lot of fun this year. It seems like every holiday is ten times better when you have kids around. I had a hard time narrowing down pictures (just be glad I didn't post all 100 that I took), so here's a little peek into our day:

Sydney and I woke up to find surprise easter baskets left by the Easter Bunny (thanks, kind rabbit! maybe next year Tommy will get one, too...)

Sydney was having so much fun with the goodies in her basket that she didn't want to hunt for all the eggs hidden around the house

the low ones were filled with fruity puffs for Sydney and the ones on the high shelves were filled with chocolates for her mommy :)

Haley had her eye on this egg for a while, but couldn't get to it with her cone on (that's a whole other story...)

back from church in our Easter dresses -thanks, Mom, for Sydney's sweet little dress!

We later met up with Malinda and her family for a delicous feast, egg dying, and another egg hunt

Mason took the hunt very seriously

Sydney mostly just sat

another darling figurine made by Malinda

3 comments

, by Aria

Another Month Older...

Sydney's 9 months old in a few days, can you believe it? Here's what she's been up to...

she's seriously thinking about crawling
no teeth, but you wouldn't know it by the way she chows down her food and chomps on mama when nursing
she's laughing a lot (and I'm pretty sure a budding sense of humor)
went through a recent growth spurt where she was eating grown-up amounts of food (an entire banana and avocado in one sitting was typical), followed by a burst in size (particularly the new pot-belly)
throwing hilarious tantrums daily (I guess they won't be that hilarious once she gets a little older)
becoming less and less interested in nursing, which makes her mama sad :(
she's scratching, poking, and gouging everything within reach (which, since I'm holding her 80% of the time, ends up being me), so thoughts on discipline are entering my my mind (...any suggestions?!)
STILL stranger shy, as she reminded us when my dad recently visited and she'd wail every time he'd even look at her
very talkative, especially sounds like "bababa" and high squeals
started eating cheerios and finger snacks to keep quiet during church (this seems like such a big kid thing)
dances (or jiggles & jerks) with the upper half of her body
walks when you guide her with her hands