California, Here We Come

Our happy girl at the happiest place on Earth!






We made it! Sydney's first official visit to Disneyland. She was definitely in awe. She laughed, she cried, she slept, she ate, she did everything we asked and more! Her first ride was It's a Small World, of course. She bounced in her seat to the music.

Here she is waiting in the Small World line, anxiously.



Here she is dancing to the music before getting in line to ride it again. She provided other guests with some entertainment.



She also rode the Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Mansion, the Winnie the Pooh ride, the Teacups, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (which, by the way, is very confusing), the Jungle Cruise where she actually saw the elephants, and she enjoyed the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room and Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters. Our only regret is not riding the new Finding Nemo submarines, which averaged a 2 to 3 hour wait. Forget that!

Here she is with Grandpa Joe on the Jungle Cruise.



The big moment - meeting the Mouse. He was kind enough to get down to her level and even returned her blowing of a kiss, with sound!



Here's a nice break for the parents.



Sydney's first ice cream sandwich. Note the envious Maddie in the background who is lactose-intolerant.



Here's the Joe family portrait at California Adventure.



Sydney also got to spend lots of time visiting her mom's relatives. She probably met over 50 people ranging in age from seven months old to mid-80s!

Here she is playing with her cousin Maddie in the backyard of Grandma Joe's cousin.



Sydney discovered bubbles!



Here's Sydney's first experience in a swimming pool. She loved it. No fear at all. Uh oh!




Sydney got her first taste of In-N-Out Burger's french fries. Needless to say she scarfed them down. But who doesn't?

Well, She Was Just 17...You Know What I Mean

...Months old, that is! Our baby girl is 17 months old today. That's 1.42 years, according to Brian's calculations. Mama and Baba celebrated by going to a matinee ("Ratatouille") without her. She would have been disappointed with the movie anyway, as we certainly were. Oh well. All was not a total loss as Grandpa Jim the sitter informed us of a new word she started using today - "wawa" (that's water to you and me, not to be confused with the sound effect for our disappointment, "wahh-wahhh"). Just a couple of days ago she started saying "hi" to us in the car. Brian turned her carseat around so that she is facing forward, and now we look at her in the rearview and visor mirrors as she looks back at us and says the sweetest "hi" you will ever hear.

Sydney has taken a liking to our shoes and slippers. Since she knows where to find them, she will fetch them for herself and attempt to place them on her feet.

Here she is in Brian's slippers.

Mama's flipflop didn't quite make it...

But her Birkenstocks work!

Here's Sydney with our neighbor, Connor, who is in middle school. That's Peanut the dog behind them.

Sydney likes everyone's bling.

Brian got a nice birthday present last week (an iMac!), and Sydney helped open it. Note the straining and flexing of our little one.

Good thing the computer is out of the box, as this 21-pounder may do some damage.

And finally, our watermelon lover who doesn't know the meaning of "pace yourself".

We'll report more after our trip to see Mickey! (Oh and Grandma and Grandpa Joe and Uncle Mike and Auntie Desiree and cousin Maddie too.) Happy Independence Day, everyone, from our family's newest American citizen!