Boo Goes Bowling

The annual Pederson-Gagliardi family Bowling Day took place this past weekend, and if any of you out there have seen this event, you know how kooky it can get. The theme for costumes this year was "favorite TV or movie character" and although Sydney really doesn't have one yet, we took a simple route and made her up as Boo from Monsters Inc.

Here she is with Baba, dressed as Chief from Battlestar Galactica, for the first time on the alley.



Sydney didn't recognize Aunt Marlys at first, but knew the voice!



Cousin Barb "Wilma Flintstone" had some great ball jewelry to play with.



Sydney made a new friend in cousin Grayson.



Just had to put this on here - Sydney was afraid of cousin Gary "Jack Sparrow", and can you blame her?

It's the Great Pumpkin, Sydney Quan

This past weekend we took advantage of the beautiful fall weather here in the Northwest, taking Sydney to her first pumpkin patch. Mind you, this is no ordinary "patch". Bi-Zi Farms in Brush Prairie is a mecca for pumpkin searchers and offers all kinds of activities in addition to one of the biggest patches of pumpkins I've ever seen.

Sydney had a great time mingling with farm animals...




drinking freshly pressed apple cider...



and picking out pumpkins.




We missed out on the pumpkin launching, the hay pyramid, and the huge corn maze. Maybe next year...

Looks like we got the best ones!

She's Got the Look

Sydney is now a whopping 20-month-old who is starting to develop some sass! She has now somehow acquired "The Look." All you parents out there must know what I'm talking about. Luckily, most of the time when she's giving "The Look" she really isn't too terribly mad and will get back to her cheerful, laughing self in no time. She is heavy into imitation these days, and Grammy reports that Sydney sits and puts on "makeup" while watching Grammy do it. Her vocabulary is about the same, although she tries to repeat words constantly. She is getting better at using her fork and spoon in combination with her other hand, and is gradually drinking from a cup without the lid. Ooohhh....

For your viewing pleasure - The Look.



Here's our normally happy girl pretending she's in the Middle East.



Grandma and Grandpa Joe came for a visit and got to spend lots of quality time bonding with Sydney. They even got to babysit for two full days while Wendy worked. Sydney thoroughly enjoyed new faces to play with and places to go. She's been to IKEA four times already, and spent a good amount of time at Costco sampling the foods.


Here's her first taste of a popsicle. She ended up liking whatever flavor Grandpa happened to have in his hand.



Here's her first ride on a carousel! She liked it so much, she rode it twice. Then she got back in line again even though it was time to go. Note the one-handed grip, leaving one hand free to whip the horse or wave to the crowd.



We took a drive to Crown Point in the Columbia Gorge. Sydney liked the view.



Grandma Joe and Sydney are color-coordinated!



Squatting with the grandparents.



Sydney loved pushing Grandma's buttons - literally. Camera buttons, to be exact.



Here's Sydney playing with Grandpa.



Finally, here's Sydney drawing with crayons. We are beginning to think she may be right-handed. Note the technique!

Feed Me, Seymour

Seems like we've turned a corner into Fall weather here in the Northwest. Once school started, it went downhill from there. The days seem to be getting shorter now and Mama and Baba are tuckered out every evening by 9:30 or 10pm. This past week (and the upcoming week) was especially tiring since Wendy had to work every day to fill in for a vacationing coworker. Sydney was hardly affected as she got to visit Grammy and Grandpa's house two extra days a week. Hope Grammy and Grandpa don't get burned out!

Sunday softball continues thru the end of the month, and league bowling just got underway. What day is it? What month is it? What time is it? I guess it really doesn't matter to a small, 19-month-old child who just loves being alive and well in America.

Or should I say, loves eating her way through the days in America? Our little tike, as you know, enjoys her food. Good thing she burns it off by running around so much. Of course, it is sometimes a challenge to keep up with her!

Here she is giving her favorite sign - "food". And, based on her expression, she's no doubt thinking, "Turn off the camera and get me something!"


(Usually she is standing back there behind her high chair, peeking around it, and giving us the sign from the kitchen.)

Here's our big eater on Labor Day, eating her first corn on the cob with Grandpa's help.



Here's dessert!



Sydney attended her first Vancouver SausageFest, a family tradition. She ate everything - sausage, corn on the cob, kettlecorn, and more sauerkraut than Mama.

A bite of sausage, please...note the grabbing of the fork.



My new favorite vegetable.



Mmmm, sauerkraut.



Sydney continues to beg for the cherry tomatoes from our garden. Today she ate four. Can hardly wait to see how that turns out in the end.

Sydney has really been bugging Ellie lately - sometimes she just won't leave Ellie alone, and thinks it's funny when Ellie growls at her. She usually only wants to give Ellie hugs, but Ellie can't seem to get away fast enough.

Here's a rare moment when Sydney went out in the backyard to kiss Ellie, and Ellie didn't move.







Sydney likes to mimic everything she hears these days. She can now say her own versions of "grass", "tapioca", "Skipper" (neighbor dog of Grammy and Grandpa's), "Ellie", as well as understanding a host of other terms like "somersault" (which she can now do successfully). She continues to babble like crazy, with her voice inflecting, and we often wonder what is going on in that big head of hers. As I mentioned above, she is turning on the speed, and tries to elude us whenever we need her to get dressed or get going.

Here she is this morning, trying to get into our shower, wearing two sets of pajamas. The purple shirt is around her waist and the second pair of shorts is partially below her diaper butt. She put these articles of clothing on herself, of course.



Finally, here's one of Sydney's and Mama's favorite spots.

Sydney Sees Seaside

I decided to post this entry separately because there are just too many cute pictures. We finally got a chance to get out of town for a couple of days to Seaside, OR. We are always grateful to Aunt Marlys for use of the cabin. Our first night was a challenge due to the excitement of a new place.

Here's our little genie-head refusing to settle down in the cabin.



Sydney absolutely LOVED the beach. About as much as Ellie. Well, maybe not that much, yet...

Here we go! Note the Charlie Brown Christmas stance (you know, when the other kids decorate his tree and he squats a bit, surprised).



Anyway, here's her first encounter with some sea puddles.



Here she is on a beautiful Oregon coast day!





Here's Sydney feeling the ocean for the first time in her life (as far as we know). Note the angle of her stance as she is being knocked back.



Sydney and Baba.



Here's Sydney's first barefoot experience on the sand. Baba is showing her what to do with her toes.



Sydney plopped on her bottom a split second after this was taken.



The water was strangely warm for the Northwest, and Sydney plunged in with Baba's help.



Sydney got her first taste of Beach 'N Brew's tater tots.



Mama, Sydney and Ellie.



Beach Girls.



Ellie didn't move from this spot in the cabin all night. Aahh, the beach.

Red Shoe, Black Shoe, Old Friends, New Friends

Wow, sorry to all you blogcheckers out there for the long delay! We've been busy playing a local newspaper contest where they publish a photo of a location here in Clark County and if you find and submit digital photos of all of them, you have a chance to win $1000. We are in the final clue stage - we earned the final clue which tells the location of an orb that, if we find it, will get us the prize. We are not expecting to win, due to the hardcore players who drive around after midnight to get their pictures. Oh well, we still had fun. If you want to see Sydney in the contest photos, you can check out the Columbian newspaper's "Qvest" contest. Here is the link: http://www.columbiantalk.com/quest5/ If you need more info, email us and we'll tell you.

Here's one of the photos we submitted at one of the locations. Pretty random, huh?



So what's our brave girl been doing this month? Let's see. Her 18-month appointment went off without a hitch. She weighed in at 20lbs. and some ounces, and was 30" tall. So she grew three inches and put on some good weight. It looks like she's got almost all of her teeth in - guess we should schedule a dentist appointment soon. She can now crawl up onto chairs with some effort and do a somersault too. She is developing her sprinting abilities with fast results. (Wah-wahhh...groan.) She likes to lie down in the bathtub while kicking her legs in the water. She likes to put on her own shoes even though she takes them off every time in the car. She likes to share her snacks with whomever is in the near vicinity (Ellie is usually the benefactor). She gives hugs and kisses rather freely and loves to clap her hands whenever she hears others clapping. She attended her first concert at the Clark County Fair - country singer Sara Evans. Sydney thoroughly enjoyed bopping to the music and clapping a lot.

Sydney, our fashion-trend-breaker. She usually doesn't keep the ponytail holders in for long.



New words include "cap" (like the cap for a bottle) and "baa" for the sheep sound. She can identify hair, head, ears, eyes, nose, mouth, arm, leg, foot, toes, fingers, hands, knees, teeth, and belly button. We're not sure how she picked up most of those body parts because we really don't recall teaching them to her. Hmm. She babbles and bops and gubbles and inflects her voice frequently, and just this week has found a high-pitched screech (happy but ear-splitting) that sounds like it hurts to produce.

Although we don't quite have the bumper crop of tomatoes that we did last summer, we have a few that are finally ripening. Here's Sydney eating a whole tomato like an apple.



Another trip to the Oregon Zoo yielded our first official picture of Sydney actually seeing the elephants!



Our old neighbor friends Lavonne, Barbaros and BJ had moved away but are moving back to Vancouver. Here's Sydney playing the boxing game on the Nintendo Wii with BJ.



And finally, Sydney met her youngest new friend tonight: Brian's colleague Amy's 15-day old son Charley. GENTLE! GENTLE!