Easter 2009

Sydney and friends say "Happy Easter"!

I realize it has been almost a month since Easter. Oops. Guess I've got some catching up to do. Sydney enjoyed dyeing eggs for the first time, hunting for them in the house again, and dressing up in her Easter dress. We made sugar cookies which she "decorated" with sprinkles. She especially liked the Hoppy Bunny that Grammy and Grandpa gave her. Not to mention all the candy. I think she had more than she did at Halloween. And now her reach is higher than ever, so we have to put things farther away on the kitchen counter. She is quite clever when she needs to be - I told her one day "No more chocolate!" and she stood there for a moment, thinking, and then exclaimed, "I got it. I can have this other candy (jelly beans or some non-chocolate thing). I figured it out!" It starts early, I suppose, the outsmarting of the parents.

Carefully dyeing her first egg all by herself.

Hoppy Bunny and sweet-tooth Sydney.

Which one do you think she will eat?

Milestones

This was one of our first days home from China in 2007!

I realize that this is our 100th entry. Only took a couple of years. So much has happened since we first began to blog about Sydney. I apologize for not posting as often as I should. My only excuse is laziness. And a three-year-old...

These last few weeks have been heartwrenching. We had to put down our beloved sweet dog, Ellie, after a sudden illness hit her from out of nowhere. Sydney seems to understand and asks us often if we miss Ellie.  She can tell that we do. The last real walk I took Ellie on, Sydney actually walked her for almost a mile. I regret not bringing my camera, because the image of Sydney jogging while holding Ellie's leash and Ellie trotting alongside Sydney is a precious one that I'll hopefully never forget.

Here's Sydney sharing her blanket with Ellie. She covered one of Ellie's front legs...

Look carefully and you can see that her leg is covered.

Our house is a bit quieter and emptier, and we have holes in our hearts and the pits of our stomachs that won't go away just yet. 

After Ellie died, we had to get out of the house. We spent a day in downtown Portland. Then we had to get out of town. So we took a long weekend and headed north to Seattle, Tacoma and Bellingham.  Here are some images of our little adventures. 

The Portlandia statue.

Fountain across from the Portlandia.

Most people in the Portland-Vancouver area know where this is.

Getting tired of walking around Portland, Sydney just stopped and sat.

We were here at Pioneer Square the day after we put Ellie down, and right after taking the picture with the Umbrella Man, we spotted a man with a dog that was the spitting image of our Ellie except for the tail. Very surreal. 

Tourists at Pike Place Market - watch out for flying fish!

Sydney wanted to sit on whatever she could...

Whether it was a pig or an elephant did not matter.

Sydney's favorite Star Wars character, Yoda. 

Headed to Ivar's for clam chowder and fish & chips!

Riding the Seattle monorail, affectionately called the "Mommarail" by Sydney.

On top of the Space Needle.

Top Pot Donuts, a local favorite in Seattle.

The Experience Music Project guitar tower.

We headed up to Bellingham after Seattle, to check out Brian's old stomping grounds while attending Western Wash. University. Included on the tour were all the places he used to live, such as the apartment that Ken Griffey, Jr. used to live in as well. (Same unit, different time.) Unfortunately, the only picture we ended up taking is below: Sydney was fascinated by some students dressed as pirates promoting some school activity in the campus fountain. 

Our final stop was the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, home to Dale Chihuly.

These figures are in a huge display on an overpass bridge from the museum to the town hall.

More glass figures on the overpass. The Tacoma Dome is in the background.

Here's a little conversation we had at the top of the Space Needle. I was trying to get her to say "Space Needle" and of course she didn't want to. She was focused on a carousel nearby that she wanted to ride.

March Madness

Puppet Mania. Those poor ones on her feet!

Silly Sydney.

Wow, it's been over a month since I last posted anything here. My apologies to those of you who keep checking for updates and being disappointed. Let's just say that having a three-year-old who is moving away from naps is taking up more of my time... yeah, that's it. Some days she skips the nap entirely, other days she'll take a 2-3 hour one. She's currently asleep and therefore I'm able to sit and blog.

Honestly, Sydney has been settling into routines of getting up with Dad, watching a little TV, eating breakfast (sometimes) and playing until it's time to go to Grammy and Grandpa's (Tues. through Thurs.). On Mondays and Fridays she and I eat breakfast together, watch a little TV, and go shopping (Costco, Target, Fred Meyer are the usuals). Just today we were at Costco where she loves the samples ("I need sampos, Mom") of food and snacks. Sometimes we share a hot dog and drink too - it's the best meal deal around. Seriously, where else can you get that for only $1.62? 

Sydney is growing! Okay, that's a doll stroller below, but she is eating like a tapeworm and getting taller!

We try our best to get Ellie out for a walk, and Sydney sometimes walks/jogs the entire two miles! Hopefully we're instilling a love for exercise and being healthy. Which reminds me, we just started her in a toddler tumbling class (age range 18mo.-3 1/2 years) at a local gymnastics gym. After two weeks, we have already been told that she needs to be moved up to the next level. Apparently she is strong enough to do things that the 3 1/2 to 5-year-olds can do. The key is following directions...which is probably one of her biggest challenges. We'll see! And hopefully in the near future we'll have some pictures, because Brian and I believe that there's nothing cuter than watching her romp around, tumble, flip, or swing on a trapeze bar into a large foam pit.

Pump it up, Sydney!

Sydney goofing around with Erin Boyle.

Sydney and Meghan having fun with the tunnel.

Sydney "reading" to Dad. She is also really into jigsaw puzzles, completing 24-piecers "All by myself."

The other morning I caught her sitting on this box of dog treats, looking out the window.

And finally, here's Sydney singing "That's How You Know" from the Disney movie "Enchanted." Sorry that I cut her off, but it would have gone on forever...

I'm Three!

Super Sydney turned three the day after the Superbowl! She wasted no time mentioning her birthday. The first thing she said when she got up and stood at her gate was, "Is my cake ready yet?" (Brian had made her birthday cake, his second Niagara Falls cake in two months.)

We spent her day taking Ellie to the dog park, playing on the playground, and eating whatever we wanted. Then for dinner we met Grammy and Grandpa at Red Robin, where Sydney got a song and a sundae along with three balloons. Cake and presents followed at home, with two big ticket items - a kid-tough DVD player and a kid-tough camera that actually takes digital pictures. She has already taken almost 100 pictures of the floor, the furniture and people's shirts.

Red Robin birthday sundae.

New Dvd player.

Frog puppet.

Grandpa and Grammy having some fun.

Sydney has hit her stride being three, almost completely potty-trained (no accidents in a couple months), asking "Why?" and replying "No" when asked to do things. She still likes to take off her pants when she gets home or at Grammy and Grandpa's (or wherever we are when she's feeling comfortable). She enjoys imitating us cooking, using her own little kitchen, and likes to bring us slippers, a blanket and a stuffed toy when we're lounging around watching TV.  She is small for her age - 36" tall and about 28 pounds - but is not afraid to try new foods or jump daringly from the couch to the ottoman and onto the floor. She dances with her giant Minnie Mouse (is that an oxymoron?) and likes to crawl on Dad. Her Pooh blanket is still her most cherished item and will induce tears if taken away. She is generally a very happy, friendly, smiley girl and we are amazed that she is already three years old! 

Ta-da! It's a tower!

Happy Fu Year, take two

Natalie, Sydney, Maya and Zanna cheesing it up!

January 3rd marks our 2-year anniversary of becoming a family! We celebrated by getting together for brunch at Zanna's with the other three Fu families in the Portland area. For those of you not familiar with Fu, it is the last name given to all the girls from the orphanage in Fuzhou, Jianxi province. So Sydney and her Fu sisters (and all the mamas and babas) got to see each other after almost nine months, to compare, contrast, and revel in our girls. We were happy to see that Sydney is a lot like the others in some respects (potty-training successes and challenges, sharing issues) even though she doesn't go to a day care with other children. She is bigger than Natalie, who turned three in October and who is a little peanut with a bouncy personality. Sydney is shorter and heavier than Maya, the tallest one who is a few weeks younger but weighs about the same as her newly adopted 13-month-old Taiwanese sister, Anya. Zanna outweighs Sydney by a few pounds and has a bigger vocabulary, but also found it a bit rough to share all her toys and things. I can't imagine what Sydney would do if we ever host this annual event!

Fu sisters sit briefly for brunch...

And then quickly move on to fun and games. Sydney can barely stand the tension during Duck Duck Goose.

Zanna ducking Maya.

Now we're cookin'! Jumping off the couch onto the cushions was a huge hit.

Ready for action.

Zanna gets some serious air!

Time out for a good book or three.

We are once again amazed and astounded at how the girls have grown. We miss Janet and JoLi, the fifth member of our Fu family of sisters, and hope to one day see them again, perhaps in Illinois. We viewed our Gotcha Day video and can still hardly believe that our girls were once those babies in their puffy snowsuits, almost as scared as us! Life is good.

Just glimpse a few seconds of pure joy.

Christmas happiness

Before I forget, Brian made his version of a Niagara Falls cake.  We used to get this cake at Max's Opera Cafe in San Bruno, CA.  It is a chocolate cake with buttercream frosting and chocolate ganache.  Yumm-o! 

For the first time in four years, we got to spend Christmas at home in Vancouver! Traditionally, we have decided to spend Christmas Eve at Grammy and Grandpa's for lasagna and the opening of one gift, and then Christmas Day at our home.  After we made our way across snowy roads to Grammy and Grandpa's, Grammy didn't disappoint, as her lasagna was terrific as usual. Then we decided to open presents - a few more than one, so that Grandpa didn't have to load up too many the next day. Sydney played Santa with gusto, wishing every present recipient "Merry Christmas" and "ho ho ho." 

Sydney waited patiently for her turn, but was still very excited.

Santa Sydney delivers to Grammy.

Helping Grandpa Jim with his gift. (Sydney helped everyone open gifts.)

The next morning, Grammy and Grandpa came over at 6:30 to be here when Sydney woke up!  Mom and Dad had been up till 2am with little sleep due to baking and assembling (shhh, it's from Santa), and Sydney got up around 7:45. Nonetheless, the excitement couldn't be contained as Sydney realized as she headed down the hallway that Christmas had come, and that Santa had come! 

The big ticket item - her own red kitchen!

Complete with apron, microwave, fridge, stove, oven, sink and phone, she's already baked lots of Christmas cookies. 

Sydney enjoyed everything she received - a robe, slippers, camera...

Baby with stroller and more accessories than she ever needed...

And wooden fruits and vegetables (shown here in the foreground) that she can cut! Here she is taking a picture with her new Elmo camera, of her new and old elephants.

We had a great day and feel extremely thankful for our friends and family, and for all we have received.  This year's gift-giving was scaled back tremendously, and we didn't even miss a thing. Sydney was spoiled a bit (that's apparently what grandparents are for) but overall, we enjoyed the simplicity of it all and hope to carry it on in the future. Hope everyone out there in blog-checking land had a good day as well.