Category: Updates about Sylvia

I thought that Topsy (Terry’s mom) would appreciate seeing some pictures of Sylvia and Terry.  They were having fun playing with all Terry’s silly toys.  Sylvie is such a talkative, delightful three-year-old big girl:)

We drove home from St. Paul on Sunday, March 27.  Bryan drove the whole way; Sylvia was awake until the last half hour, and when she fell asleep, she was out cold.  When we got home, Bryan carried Sylv inside and sat down with her in the rocking chair.  A half hour later, he was still there, rocking her.  I’m assuming that she had indicated to him that she didn’t want him to leave her.

A bit later when I peeked in the room, this is the sight that met my eyes.

So I ran for my camera:)

They’re oh, so sweet sleeping together.

And looking at Bryan’s tall body curled up in Sylvia’s toddler bed…it’s about the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen.  He’s the best dad ever.

Andrew, Sylvia, and I are all oh, so lucky:)

One of Sylvia’s favorite games is to pretend to be a kitty.  The adult is a person who comes to the pet shop looking for the kitty.  Sometimes the kitty runs away.  Sometimes the kitty is sick.  Sometimes the kitty is pink.

When Bryan came home from work the other day, Sylvia strongly requested that he play kitty.  Sweetly, Bryan set down his coat/lunch/bag and acquiesced to the playtime desires of our daughter.

Here she is, in the corner, meowing as Bryan-the-customer comes to the pet store to see if there are any kitties for sale.

In this case, the kitty was a little sick, so Bryan called the vet who came to take a look at her.

The kitty is feeling a little better as Vet-Bryan examines her.

Oh, what a sweet little kitty.

It’s always nice to pet your kitties to help them feel better.

Notice the ballet skirt Sylv is wearing over her footie pjs?  Outfit #9 for the day.

I’m so glad that Andrew and Sylvie have such a sweet daddy to fill their buckets and to play make-believe with:)

Sylvia’s laughter is like ripe cherries raining down from an abundant orchard.

She’s so much more of a little girl now, and less of a baby.  Tonight she threw her head back and bubbles of giggles spilled from her smiling lips.  It’s like magic, and it feeds my soul.

I wrote a little post about the same topic about a year ago.

So glad to have this little girl in our lives.

Last week, Sylvia had her last YMCA ballet class.

They invited parents into the studio for the last class, and it was such fun to watch them dance around.  My daughter, my exuberant daughter, is at a point where she often doesn’t like it when other people look at her.  Her birthday was a bit tumultuous this year because of all the attention.  I think she likes the spotlight on her terms.

So when she saw that other people’s parents would be watching, she curled up by my back and stayed there for most of class.  Celia arrived a little late for class, and Sylvia almost frolicked out to join her friend.  But a rubber-band like energy snapped her back to her hiding place.  Her class is a half hour long, and when there were 10 minutes left, I stood up and joined the girls on the floor.  Within a few minutes, Sylvia was hesitantly skipping with her friends, and then she joined the group for the last five minutes.  They’re all so cute!  I would have loved to get more pictures, but I didn’t want to break the spell for my suddenly-shy dancer.

Celia, on the other hand, was just sparkling with delight that her mom and brother were there.  I’ve rarely seen such a sprightly little dancer.

We weren’t able to find a Monday ballet class for the next session, but Jessica found a pre-tap class on Mondays at the West YMCA.  So the morning after I returned from Jamaica, I picked up some tap shoes for my dancer and we headed over to the Y for her first class.  It’s so cute!  I’ll have to get pictures of the tappin’ girls soon.  Sylvia seems to love these classes, and they sure do bring a smile to my face.  Yay for girls!

Yesterday Sylvia had her 3-year doctor’s appointment.  Her doctor is Catherine Kelley with UW Health/Unity, and we really like her.  However, her office is all the way on the other side of town, and I’m a little weary of hiking all the way over there. In the last seven months/8 or so doctor’s appointments, this is actually just the second time that we’ve seen her.  Soooo if anyone has recommendations for a Unity/UW doctor on the east side of town, let me know!  Specifically, I’m curious about doctors at the Monona Clinic or the McFarland Clinic.  The two clinics are merging this fall and will be just down the street, so I thought I’d try to find someone there.

Sylvia had her eyesight tested at this appointment.  They used a few different shapes (apple/umbrella/house) that she identified.  She came out as 20/30 vision.

Height and weight-wise, she was at the 50th percentile for both.  She weighed in at 30lbs 12 oz and was 37.2″ tall.  She was such a big girl, and did great for the whole exam.  Sylv has had a cold/cough for the last week, and when they checked her ears, they said she had a mild ear infection.   Poor girl.  No antibiotics, though, as they said it should clear up on its own in about the same amount of time that the antibiotics would take.

When Sylv turned 3, we instituted new rules for Poodle and paci.  If you haven’t been around Sylvie, you may now know that she’s intensely attached to her Poodle (blanket) and pacifier.  There are periods when little in the world can calm her like those two comfort items.  In the last year and a half, we’ve tried a few times to limit their use.  We’ve had some short-term success, but have reverted to nearly full-time use when she’s having a hard day.  I’m not really interested in my three-year-old walking around and mumbling through her pacifier.  So we decided that 3-year-olds only use paci and Poodle a) in their rooms b) on the sofa (watching a show)  or c) in the car.  Happily, she’s on-board with this new system.  We’re 5 days into the Poodle & Paci Reduction System and all is well.  When she needs some time with them, she goes to her room.  Then she tosses them behind her as she runs back out into the house.  A few times, we’ve even left home without them.  Gotta say that it makes this mom a little nervous, but it’s been going well.  She’s developed some much stronger abilities to self-soothe, and that, my friends, is a good thing!

These photos of Sylv are taken last weekend when we visited Tom’s in-progress home on the Wisconsin River.  More pics here.  The new 3-year-old is wearing her new purple shoes from Granny and Grandad, her fairy dress from Grandma Jo, and he wings/gloves/wand from me and Bryan.  If you can’t tell, she’s a fan of the new duds:)