Sydney’s friends and family members in New York were all very excited to celebrate her 2nd birthday with her on Saturday, August 15th. Thank you Lola for planning an amazing party at your home. It was phenomenal to see Sydney so happy, comfortable, and confident among so many people who love her dearly. What a fun day!
“I’m so excited for my party today.”
“Yay! I am TWO!”
“Is anybody here yet?”
“It’s Hannah and Samuel! I LOVE Hannah and Samuel!”
“Jill and Remi!”
“I LOVE playing with Remi!”
“Luc! I LOVE Luc!”
“There’s JJ! I LOVE JJ!”
Fun in the sand
Josie with her dad, Bran
A short magic/entertainment show
Courtney, Hannah, and Samuel participating in the show
Lola must wear bunny ears and a tail
Back: Samuel, Jill & Josie, Leslie, Lola, and Regina; Front: Claudine, Alessandra, Francesca, Sydney, Mom, Courtney, Hannah, and Miss Pinky
Alessandra, Claudine, and Francesca
Dave, Courtney, and Jamie
Jeff, Jill, Liz, and Uncle Marty
Sydney & Mom, Courtney & Jamie, Remi & Jill
Alessandra and Sydney (The person guarding Sydney’s life was cropped out!)
Alessandra, Sydney, and Francesca
Alessandra and Sydney
Very happy birthday girl!
JJ getting ready to jump in the pool
Pure joy!
Sydney was thrilled to have Luc right next to her!
Sydney blowing out her candle
Sydney went right for the M&Ms
“I LOVE cake!”
Oji held the piñata on a stick. “Yay Oji!”
Remi took the first few swings
Hannah was next
Then it was Samuel’s turn
Luc (complete with backwards hat and wrap-around shades) was determined to bust the piñata open
Thank you to Sydney’s Aunts, Sharon and Sandy, for sharing more photos from our trip to Washington. Sydney loves to see photos of herself and these photos are great reminders of the fun she had.
Foosball with Dad, Brian, and Erica (8/8/15)
Chatting with Brian (8/6/15)
Playing a game with Dad and Uncle Dave (8/6/15)
Look at me, Grandma! (8/6/15)
With Ally Galoo and Dad (8/6/15)
Walking on the very windy beach with Mom (8/6/15)
Sydney loved seeing two frogs and throwing rocks in the river with Uncle Jim (8/8/15)
At the lake wIth Mom, Aunt Sandy, and Aunt Sharon (8/8/15)
Organizing a Wright family vacation isn’t easy. Everyone has a busy schedule, we live 1,300 miles away, and just going back to the Kent, Washington area where the rest of the family lives gets old. So this summer we planned a trip to the small town of Roslyn, Washington where we rented a large five-bedroom house up in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains.
The trip was very fun. Staying in one house gives Sydney much more time with everyone, which is important as she gets a bit overwhelmed at first with the big group. We walked on an old railroad bed path, played in a local playground, went to the beach at Lake Cle Elum, did a four-mile hike along the Cooper River, went out to eat at a Mexican restaurant, ate meals together in the home, and played lots of games in the rec room.
Sydney gets excited about many things. But she loves people and especially loves everyone in her two families. So for Sydney, this type of vacation where she gets to see all the Wright family relatives she already knows is super fun. And for all of us, it is important to spend time with each other. I am lucky to have a family that enjoys each other!
Sydney enjoyed the ride with Aunt Sandy and Uncle Jim (8/7/15)
Grandpa, Grandma, and their grandchildren Erica, Brian, and Sydney (8/8/15, Roslyn, WA)
Uncle Jim, Grandpa, Grandma, Dad, Sydney, and Uncle Dave (8/8/15)
Wright Family (Brian, Aunt Sandy, Dave, Grandpa, Uncle Jim, Grandma, Dad, Sydney, Mom, Aunt Sharon and Erica) on Wright Ave in Cle Elum, WA (8/8/15)
Dad and Sydney playing foosball in the house rec room.
Walk on the Coal Mines Trail in Roslyn, Washington with Aunt Sandy and Mom
Sydney is TWO years old! When someone recently asked Sydney what she wanted for her birthday she said, “My friends.” So, on Sunday, August 2nd we celebrated Sydney’s 2nd birthday (two days early) with her friends, her two Coloradan cousins, and her Lola and Popa at Great Play in Colorado. Sydney had a great time! The following day, Sydney wanted to go to the zoo and on Sydney’s actual birthday she wanted to play at the park. Sydney had a fun-filled three days with her Lola and Popa in town.
Playing in the ball pit before her friends arrived at Great Play (8/2/15)
Jumping with Popa
Bubbles!
Trying to catch bubbles with her friends (Samantha, Martha, Ella, and Evelyn) and cousins (Wyatt and Henry)
Dancing with mom
Medals
Balloons (with Evelyn, Henry, and Wyatt)
Eating a banana bread muffin. (Sydney’s favorite) Yum!
Blowing out the candles (with help from Lola) 8/2/15
The following night, Sydney decided she wanted to look like a princess
Sydney will be TWO next week! At 23 months, Sydney is sweet, fun, funny, friendly, bold, energetic, enthusiastic, loving, sharp and sassy.
On a rainy day, Sydney was excited to wear her raincoat and she insisted on wearing her snow boots, in case there were big puddles outside (7/8/15)
Sydney is quite the social butterfly. She makes new friends almost everywhere she goes.
Sharing her snack with her new Russian friend Mika at the park (7/26/15)
Sydney squeezed her way in between a boy and his sister at the library story time (7/15/15)
Sydney enjoyed playing with mom’s friend Marissa who was in town for work at CU (7/14)
Sydney is doing quite well with a fork and a spoon (although she still prefers to eat with her hands).
When she stabbed her watermelon, at this meal, she would say, “You have to go like this!”
Sydney is hiding her fork in her lap, but every time she stabbed her food with her fork, at this meal, she said “Look, I did it! Yay Sydney!” (7/19)
Sydney loves pretend play (doctor, school, mailman, horse groomer etc). She is still using mostly her LEFT hand for writing, drawing, and eating (and horse grooming).
Grooming her horse (7/22/15)
Using a swiffer duster to clean her horse (7/22/15)
Sydney said, “I need my crown to ride the horse.” (Clothing is not necessary.)
Sydney loves to listen to music and play on Pearl Street Mall.
Playing on the rocks (7/22/15)
Riding the one-tentacled snail (7/25/15)
Hanging out on Pearl Street with Samantha (7/25/15)
Many kids do not like holding hands, so Sydney and Samantha are a good match (7/25/15)
When Sydney opens a book or a magazine, she says “It says…. ” and then she makes something up. She has a great imagination
Sydney loves to climb on the equipment “for big kids” and say “I DID IT! I can do it ALL BY MYSELF!” (Wankea Lake Park, 7/24/15)
In the ball pit at Great Play (7/11/15)
Sydney loves her pink princess costume
and she chose to wear it out to dinner that night (7/28/15)
Sydney is a good conversationalist. She loves to talk and she often says things that are funny or interesting, so I began to take note:
Sydney likes to tell stories. Here is my favorite story to date: “Once upon a time there was a little girl named mommy who lived in New York City. Then she became a lady and had a little girl named Sydney and a little boy named Daddy.”
Sydney loves to repeat facts that she learns. She loves to remind us “You are supposed to say HE if it’s a boy and SHE if it’s a girl!”
Sydney will grab my phone and say, “Hold on, I just need to send a text.” She doesn’t really know what that means so she puts the phone to her ear and says, “Hello?”
“Hold on… let me just… ” is one of her favorite expressions.
We were about to go meet friends at a restaurant we had never been to, so at the same time Allan and I both decided to look up the menu online. Sydney said, “What are you guys googling? I want to google something.”
“Daddy, you forgot your shirt! You need a shirt! Go, get a shirt, Dad.” (Upon seeing Allan without a shirt on.)
“Mommy, I do not want you to wrap it in a paper towel. Holding it in a paper towel is no fun at all!” (Referring to a frozen tube of yogurt that is so cold it’s difficult to hold without a wrapper.)
Sydney changed her favorite color from pink to purple and then back to pink again. When I said, “What happened to Purple?” She said, “It fell over!”
One night as I was getting Sydney ready for bed, she asked for water, so I tried yelling down to Allan, but he did not respond. I said, “He can’t hear me” and Sydney said, “Mommy, maybe you should try opening the door?”
Sydney loves the word “actually.” She uses it constantly. “Actually…. I don’t want blueberries. I want strawberries.”
After I told Sydney she could be anything she wants to be when she is older, she said, “I want to be a dentist when I’m older.” We have already been to three different dentists because (having despised the dentist when I was a child) I wanted to compare the options and choose the best possible one. Sydney cried every time the dentists looked in her mouth, but she enjoyed the overall experience and she was always very excited about going. (Ironically, I also wanted to be a dentist when I was young.)
Sydney constantly asks “What is that?” or “What are those?” and then she repeats the answer over and over. One day we walked down the Pearl Street mall with her repeating “Girls get boobs when they become ladies. Girls get boobs when they become ladies….”
Also, on the Pearl Street Mall (or at a park) Sydney likes to yell “Mommy, Daddy, chase me!”
Sydney is incredibly sweet with her dolls (“friends”). She has a few baby dolls that came with diapers and bottles and she loves to change their diapers and feed them. When I said, “Sydney, you are a very good mommy!” Sydney said, “Mommy, you are a very good mommy!” and “Daddy, you are a very good daddy!” (MELTS our hearts!)
Sydney also likes to say, “I want a BIG, GIANT hug!” (Best thing ever!)
Lunch at Lake Cle Elum
