After months of talking about getting her haircut, Sydney was finally ready. Last weekend, I asked Sydney to pick a day for us to go and she said “Maybe Wednesday or Friday.” So, Wednesday, November 18 was the big day. Sydney loved her experience at Jack and Jill Children’s Salon with mom and Lola, who is in town for a few days. I took TONS of photos:
Sydney brought Ally, who also needed a haircut!
Sydney watched two boys get their hair cut before it was her turn.
Sydney and Ally waited very patiently until it was their turn.
Sydney was so glad to have her Lola with her.
Sydney loved the idea of sitting in a car/truck while getting her haircut. She was very excited about getting into one of the cars. First, she chose the red firetruck.
Then, she changed her mind (very characteristic of Sydney) and switched to the yellow Hummer.
Ally got to sit in the red firetruck and Sydney liked her pink cape!
Checking herself out in the mirror
Spray!
Getting ready…
Still having fun…
Snip, snip, snip… while Sydney tried to drive the car
Ashley, the hairdresser, put on the movie Frozen, hoping it would help Sydney sit still. It captured Sydney’s attention for about 20 seconds. Sydney is not familiar with the movie. She has yet to watch a movie/television show, but she has seen several youtube videos that she LOVES watching, so…
Sydney held Lola’s phone and she was enthralled by youtube videos featuring “the wheels on the bus” (six different versions), “five little ducks,” “five little monkeys,” etc.
Sydney really liked the hair dryer!
Checking out her new ‘do
Is it even?
Smiley mirror photo
Ally watches Sydney. Ally will be next.
Sydney is 100% focused on “Baa Baa Black Sheep”
Ashley asked Sydney if she wanted a braid. Sydney would have said yes to anything knowing it meant she could continue to watch youtube videos.
Sydney liked the braid
But, singing animals and children are more fun to watch.
And, finally, little Ally gets a bit of a trim as well.
This is one of my favorites for a number of reasons:
Note she is supposed to be facing the table and eating breakfast but she happily is turned around singing to herself.
Great hand motions showing “yum, yum, yum, yum, yum yum”.
Note she starts at one frog in this version and then goes to none (sounds like nine). Then she pauses to think to herself and comes to the conclusion “If there are none on the log, then none jumped into the pool.” THEN she stops again to figure out if none were on the log and none jumped into the pool, there can’t be any more on the log and makes up her own ending, “all the speckled frogs were in the pool.”
Many months before Halloween, Sydney let us know she wanted to dress up as a princess this year. Sydney has several princess costumes to choose from, so I thought we were all set. A couple of days before Halloween, when it was time to get ready for music class, where the children were all going to wear their costumes, Sydney let me know that she did not want to be a princess for Halloween. Instead, Sydney wanted to be a ladybug. Fortunately, I saved her ladybug costume from last year and it still fits.
Halloween was a fun-filled day. Sydney’s first EVER trick-or-treating experience was at the Denver Zoo (BOO at the ZOO) with her cousins Wyatt and Henry.
The little ladybug was very excited for her first trick-or-treating experience, at the zoo, with her two cop cousins
And she’s off…
Sydney LOVES hugs! And, Wyatt is a sweetheart!
Two very sweet, very happy cousins!
Sometimes Sydney hugs very tightly. She was practically putting Wyatt in a headlock. Fortunately, Wyatt thought it was hilarious!
Sydney and Henry
Sydney loved watching Wyatt hang!
About a month before Halloween, Sydney (who has been through several phases of wanting to use the potty and not wanting to use the potty) was (and still is!) consistently wanting to use the potty, so we started a new potty sticker chart where Sydney adds a sticker after she uses the potty each time. When she completes a row, Sydney gets to pick a reward.
Mom: “What would you like for a reward? Do you want to go to the toy store and pick something?”
Sydney: “No, I don’t want to go to the toy store. I want to go to the zoo…. and I want to go with Wyatt and Henry!”
[Insert beaming mom face!]
After the zoo, we went home for lunch and a bit of “quiet time” (which is never actually “quiet”). Then it was time to get ready for the annual Munchkin Masquerade on Pearl Street Mall.
The ladybug is ready to go!
C’mon Mom and Dad… Let’s go!
Having walked around the entire zoo (and to and from the car) that morning (Sydney refused to get in the stroller), the little ladybug needed a ride from her dad.
First, we stopped to watch the children’s orchestra, performing in costume.
“Happy Halloween!”
After a bit of trick-or-treating, it was time for a break. Since she wasn’t familiar with most of the candy in her bucket, Sydney choose to eat the kids Clif Bar.
Sydney liked sitting on the RTD bus, which was parked on Pearl Street for the children. Sydney took the opportunity to rest and take a look inside her bucket.
Sydney got to “drive” a police car!
That was fun… time to go home and eat dinner!
Here is a comparison of the ladybug now (Halloween 2015) and then (Halloween 2014):
I wasn’t sure how Sydney would react to the candy she collected. Highly aware of the research that shows detrimental effects of depriving children of sweets (and having counseled several overweight, food-obsessed adults who were deprived as children), I make a conscious effort to include (healthier versions of) sweet desserts several times a week. But, Sydney hadn’t been exposed to the packaged candy that is synonymous with Halloween.
At the zoo, the most exciting item (and probably the only item Sydney recognized) in her trick-or-treating bag was the animal crackers. Sydney asked to eat those, in the car, on the way home from the zoo, and then she never mentioned the bag or its contents again. While trick-or-treating on Pearl Street, Sydney ate a kids Clif Bar, some dried fruit, and two mini twizzlers from her bucket. After we ate dinner, Sydney asked for something else from the bucket. She picked another kids Clif Bar. After that, she was full. We talked about picking something every night, but she never mentioned it again. The following night, after dinner:
Mom: “Who wants dessert?”
Sydney raised her hand. (She likes to raise her hand to answer questions.)
Allan raised his hand.
Mom: “Okay, we have three options… the first option is frozen chocolate covered bananas…”
Sydney: “Yes! I want those!”
Mom: “Don’t you want to hear the other options?” (The second option was going to be Halloween candy.)
Sydney: “No, I don’t care about the other options. I want frozen chocolate bananas!”
Sydney enjoys painting. She almost always uses her left hand to paint and draw, but when asked which hand she prefers to use, she says “both!” It might still be too early to tell, but it’s very possible that Sydney is a lefty. The photos below were taken at our last class at the Friends School, on Wednesday, October 21. Sydney painted (while carrying a baby around her neck) with a Q-tip and neon colors.
The artist is easily distracted by her friend Lottie, who is decorating a pumpkin.
Sydney chimes in… (She likes to engage with her peers!)
Sydney paints quickly. She announces when a painting is complete, she asks for more paper, and she is on to the next one!
Sydney likes to make circles!
The artist is focused
Posing for the camera
That baby around Sydney’s neck is doing a great job of hanging on!
Sydney was happy to move over so Lottie could paint next to her.
