Sydney Turns 4

Sydney turned 4 over Spring Break last week. She's was such a lucky girl that Grandma Pack came all the way from Texas to celebrate the whole week with us! Sydney loved being able to show her all her toys and have a constant playmate for a whole week! She wasn't even interested in Mom and Wynn ;). More on the rest of our visit later. Sydney decided she wanted a "Tiger Cat" party this year. I have no idea where she got the idea, but it turned out really fun. Andy helped me make her a tiger cake, and we had safari themed games, complete with real Safari guests - Kiwi and Bandit. They were even calm enough to let a few of her friends pet them.

Sydney loves any kind of treasure hunts or exploring, so we decided the main activity would be a safari hunt. She and her friends decorated binoculars and animal masks for the safari and then got to search around the house for the animals escaped from the zoo. Sydney had a really fun fourth birthday and is so proud now that she is four. She's been going through all her clothes and pointing out which ones says four and saying that she can wear them now because she's a big four year old. At her four year check up she was 39 inches tall (34 percentile) and 32 lbs (24 percentile). My favorite thing about Sydney right now is that she likes to wink. Whenever she has showed me something she's proud of she smiles and winks. Happy Birthday Sydney!

Faux Spring

A few weeks back it really warmed up... for Juneau! We went on our first mini hike across the snow to Eagle River Cove. Wynn constantly wants to splash and play in the water, but is willing to settle for throwing rocks for a few minutes. It only reiterated how much Wynn needed baby rainboots, which I finally found him! They are so cute and tiny. Shoe is one of his favorite words, and if he ever sees them, he has to wear them. We've also played at a few parks and outside with some friends. Wynn LOVES slides, and Sydney seems to have figured out swinging herself better. The snow if back for the time being, but we're exacted for summer to come! For my memory Wynn's current words are: Ma, Dada, Sy, Cat, Hot, Shoe, Sock, Uh-Oh, Sit, More, She (fish), Caw (bird), Dae-doo (Thank you), Chop Chop (helicopter), Door, Is it? (For where or what is it), Whats that?, and a few more that I'm not sure if it was just a fluke! :)

Skiing

 Sydney's preschool does an annual trip up the Eaglecrest Ski Lodge every year. All the kids get a ski lesson and then the adults who want to can stay up and ski with them the rest of the day. I was NERVOUS for Sydney because she doesn't do well with strangers and sometimes complains a lot if something is physically strenuous. I decided to get a sitter for Wynn and go up for support. They asked the parents to stay away for the first hour and a half of the lesson, so I even got to get a few runs in myself. Wow! I hadn't skiied in a long time and never in such deep, heavy powder. I did okay and never fell, but boy was I out of practice :). Sydney did really well though. She didn't put up a fuss when they got her in all her gear and happily left with her teacher. When I got back to the lodge I was worried because I could see her sitting on the ground next to the fence, but soon she got back up and when she came in for snack, she said she was just taking a little break. She got the biggest smile everytime they helped her start skiing down the hill and told me it was like "sliding on her feet." She still has some work to do to get a good "pizza shape" and come to a stop all on her own, but I'm optimistic and more confident in our ability to take us by ourselves now. The only problem is getting a sitter for Wynn!

Sydney has an awesome stink-eye... but don't let it fool you, she was actually happy.

Here she is toward the back getting ready to push off toward the instructor