Dora

Sydney has discovered Dora.  She didn't like Dora at first, but now she asks for it instead of super why.  She calls Dora Gaga.  So I asked her if she wanted to watch Dora.  Her response was Gaga! And boobies!   I'm pretty sure she meant Boots, but either way I think I'm going to like this new learning words phase.

Pregnant Lady Quotes

I had forgotten a few choice quotes from early on in this pregnancy.  I don't remember the context but my favorite quote is "My tired hurts."  Last night Cherilyn was describing the discomfort in her ribs from Spawnie moving back and forth all the time.  Her quote.  "This baby must have your butt."

Things Overheard at a Small-town Burger King

Father:  Stop running around like a hillbilly.
Son:  You're not the boss of me.
Father: Wanna bet?
Son: One Dollar!

Ketchup Implements

We are on the road to South Dakota right now.  After a fruitless half hour of searching we discovered a monarchy.  Yes that's right.  Burger King.  We got Sydney chicken strips.  Then we came to the choice of fries or apple slices.  We know she will eat the fries, but we should be responsible parents and give her the healthy option.  We went with the apples.  Yet it didn't matter.  She has used all of her food tonight for one purpose.  Chicken, fries, and yes even apples were all turned into implements with which to get ketchup close to her face. 

Graduation Fun

Last night was Cherilyn's clinic's resident graduation.  It was at a swanky country club so we dressed Sydney up and went out for some fun.  Usually the graduation is on Wednesdays but this year it was Thursday, so it didn't conflict with softball.  I was looking forward to seeing a lot of the residents.  Unfortunately, when we got there Cherilyn was immediately called to a delivery.  So Sydney and I sat and she ate all the berries the state of Minnesota had produced in the last season.  Without Cherilyn there to tag team I wasn't really able to socialize, but we were still looking forward to the presentations after dinner.  As they started to the program Sydney was getting cranky, so I pulled her up on my lap so that I could distract her as we clapped for everyone.  As we were clapping I suddenly noticed a sticky substance on my hands.  Looking down I discovered that this substance had a disgustingly sweet poop aroma to it.  And it was not only on my hands but also on my pants, tie, shirt and sleeve.  Lovely.  So I set Sydney down to pick up the diaper bag which was in a slight state of disarray.  She realized my moment of distraction and weakness and sprinted through all the tables to the back of the room.  So I collected my poo covered self and chased her down, hoping that the dim lights and dinner smells would hide the fact that I was covered in feces.  I got her out of the banquet hall, and went to the bathroom.  Of course the bathroom which was pristine, had extra thick paper towels, and a coat room before entering had no changing table.  Delightful.  Well done country club.  I guess for only $40,000 a year for membership, you can't afford a changing table.  So we headed outside to the van.  Luckily enough they were doing construction on the parking lot so we had to navigate our way through the construction workers and attempt to not fall into and holes in the sidewalk.  So we have finally arrived at mordor with the one ring....ahem dirty diaper.  I finally got her changed in the van.  Sydney was remarkably unpoop covered.  Just a small smattering on her dress that wiped off simply.  I looked even worse in the sunlight, but Cherilyn assured me that you couldn't notice anything in the dim light once we were back inside.  Somehow she had returned from the hospital and gotten inside without us seeing her during our long Odyssey.  Those pregnant ladies can be so stealthy.  We headed home shortly after that since it was well past bedtime.  What an adventure.  This weekend we are going to go visit GG, so we will be having fun in the South Dakota sun.  As an epilogue to the story, this morning we were taking Odin to the vet.  So I got Sydney up and went to change her diaper right away.  No surprises here.  Just a normal diaper change.  Until I attempted to put on her shorts.  At this point all the fiber from the 7 metric tons of fruit that she ate last night decided to inform me that it was time for a forceful bowel movement.  So forceful that it directed itself directly onto my hands and wrists.  Yet again Sydney's clothes were amazingly unscathed.  At this point I've washed my hands so much that my nose has trouble delineated between the smell of soap and poo.  Which as I'm sure anyone could imagine gets in the way of any kind of appetite.  Just as long as this is all taken care of before our 6 hour car ride. 

How she rolls

Her new favorite item is sunglasses.  She likes to wear them everywhere.  She calls them her eyes, which seems very fashionable.

Faker

We are out to dinner right now.  Sydney started coughing a little bit as she was eating.  I patted her on the back to help her out.  She immediately got a huge smile on her face.  This started the greatest display of fake coughing ever observed in modern history.  And remember, I don't deal in hyperbole.  She loved it.  Fake cough...pat pat pat....fake cough....pat pat pat.  Best game ever!

Zoo Day

Sydney's day care group was going to the zoo today.  So I came along with them in the morning.  It was better than last week when we went to the zoo.  All the animals were asleep last week, and there were 4 or 5 schools there on field trips.  Today the animals were active and only one group was there.  The Orangutans entertained us by putting on t-shirts and wrestling for a polo shirt.  The gorillas did some chest pounding, and we got to see Sparky the seal put on a show.  I also overheard some amusing things.  A mom and her son were walking by the big horn sheep pen.  She said "Look at the Ram", without missing a beat he responded "Dodge Ram 1500."  Then mere moments later at the same pen, a grandfather and his grandson were looking at the Big Horn Sheep.  "Is the sheep a boy or a girl grandpa?"  "It's a boy. His ding-a-ling is dangling."  Spectacular!  Another delightful sight was a woman leading a group of about 10 children wearing a shirt that said "Beer 4 Ever."  It's not just the animals that are fun to see at the zoo.  Sydney had fun seeing the animals.  She got kind of crabby toward the end, but overall it was a fun day.  My favorite part was at the seal show when Sydney and the little girl next to us starting jamming out as The Final Countdown played.  Unfortunately the camera broke today so I couldn't video it.  Just imagine some epic dancing, and there you go.

What did she say?

I love when kids say words that are completely innocent, but sound like cuss words.  Cherilyn tells me the story about Dan when he was younger attempting to say fire truck.  It came out more like "Fire (For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge)".  Sydney was trying to get into her red buggy just now.  Of course she was also trying to squeeze in with 2 dolls and a soccer ball.  This made it very difficult for her to get in and close the door. I'm pretty sure she was trying to say "I'm stuck", but it sounded like "Oh (Rooster)!"  I think I scared her when I started laughing really hard. 

It has been amazing how much her vocabulary grows everyday.  She has a set of stackable boxes now.  She loves to knock them over and she has learned to say "Fall Down".  She says her pacifier fell down out of the crib.  Her food fell down off the table.  She's transitioning phrases to other situations correctly.  She has also this week started to want to walk downstairs facing forwards.  Which is fine with me because it is the only time that she will let me hold her hand as we walk.  I know I've said this before but I'm going to try to post more regularly than once a month.  Here are some pictures of Sydney trying on my socks yesterday.