Happy Birthday, Sydney!

Sydney had her first year check up today. She is 30" tall (75th percentile) and 20.5 lbs (5oth percentile). She had to have 4 vaccines and didn't like it one bit, but was back to her normal, happy self soon afterwards. The doctor said she is doing really well developmentally and is right on track. Erich and I think she will be walking unassisted before her 15 month check up in March. On a related note, she has at least 3 teeth coming in top...that will make 9! They are really giving her problems sleeping. It's been a rough few weeks at naptime and bedtime.

I can't help but wonder if she will keep her enthusiasm for people as she grows. People love to say hi to her and she continues to attract attention where ever we go...and she loves it! She is quite outgoing and friendly.

We went to see Santa yesterday for her birthday. She wasn't really scared of Santa, but was a little put off by his beard. She reached out to touch it before she was placed on his lap. We didn't get a good smile until it was over and she was back in my arms and Santa gave her a candy cane.

We got our family holiday pictures a few weeks ago. Sydney had not had much sleep the night before and wouldn't nap so we were happy we got a few good photos.

The family starts coming in tomorrow, so I probably won't be blogging for a while. We wish you all happy holidays, a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. See you soon!

Deck the halls!!

We got our Christmas tree put up this weekend. We bought a new tree this year, a pre-lit one! I didn't even know they made them like that. We had been using an inexpensive tree I picked up at an after Christmas sale 6 years ago. Christmas tree technology has advanced quite a lot since then! :D

Sydney put the first decoration on the tree....

and here it is.

Our family room is ready for Santa Claus!

Simon (and Sebastian) also love Christmas.

Sydney and her daddy love to play :)

Family Time

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and made some wonderful memories. The last few weeks were very busy for us. We have had the opportunity to introduce Sydney to more of her cousins, aunts and uncles and visit some fun places while the weather was still good enough to be outside. Here are some photos of our adventures in the last few weeks.

We visited Washington D.C. and Sydney fell asleep, even in biting cold wind. The White House and North Lawn are behind her :)

We saw the First Dog out walking with a S.S. agent. Pretty cool.

Out for a walk.

At the Maryland Zoo with cousins Lauren and Abbi.

Feeding giraffes at the zoo.

Doh!

Re-adoption day

Yesterday was Sydney's re-adoption hearing and things went as expected. Our adoption petition was approved and she is now OFFICIALLY Sydney Ann Keough and recognized as our legal daughter by the state of Maryland. We are now awaiting her new birth certificate. I can't believe the hoops we had to jump through just to get that darn birth certificate. But we can't do anything without it.

I wish we had remembered to bring the camera, but we didn't so it will be one of those things we will have to try to remember. Anyway, it was a very nice day because it was National Adoption Day in Prince George's County (our county). After the hearings, they had a ceremony and presentation with speakers and they presented the children with gifts from the court. She got teddy bears, clothes and gift cards.

It was very a nice and unexpectedly touching experience. All of the other adoptions were either foster care adoptions or step parent adoptions. It was nice to see people stepping up to fill the gap in all those children's lives.

Well, since we forgot the camera, here is a picture of Sydney's first time using the spoon to try to feed herself.

Time keeps on slippin'..

We are two weeks away from our 2 month anniversary with our Sydney being home. The time has just flown! We are not taking any moments for granted and relish our time with our wonderful, silly little girl. Sydney has a great sense of humor and loves to laugh, both at us and herself. She is bonding and attaching to us wonderfully. It is such a joy that she now puts her arms out to us and wants to come back to us if someone else holds her. The other day she said "daddy" and put her arms out for him to take her. I don't think Erich could have been more touched or happier.

Sydney has been making some great strides lately. She has started waving when we say Hi and Bye. She has been pulling herself up and taking a few steps to the side. Her sign language is becoming apparent. Her most used sign is "eat". She does it to tell us she is hungry or when she is eating or sees us eating. We are working on "milk". She is practicing it, but hasn't yet used it consistently. She uses her own sign for "more", which is basically clapping. It is similar to the actual sign which is made by pushing the tips of the fingers together, but I think it is too precise for her to make yet. But she has the idea and will continue to learn and use more signs with time, we are sure.

Here are a few pictures from the last couple of weeks.

Play time

Sydney and Simon sleeping with Daddy

Fun in the tub

Our little pixie!

At cousin Lauren's soccer game.

Our first Halloween together

We aren't big Halloween-ers, so we spent the day out doing a bit of shopping, then had a quiet night at home....no kids came around this year looking for candy, even though I thought for sure we would get a few. It was a rainy night, but that never stopped us when we were kids! So we got to eat popcorn and watch "Night of the Living Dead" and my live ghost hunting shows uninterrupted! :D

Here are some Halloween themed photos, just for fun :)

Sydney is our little ghost hunter. Here she is doing a bit of "ghost hunting" and learning some new "equipment" .

Here Sydney is in her Halloween "costume".

And here is a link to some ghostly history of the Oaklands plantation, the site where our house was built: http://www.prairieghosts.com/oaklands.html

Kind of interesting :)