This Girl

At least once a day these days I am completely amazed by Sydney, astonished at her capabilities, intelligence, humour and love.  I am feeling the definitive shift of going from primarily meeting her physical needs to finding that her emotional and social needs are coming to the forefront.  She is growing up, there's no denying it.  She is charging ahead with full speed and I am willing the days to slow down.

One of Sydney's latest favourite things is to ask me questions about when she was a baby.  She'll often say "Mom, tell me about when I was a baby" or, more specifically when she was a baby being born in the hospital.  At least once a day I tell her a story about what she was like as a baby, which is most often followed by us sifting through dozens of photos on the computer from when she was born.  It's pretty cool!

Last night while we were lying in bed just about to doze off to sleep she said in a small, sleepy voice: "Mom, when I was a baby how did I get out of your tummy?"  Okay, wasn't thinking that I'd have to answer that question quite so early on.  I paused for a minute wondering if I should just tell her matter-of-factly exactly how she did get here, and then decided that less might be more and simply said "The doctor got you out at the hospital."  She wasn't satisfied with the answer, I could tell.  There was a long pause and then she said, with her eyes half shut, "Tell me about when I was a baby in Hawaii."  Sweet girl!

This past Monday it was pajama day at school.  Syd was very excited to get to wear her PJ's to school, she chose her special pair of ladybug pajamas the night before and laid them out for the big day.  It was super cute seeing all her little buddies wandering around the class in their jammies and bathrobes and slippers!

Syd is fast becoming my right hand gal in the kitchen these days.  She loves rolling dough out more than anything and worked diligently to help me get a pizza together for dinner the other night.  I love that she loves being in the kitchen with me!

I have been making an effort to practice piano with Sydney for at least a few minutes every day.  Some days she's more keen than others, but today she sat for a full twenty minutes at her piano and reviewed every lesson that we've completed since starting formal lessons.

Her piano teacher rewards her with a sticker on the lesson book page when she completes one of the lessons and I have carried that same reward system over into our practicing.  Her piano lesson book is looking more like a sticker album these days than a work book!

All of our out of school activities are winding down for the winter semester.  Today Sydney had her second last swimming lesson before we start up again for the spring session.  She is doing so well with her swimming, swam a good long distance to the instructor after sliding down the slide today!

The kids are learning about Passover in school right now and the story of baby Moses.  Today Sydney told me she wanted to paint a picture of the Nile River.  I love how she retains what she learns so much and that it shows up at home!

We went for a last minute play date to our friend Christina and Jack's house today.  I love their enthusiasm and energy so much, they are such a pleasure to spend time with!  What a nice way to end our day with friends today!

Tried a new recipe for dinner last night, borrowed from my friend Sally, Pesto Pistachio Baked Salmon.  It's super easy, you basically rub pesto over a filet of fresh salmon then dunk the top in chopped pistachios and bake at 350 degrees until done, about 25-30 minutes.

It was quick, delicious and healthy!

Hope you're having a good week both near and far!