Sydney {3 years old}

Sydney turned 3 years old on June 9th!  It was a big year for her, she became a big sister, she went from saying very basic sentences that were usually repeated to having ideas, thoughts and opinions of her own.  She learned to ride her bike (trike) all by herself, and learned to dress herself.  She got really excited about holidays this year (she still sometimes asks about driving by "dancing Santa" on the way to school), and also started forming friendships.  She learned to use the potty last October and has been in undies all day and night since.  She transitioned to a Big Girl bed.  We played in the snow for the first time, she finally loves the beach.  She had her first hair cut and we let her watch her first movie (Finding Dory- at home)!



Family at Sydney's Pink Party!

Sydney still loves books. She loves the books we have in Charlie's room, she love the books we have in her room, she loves Library books, and any book Brian and I are reading.  She will sit and read books by herself and she know a lot of words to a lot of books.  More recently, we've been checking out some longer books, like "Nate the Great" books at the library and she will sit and listen to the whole story, even with very few photos in the book.  She is a bookworm.

 

We've gone through phases with her Baby doll this year.  Baby's name is Baby Lederman and he is the 3rd kid in the family.  When we are in a baby phase, which we usually are, Baby does everything with us and is always in Sydney's arms.  She mimics everything we do with Charlie with Baby.  She will rock him to sleep, sing to him, change his clothes or find a jacket for him when we are leaving.  She used to change his stinking diapers until he was potty trained.  Now, sometimes Baby has to use the potty. Baby stays in the car, but  whatever we are doing, Baby is doing too.  If we're going to Gym class, Baby will also be going to his "gym class" in the car.  When we get back, she will ask Baby about what he did and if he had fun.  Her imagination is incredible.  For her birthday, Sydney received a Cinderella doll and a (creepy) Elsa doll (who she insists on calling Anna) and Baby has kind of taken a back seat.

Baby being put to sleep
(+ her sense of style - lol)

 We are currently in an exclusive pink dress phase.  We are going strong on over 2 full months of only wearing a pink dress during the day, and to bed.  Most of the time, it's layered with pink pants/shorts/skirt and sometimes a pink shirt, or a second pink dress.  This girl loves pink.  She requested a pink birthday party with pink cupcakes.  We asked everyone to wear pink, which was so fun.  For her birthday, she told MarMe she wanted "something pink" that was "a girl toy".  She wanted pancakes for breakfast, lasagna for dinner and pink cupcakes.

Our Pink Girl with a pink treat

Sydney has taken to the role as Big Sister really well.  She loves Charlie and has been really incredible with him.  She loves to make him laugh and can make him belly laugh harder than anyone.  She is typically really patient with him and good at sharing toys and food.  I was also surprised at how well she got excited and celebrated his milestones in his first years.  She is a proud big sister and is looking forward to Charlie going to her school starting next week.

 

She still likes to help wash Charlie in the bath
(I have the washcloth in the wrong spot for a photo)

Sydney has a bestie at school, Hannah.  They have been playing princess together ever since Hannah got back from Disneyland.  They are Cinderella and Ariel, which I find really funny because Sydney actually has no idea who they are (that I know of!).  It's really cute, they have their castle at school and sometimes their other buddy, Prince Edison, will drive them to their castle on the trikes.  It's so awesome to see the friendships forming and see how they can play with each other now.  It's not just Hannah either, when we go over to other people's houses, or they come to ours, the big kids will now just run off and play together.  The shy phase seems to have passed, at least for now.



Hannah and Sydney at Sydney's birthday party

It's not possible to share all my favorite photos from a year, but here are a few: 

 

Exploring tide pools at Sea Ranch
She would not put her feet on the sand this trip (4th of July, 20160

Matching Dada

Just chilling at the brewery in Bend last Summer

Sydney loved this big Annie doll that was mine when I was little
My mom made her and all her clothes

Bubbles are magical

Playing with Dada in Healdsburg

Jumping in "muddy puddles" like Peppa Pig

smooches for Charlie

Mama & Sydney

Sydney loved the Annie doll so much, she dressed as Annie for Halloween.
The dress is actually the dolls dress that my mom made

Pancake date! One day Sydney's school was closed but Charlie's wasn't

Visiting Dada at work and looking at the big buildings.
We're pretty sure she thinks all Brian does at work is eat cheese and oranges

Helping feed Charlie

Sydney did 1 season of soccer this year - it was so cute and made mama proud

We went to Tahoe and the kids got to play in the snow.
Sydney was obsessed with sledding

And then we reapplied the face & hair to a snowman
She loved the snow clothes

First haircut - she was perfect

Wrestling with Charlie - they always do this together and with us

Hanging with cousin Billy

fun with Dada

Bubble hat

Bama took Sydney to Peppa Live
She was over the moon excited

We went on a trip to Monterey and visited the Aquarium
Sydney asked Brian to take this photo of her in front of the fish

Sydney loves scissors and cutting (it's the only thing she does right handed)
I think it's so funny how she cuts ribbon on presents

Charlie, Sydney, Audrey and Billy on Easter

Our sweet girl

family selfie

Matching grins

On Mother's Day we went on a little hike and had a picnic

Then we made strawberry ice cream.  Sydney wanted to sit and watch it the whole time (it takes 30 min)
She couldn't wait for her pink ice cream

Master at making her brother laugh

One day when school was closed Sydney and I went to the beach in Alameda with her pal Anton and his mom
It was So. Much. Fun.  They ran back and forth from the water to our blanket the whole time.

Bestie Sophia at Gym Class. These girls now go to class all by themselves

She loves her olives
And loves this trick Grandpa Billy taught her

Sharing her water with Charlie

This is her safe distance for feeding the goats

Sydney got her own pair of chopsticks and she loves using them

For her birthday, MarMe and I took her to get a pedicure.
She had been talking about getting pink nails for months, with a white flower.
Now, every bath night she give me the run down at how many pink nails are left

Big birthday gift

Billy really wanted her to open his gift at the party

Sydney crashed after her birthday party.
It was so much excitement and sugar.
She had 2 juice boxes and we have never given her a juice before

Playing with Charlie at school

If you ask, she will tell you she is 3, and if you drive down the main road that near the park where we had her birthday party, she will notice and say "that's the park we had my party at. Everyone wore pink".  It's incredible how much she has learned in 3 years.  We couldn't love her anymore.