Sydney's got mad skills!

Ok...so Sydney is such a ham for us at home but it seems time and time again when we ask her
to show off for someone she hasn't seen in awhile, she gets real shy. We ask her to show off what she knows and she clams up. I figured I would try to get some of her smarts on video. These are only a few of the many signs and animal sounds she has in her little bag of tricks.
Understand that "baby signs" as they are called are not all derived from the American Sign Language. It is just a way to talk with your baby before your baby can talk. It's so cool to see the comprehension babies have. Things you would never know they understood until months likely years later, with "baby signs" they show you what they know. For instance, when I left for work today I had a plastic cup in my hand. I was saying my goodbyes and Parker kept showing me the sign for flower. I was confused until I looked down and saw that there was a flower on my plastic cup. When we read books or they see things in our daily lives, they let you know that they know what you are saying.
Sydney now signs for more, all done, food, drink, fish, flower, dog, bird, kangaroo, spider, crab, duck, pig, elephant. She makes sounds for some owl and monkey. On and on.
Like I said in the last blog. Parker is surprising us every day with the things he has picked up along the way, too, He just isn't as much of a show off with these things. He uses them practically. Check this out! Just turn your head to the left. It's well worth the neck ache.

Since Parker started walking, Sydney has been working hard too. She sees how fast her brother is getting around and the excitment surrounding it. She will now walk with you only holding one hand and is starting to stand without holding on. Not too long and we will have two toddlers headed in different directions! Scary thought!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

Parker---Ready Set Go!

Parker started walking while we were on vacation.
He has been taking a few steps here and there for awhile but this week he actually started walking. Watch out world...Parker is on the move!
He is so proud of himself!
I caught some video, but silly me...I had the camera turned the wrong way and didn't realize until I uploaded it that you can't rotate video the way you can rotate a still pic. Sorry!
If you turn you head to the left...you can see it just fine! Ha!


Parker has also continued to learn more and more animal sounds. The problem he only says them when he feels like it so it is difficult to catch on camera.
He can show you his belly button. He can make sounds for a cat, dog. monkey, and bee. He signs for fish and flowers.
He is still obsessed with airplanes. He also likes to make engine noises whenever he hears or sees a car or truck.
He did the cutest thing the other day. We had just returned from vacation and my mom and I were playing with them in their room. Parker turned to me, "bzzzzz....bzzzzz" I looked down and saw that he was holding a love bug in between his little fingers!! He learned about bees and the sound they make on vacation and he made that connection with his new find. Incredible!!!

Heaven on Earth

So here we are driving to one of our favorite places in the world. Its a long drive and with two 13 month olds in tow, it seems to work best when we drive through the night. Don't get me wrong..it would be impossible to sleep with the anticipation of getting there. "There" is Lake Lure, North Carolina. Our first real family vacation--just the four of us. It will be tough with all the extra help Nana provides but this is something we all need. We will cross through Georgia and into South Carolina. This trek from Eastern to Western South Carolina seems to go on forever. Finally we reach North Carolina and then and only then do we see the mountains in the distance. Those dark shadows I wait so anxiously to see. Its like the prize at the end of the great race. Dark windy roads. Oh look theres the Indian Rock. That means we are getting very close. And then after 8 1/2 hours we have arrived. Heaven on Earth. Time to hurry up and get the kids back into bed so we can catch a few hours of sleep before our days begins. Mmmmmmmm...that cabin smell..pine. We wake up. Coffee on the front porch. It's actually spring here. The leaves on the trees are so new that they are a mix of yellow and green. The dogwoods in bloom everywhere.
If you haven't seen western North Carolina in the spring, you are truly missing out on one of lifes wonders. This is a place where you can drive and drive. You actually enjoy driving. Spacious farms..acres and acres of green. Oh and you know know those fences where they pile wood on top of wood and somehow manage to make a fence. Oh and so quiet. I must admit I took advantage of the kids naptime and took a nap on the front porch swing. Cool breeze blowing. Just the right temp. Ahhhhhhh.
Window shopping on Main Street in Hendersonville. The people are so friendly and welcoming. Talkative..Patrick loves that. We go to the Mast General Store. Browse all the toys. The toys of yester year. You know..a real jack in the box. Wind up chattering teeth. Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls. Curious George. And the candy. Like an old fashioned candy store. Barrells full of anything you can think of. You can buy it in bulk. Pez, lemon heads, sugar daddys, atomic
fireballs, fruit stripes gum,Now and Laters candy. On and on. We pick up a Coke a Cola in a glass bottle. Oh we cant leave without a visit to the Chocolate factory. Need some homemade fudge for the ride back to the cabin.
By the time we left the apple blossoms covered the apple trees. A good sign for this area of North Carolina as their main source of income is the apple season in late August. We are leaving now. Time to head back to reality. Knew this day would come too quickly. As we drive away, I try to absorb every last moment. Paint a picture in my mind. The Broad River flowing fast alongside the road. The damn must be open. Goodbye Indian Rock. We will be back to see you soon. I see the mountains in the rearview mirror. Keep looking until finally they are no more.

Air Show

We got word last week that there was going to be an airshow in Lakeland. We figured since Parker is so fascinated with airplanes we would give him an up close and personal experience with them. I don't know who loved it more....Patrick or Parker. Some very important father and son bonding time. They especially loved the Thunderbirds show. (with the exception of the sneak fly-by that made the whole crowd gasp).

Sydney was a little uneasy of the noise at first but then loosened up to enjoy the show too.
We also got a chance to spend some QT(quality time) with the Kent Family--Brandie, Johnny, Ranen, and Brooke. Good times.

Don't Blink

Ok...so most of you probably think I am totally overboard in the taking pictures department. Just remember this family we have become is a dream come true. I look at our lives now and feel so complete. I guess the the reason I take so many pictures is to remember each and every moment the best that I can. Even though Patrick doesn't take most of the pictures or the video, I always find him asking to look at the pictures and watch the videos over and over again. I titled this "Don't Blink" because that song says it all.

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We are really anxious to get the babies back into the pool, but our solar is leaking right now. Patrick is trying to hard to get it working again soon, but in the meantime we heat the spa and take them in there. They LOVE it! They each got two different floats for their birthday and we decided to keep them all for a variety. The ones shown here are the ones from Great Grandma, Great Grandpa, and Aunt Jan.

Thought we would share a little video.

Trip to the Zoo

Went to the zoo last Sunday. Central Florida Zoo. These are the days. Boy, they get more and more fun. Seeing the world through their eyes is incredible. It is like seeing everything for the first time again. Only I don't remember the first time I saw an airplane or a bicycle or a car. This time I will remember. It's funny you know. I find myself smiling every time I see an airplane. Even when I am not with them. I think about the excitement. I can hear little Parkerman saying

"a-pa, a-pa". That is his word for airplane.

The zoo was fun.We weren't really sure how they would be. This zoo isn't a big one but we figured we would start out local and small just in case they weren't interested. They enjoyed seeing the animals that would move around. Needless, to say animals like the tortoise were not a huge hit. Sydney really surprised us when we arrived at the elephant exhibit. I said, "Look, Syd, there are the elephants!" To that she made an elephant sound with her mouth and lifted her trunk(arm) in the air. It was so cute. Like most parents we make the animal sounds as we read about different animals, but this was the first time she had ever made this sound herself and we hadn't even encouraged it. Their comprehension is amazing. Oh and scary at the same time. Good thing we do a pretty good job watching what we say already. The kids favorite part was the petting zoo. This is where they actually fed the goats and sheep. Parker tried to talk to them and Sydney just shrieked the whole time.