Surprise...Disney On Ice

Last weekend I decided I would do something special with Sydney, just her and I.  Our schedule is so hectic and we're always running here and there and I feel like we never stop moving.  So this was a chance for us to just spend a little time together.

So, I purchased a couple of tickets to Disney on Ice, but I didn't tell anyone.  I especially didn't tell Jason because I knew he would tell Sydney and I wanted to surprise her.  The day before the show, we were at the MSU game and I had told Karen that I was taking Sydney and when we were saying goodbye, she told me to have fun tomorrow.  Well, naturally Jason wanted to know what we were going to have fun doing, so he found out that I bought the tickets.

Sure enough, the next morning, Sydney comes banging on my shower door all excited.  She said, "Daddy said to today is my big day and that you have a surprise for me."  I knew he would tell her something, I just knew it.  But at least he didn't tell her where I was taking her.  The entire day she guessed that we were going to the Shop-o-Rama, aka...the mall.  She calls it a shop-o-rama because of one of our favorite books (Llama Llama Mad at Mama).  She assumed that I was taking her to buy a Belle dress.  There is a big story behind that one, and she never seems to forget!  When we were at Disney World last year, she settled for a Cinderella dress because she wanted instant gratification and they didn't have her size in a Belle dress.  But she pretty much asks on a daily basis for a Belle dress for the past year.  We haven't given in yet!  So anyway, I told her she could where her Cinderella dress to the place I was taking her.

When we arrived at the Palace, she was a little surprised that it wasn't the mall.  But when we went in she was so excited to see that all of the kids were all dressed up like her.  Finally, she realized we were at Disney on Ice.  She was super excited and had a ton of fun.  I caved and bought her a snow cone in a really expensive Tinkerbell cup, but she loved it!  She was happy that I took her and even said thank you, so that made me feel good.

But then we got in the car to leave.  She asked where we were going next.  I told her we were going home and she got very upset and moody.  I was like, "where did you want to go?  Haven't I done enough?"  And of course she responded that she wanted to go to Toys R Us to buy a Belle dress.  There was no way I was doing that, so she pretty much cried the whole way home until she finally fell asleep.  It kind of put a damper on the day, but she did wake up fairly happy!  So, all in all, it was a good day, but that kid still doesn't have a Belle dress.

I wonder how much longer I have to hear about this darn dress!

Lizzy Lately

And now for everyone's favorite installment of what I like to call "Lizzy Lately".  At Lizzy's age, things are constantly changing.  One day she like Elmo, and the next day it's Dora...but then probably back to Elmo the next day!  Anyway, with everything that goes on around all of us, there is one thing that has remained constant since the day Lizzy was born, and that is...her love of food!  We just can't find a way to get her out of the cupboards.  Of course we tried, but the not so handy people that we are...she ripped the baby proof aparatus right off of the darn door!  I swear, she eats from the time she gets home from daycare until bedtime, so we try to keep her pre-occupied so she doesn't think about food.

So, last night we took Sydney to her swim class (which she made it up to the next level last night...Gliders! Go Sydney!!) and Lizzy knows that they sell candy there.  Jason and I sat down to watch Sydney swim and of course Lizzy went right up to the counter sulking, hoping someone would give her candy.  Eventually she went up to Jason and asked for a sucker and started begging for money and tried to search in his pockets for money.  We felt kind of bad that we had this annoying kid begging for candy while everyone was trying to watch their kid swim, so we bought her the dum-dum sucker...it's not like it was a chocolate bar.  Plus, she's super jealous that she can't swim too, so we gave in.  This made her pretty darn happy...until it was gone.  And then it started all over again..."can I have a sucker?"  At least everyone around us was laughing...I'm telling you, she's obsessed!  We are going to have issues when Halloween rolls around!  But this is just an example of how she never stops thinking (or begging) for food!

Let's see...what else!  She seems a little more interested in the potty...but definitely not ready to be potty trained yet.  But when she's pooping....she likes to be alone and will tell you to leave the room.  Sydney did that when she was close to being trained...so hopefully soon!  Anyway...last night I got out of the shower and was putting my pj's on and Lizzy went in the bathroom, slammed the door shut and opened up one of the drawers next to the door so I couldn't get it opened.  I knew she was pooping, but I didn't like that fact that she was in there alone.  But, I could see her a little bit because the door would open just a little bit until it hit the drawer.  This is what she did...she opened up my makeup and rubbed it all over her face, and then got out the makeup brush and put that all over her face, she dumped out all of my stuff that was in my cosmetic bag, and then she got out Jason's blue deoderant and decided that it looked like lipstick.  She kept saying, "I have to put on my wipstick, for my wips" and looked at herself in the mirror.  Of course I was yelling at her the whole time, but couldn't get in.  Finally she opened up the door so I could change her diaper, but we are going to have to do something about this door issue...we have a little troublemaker on our hands!

One more cute story.  Last night I was awoken at 2:30am by a loud scream..."mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy."  So I ran to Sydney's room, but she was fast asleep.  Lizzy never wakes up, but much to my surprise...it was coming from her room.  I went into her room and she was standing up in her bed, and I asked her what was wrong and she said, "the twinkle twinkle star is going to get me".  At first I thought she wanted me to sing her Twinkle Twinkle Little star, but as soon as I started singing she said, "Nooooooo, don't sing that....sing Rock A Bye Lizzy".  And so I did, and she went right back to sleep.  Poor kid is having nightmares about Twinkle Twinkle Little Star!

School Fun

Sydney is loving her school this year.  She especially likes the fact that she has the same teachers as last year.  I think she has adjusted great to going to school all day!

The first big activity of the year was the Trike-A-Thon, which is the school's big fundraiser.  Student's basically have to get pledges and then they ride their bikes around the school for a half hour.  I guess the theory behind it all is that no one really wants to buy crap, so students just collect money and it goes directly to the school.  It seems kind of weird to me, but my family, friends, and co-workers were happy to give Sydney a little money.  I couldn't actually attend the event during the day, but Jason was able to make an appearance and cheer Sydney on!  Apparently they had a blast and there were only two crashes!

The second activity happened today...a trip to Erwin's Apple Orchard.  I took a half day of work so that I could attend with Sydney.   The weather was absolutely perfect...67 and sunny, so it made for a really great afteroon with my favorite little four year old.  It was fun to watch Sydney interact with her friends and also to meet the other parents.  She had so much fun picking apples and searching for the right pumpkin.  They gave each kid a bag to put the apples in, and when Sydney's was full, she got the bright idea to start putting them in her coat pockets...I had a great day with her.  However, I must say...Sydney did not want me to go on the trip with her.  Last year, when she went on this same trip, Grandpa Eliot took her and so she really wanted him to take her again.  The entire way there she begged me to call him to come instead.  But once we got there, she was happy to be there with me!

We are looking forward to many more exciting activities.  The year has only just begun!