Lake Tahoe, August 2012

We spent a wonderful extra long weekend in Lake Tahoe back in August.  Swimming at the pool, lounging in the sun, reading good books, eating delicious food.  We drove up Friday, Ashley and Kyle flew in from Utah that morning, and we got to spend some good quality time with my entire family.

I love my parents.

We headed to the  beach Sunday afternoon and rented kayaks.  While Ashley, Kyle, Rob, Scarlett and myself were out on the lake, Sydney played with Grandma and Granddad.

This trip was when we discovered just how much Sydney loved the camera.

Scarlett was brave hopping in the kayak- after a few minutes she transferred to our kayak.

I loved being on the lake.  Tahoe is freezing, but so refreshing and beautiful.  When I was growing up, my great aunt and uncle owned a house right on the water.  I miss being on the lake when we go on our trips now.  It was a sentimental kayak experience for me.

Sunday night was the last night we would all be together, so we celebrated Mom's birthday a day early with a wonderful sunset dinner.

I pulled out the camera to snap some shots of the whole group, but Sydney squawked and squealed until I focused on her for a little bit.

My mom is so pretty.  And can you believe she is 52?!  

I love my sassy girl.

And my other little sassafras. 

And this guy, of course.

We spent Monday at the pool, and then before taking Ashley and Kyle to the airport we grabbed some dinner.

Scarlett adores her Aunt Ashley.  She drove with them to the airport, fell asleep on the drive there, they woke her up to say goodbye, but she was still a little out of it (a Fuller trademark), so when she finally realized Ashley and Kyle were gone she started crying.  She had to call Ashley to calm down.  So sweet.
Tuesday morning we spent as much time in the sun and at the pool as we could before we needed to head home.  Scarlett is a little fish.  With only one swim lesson this summer, she can swim a decent distance on her own, and she can hold her breath a remarkable amount of time.

My other little fish.  Sydney LOVES the water.  My girls are so similar, it's kind of astounding sometimes.

Father's Day 2012

We celebrated Father's Day (yes, in June) by spending part of the weekend in Sacramento.  We had a BBQ lunch, enjoyed the pool, and got to spend time with all the wonderful Dads in my life; My Grandpa, my Dad, and of course, my husband.

Granddad is Scarlett's favorite swimming  buddy.  They spent a good amount of time playing "rescue".  Granddad would swim out...

 And Scarlett would tow him back to safety.

Also on the agenda was a lot of water basketball.  (I am embarrassed to admit we played HORSE, and I lost. Dad and I both lost to Mom).

 

 Seeing as though I have been the world's worst picture taker lately, it is not surprising that I didn't take a single picture on the actual day we celebrated my girls' Dad, nor did I take a single picture of the father of my children.  But let it be known, Rob Fuller is the best Dad a kid could ask for.  And certainly the best Dad that I could ask for.  He is always thinking of ways to make my life easier- even getting up to feed Sydney (since she is a nocturnal eater) from time to time, even though he has to be up much earlier than I do in the morning.  The girls love you.  And I love you, Fuller.

These random shots of Sydney were taken sometime... in June?  I caught her sucking her toes after her bath- but alas, I was too slow with the camera.  Little stinker's a cutie.

Eight Months

Sydney Lu turned 8 months today.  I can't keep up!  Time is going too quickly.  Sydney has always had a very calm, go with the flow demeanor.  But within the last few weeks, she has come alive and turned in to an active, busy, crazy animal- just like her sister was (is).

Sydney crawls up on her knees, and pulls herself to stand on anything and everything; furniture, my legs, bathtub, her toys, etc.  People often ask if I think Scarlett was more active or Sydney, it used to be an easy question to answer; Scarlett, of course!  Now a days, I'm not so sure what the answer would be.  

 Sydney is a terrible sleeper.  Up until a week ago, she was still waking up twice at night to eat.  We got her down to once at night for a few days, and now she is teething, and waking up every 3 hours.  Not fun.  She takes two decent naps each day, which is wonderful.  We're still waiting for some teeth to show up, and some hair.

 Scarlett is Sydney's favorite person.  After we drop Scarlett off at preschool, Sydney leans forward in her car seat and stares sadly at her sister's empty seat.  When we pick Scar up from school, Sydney is wild with squeals, squirms and excitement.  Scar is always happy to see her, too.

 Sydney loves food.  She will eat baby food, but prefers whatever is on your plate.  Today she shared some of my salmon and avocado for lunch.  She loves meat (all kinds), avocado, grapes, cheerios, pasta, bananas, tomatoes, and sometimes bread.

 Sydney gives big open mouth, lip-licking kisses.  She will lean in if you ask for one, only if she is in the mood.  She reaches for you if she wants you to hold her.  She is a bit of a Mama's girl, which I don't mind.  But she still gets very excited when Daddy gets home from work.  She is easily distracted and very difficult to bottle feed if there is anything going on around her.

 Sydney loves to sit in the shopping cart, and in high chairs at restaurants.  She screams, really screams, if she is not getting something she wants.  She won't stop until you either give her what she needs, or you distract her with something else.  That makes her sound difficult, but she really is a very easy baby.  Even if Syd misses a nap, she doesn't get grouchy.  She babbles all day.  By the look on her face, you just know she is telling you something very important.  

Sydney and Scarlett can play and entertain each other for hours.  They have such a sweet relationship, and I know it will just continue to grow as they do.

Happy 8 months, baby girl.  We love you!

It's Not PREschool...

Blog!?  What?!  Since my last post in July, I am behind on Father's Day, a trip to Lake Tahoe, Rob turning 30, Sydney turning six, and seven months old, and a trip to Utah.  But we've got something bigger than all of that.  My almost three year old started school last week.

No, she is not attending preschool.  Just school.  She will correct you if you do not call it school.  We decided to enroll Scarlett in Napa Valley Nursery School, a co-op, where parent participation is heavy, as in, I work in the classroom 2-3 days per month.  I fell in love with the school and the teacher when I went to their open house last winter, and though a co-op was not something I was interested in, I am so glad we chose this school.  Scarlett LOVES school.  Like, a lot.  And it seems to have unleashed even more energy and creativity, which I didn't even think was possible.  After spending an afternoon with Scarlett for one of her speech pathology classes, my friend Erin said, "social interaction is Scarlett's crack".  So true.  And we couldn't love her busy little self any more than we do.

This adorable little picture (snapped during our Fuller family photos in Utah) hangs proudly in her very own cubby at school.

 Our first day of school picture is not great.  Mommy was in manual, and snapped the picture, realized she needed to adjust her settings, and then bam!  Battery died.  Poor planning on my part.  But isn't she amazingly adorable?

 I worked in the classroom on the first day of school so we got to go early and set up, and stay after and tidy up.  What I did not get to do was take a lot of pictures (except for the ones I took on my phone.  One day, I will download them).  So on the second day, Sydney and I followed Scarlett around for about 30 seconds until it was obvious she didn't want to be bothered with us while at school.  She is so happy to be there, and I am so happy she is there, too!  She starts each day at this fun little water station... but like a good girl, doesn't get too wet, and though she paints a bazillion pictures, she comes home with clothes free of paint.  Yay!

I can't believe I have begun the first of many, many, years of school.  Bittersweet.

Scarlett-isms

Scarlett is seriously one of the funniest people I know.  She is hilarious.  And her comprehension of things we say, and things she sees going on around her, blows my mind.  At just over 2 1/2 years of age- here are some of the funnies this little one has been throwing our way.

**After getting in trouble for not listening, a common occurrence in our home lately, I finally raised my voice to let Scarlett know I was serious, she looks at me and says, "Mom, you crazy.  You crazy for yellin' at me!"**

**My parents watch the girls some days when I go to the gym and when I picked them up a few weeks ago, my Dad asked what the deal with Dora is.  I asked what he meant, and he responded, "Scarlett out of the blue said, Dear Dora, I hate your stinkin' guts!"  It took me a minute, but then I remembered I bought Little Rascals and downloaded it on the iPad before Disneyland and she had been watching it.  She then quoted, "Dear Darla, I hate your stinkin' guts.  You make me vomit.  You're the scum between my toes.  Love, Alfalfa!"**

 **Scarlett made a mess of the family room, and we were getting ready to go to the pool.  I told her I wanted all her toys put away before we left.  She came upstairs a few minutes later, and this is how our conversation went:

Me:  Is everything cleaned up?

Scar:  Yes!

Me:  All the toys are back in the play room?

Scar:  Yes, they all put away.

Me:  So when I go downstairs to check, the family room will be all cleaned up?

Scar:  Mom, you gonna go downstairs and you gonna look and you gonna say FAAAAABULOUS!**

**Scarlett always turns Pandora on, and she always goes to the Mariah Carey Christmas station.  I asked her why she does that, "Because I like Santa, Mom."**

**We were getting ready to head out for the day, I asked if she wanted to wear a headband, she said yes, so when I helped her put it on, I said, "you look so cute".  A few minutes later she came and handed me the headband saying, "I just don't want to be so cute today."**

 **Rob has been doing P90X a few days a week.  Scarlett was watching him, and doing some of the exercises one morning while I was at the gym.  When I got home, I sat down in the family room and Rob said he was a little embarrassed to have me watch the end of his workout, because he was so tired, he wasn't finishing all the sets.  I said, "that's OK.  It's like bootcamp.  By the end, I'm so exhausted, I just try to make it through."  He smiled and said, "this is way harder than bootcamp."  I knew he was teasing me, but I rolled my eyes and said, "Oh yeah, of course it is", then I headed out of the room to take a shower.  I heard Scarlett snap at her Daddy, "You don't say that to my Mommy!"  Rob apologized to Scarlett and she said, "No.  You need to go say sorry to her!"**

**On our way out the door one day, I sent Scarlett back inside because I had left my phone on the counter.  Since then, she frequently asks as we are walking out the door, "Do you have your phone?  Do you have your water?"**

 {Super model, baby?  I do think so.}

**Scarlett does not like to be messy.  I trained her well.  She likes to keep her hands clean, at all times.  We get together with a few of her friends twice a month for a little mini preschool, and this certain day the kids were doing some finger painting.  I joked to the other moms that Scar may not like this activity- I showed her how to make the fireworks, and told her it was OK to touch the paints.  She tried one, then saw the dot of paint on her one finger and said, "I need to wash my hands".  I told her it was OK to be messy sometimes, "No, Mom, it is not OK to be messy, ever!"**

 **We were leaving the pool last Saturday and I looked back at Sydney and told Rob she was already asleep.  He asked if she was asleep before I put her in the car, I said no.  15 seconds later, this was our conversation:

 Scarlett:  Yes, her is asleep, Mom.

Me:  Yes, I know.

Scar:  You said her not asleep.

Me:  (realizing she didn't hear my whole conversation with Rob) You're right.  I misspoke.  She is asleep now.

Scar:  You told Daddy her not asleep.

Me:  You're right.  But I see that she is asleep now.

Rob then looked at me, and I quietly said, "It's not worth explaining the whole thing to her, she doesn't understand that I was responding to your other question".

Very quietly, and very matter-of-factly, Scarlett says in response, "I do understand."** 

 **Scarlett asked my Dad to play baseball with her one day, and they went out in the yard, and he pitched for her a few times.  She would swing and miss, and he kept reminding her to keep her eye on the ball.  He held the ball in front of him and moved it around and said, "watch the ball, not me."  Scarlett then decided she wanted to pitch for him.  She threw the first pitch, and it went behind her, she looked at my Dad and said, "you missed".  She pitched again, and again the ball went in some crazy direction, nowhere near my Dad, and she said "you missed, again.  Granddad, watch the ball.  Not me."**

Oh, my sweet baby girl.  You keep me laughing all day.  I just adore you, and love you thiiiiiiiiis much!