Sydney Update

Sydney is nine and a half months old, and has more personality than ever. She loves "testing gravity" with her toys (and, less happy for us, her food). She pulls up on anything and everything, and crawls at an amazing pace.

She's going through a fighting sleep phase right now. Starting back to the sitter's has disrupted her summer schedule and we haven't found a school schedule that works for her just, yet. We've tried the whole letting her cry while checking in every five to ten minutes to tell her we love her (and make sure there isn't anything that we can do for her -- other than pick her up). She held out for three hours of that last night. Then, when I caved and went to rock her to sleep, she sat up happily to talk to me (ma-ma-ma-ma-na-na-da-da-ma-na-da) with no indication of tiredness. So we turned on the light and she played happily in her crib for another hour. It was midnight before she went to sleep. Then, after about eight or nine hours sleep last night, she woke for breakfast and when put down three hours later for a nap, she again happily played in the crib for an hour before we went and got her, and she waited another hour before finally taking a nap.

She has been teething, and I've hear that babies have a lot of sleep disruption right before milestones (crawling, walking) and she is awfully close to those first steps. And, of course, there is the change in schedule and the summer cold that Jeremy and I have both had in the last week or so that she could come down with any day now. So, there are many, many things that could be keeping her sleep schedule from being as smooth as it has been. (Including the karma of having a three month old who sleep through the night that we knew would come back to get us some day.)

So you see, we are getting a taste of our daughter's great tenacity, and her ability to switch from a bad mood to a good mood in a flash (which suggests the inverse will be a possibility as well.) As well as seeing her ability to entertain herself, and be independent.

I'm attaching some pictures that I feel illustrate her range of personality these days. Sweet or sassy, though, I'm sure you will agree, she is more adorable than ever.