Mississippi for the Holidays

Sylvia and I had a close call making our flight out Friday morning. By the graciousness of some fellow travelers in the security line, we were able to cut to the front of the line and scramble our way through. I was so stressed out, but Sylvia knew how to lighten up the situation. As I was sprinting to the gate, she started giggling. Running in mam-mam's arms is pretty hilarious. It was just the laugh I needed since we were the last people to board the plane.

Now, we are in MS where it is nice and warm. It was 68 degrees when we arrived. We played all day at Grandmama's on Friday. It was too exciting to nap so after some play time, we drove around until Sylvia fell asleep. Sylvia has been chasing Dede and Papa's cat and dog around and yesterday, she enjoyed playing with the gigantic red ball outside. We got to see everyone at Uncle Eric and Aunt Monica's house. Sylvia and Adriana danced together. She also had fun running around the church with Noah during Elaina's Baptism. The temperature dropped a bit overnight, but it's still warm to us. Sylvia has three parties today - her step-dad's 60th birthday, cookies and hot cocoa with Cheryl and Charlie, and then a Christmas party!

Winter in the City

While Chris was scouting a location for a film, Darcie and Sylvia dug the car out and headed down to Marshall Fields (ok, Macy's) and Millennium Park to enjoy some of the city's holiday cheer. Here they are in front of the Bean (ok, Cloud Gate):


And here, Sylvia tries to get a view of Frank Gehry's Pritzker Pavilion, though it was a little hard to see with all of the snow:


More posing at the Bean (because Chris was adamant that there had to be photos to post):


Unfortunately, the line to sit in Santa's lap was bit too long, but Sylvia should have nothing to worry about. After her afternoon nap, she bagged up homemade sugar cookies and took them to the other kids in the building and her 2nd floor neighbors. She knows what this season is all about.

Super Saturday Video!

We've posted two new videos to the collection. Just click on "Movie" in the nav menu to the right to check them out. The first new video shows Sylvia walking around the condo. The second shows her walking around in the snow. Enjoy!

It's Not as Cold as It Looks

Sorry I haven't posted in so long. We've been a little busy shoveling snow and chasing after a toddler who now has no problems walking to find trouble.

Over the past week or so, we have had a lot of snow, though most of it has melted now. Here's what it looked like when it was fresh:


Sylvia asks to go outside:


Sylvia goes outside:


We told Sylvia about Santa and encouraged her to write him a letter. We're not sure where she got it, but she found a phone number for him instead. Kids these days.

Settling Into Winter

Sylvia and I are trying to figure how to make it outside this winter. Last winter she was small enough to snuggle into a little bundle in my coat. This winter, it's all about walking! She often doesn't feel that the stroller is "cool" enough, but she hasn't quite mastered walking on ice, not that I have either, but suffice to say, me trying to carry her on sidewalks that people haven't salted isn't the best idea. Wednesday, we got in the stroller (with a little bribe of a cracker, one of those things I saw parents do and swore I'd never do that) to run some errands. I had promised a trip to the swings so there we landed after our grocery trip. It was desolate and snow covered. Sylvia was in her snow suit and me standing in ice coated snow pushing her back and forth. We both marveled at how close her feet were to the ground because of the snow. We attempted to wipe the slide clean, but she looked at me like, "woah, mam-mam you are c-a-razzzy." So she walked me home, pushing the stroller for me!

Holiday Decorating

While Sylvia napped and the rain fell outside, two elves dug through lights, ornaments, and decorative soaps. We decided that a real tree might not survive the season in our household this year, so we pulled out our little 18 inch plastic tree which has served us well since 2001.

White December

Technically it snowed on Thanksgiving day, but we weren't around. So on December 1, as if someone flipped the winter switch, we got quite a little snowstorm.



We think that might be it for the basil this season.

Don't worry. Sylvia was prepared.

The night it snowed was just a little too icy and cold for us to drag her out in it, though, and the next morning the snow had pretty much melted and was replaced with 45 degree rain. So you'll have to wait for the first pictures of Sylvia making a snow angel.

Thanksgiving Photos Are Up

Here.

Thanksgiving 2007

We flew down to see the family for the Thanksgiving holiday, making a week vacation of it. We began the trip in Fairhope, Alabama where we stayed with Dede and Papa. Uncle Will and Hoya joined us.

Dede, Sylvia, and Darcie walking along the bay.

Next it was on to Gluckstadt to see Pop-pop and Grandmom and all of the animals.


The rest of the week was split between Grandmama and Granddaddy and Dede and Papa and all of the uncles, aunts, and cousins.

Grandmama and Sylvia read a book.


Sylvia and the Wallace cousins pose for the annual gorilla photo.

Don't worry, there are plenty more photos (and some video). We'll be posting some of our 217 snapshots in a photo gallery soon. Happy Thanksgiving!

Introducing the New Darcie

A Few Images That We Should Have Posted About a Week Ago But Are Just Now Getting Around To

Preparing dinner.


Eating dinner.


At the Shedd Aquarium. Giving a kiss.

The Number Is 4

While I can't comment on this first hand, I received a call from the main Sylvia and Co. branch today that Sylvia took four steps! Apparently she had a puzzle piece in one hand and a ball in the other so made the decision to take a few steps without the aid of parental support. I will fill in the details as they are made available.

A Step!

Mom signing on here...

Exciting news today! During Wiggleworms (our weekly music class at the Old Town School of Folk Music), Sylvia took one gloriously exciting step. There were no hands to hold onto and she was dying to get her hands on Julie (our teacher) and the puppet cow! So for a brief moment, Sylvia's right foot lifted off the ground and took a step forward. I thought she was going to go for the second, but then she remembered what a super-duper crawler she is and she got down on her knees to reach Old MacDonald's cow who of course, goes - a moo, moo here, and a moo, moo there.

She loves to practice walking holding on to our hands and has recently started walking with just one hand.

Another Blog in the Family

We have started a blog at work in which we discuss our various projects. Have a look:
http://nuamps.at.northwestern.edu/blog/

Dad's Day

Saturday was a day for the books (or blog). Chris spent more alone time with Sylvia than he had ever had during their brief relationship. 8 AM to 5 PM. But don't think of him as a bad parent for not spending an entire day alone with his child before. After all there has always been someone else in the way. Perhaps that's the real story - Darcie had her longest period of separation from Sylvia on Saturday. Sleep not counting.

Darcie was at a Social Work conference all day so Chris was it. The weather was nice enough for a lot of time spent outside by the lake.


No one was injured and Sylvia took a 2 1/2 hour nap, so Chris did ok.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween certainly seems to be the official kid holiday. Sylvia had a total of 4 Halloween related events over the past few days. And of course all of that culminated in trick-or-treating tonight.



We have posted a whole gallery of costumed images here. Have a look, and happy Halloween!

Feed Unto Others

We here at Sylvia and Company think pretty highly of our little mascot, Sylvia. She’s become a master sleeper, she’s rather chipper and interested in the world around her, and we consider her pretty cute. Lately we have noticed that along with those wonderful traits, she is also a good eater. Not just that she tends to eat a lot, but that she also eats well.

Last night she and I sat down to a meal of lentils, tomatoes, spinach, potatoes, and brown rice. After her third bowl, I realized that she had eaten more than me. I never thought I would be writing this next sentence. My one-year-old couldn’t get enough lentils and spinach. I brought out some pear sauce to mix thing up a bit. She ate that, but then began asking for more lentils and spinach.

Of course, she can be fickle. She could decide tonight that she will not be eating any more spinach for a while, but overall Sylvia tends to be open to all kinds of food – not just mac and cheese out of the box or ultra-sugary baby yogurt snacks. As I filled up her bowl once more, I threw a few more bites on my own plate, and I realized that maybe one way that we have encouraged good eating habits is by feeding Sylvia exactly (or almost exactly) what we eat.

This works well for many reasons. First, Sylvia is really a part of the dinner activity. She has her chair at the table and eats the same stuff as us. If she’s not into it at first, a bite or two from our plates with our spoons usually gets her interested in her own meal. Secondly, it encourages us to eat well, too. It’s pretty hard to eat a burger you ordered while trying to convince a one-year-old to swallow her stewed carrots. Lastly, it’s a lot cheaper. Making a large fresh meal costs so much less than individually tailored or restaurant-prepared meals.

Now we just have to work on the issue of wearing our food.

They Were Nice Enough to Just Use One Candle

When Chris woke up on Sunday, he felt a little strange. At first he thought he might be a bit wiser or more mature, but it turned out to just be a crick in his back which Darcie informed him would happen now that he was 30.

At least they only used one candle.


Opening gifts.


For brunch we headed to Blind Faith Cafe for some eggs and pancakes. It was a great 30th birthday.

A Little Bit of Halloween

This weekend Dede and Papa came for a visit.

Sylvia was a great hostess as always.

On Saturday afternoon, we went to a 'little' Halloween party.

Sylvia was a monkey. Another kid was a monkey, too. With so much in common, there was a lot to discuss.


The group photo. That's Sylvia behind the purple ball.


Bobbing for apples.


The walk home.

A Little Turkey, A Little Pumpkin

Technically Canadian Thanksgiving was celebrated a few weeks ago, but to a lot of Chicagoans, October 21 will do just fine. Better late than never, as they say in Toronto. Cecile, our resident Canuck, hosted her annual Canadian Thanksgiving and pumpkin carving this evening. It felt less like Canadian Thanksgiving, though, and more like Florida Thanksgiving with the 72 degree weather. Before going to the party, we even stopped off at the beach to play in the sand.



After brushing the sand out of our hair and practicing a few yoga poses together, we whipped up a squash casserole, grabbed our pumpkin and were off to the party.


Joe did a lot of the hands-on work, though Sylvia tried to help.


Chris and Joe do some carving.


Joe polishes up the final work.


The gallery of jack-o-lanterns.


Our goofy jack-o-lantern.