Last night was the kind of night that was everything I ever hoped for when considering having a child. Sheridon is so sweet, lovely and does so many things that make us smile and our hearts melt.
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Sheridon, Ken and I were all sitting around in her playroom when Ken started to play a Johnny Cash’s version of the Beatles’ song (In My Life — you should read the lyrics - beautiful)… Sheridon started swaying/dancing and then reached up to take my hands because she wanted to dance with me. We danced, I on my knees & her standing. She then let go and walked over to Ken .. I said “ooooh you wanna dance with Daddy?” She just smiled & they danced (Ken on his knees and Sheridon standing.) She then goes, “MAMA!” and reaches out for my hand… I said, “oooh me again?” and I grab her hand. She then reaches back to Ken, “DADA!” and she put our hands together so WE would dance together. It was so sweet…….. I teared up.

We then all danced “together” holding each other’s hands. It seemed like something from a movie… I couldn’t script this child any better than she is.

We love her so.much.

Categories: Sheridon
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(Click to see larger!)

Categories: Holidays, Sheridon
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We have officially been assigned our elf from Santa Claus. We are really excited! We should get to meet him this Friday around the same time we’ll start decorating our house for Christmas (imagine that.) His name is Finrod Calafalas.

When he gets here, I’ll be sure to take pictures!

Categories: Holidays, Firsts, Home
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I never win anything, but…. I’ve been playing this game just about every day (you can only play once a day) and I actually WON last night! Before playing each time, you select the rug you wish to play for and I selected this rug.

According to the rules, I won’t get it until 8-10 weeks past the end of the contest. The contest ends on November 24, 2007 so if you want to have a go at it, you still have each day until then to get a try in. Good luck! I hope I don’t have some bad luck coming my way in lieu of my “good luck”!

Categories: tips and tricks
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Here are a few more recordings I did of Sheridon’s “words.”

Shizzle
Ball
Danait! (Dag-nabit)
Bye Bye

Categories: Sheridon, Firsts, Words
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I have never actually posted a list of the words Sheridon can say. When people ask me, it’s hard to remember them off-hand and I end up forgetting a majority of them (I have terrible short-term memory) so I decided to make a list and share. I’ll try to keep track/update this as she learns more.

water - wa wa
food - mmmm
ball - ba
duck - du
dada - da da
doggy - dayda
mama - mama
night night - ny-ny
shoes - shs
cheese - chs
shizzle - shzle
dag-nabbit - dana-it
bye - bi
banana - nana
izzy - ishe
uhoh

She also immitates the sound of a dog, monkey, bird, lion (both “loud lion” & “soft lion”) and will answer/nod yes when you ask her if she needs/wants something specific.

In addition to these verbal abilities, she also knows sign language for:
milk
water
plane
food

Sheridon can also point to her nose, toes, feet, mouth, ears, belly, and knee. If you ask her to “go get a book” she will go into her room, get a book and bring it back.

Of course, she won’t do any of this “on command” for us in public so I’m sure people think she doesn’t say much at all!

I did a little recording of her a while back saying a few of these, so I’ll share them as well.

UhOh
Mama
Dada

Here are some I made today.

Bad Dog!
Monkey noises
Woof!
Izzy
Duck
Cheese
Night Night
Shoes

Sheridon knows about 16 words + 4 animal sounds and according to some medical websites, may be considered a little “advanced.” Of course, every mother thinks their own child is “advanced”!

12 to 17 Months

* Uses several words meaningfully.
* Attends to a book or toy for about 2 minutes.
* Follows simple directions accompanied by gestures.
* Answers simple questions nonverbally.

18 to 23 Months

* Enjoys being read to.
* Points to simple body parts such as “nose.”
* Says 8 to 10 words (pronunciation may still be unclear).

(link)

Categories: Sheridon, Firsts, Sign Language, Words
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We had a great Halloween! Sheridon was “Little Red Riding Hood.” She was definitely one cute little trick-or-treater. She seemed to really understand what the point of the whole thing was and would actually walk up and hold her little basket out for them to people to put candy in it. Can you imagine what a weird situation this must be for such a little girl? I mean, she’s walking up to all of these peoples homes that she’s never been to before, holding out a little basket & they’re giving her things! How strange! The first house we went to, she tried to go -inside-. She is such an outgoing child that it’s unbelievable.

Ken’s parents stopped by, brought us dinner (turkey pretzel rolls, YUM!) and his mom went trick-or-treating with us. We had a fun time!  We really appreciate them coming all of the way up here in the middle of the week to share this special day with us.

Here are a couple of pictures and there are more in the gallery.

Categories: Holidays, Sheridon
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It has been quite a while since I’ve written one of these blogs, but believe it or not, I’ve actually been busy! I have been enjoying my new role as a student at a local community college. Things have been going well and it is more fun than I anticipated. I think that adults appreciate college much more than those fresh from high school. Regardless, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to write about our last trip to the pumpkin patch. For the second year since Sheridon’s arrival, we went to Linvilla Orchards in Pennsylvania. Last year was so different from this year and it wasn’t just because it felt more like August than October this time.
Sheridon has turned into such an independent little lady. I think she’s trying to give me a little warning to the fact that she’s going to be one of those children who wants to grow up too fast. I hate to refer to it as the “terrible twos,” because nothing about her is even close to being “terrible,” but she seems to have begun her venture into that phase of her little life. She definitely knows what she wants and it’s not to sit down quietly and patiently while we go on a hayride. She has things to do, places to go and people to wave at. In all honestly though, she really wasn’t bad but she does tend to throw a little fit if you dare to pick her up while she explores the scenery. She’s a curious little girl and I can’t fault her for that.
In addition to the hayride, I had my first taste of a funnel cake and it will probably be my last, unless I eventually forget the disgusting, heavy feeling it gave my insides and the sickly sweetness of the icing they put on top (it was not a “normal” funnel cake.)
The best part of the trip was the pictures. Here are a few comparison pictures of this time versus last time.

Isn’t it amazing how much she has grown in a year? I don’t even want to think about what our pictures will look like next year, but of course, I already am

I can’t wait for Halloween!!!!

Categories: Holidays, Sheridon, Adventures
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Since I’m on a roll tonight of finally catching up on these blogs, I just wanted to mention that as of July 1st, Ken and I have been together for 8 years. I know it’s not the official marriage anniversary but it’s one worth mentioning.

How lucky can one girl be? I have the man of my dreams, a wonderful dog and a sweet/beautiful daughter. If you’d asked me where I saw myself in 8 years, 8 years ago, I most definitely would not have predicted this. I am luckier than most people could even imagine.

Categories: Anniversaries
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This past weekend, we took Sheridon on her first trip to the beach! This was also our first family vacation together. We really enjoyed ourselves and I already can’t wait for next time.

I was worried that I wasn’t going to make it because at the beginning of the week, I had the most excruciating headache I’ve ever had (in my entire life, I think!) I was actually in so much pain that I was stuck by the toilet because I truly thought I might get sick because of the pain. I ended up taking a Tylenol Sinus, which I’ve had before but because of the drug addicts causing them to move the medicine behind the counter, they created a new formula. Unfortunately for me, I’m allergic to the Phenylephrine in the new formula. This caused itchy hives all over my torso and later down my legs. I went to the doctor and she prescribed a lot of stuff that thankfully, gradually “fixed” me.

Friday, Ken’s parents came and picked up Izzy for the weekend. While here, they watched some builders they hired, build Sheridon’s swingset! It took these 3 professional builders all day to put this swingset together so I can only imagine how long it would have taken Ken. It is beautiful and she seemed to like it. She especially liked climbing up the slide backwards. She is one strong little one year old!

Saturday, we left for Ocean City, Maryland. Since check-in wasn’t until 3pm, we went to Assateague Island to see the wild horses. Sheridon stuck her little piggies in the sand for the first time ever! It was awesome She didn’t even try to eat it (yay!) She couldn’t get over the odd texture and just kept wiggling her toes back and forth. She’d pick up the sand and run it through her hands. It was so cute to see her so amazed. Of course, I took a ton of pictures. We saw some horses but they were pretty far away. The island was neat but a little mosquito-ridden so we didn’t hang around long. I think it’d be fun to camp there sometime (as long as we bring some bug spray)!

Around 3pm, we got to our hotel, The Lankford Hotel, which is on the boardwalk at 8th St. It’s no Hilton or anything but the room was neat and tidy and we had a beach/oceanfront view! We could walk right out onto the balcony and people watch or ocean watch.

For dinner the first night, we ate at Phillips Seafood Buffet. There were lots of good things… blue crabs, snow crab legs, fried shrimp/clams, and tons more stuff that I couldn’t possibly all name. Sheridon seemed to enjoy it though she can’t really have any of the seafood things yet. She loved the macaroni/cheese and potatoes among other things! After dinner, we walked up the boardwalk, stopping occasionally to view the little sideshows. Ken got some cotton candy and I got some hand dipped custard from Kohrs. Sheridon’s first taste of both, which, as expected, she seemed to enjoy. On the way back to our room, she conked out and slept through.

The next day we had hot, hand-dipped homemade donuts from The Fractured Prune. They were delicious and I highly recommend giving them a try. Afterwards, we went onto the beach and Sheridon went into the ocean for the first time. Mostly she just stood there as the water hit her feet/legs. She didn’t mind it at all and just seemed to stand there taking it all in. She had a really great time playing in the sand. This was most surprising to me because it entertained her for a LONG time! We eventually took a little nap in her beach tent, woke up, played some more and then headed to dinner.

We ate dinner at Smitty McGee’s and I have to say, they have the best wings I’ve ever eaten. I had them once before w/Ken and our return visit truly did not disappoint. After we got back to the room, we went for another walk down the boardwalk to make sure we saw/ate everything we wanted before leaving the next day. We got Trasher’s Fries and of course, more ice cream (this time from The Marble Slab).

That night, I set my phone’s alarm clock to wake me up for sunrise (5:41 A.M. to be exact). I really wanted to see the sunrise over the Atlantic ocean. It was beautiful and, as always, I got pictures On the way home, we stopped at Rehobeth Beach and walked around the shops there a while before finally heading home. I really want to go back there sometime when we have more time to browse around.

Overall, it was a great vacation. I’m glad we could squeeze it in before Ken’s workplace started it’s vacation freeze. Hopefully, we’ll get to go on at least one more little vacation before the summer’s up.

Categories: Sheridon, Firsts, Stress, Adventures
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