Sydney's First Time at the Lake

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Sydney had the time of her life yesterday at the lake. It is amazing how much she loves the water and is so comfortable trying new things. She saw one man jump from the top of the dock and begged to try it. After some careful consideration, we gave up and told her she could thinking she would chicken out. Not a chance!! While she was waiting to jump I asked her if she was scared. She replied: "Just a little bit scary...umm no" and then jumped. Everyone could not believe this tiny little girl jumped several times from the top of the dock.

She loved everything and really wanted to try wake boarding like her big brothers. We did not have a board small enough for her to use but maybe we will have to find one!

It is amazing to think how many new things she was exposed to in just one day and to see the excitement in her eyes cannot be put into words.

Sydney Loves School

Sorry I do not have any new pictures to post because I have not really had the time and energy to try and capture some decent photos. We have been adjusting to the school schedule and finally seem to have it down... just in time for the 3 day weekend!

Sydney loves school and cannot wait each day to tell me what she did in class (it's difficult but I manage to figure it out). It's so cute to see her walk out of the building with her classmates beaming with excitement... I can only hope that school remains this much fun for her. She immediately starts reaching into her backpack to pull out her daily folder before we are even to the car.
We decided to put Sydney in public school the first couple of years because we felt that private school would not offer her as much help in the language department. Another reason is that the public school by our house is very culturally diverse and there are many different nationalities represented even within her classroom. I think it also helps on many levels that the school is in walking distance from our house (i.e. I don't have to drive far). We pass by it all the time and she realizes that she is not far away from home. We will reevaluate the situation and her progress in a couple of years.
P.S. We are heading to the lake this weekend so I should have tons of cool pictures and videos to post in a couple of days!!! Sydney is so excited to ride on a boat "like speed racer".

First Day of School- UPDATE

Sydney had a wonderful first day of school and cannot wait to go back tomorrow! YAY!!! She couldn't wait to show us all of her work and papers in her new folder. She is now in bed (on time), has her clothes laid out for tomorrow, and even has her backpack hung up and ready to go. She is so cute and we are thankful that she enjoys school. We were concerned that school would remind her of her orphanage experience but that doesn't seem to be the case. She understands that we drop her off in the morning but we be back to get her soon. We are very pleased with her adjustment and bonding and feel extremely blessed. So many people mention how lucky Sydney is but we feel that WE are the lucky ones! She completes our family.

First day of School

Today was Sydney's first day of school. I managed to get her to bed at 9:00pm last night which is an improvement if you can believe that. She woke up living up to her nickname "booger bear" but improved slightly once we got ready to leave the house. I basically had to dress her in bed and force her to get up to eat. When we left the house and arrived at school she was excited and "ready" for school and the excitement even continued while she hung up her backpack and placed her lunch box in her cubby. Unfortunately, the excitement came to a screeching halt once she sat down at her desk and saw all the other kids either crying or looking a little worried. I began to see her eyes swell and her expression turn from a smile to an extremely concerned frown. I left shortly after that and said a little prayer. I hope she has fun or tomorrow morning will be nothing less than dreadful.

Sydney’s First Soccer Game

UPDATE: Sydney did much better in her last 2 games of the tournament and had a wonderful time. She realized right before the last game that she might get a medal and that became her main focus at that point and reminded us of it during each break. It was priceless to see her face light up when her coach held out the medals for the girls and she realized that she actually would get a medal. The girls lined up and walked one at a time to receive their medal from coach and take a photo. Sydney was on her tiptoes, leaning forward, and had her hands on her hips while the girl in front of her was receiving her medal. She could hardly wait for her turn! Then finally her name was called and it brought tears to our eyes to see our daughter receive a medal for the first time and to know that she felt so special and proud. It also meant more to her since she has been watching the Olympics and now places value on a medal. She wore it all day and even slept with it under her pillow. She truly amazes us.

Sydney is on a soccer team called the Super Girls which is perfect since she is obsessed with super heroes. The team colors are red and blue which is also perfect since she is obsessed with blue. The problem is that the team is pretty competitive and well Sydney is not great still learning the basics like not to pick up the ball during play especially right in front of the goal and not to race everyone to get the ball out of bounds and then fight them for it to name a couple. She had to play in a tournament this weekend and her team has not even had a practice yet so it is understandable that she doesn't understand the game at all. She played well the first game but the second game well it was brutal difficult to watch. She will play in two more games tomorrow and we are dreading excited to watch with the rest of parents.

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Mommy and Sydney

Tonight we went to Sydney's "Meet the Teacher Night" at her new school. She likes her teacher and thought the school was really cool. I can't believe that she will start Kindergarten on Monday and I look forward to the "Boo Hoo Breakfast" for the parents after I drop her off at her class. My friend snapped a few pictures of the two of us before we left.

Rain Rain Go Away...

Sydney was really looking forward to swimming today but unfortunately it has been raining all day. The good news is that it is only 76 degrees today (almost 30 degrees cooler than last week) and Sydney was able to try out her new rain gear. She looked adorable.

Finally a Few More Pictures!

There are a few reasons why I have not posted some new pictures in over a week. First, Sydney does not like to pose for pictures very much so I have to catch her in one of her brief picture taking moods. A few days ago I finally managed to snap several cute pictures only to find out that I did not have the memory card in the camera! Arhh! Then Sydney had three immunization shots on Friday morning which left her sick for a few days. She is better now but is still limping around on her little leg from two of the shots. I think she is enjoying the nurturing she is receiving and wants to drag this out a bit, but I do not mind since she most likely never had this much attention.

First Time to Church

We did not plan to wait so long until we started taking Sydney to church but at least we are back on track now and settled into our routine. Sydney enjoyed mass but was not excited about the wearing a dress part. That took some convincing and the promise that she could change soon after. I finally got her to smile in front of flowers with a little begging.

She looked so cute in her little dress!

Dallas World Aquarium

Since it has been over 100 degrees for the past month and we can't really do anything outside but swim, we took Sydney to the Dallas World Aquarium. It is actually much more than an aquarium and is like an indoor zoo. Sydney loved it and we enjoyed getting out of the heat for a couple of hours.

Yes, We Went to Chuck E Cheese!

We took Sydney to Chuck E Cheese tonight and she had a blast! We are now watching the much anticipated Beijing Olympics opening ceremony. Sydney is so excited and is enjoying every minute of it. She seems very proud to be from China and we are too! It is so cute!

Sydney, Who is Coming to the Party?