Keeping Up with Super Sylvie

July 29, 2018 – Keeping Up with Super Sylvie

(photo by Elisa Cheslak)

Sylvie, who turned three a couple of weeks ago, continues to amaze me with her energy, enthusiasm, and expressiveness.  After helping me celebrate my Bastille Day birthday with lunch at a French restaurant, she joined me in the kitchen at home for a baking session.  Since I don’t care much for traditional birthday cake, we made a rustic French galette, filled with peaches, plums and blueberries.  

The following day, she had her own very special birthday celebration, complete with a pony and baby animals.  Unfortunately, I had to miss Sylvie’s party because I was on my way up to New York for a weeklong trip (the subject of my next post) that couldn’t be rescheduled. Thank you to Elisa and T (Grandma Teri) for sharing their photos with me.  

When I returned to Virginia, it looked like Sylvie had grown an inch or two!  She adores the rope swing that Christian recently installed on a sturdy tree limb in our front yard.  This was a “do-it-yourself” project that reminded me so much of what Elliott would do.  It involved creating a swing from a piece of scrap wood and a length of rope, climbing up a ladder beside a tall tree, hacking off lower branches with a long-handled cutter, devising a pulley system for raising himself above the reach of the ladder, suspending the ropes over the limb, and finally, when the swing was in place, lowering himself with the pulley.  Everything was going well until his foot got caught and he went crashing about 10 feet to the ground.  Fortunately, Christian wasn’t injured, and I know Elliott would have been proud of him. 

When the weather permits (we’ve had a lot of rain lately), Sylvie has been taking swim lessons at our community pool.  She has also kept up with her scooting and bicycling.  A couple of days ago, Christian brought her to a nearby skate park so she’d have more practice room.  Elisa and I stopped by and watched in amazement as Sylvie fearlessly zoomed around on her scooter.  She’s even developed a signature move – once she gets going at a good pace, she puts both feet on the scooter and hops up and down a few times.  We call it the “bunny hop.”  

In addition, Sylvie has great hand-eye coordination, whether throwing a ball (or other object) or batting at the T-ball stand.  She’s equally adept at kicking, whether it’s a soccer ball outside on the grass or a beach ball around the house.  I’m fascinated by her athletic skills, which she certainly didn’t inherit from me, and I’m delighted to see the joy and self-confidence she displays.