Alphabet and Temples

I have been working on teaching Sydney the alphabet lately. We play some games I learned from teaching on the computer together, we have letters on our fridge, read alphabet books, and of course sing the alphabet too. It is fun to see her learning so many new things. She has been able to sing the alphabet for a few months now, getting all the letters right, except she always says s for x. Sydney is very good at associating letters with things she knows. For example, if you show her an A she'll say Allie, D-Daddy, B-Brett, C-Cooper, M-Mommy, G-Grandma/Grandpa, and S-Sydney... you get the point. She also remembers some of the sounds they make- her best letters for that are a, b, c, d, m, and s. Anyway, the other day we were driving, and Sydney said, "Look! There's Timmy!" Well, Tim is on a mission, so of course we said, "Where?" Sydney proceeded to point and say, "right there!" Again, we responded with a questioning, "where?" "Right there in the star!" Sydney had spotted the letter T in the Texaco star at the gas station! So now, we will have to play the alphabet game when we drive! It's always nice to know that what you are teaching your kids is getting through to them... :)

We drive a lot... probably more than most people, because if I want to get out of the house, or have a car, I have to take Matt to work, and pick him up, which results in a lot of driving. This has been the case for all of Sydney's life. But I think it has given me the opportunity to teach her a lot. We have always talked a lot in the car, to keep her entertained. Practicing animal noises when she was younger, pointing out things we pass, singing songs together, etc. Anyway, we pass temples often. If we have a typical driving day, we pass 3 different temples within our view, at least four times, (to work, home, to work again, home again) more times if we run errands or visit my family that day. Plus we can see all three of those temples from our house, not to mention our wedding pictures and pictures of the temple around our apartment. So, Sydney has taken a real interest in temples. We usually sing I Love to See the Temple when we pass the Oquirrh Mountain Temple, so Sydney knows that song. She also knows that Jesus visits the temple, and that Mommy and Daddy got married there. I will often find Sydney with a washrag, small blanket, dish towel, or the like on her head, saying, "I get married! In the temple!" The other day when we passed the temple, she said, "Mommy and Daddy get married in the temple. Mommy wears a pretty dress, pretty shoes, and a pretty ponytail... and they go golfing!" ha ha ha! I had to laugh at that! In our wedding video, there is footage of us playing mini golf... Hopefully Sydney doesn't always associate the temple with golf, since there really is no correlation... Here are some pictures of Mommy and Sydney getting married-

One last funny thing... This is one of Sydney's favorite dresses to wear. It has ties in the back, that are not long enough to tie in a bow. One time when Matt was putting this dress on her, I told him to tie the ties in a square knot. The next time I put the dress on Sydney, and every time since, she said/says, "Not a square Mommy!" At first I had no idea what she was talking about, until she pulled on the ties and said, "a bow!" I couldn't believe she remembered that! Ha ha! Gotta love it!