Joseph Lee Sicinski ~ September 20, 1942 - March 12, 2010

JOSEPH LEE SICINSKI, age 67, of Houston, Texas passed away Friday, March 12, 2010. Born in Houston on September 20, 1942, Joe spent his elementary through high school years in Houston, and graduated from John H. Reagan High School in 1960. He graduated from the University of Houston in 1972 with a Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering. He was a long time employee of Brown & Root, Inc. that later became KBR, Inc. At the time of his death he was retired. He is survived by his wife of forty-two years, Pat Sicinski; son Christopher Sicinski; son and daughter-in-law Scott and Lauren Sicinski; son and daughter-in-law Matthew and Adrienne Sicinski; a very special granddaughter, Reese Addison Sicinski all of Houston, Texas; his sister Sharon Sicinski Skeans of Montgomery, Texas; and many loving relatives and friends. A memorial service will be held on Wednesday, March 17, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. at St. Ignatius Loyola Catholic Church, 7810 Cypresswood Drive, Spring, Texas 77379. The family has requested that in lieu of flowers a donation be made to the American Cancer Society , or the charity of your choice.

Joesph Sicinski

Thank you for all of your prayers. My dad made his way to a better place last night and ended his 3.5 year war with Stage 4 cancer. Funeral details to follow.

Prayers for Grandpa Joe

Matt's dad was taken to the hospital last night and we learned this morning he had a brain aneurysm. He has blood collecting at the top of this spine which is not good. The surgeon does not believe it to be operable. We are in a wait and see mode now as the tests are conducted. As of today his blood pressure became more stable which is a must so that he can have dialysis. There are a lot of variables that the doctors and nurses must manage. Please keep Joe, Pat, Matt, Scott, Chris and Aunt Sharon in your prayers. We are all hoping for the best.

On a lighter note, Reese did some neat things yesterday before we learned Grandpa Joe was in the hospital:

- When we got home she pointed to the stop sign and said "Octagon".
- After dinner she told Matt she needed to go poo poo, so he put her on the potty. They read some catalogs and then she went tee tee (no poo poo) in the potty! Matt text me letting me know! Yay Reese!
- She also got her first knee scrape (which is not so neat). I am always afraid to send her to school in shorts/skirts because I don't want things like this to happen, but I sent her in a cute denim shirt. Unfortunately, she tripped while playing on the playground and scraped both knees on the sidewalk. Poor baby! We are taking good care of them though with neosporin and kisses. And yes, I know, it was bound to happen, but it doesn't mean I'll ever like it!

Our first trip to the Zoo!

Yes, it's true today was Reese's first trip to the Houston Zoo. I know, I know, the Zoo is open every day and we've had many chances to go, but we never made it. So today we went and she loved it! She is at the perfect age to enjoy the animals.




At first, she just chilled in her stroller eating her goldfish.

We saw Zebras...




And Elands




Lioness, the Lion named Johnathan, was sleeping soundly.



Then Reese perked up and decided she wanted to push the stroller.

Then we say the most beautiful Ankole Cattle. Look at those horns.

MaMoo held her up to see them even better.

Then Reese jumped up all by herself to see the animals. Look at that face she is giving me.

She loved getting a closer look.

The Cloud Leopard was pacing back and forth.

While the Fossa ran up and down the wall.

This was the only shot of us both looking at the camera (sort of).

The Grizzly Bear was quite lazy like the Lion.

Reese loved the Elephants. We counted four of them including a baby elephant. They were enjoying hay for lunch.

And finally we found the monkeys! Reese ran up and down the ramps to see each Primate.

The Mandrill is so colorful!

Reese and GiGi got a closer look.

You can see Reese's excitement in her toes.

These monkey's were very loud, letting us know this is their territory. Reese didn't flinch.

And last but not least, we saw the tall and graceful Giraffes.

The weather was perfect for a morning at the Zoo. We can't wait until our next trip.

When Daddy got home, Reese told him all about our trip to the Zoo. She remembered the big elephants and that they were eating hay. She also remembered the lion was sleeping.

Back in business

We have been out of blogging commission for the past month because I dropped and broke our camera. We finally replaced it last weekend, so here are some updates and pictures.

Potty update: As you can see Reese prefers to play more than potty, but she does show interest and still likes to sit on the toilet with her clothes on. Her teachers are going to let her observe other children potty at school to encourage her interest.



About a month ago, Reese go her first haircut (aka trim). Christina only cut about an inch off the back, but it cleaned it up very nicely. We discussed it the night before and I thought Reese would do well, but she didn't like it. She initially jumped into the chair, but when she saw Christina with the shears, she began to cry. I held her while she turned her head from side to side. We tried to distract her by looking at the trees and birds outside the window, but nothing worked. Maybe she'll do better next time.



This was the day I got Reese in a cute skirt and sweater; she liked it because she was able to pick out the pink socks that made the outfit pop!



Reese loves her blue butterfly shoes which Daddy taught her to put on by herself. She loves to put them on and take them off. She usually gets them on the right feet, but not always.



Reese also likes to sit as far away from the table as possible. When we try to push her closer she says, "No scoot!" and pushes herself back to position.

On Saturday, Reese saw her pumpkin in her closet (I didn't hide it well enough back in October) and she insisted on taking it everywhere the rest of the day. I must say she will be all set for Easter egg hunting as she kept putting stuff in it. She is also sporting her Puma dress that Daddy bought her on our trip to New York last year.

We headed to the park early on Saturday morning.

She decided to push the tricycle on the way back home.

Other Reese updates at 25 months:

- Saying "I sorry" and "No please" (instead of no thank you).

- Insists on climbing into the car even though she can barely get up into the Volvo. It seems like it takes forever, but I'm sure it's only a few minutes.

- Loves to stall...yes we are at that stage. It's like she knows Mommy wants her to do something, so she will do anything but what I am asking her to do.

- Says "I like it" when she likes something. She refused the first few outfits I suggested, then once she put on the dress, she said, "I like it."

- Notices details among busy scenes; like the horse statue in Herman Park among the traffic, lights and water fountain.

- Wants to do everything herself saying, "I do it". Yes, Reese do it!

- Counts randomly starting with 5, 7, 8, 10, 11. We try and count when we are doing things to help her learn.

- Knows what a circle is; we are working on the other shapes.

- Is naming her colors quite well.

- Tonight, she put her pj pants on all by herself (well for the most part).

- She loves to talk on the phone to Daddy, Gigi and Papa Larry. She is also saying, "I love you." I think I posted this before, but it's so sweet we'll post it again.

- Likes to put on her slippers before reading a bed time story, then takes them off and puts them in her bed with the other books and toys she insists on sleeping with each night. Before bed we also get on our knees and say a night night prayer. Then we make the sign of the cross repeating "In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen."