16/17 Months

These last 2months have flown by and once again, Im realizing that I have not stayed up on blogging.

Our sweet little girl is so full of life, exploring everything around her, little adventurer.. fearless, She was actually running around the other night with this big plastic bucket over her head...just laughing away, while she was crashing into walls.  She has just filled our lives with so much laughter and amusement as she explores and tries new things.  She now wave all the time when you say bye bye, even waving to GA whenever we leave the house.  She is also trying to wink at us, not necessarily winking, bc that would be one eye, but she squints both eyes and its super cute! She has also finially figured out that she must liftt her feet up in order for us to push her around the house on her little car and she has also figured out that she can get around on her car, by using her feet to push herself around.  She can now turn her toys around on her own.  She used to just crash her toys into the walls and then we would have to go turn them around for her, but she now knows how to turn them around herself and keep going.  She has recently started spinning..lol.. she will spin and spin and then fall over soo dizzy, but just laughing and geting up and doing it all over again! its soo funny!

She is starting to say more words.  Mommy, dada, puppy, baby, kitty, tickle tickle, GA, Peas (for please) hey,  I wouldnt say she is clearly talking as much as I thought she would be by now, but she is getting there and you can tell she is really studying what you are saying.  She does do a lot of babbling, would LOVE to know what she is talking about.

She loves girl things...lol!  Jewelry is such a fascination to her and she thinks she is HOT stuff when she wears it!  She has 2 beaded necklaces that my mom gave her, she wears them ALL DAY!!! Such a little princess! She will also go and find my makeup bag and use my blush brush and push it on her cheeks, she then takes the end of my mascare and rub it on her lips like lip gloss!!  Its soo cute and funny to watch!  She really is our little fearless girl, climbing up on everything, going down the slide on her own, head first... definitly at times, makes my heart race... 

She is eating really good, basically eating whatever we eat,  drinking her milk out of her sippy, still using a bottle for AM and PM milk, but she is finally doing so much better with her sippy.  Still mastering her fork and spoon, but she is doing soo good with them.  We recenlty have been having cereal with milk and she is doing such a good job... soo proud of her!  She now has 4 bottom teeth, 4 top teeth and all 4 of her back teeth have come in.. just a mouth full of teeth!  She sTill loves to read and look at books, puzzels are a huge fascination, she is finally starting to be able to match up the puzzle piece with the picture on the board!  We have been working really hard on it and I felt soo proud to see her show me where each piece goes!

She is our little helper!  She loves to help unload the dishwasher,  carry my bags, get me my keys, anyway to help us... such a sweet girl.  She loves to share, you might not always want what she wants to share.  Another thing that is fascinating... if you need to put her coat on her or if you are going to give her a snack, she will immediatly sit down and wait for you to give it to her or put it on her.... must have picked this up from daycare. She now enjoys having her picture taken - you say go sit next to GA for your picture she will run over, sit down and then as soon as you take the picture, she will get up, run over and sit down in your lap bc she wants you to show her the picture...lol... just soo funny!

More and more Addison is growing into a toddler and there are days that I feel like where has the time gone, where is my little baby!  But my baby is still there, still needing me for hugs and cuddles, even giveing us hugs and kisses back, that melt my heart!

14/15 Months old

So, I have been a little bad with Blogging lately.. I guess we have just had a lot going on recently, and....  In the last 2 months, there have been so many changes and they all have happend so quickly that its almost hard to remember them all... let alone blog about them all.

Our little girl is growing in leaps and bounds, not in size ...lol..  (1 month ago weighed in at 20lbs. 3oz) but in her knowledge  She is such a "SMART" little girl... It is amazing how much she picks up on...  You can now say to her "Addison lets go change your diaper" or "Addison lets go take a bath"  or "Addison can you put this back please" or "Go get Kitty"  She compmletely understands everything you are saying form going to her changing table and reaching up when its time to changer her diaper, or going and getting her towel and bringing it to you for bathtime.  Its amazing to me how much she understands, yet she cant talk to you.  YES, we have our words, Baba for bath, Kitty for her loved stuffed animal, Hey, Tickle, Dada... (which she now seens to associate all guys as DaDa.. Poor Stephen, he is not thrilled with this)  For the most part though.. you can talk to her and even though she cant talk back, she understands completley what you are saying and will go do it or get you what you are asking for.  She has also turned into such a little "Helper"  from helping you put things away, to carrying bags or wanting to help you vacuum!  Cracks me up!

We have offiically gone to one nap.  So all our nap issues were just resolved with 1 nap.  Started moving her into 1 nap about 2 weeks after she turned 14 months... YES.. on occasion we have days where we take an AM nap.. but they are becoming rarer and rarer!  We now go down right around 1 and usually sleep until 330ish.. We enjoy reading boks before naptime in the rocking chair and I think the rocking chair has become her favorite place... When I cant find her... she is almost alwalys sitting in the chair looking at books!!  ITs just soo sweet to see her enjoy to read or look at the picutures. We now visit the library and will come back and just sit and read our books! 

She has now cut her 4 top front teeth and recently 1 top back molar.... she officially now has 7 teeth and I think she might be cutting her other side top back molar.. but not yet. 

Right at 14months, we started working with Addison on using a fork and spoon for eating.  The begging was a little rough. more play time than eating, but now she has really started to mater them and is doing a GREAT job.  Such a big girl!

Our Days are spent, going on walks around the block, getting together with friends, reading stories, going to the PARK, helping Mommy clean, singing songs and doing the handmotions, Tickle time, plyaying with our puzzels and riding our car up and down the hallway, (She is finally now using her legs to make her car move, rather than Mommy pushing her down the hallway, I still do on occasion, for fun).  Addison has turned into my little fish... she now will flip herslef over the in the bathtub and basically swim in there.. its so cute to watch and she loves it... bathtime is definitly a highlight! 

Her personality is really coming out.. She is definitely very STRONG WILLED!  Unfortunatly, it was almost inevitable that she would be strong willed, but on the positive side of being strong willed, it definitly helps you know what she wants... lol!  But, she is a ton of fun, laughing, jabbering and just being silly.  She is a climber for sure.. almost fearless, yet at the sametime still very shy and very "Hold me, Hold me, Hold me"!  She is definitly my little cuddler for sure.... I definilty think the shy and cuddler comes from Stephen, becasue I think I was ALOT more independant as a child and I dont think I was a big cuddler from what my Mom tells me. 

The greatest thing that happend this past month, was to start receiving hugs when I drop her off at daycare.. just melts my heart when she runs over to give me a hug goodbye!  Moments I will cherish forever and Moments you truly live for!

My toddler!

Crazy to think that Addison is a year old!  No more little baby, but a child that is walking.... no RUNNING!  Non stop playing, laughing, exploring, not wanting to miss out on anything. 

This past month has been full of so many surprises, didnt realize how much your child could learn in 1 month!!  This has definitly been a Developmental month.. a month where Addison is connecting the dots and it has been so much fun to watch her learn and explore!

We started this past month, visiting in NY for 10 days and we had soo much fun.  Our days were spent at Great Grandma and Great Grandpas house swimming, playing, eating the sand... such a fun time to be with Grandma and Grandpa Nelson.  Our vacation definitly wore her out and she slept awesome. 

Back to reality and life.. it took Addison about a week to re-adjust, but thats what vacation is, FUN and not always staying right on schedule. (haha, yes that comment is more for me, as Im such a schedule person and yes, I think this happend once I had Addison...)  Where to even begin on all that Addison has learned this month....

   1.  She now waves, you will say bye bye and she will actually wave at you.   She has been waving off and on prior to a year, but now you can say "Wave, bye bye" and she does it (for the most part).  She will even says BYE!!!!  not very often, but every once in a while she will say it.
   2.  She has finally figured out, not only do we take the toys out of the basket, but we put them back, she first did this in NY and now she does it all the time, "Help mommy put these toys away"  and she immediatly starts helping... soo cute.  I will pull out all her toys for bathtime and within minutes she will  have put them all away... I think she then realizes.. I dont have any toys left to play with  and then out they come.. lol! 
   3.  We have this toy that is like a pillar and has 4 stars that start off big and get smaller, the point is to stack them on top of eachother on this pillar.   Well, she has finally figured out, not only how to take them off, but how to put them on, lol... not always in the right order, but its a start!!
   4.  Our stuffed animals are talked to now, "Hi, Hi, Hi, HEY!!  HEY!!!  sooo cute to listen to her talk to them.  Almost like she thinks they will talk back.
   5.  She knows what the kitty says... You cant say... "What does the kitty say and she will answer you butthe girl that watches Addison has a cat and the cat always meows, so Addison now will meow when she sees the cat... I havent actually heard her say it, but Jen says its quite humorous to hear!

   6.  Well... she has finally learned how to climb up on our furniture... YES, chairs, couch ect... not the bed, as it is still a little high, but I think we spend all day.. up, down.. up, down.  This starts off strong and luckily our teaching her how to get down, has paid off.   BUT after a while she gets tired, now, NOT tired of WANTING To get up on the furniture, but tired of pulling herself up there, which results in getting very upset and crying and yelling involved.  Quite funny, to watch, but not soo funny for her. 
   7.  She has really discoverd GA, whenever GA comes in from outside she gets a Treat!  Well, Addison now wants to give GA her treat.  As soon as she hears GA come in, she immediatlly runs over to where teh treats are and stands there looking up at them....so cute!  I will hand ADdison GAs treat and she will give it to GA.. haha.. sometimes!  I think its a battle in her mind to hand it over...lol!  She will also now, as soon as we get home, immdiatly run to where we keep GA during the days that I work.. its just soo sweet to see her so excited to see GA. 

This past month, we moved up to the next stage car seat... such a BIG girl in her chair and I think In a lot of ways she seems a lot happier, as she has more room to move around and she sits a little higher, making it easier to see outside!!  She recently popped another tooth, the top right fang, didnt even know it was possible to pop that one, before the top middle... poor thing, she is going to have a FANG!...lol.. hopefully the middle two will come in soon.  She is just so full of energy.. going.. going.. going... soo fearful she might miss out on something, yet shy at the same time, is that even possible!  So curious over everything.. LOVES puzzles and books, I wouldnt say she is the best at being read too, but she will sit there and look through them over and over. 

Eating has been going really well and even adapting to milk has gone over really smoothly... still trying to figure out napping.  We are currently in the transition of going to 1 nap, but still 2 naps if we find that she needs it.  This has been a very difficult transition, but due to the fact that Addison has really started to fight naps ever since we got back from NY, I feel that we will take one day at a time, but slowly start transitioning to 1 nap... lol.... OH if only children could come with a manual.  lol!  I guess we will figure it all out... In the meantime, just enjoying every moment with our little girl!

ONE YEAR!!

A YEAR!!  Is it possible!  Our baby is a a toddler!  So much has happened in the last month, that Its almost hard to remember it all...

Addison Celebrated her first Birthday at Alexander Park here in PA, with many close family and friends, it was a Special time for us and for her.  She LOVED her cupcake and we couldnt keep her off the slide!  She recieved alot of clothes and some fun toys.. a Truly SPECIAL day!!

Addison had her 12 month appointment and now weights in at 19lbs 8oz .. not that big, but big enought that I feel it.. luckily she can walk.  I started to give her milk 2 weeks prior to her Birthday to help her start tranisitiong fully into it and I would say in the last 2 weeks (after her Birthday) she has really transitioned well at this point. I havebeen able to move the 1:30PM bottle to milk then the 10:30AM and now the 5PM to milk without any major problems. Still drinking formula for AM and bedtime bottle, but we are slowly getting away from formula.  WE are Still having to drink alot of the Milk out of the bottle, as she is having a hard time adjusting to drinking milk out of a sippy, but we are getting there.  She has basicallly moved to big people food, hardly taking jar food, as I think she associates the jar food as "Baby food" and then refuses it.  Such a Stinker!!  Still babbling away... she definilty has A LOT to say... still no words other than "MAMA" and "DADA", sometimes it sounds like she says words, but nothing is clear yet.  She is still shy at first, but luckily warms up pretty quickly!  She has now fully mastered walking and she now walks a TON or should I say RUNs a TON!!  Haha!  She can definitly move fast, especially when she has something shes not supposed to have.  Just FULL OF IT!!  LOL!

I would say our biggest challenge this last month, was, it was litterally one day to the next, that Addison woke up one day and I was like " I no longer want you to rock me to sleep for my NAPS"  I have always rocked Addison before all naps and bedtime.  Most of the time, I would only have to rock for a few mins and she would be down for the count, but it was litterally like a light switch and she REFUSED to go to sleep..... So needless to say, This was and has been a very difficult challenge for me.  I felt at first, like She doesnt need me anymore and How will she ever go to sleep without being rocked, but this is an important lesson to be learned for her, as I was reminded, DO I REALLY WANT TO BE ROCKING AT 2 and 3 when she can talk back to me, or kick and scream...,.. Sooo, That first weekend, I still tried to rock, but to no avail, I was getting frustrated and someone would just NOT go to sleep.   So the next weekend I caved.. no more rocking!!  Soo now its quiet time, light rocking.. snuggling with Mommy and with Bear-Bear and then off to bed we go.  I AM still able to rock for bedtime and she will almost always pass out in my arms, but NAPTIME - NO rocking to sleep.  This WAS always something I enjoyed, quiet time with Addison before she headed off to sleep and we still have that.... just different.    She is doing so much better too with going down on her own, that first weekend did not go to HOT, but slowly she has figured it out and for the most part will pass out pretty quickly once in there.  I can say we do have our days of non-stop chatter that then turns into yelling and sometimes tears... but I just go back in, give her her and Bear-Bear, lay her blanket back over, rub her back and slowly walk out.

ALL in ALL Our little girl has just completed our lives!  She has brought so much laughter and joy.  So full of life and energy, yes very full of it, but never a DULL moment!  Soo excited to see whats to come in this next year!

Steps...

11 Months!  Last year at this time I was pregnant....PREGNANT! and now our little peanut is crawling, walking, babbling, eating on her own.. Where did the time go..  This past month has been filled with fun new memories that Stephen and I will remember always.  Addison has discovered so many new things... must be Spring in the AIR, our child is blossoming!

SO the BIG News is our little girl is now, WALKING!! 2 weeks before she turned 11 months, she took steps..and now its walking... her still major transportation is crawling.. but she enjoys walking and walks any chance she can get! To add to the walking, Addison also knows how to climb stairs!  Not sure how she figured it out, considering we don't have stairs and our daycare has stairs in her basement - leading down to the family room, but that room is off limits to her daycare children.  Somehow, though she figured it out and she will go up them over and over, obviously has not figured out how to go down steps, so you have to be with her at all times, but she is a master at them... WHO KNEW!!  HAHA!   Our OTHER BIG News is she cut her 2 bottom teeth!  YUP!  She finally now has teeth!

We have really started to notice Addison's personality this past month.  She is a very happy child, however very SHY!  It takes a good bit for her to open up, not that immediate smiles upon greeting NEW people, has to almost investigate you before she will open up and be friendly, but .. haha we have discovered that she likes boys/guys!  Poor Dad, is not soo thrilled!   She definitely has alot of Stephen in her when it comes to being shy and not willing to just go to anyone.  She definitely is Strong willed though and unfortunately that comes from both of us!! 

She has become so full of energy and exploring everything around her, recently discovering a toy, that was given to her by my parents at Christmas, MOVES!  Yes, she has always played with it, but now she will push it up and down our hallways, laughing and yelling along her way, over and over.  The only frustrating part for her and for us.. haha, is that she hasnt figured out how to turn it around, so when she gets to the end of the hallway or to the table, she ends up yelling until we turn her around.  She is quite speedy at this and at times its almost hard for us to keep with her, before she gets to the end to turn around!  HAHA, It has definitely added to making her legs stronger though, for walking!.

Most Toys seem in a way, to be a thing of the
past and anything that she cant have seems to be what she wants!  VERY STRONG WILLED, getting very upset when you take it away from her, she loves to pull everything off the nightstands or off the little table by the front door!  OVER an OVER she does this... almost like its a game! Another thing we have noticed is her love to climb, not only steps, but anything that she can, resulting in lowering her bed to the bottom position. Every time I turn around she is trying to climb something!!  Crazy girl!!  We have Also moved up to taking a bath in the bathtub, rather than her little bathtub- making the clean up easier, except that she wants to stand up in the tub, making Mommy very nervous!  She also has discovered showers and LOVES them! Very fascinated by the water coming out..

 With Flowers in bloom we spend a lot of time out side, so Mommy can pull weeds haha,  leave it to Addison to discover the Tan Bark... and apparently Tan Bark tastes very good!!  What is is with everything always going into the mouth... yuck!    

Our days are mostly spent by an early morning stroll and then after our AM nap and then.. POOL time.. haha.. Yes, I know, she just wouldn't be my daughter if we didn't get in some pool time!!  She definitely likes her water to be warm though, so we have to fill it up before AM nap-time, so its warm by the time she gets up .. such a little stinker. However, she is starting to get a nice tan, kind of hard though, when your wearing 50!!!  Haha!  We also still spend a lot

EATING!!  Sometimes I think I could talk about eating and that would be my only BLOG!  We have discovered that if you give Addison a bottle in the car or during our walk, there is no fight and she will drink it all on her own, so AM bottle is usually given during a morning stroll and dinner bottle is usually given on our ride home from daycare.  No fight, is what I am all about.  She has been eating 3 meals now for 2 months, however this last month, Addison decided that pureed food is beneath her!  No JOKE!   As you bring the spoon to her mouth, she will immediately move her head back and investigate what you have on the spoon and then decide from there if she wants it or not!  If its a NO, she will immediately turn her head and purse her lips shut!  This has made mealtime very interesting... we have tried LOTS of new FOODs this month or the foods that we pureed have turned into pieces she can pick up!  I have found though, that if you give her solid foods first  that she can pick up on her own, then she will sometimes take the pureed food out of the jar.  I am finding though that solid foods and lack of taking pureed foods she is not filling up as much, she is not getting that full, causing her formula intake to recently increase in the last month.  Soo.. funny that 2 months before she turns a year she has finally started to drink her formula and in larger quantities!!  CRAZY!!   (definitly leaves me a little worried about the transition to WHOLE milk and if it will be able to fill her the way formula does)  I think the teeth have definitely helped in her desire to take solids and we have also noticed that if WE are eating something, SHE WANTS IT... haha.. or at least wants to TRY it!!    This last month, we have tried, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Corn, Watermelon, Toast, Cheerios, Animal Cracker, Pretzels, Pasta and Cottage Cheese.   

All in all this last month was very exciting for us... such special memories, my very first Mothers Day.. never thought this day would happen to me!  I received 2 beautiful cards.. that I will cherish ALWAYS!! Addison is walking, she cut some teeth and in 1 month we will Celebrate a YEAR!!!  Soo truly BLESSED!!!!

10 MONTHS

WOW!  10 Months!!! Just seems soo old!! to think that in 2 more months, Addison will be ONE!!!!!  Is that even possible!!!  I have been reminded a lot lately, of just last year at this time, I was in the last stage of my pregnancy and now I have a crawling, babbling child!!

I would definitely have to say this last month was a LONG month.. 3 weeks of it Addison was sick.. making for very long days.  She came down with the cold on her 9 month Birthday and had a miserable runny nose/and sporadic coughing for 5 days.. resulting in me taking off work and taking her to the DR just to make sure no infection had set in.... poor thing dropped half a pound.  Luckily no Pneumonia or Ear infection, just BAD cold. Luckily it passed and I though we were over it, only for a cough to settle in 3 days after the cold passed.. the Cough was worse then the cold... she would get in such horrible coughing fits..poor body shaking from the coughing!! When that finally passed, I thought we were good.. and sure enough 4 days later the runny nose came back and this time.. I GOT IT along with her!!  The 2 of us were quite a pair, but luckily hers passed pretty quickly and the last week of 9 months, she was able to enjoy it and not be sick!!! 

Our BIG Milestone this month!  right after Addison turned 9 months, she figured out how to pick up her sippy cup, tip it back and drink out of it!  2 weeks later she figured out how to pick up her bottle and she can now officially feed herself her bottle.  YES! we still have to redirect her and remind her that its time to eat, even still at times having to feed her part of the bottle, but for the most part, she has mastered it and is on her way!  Making feeding timess sooo much easier and less of a fight!

On a Interesting note - Addison has decided with all this crawling around- and very FAST crawler I might add, that she now needs to bring along a toy or bib with her as she crawls around the house... soo funny!  She also has discovered with all this crawling around, that she likes to crawl under things and through tight spots (ie: chair and wall) which she has now found herself stuck in places... and NOT very happy about it!!  LOL!!  Another new adventure.. she LOVES to bang things together! either her toy, bib or whatever she brought with her on her crawl around the house, onto the wall/chair/nightstand or her other toys or just two toys together..like they are cymbals!  Our little adventurer has fully mastered crawling and walking/cruising around the house and every day gets braver and braver at standing for longer periods of times without holding onto anything for support!  Which at times can be very scary for me, as she know wants to STAND in the Bathtub!..just a little slippery!!  She loves to walk holding your hands and we are tying to walk only holding one hand.. but its pretty hard for her!  She still loves to clap at everything exciting!.  She has recently discovered ournight-stands in our room and every time we turn around she is pulling everything off the shelves or off the top.She has this fixation with sucking on our shoes... soo, we can never leave our shoes laying around or she WILL find them and suck on them.... soo gross! She has also discovered GA's WATER bowl.. Yes, I have found her several times now, sitting in a pool of water from her tipping it over!!  She loves walks and playing outside and now with it being warmer we try to get out at least once a day... if its not raining!  (I think it rained all April).  She has recently discovered Pop-up books and will flip through them over and over, I think there was one day I read a book over and over cause she wanted to see the things pop up at her.  She also still loves anything that makes noise, loves GA, laughing hysterically at her and loves to look at herself in the mirror... silly girl..! 

She now knows what NO means!  So, you tell her No, she will stop and look at you and start babbling (like she is talking back at you) and then when she thinks you aren't looking will go back at the thing you just told her NO to!  Little Stinker!! You then repeat No and she will immediately stop or let go or THROW the object and turn and babble at you!  We definitely have a very strong willed child!  No!! is NOT something she wants to hear and she definitely does not like it if you take something from her that she cant have or you remove her from a situation that she shouldn't be in!!  SCREAMS!!!  She must get this strong willed personality from her FATHER!! LOL! 

She has tried several new foods this month Turkey, Zucchini, Broccoli, Asparagus, Grapes, Kiwi, Plums and cheddar cheese.  We are trying more and more foods that require her to pick them and up and we are moving forward with lots of stage 3 foods to help her adjust to chunkier foods.  We have now added in Lunch, so 3 meals a day - Breakfast - cereal, yogurt and fruit/fruit chunks and apple juice.  Lunch- yogurt - veggie and a fruit with some more apple juice and finally Dinner - cereal, protein and a veggie and sometimes fruit chunks for desert with water in our sippy cup.  We love our puffs and are slowly mastering yogurt melts.  Our BIG food adventure was a Popsicle, bought by GRANDPA and we LOVED it!  The only thing she didn't like was HOW cold it was when she held it.. resulting in a lot frustration until, we wrapped paper around the bottom. lol!

I cant believe how big our little girl is getting ....

Milestones

Well our little baby girl is transforming more and more into a toddler and I cant believe it! Its like in 1 month our little girl transformed.......Where did the time go? How did she get this big!  Funny how you cant wait for them to reach that milestone and then when they do, you are reminded of how big they are getting and not so much your little infant.  Addison had her 9 month Drs appointment yesterday and our little girl now weighs in at 16 pounds 14oz (17th %) and she is 27 inches long (34%).  We have finally started to move into 6-9 month clothing, still holding onto some of her 3-6, but were moving up!  

To my BIG NEWs!  Addison is now crawling all over the place, started right around 8 months (36 weeks) every time I turn around she is in another room (very speedy)  She has also mastered how to get around the room walking..... well, not "Walking" BUT holding onto the couch and then walks from one end to the other .  She will also pull herself up at the little table by the front door, walk until she can grab the chair, then walk until she can grab her jumperoo, basically walks around until there is nothing left to hold on to!!  and as of this last week, she is getting quite brave and will let go for a few seconds and stand there!  Luckily, she will let herself drop, I heard some babies will stand there and yell until you come and get them, so Im thankful she is a brave one.

                                             http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxSM7E5yA6g
                                             http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jf9YJEmDOk

Another BIG News,Addison can now say Mama (37 wks) and it is really sweet!  For the longest time she would say DaDa DaDa and never Mama, but now she says it!  To hear your child say your name and look at you or reach for you when they say your name is truly one of the best milestones they can reach!

We recently pulled out the highchair and it is wonderful!  I highly recommend our highchair, lots of positions, in height/lays back/ rolls and it folds up.  Another great thing about it, is you can take the top off and have it become a booster for your chair!  We had been using the bumbo, bc she still fits in it and we would just put it on the table and feed her while we were eating, but I accidentally left the bumbo at our friends house the other week and had no other option, but to pull out the highchair and all I have to say is.... I should have pulled it out forever ago!  Addison would grab at everything on the table making our eating a challenge, but now she can sit in her chair and I dont have to worry about where Im placing everything on the table!!  and she likes it!  I think she feels like a big girl in her chair!  On the subject of eating.. we have tried out some new solids this month and have even started trying solids that are more hand held... which I would say she is not a fan of .....she likes it pureed.  This month we have tried Barley, Wheat, Pumpkin, Blueberries, Cantaloupe, Apricots, Yogurt and Chicken,  We are also discovering Puffs!  I wouldn't say she has mastered eating them, however she has figured out they go in her mouth and she has to hold them in there with her finger to get them to dissolve.  We also tried eating bananas and green beans that weren't pureed, but she is not a fan.. would rather just squish them all around on her tray!  She is still mastering the Sippy cup, but she is getting better and better at it, finally figuring out that she has to tip it back, but most of the time, unless you help her she just wants to play  with it!

Addison is such a talker and full of great smiles, very adventurous..
loves everything she cant have (ie all of Stephens stuff..LOL). She Loves her bedroom and almost every time I turn around she has ventured to her room to play with her books/stuffed animals or socks/shoes bin!  Its cute to see she knows where her room is and will go play in it!  Now that it is getting nicer out, we have enjoyed walks and she loves them talking and laughing at things she sees... She loves the Itsy-Bitsy -Spider, Patty-cake-Patty-Cake, singing and sometimes she sings along, clapping at everything exciting, tickling and of course still loves to be picked upside down(crazy girl)  Still loves her Jumperoo and has discovered that she can now reach up and grab the bird or frog..... such a little stinker.Her favorite spot is sitting at the front door, I think she could sit there all day. Poor GA lost her spot).  Addison and GA are still doing great, Poor GA doesn't know what to do with this moving child...LOL..  She is still napping good and has fully adjusted to 2 naps a day 1hr in the AM and 2hrs in the afternoon.  A NEW Discovery - The last several months she was getting up in the middle of the morning every night around 4:30ish.. I thought it was cause we had added solids when all of this started, but recently I remembered that that was around the time I had started putting her to bed around 7:20PM.  Well I decided to try putting her to bed closer to 8PM,  the way I had before and well she now sleeps through the nite 7:55- 7 AM and sometimes 715 if Im lucky!! 

Highlight - she also now recognizes me and crawls to me every time I go to daycare to pick her up... its the best after a long day at work, to walk in and have her light up and crawl to me! These are the moments to live for!!

All in all our little adventurer is Growing, Happy and Healthy and WE are reminded every day of Gods goodness in our lives!

A BIG Month of Accomplishments!!

I feel like I don't know where to begin with all of the changes that has taken place this last month!!  Addison is growing in leaps in bounds.. lol.. not necessarily in size, but in learning and accomplishing NEW things!  Our little peanut is probably close to 16lbs, as 2 weeks ago she weighed in at 15lbs 10oz.  Crazy to think my 8 month old is still in 3-6 month old clothing and stage 2 diapers. (BUT,very fast approaching 6-9 month clothing though)

                                                                   
So much has happened this past month:

1. Will now take her bottle out of your hands and put it in her mouth (if she thinks you are not giving it to her quickly enough)  Still has not mastered that she has to tip the bottle up, so you have to lean her back... but grabbing the bottle from you and trying to feed herself is a step in the right direction.
2.  She will also now find her paci and pick it and put it back in her mouth
3. She give us wonderful slobbery kisses!  She will come at you with her mouth open and the she kind of licks your face!! LOVE THEM!!  soo sweet!
4. She has mastered the army crawl!  Now, instead of rolling everywhere, she army crawls the floor.. however, she is inches away from crawling!!  It started off by going up on her knees, but not her arms, then it went to both arms and knees going up and then she would just hang out.  Then it went to where she was up there and started rocking back & forth and then we got the one leg going up like she wanted to try to stand on it... and now she tries to move (crawl) but it usually just ends up with her lunging forward. Poor thing gets very frustrated trying to figure it out!
5.  She has also figured out that if she holds onto something she can pull herself up to a standing position. (obviously she cant let go, but she can stand) Which she tries this all day!  It was crazy!  I was laying on the floor with her the other night (on my side) and the next thing I knew she was using my waist/legs to pull herself up and then there she stood!  Stephen and I of course were completely freaking out!!  soo now she will pull on just about everything to try to stand up!  (ie: couch, chair legs, jumperoo pole legs and her toy that stands up and has wheels - which doesn't always work to great for her, bc it rolls) 
6. Her latest accomplishment, as of Wednesday night was to finally figure out how to sit up on her own, without our help.. last week she pulled herself up to a sitting position in her bath-tub and I think that was the kicker to her figuring out how to do it!!  It was something she has been trying to do all week!!  and last night she made it! She kind of pulls herself up on her side and then just slowly slides the rest of her body up!  She is still mastering it, soo sometimes it takes a couple of tries.. which leaves her very frustrated, almost yelling at the situation.. quite funny to watch/listen to!  Just a side note!! Addison has discovered the bubbles in her bathtub and its soo cute cause she keeps trying to pick them up!!

7.  We had to move her bed down today, to the next level... no more little baby level, as we found her sitting up her in bed and since she now has figured out how to pull herself up to a standing position, it will only be time before she realizes she can pull herself up to a standing position in her bed!  Such a BIG Girl!!!

8.  Addison has really discovered GA.....She will just stare at her and laugh!  She thinks GA is soo funny!! It really is so cute to watch!  Poor GA I think has no clue really what to do with Addison, except smoother her in kisses (for some reason GA loves to lick her all over the face- probably all the formula or extra food on her face -lol!) which now Addison will laugh and turn her head away.  However, if you put Addison down next to GA, GA will immediately walk away... probably has to do with the fact that Addison now pulls GAs hair!! Poor GA!! lol!

I still cant get over how much she has accomplished in just 1 month!  Just recently She went through a growth spurt, eating a ton (which was AWESOME!!, No fight to eat) the downside..... she started to WAKE up at least 2x a night.. leaving Mom here very worn out!  But then this last week, she started eating normal again (meaning not eating so great and mom here fighting with her to eat) but she started to sleep through the night again,  The funny thing was, I didn't notice any clothing size difference, but IN one week, Addison stood up on her own and she figured out how to sit up on her own.  My daycare brought up a good point, yeah she had a growth spurt, not in "size" but a growth spurt of her mind! Crazy how much a baby can learn in just 1 year of their life!! or in just 1 month!  I do want to point out though.. that she did have a small size growth spurt - kind of like an over the night spurt from Wed-Thurs night - she woke up and had more hair and her legs grew.. so some of her pants now are a little high watered.. lol!  Tops still fit though..

Addison still sleeps great at night (for the most part..knock on wood) We also just recently transitioned into 2 naps (33wks), she always took a morning nap/lunch nap and afternoon nap, however with her age and noticing that she could stay up 3 hrs in between, I decided to see if we could go to 2 naps and so far so good.  We now go down around 9:30 AM and sleep roughly 2 hrs and then again around 1:30/2 and sleep another 2 hours.  Addison still loves her solids... Our NEW foods this month have been, Mango, Prunes, Apricots, Carrots and Sweet Potatoes .  We have Oatmeal and fruit in the morning with some juice in our sippy cup and a Vegetable and Rice in the evening.  Our formula intake has gone down with the solids, but the Dr said that was to be expected.  Cannot wait for the day when Addison can hold her own bottle/sippy cup and we no longer have to fight to get her to eat and I really cant wait for the day when she can go to milk and not have to have formula only 4 more months!! CRAZY!!! 4 more months and our peanut is a Year!!   In regards to formula - after 4 weeks, ratio 1 GS /2  Enfmail and then 2 GS /1 Enfamil, we have now finally transitioned into the Good Start and luckily the transition went smoothly and I don't even know if Addison noticed.

All in all she is growing in leaps and bounds... well maybe in her knowledge/accomplishments, not size!! LOL!  Such a little talker and full of smiles to brighten our days!  Still shy when she meets new people, definitely still going through a phase of  always wanting Mommy near.. some days are worse than others... but slowly she is getting better at being able to play independantly and not always needing Mommy right there!  Still loves Peak-a-boo, being picked upside down, her jumperoo.  Constantly trying to reach for everything and anything (things she shouldn't have) and putting everything in her mouth. And with becoming more and more mobile she has started to discover so many new things .... ie cords, the volume button on the surround sound, Stephens video game controllers.. definitely keeping us on our toes!

We truly are enjoying every minute of our life with Addison and we couldn't be thankful enough for all that God has given to us!

7 Months....

Where did the time go... I feel like I was just blogging about Addison turning 6 months.. and here we are at 7 months already!!  She is already over half a year old!!  My mom said the other day "Watch out.. you will blink and She will be all grown up, that's how fast it goes!!"  I believe she is right!  7 months ago.. I was holding our little infant, who couldn't talk, sit up, roll around, play with her toys, do anything!  and NOW.. she is turning more and more into a child rather than an infant!  Wishing I could soo badly keep her little, wanting and needing me.. but then excited with all of her milestones!! Stephen comments all the time on how much Addison always wants "Mommy" but I constantly remind him, maybe now... but there will be a day, when our little girl, will be a 100% Daddy's girl and "MOMMY" wont be soo important... lol!  What is it about daddy's and their daughters!?   But being a daughter myself and definitely being a DADDY'S Girl!!  I hold onto the fact that my daughter even though she will LOVE her Daddy will always need me, bc I know I ALWAYS NEED my MOM!! ....I always need my Dad too!)

Our little girl... is soo vibrant and full of life, she has brought such joy to our lives!  When she laughs, I swear my heart could burst with all the love I feel!  She is growing in leaps and bounds.. such a curious little girl, yet shy at the same time!  IT cracks me up!! One minute she is just jabbering away and the next minute, someone tries to talk to her and she is burying her head in our shoulders.. That is definitely NOT from me!! I dont think I was ever a SHY child!!

She has recently discovered how to clap!!! Super cute! She doesn't clap on command, so I doubt she knows she is clapping, but when she gets excited she will start clapping and its super cute to watch.  She has also recently discovered GA!!  She LOVES GA!!! She will sit and just stare at her and laugh hysterically!  GA has really no clue what to do with her!  Stephen and I do think GA understands she is a baby, bc GA is super gentle with her and will just walk by and give her a kiss on the head! They are quite a pair!  I have no doubt that given time they will be Best Friends!!

Not sure what is going on, but I was unable to attach the video, so just click on the link...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcMFSOcpwP4

Addison has also recently decided that sleeping on her side is a lot more comfortable!!  Im not surprised by this, as my mom and I are both side sleepers, however its super cute to see.  Addison will start off on her back, roll to her side and then come morning she will roll to her stomach and talk until you come and get her.  It kind of freaked me out at first, as I worried about blankets and should I still give her one, but my pediatrician, said as long as it wasn't a big heavy one, at this point in the game, Addison would be fine!!  Funny how my 7 month old still likes to be SWADDLED!!  Its what calms her down and helps her relax for bed!  I asked my Pediatrician  if this was something I should stop, but she said if its what Addison preferred there was no reason to stop!! sooo still swaddling at 7 months!!  Another crazy thing that Addison has started to do is "TALK in her SLEEP"!!!  She does this all night long!  At first I would check on her a million times, thinking she was up, but every time I went in there she was sound a sleep, I have gotten used to it and NOW when she doesn't talk in her sleep, I tend to wake up wondering if she is OK!! LOL!!  She has also finally figured out how to put her paci back in her mouth the right way.. without fumbling around with it.  Its cute to watch her pick it up and put it back in (Such a Big Girl)!

 Peek-a-boo has become the new favorite game.. playing it over and over, anything she can put over her face she will.. I will look over and she has her bib a book, blankets, clothes anything she can find, will be over her face and she will be laughing and kicking her legs until I come over and say Peek-A-BOO !!  she loves it and we play it over and over!!

 We have also discovered how to roll on our changing table!! NOT MY FAVORITE THING!!  Getting dressed now or changing her diaper is a major challenge, she forever wants to roll over, so trying to keep her still, so that I can just pull up her pants or close the diaper...  I also have a shelf with pegs on it that hangs above her changing table, well I would always hang her Pjs on the 1 peg closest to the changing table... someone now likes to try to grab the Pjs off the peg!! sooo I spend the whole time, trying to keep her from rolling over or pulling off the Pjs or whatever is hanging there just to get dressed or changed!! LOL!! WE are just soo curious!!

We are still eating our solids and LOVING THEM!!  Who would have known my child would love solids this much!! Taking a bottle is such a challenge, it has been wonderful to feed her solids and know that she wants them and practically screams (not mad) just yells, when Im not feeding her fast enough!!  We have now tried, Oatmeal, Rice, Bananas, Applesauce, Pears, Peaches, Peas,  Green beans and squash!  She LOVES her RICE and hates her Oatmeal!!  She did not enjoy Green beans and it was quite funny to watch!  She did better after a couple of days, but the first day or 2 was pretty funny!  however, she LOVED her peas!! We are currently in the process of switching Formula and for New Moms, I don't advise this!! I did 1 week of 2 to 1 ratio and then this week we went to 2 to 1 ratio the other way and well, it didn't go to hot!  Poor thing, it made her feel miserable, (I think it gave her a lot of gas) and for 2 days she didn't sleep during the day at all!! I would pick her up from daycare and she looked like she got run over.. eyes puffy and red!  I felt horrible for her!  Luckily she feel asleep early and slept really good at night!  I think she is finally adjusting, as she is now back on track with naps and seems a lot happier!! This will be the one and only time I change formula, but for the sack of money, we needed to switch!!

All in all she is doing great! and we couldn't have asked for a better baby!  She still sleeps about 4 hrs a day.....a nap from 9-10am,  another nap from 11:30/12 until 12:30/1pm, (sometimes deciding to move her longer nap to then and will then sleep until 2:30ish).. And her final nap from 2:30-5pm.  She has always been a great night sleeper (knock on wood) going down around 7:50/8pm and sleeping until 6:45am, with the occasional wake up in the middle of the night!

Celebrating 6 months!

Crazy to think that our little girl is 6 months old.... Celebrating on Christmas Eve!  Where has the time gone....??  I was recently just looking back over her new born pictures. That moment that they laid her in my arms, will forever be ingrained in my heart!  I mentioned to a friend recently, "You could take a million pictures of your child.... but those first pictures.. when your baby is laid in your arms, those moments... is the most precious gift given.. those are the best pictures!  What an Awesome God we have!"  There are no words to describe it!

This last month flew by for us... probably due to Christmas.   However, each week it was like Addison was accomplishing something new! Very exciting, yet... sad that our baby is growing up!!

Addison had her 6 month apt today!  She weighed in at 14 pounds 12 oz (30th percentile) and 27 in. long (85th percentile)  We are thinking she might be tall!  She had 3 shots at her apt... and surprisingly they went better than expected!  She has officially transitioned into 3-6 month clothing.. no longer fitting in to any of her 0-3 month clothing and has also moved into Stage 2 diapers..... I Cant believe how BIG she is getting!!! 

So to recap this past month...Addison has:

1.  Learned to say DaDa...lol!  She repeats it over and over and over... I now tell Stephen on Sat mornings, that she is calling for him.. I don't think he finds it very funny!! (23 wks)
2. Learned to roll completely over from front to back and back to front.... lol.. for a while there she could only roll to the left.. however, she has a couple times rolled now to the right.. so Im thinking she is figuring it out, she just prefers to roll to the left. (24 wks)
3. Reaches for you!  Such a sweet thing.... It started off as, just stretching her arms out and you knew she was saying pick me up!! But now, if someone is holding her and she wants to go to someone else, she will reach for you! (25 wks)
4.  She is learning to sit up with out support.  Now... she will still topple over eventually and she cant get to a sitting position on her own.. however, you can put her down sitting up and she can support herself for quite a while!!  She just looks like such a little grown up, sitting there!! (26-27 wks)
5.  In Celebration of marking 6 months we started solids!!  We had our First Rice Cereal with Apple Juice the day after Christmas!!  All I can say is... it was wonderful to feed her the solids and have her love it!!  She was a natural at it!!  Feeding her a bottle is a serious war!  Addison, I would say, does NOT enjoy her bottle!!  OH!!  She acts like she wants it, but after 2 oz.. she doesn't want anymore and its a pure out fight to get her to eat!!  "I have a snacker"  and let me just say... I dont believe in SNACKING!!!!  Since then we have tried, bananas and Oatmeal...lol.. she definitely likes her Rice over the Oatmeal.. however, she does eat it!! (26 wks)

All in all Addison fills our house with such delight... telling us lots of stories!!  She definitely is a talker! Even today at the Pediatricians office the receptionist when I was checking out said..."does your baby always talk this much??" I definitely had to laugh.

We had a wonderful Christmas with my parents and family!  such a special time as we Celebrated with Addison for her First Christmas! ( I think she will appreciate it more next year... this year ... she thought all the gifts were to be chewed on..lol)  She received an activity Jumperoo from my brother for Christmas.. and loves it!!  I  feel guilty taking her out of it....Such a delight to see your child squealing with laughter!

                                                                Im 6 months today!!
                                     
                                                   First Family Picture, Christmas Morning
                                                 

Trying out her Jumperoo from Uncle Bryan

                                                     Christmas morning at the Big Table                                    

                               First time trying solids!!   She was literally grabbing at the bowl

 

                              First adventure in the snow!