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! 

Truly Thankful!

Thankfulness...... I feel like there are no words to fully describe how Truly Thankful I AM!  Yes, I think we are Thankful, but when we really sit down and think about All that God has done/given/provided for us, it really puts things/circumstances into perspective.  It definitely makes the things that we don't have seem to be insignificant, because the things that we do have are so much more important.  This is a life long lesson that I seem to always have to remind myself of when things get tough.  God has given to Stephen and I more than we could ever imagine!  In just one year alone, God gave us a house of our own and a Child!  He also gave Stephen another job when his job was being eliminated.  These 3 things are what brings everything into perspective for me!  I don't need a Big house, with lots of things and I don't need Stephen to have the best job, bringing in lots of money.  All that I want is a "HOME", a job that my husband enjoys, that pays the bills and allows for the few extra fun things.  I wanted a Child for soo long, I begged God to give us one.  Why didn't he give us one earlier, I don't know, I will never know, but what I do know is, he gave us one, in his timing - the RIGHT timing!! and I am Forever Thankful, WE are Forever Thankful!

"Now unto him that is able to do exceeding, abundantly above ALL that we could ever ask or think, to him be all the PRAISE!" 

Our little Angel turned 5 months on Thanksgiving Eve.  Its crazy to see how much she has grown in just one short month and how fast the time went.  OH.... to keep her small, but each milestone is a Celebration and she squeals with delight over her accomplishments.  Addison has officially at 5 months started to move out of 0-3 month clothing and into her 3-6 month clothing. I forsee by Christmas we will officially be 100% at 3-6 month clothing!!  Such a BIG Girl Now!! Not sure of her weight, but she is probably around or close to 13 pounds. We will be going for her 6 month apt after Christmas.

She reached several Big milestones this Month, from holding her bottle (when she wants too, little stinker) discovering her feet, being able to hold her head up on her own when he pick her up, pulling Mommy's hair all day..lol! moving one object from one hand to the other and to rolling over from stomach to back (still has not mastered back to stomach, but I would say she is definitely trying hard to do it) She can even sit up for a short minute on her own without falling over, however we do better if she has something propped against her back.  We officially put away her vibrator chair, which I can say I had a little break down of, "My Baby is Getting Soo Big and I dont want her to Get Big"  but she just did not enjoy Laying Down anymore, wants to be sitting up in her bumbo, afraid she will miss something..lol! So I washed it and put it away.  She is still a huge talker .. full of stories as I like to put it and is just a vibrant happy child.

                                                                 5 Month Birthday

                                                              Discovering her Feet
                                                                 

                                                      Such a Big Girl-  Holding her own bottle

Addison also had her very first Thanksgving.  Even though she didnt enjoy all the FOOD, she was very happy and she even gave Mom a special treat of moving her longer nap to the morning.  So no fight to go down in a new house/bed/smells/noise, that she had never been in!!  All in all it was a very nice relaxing day!

                                                  Watching the Macy's Parade...well kind of!

                                                     Thanksgiving at Nana & Papa's house