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Friday, January 28, 2011

38 Week Update - First Words?

38 Week Picture:

This week was pretty eventful.  Along with Addie's ever-growing personality, we had lots of little things to report on her milestones (see below).  We had a family "lunch date" on Saturday with just the three of us which went really well.  Addison sat like a big girl in the high chair at Applebee's and flirted with the waiter.  

Milestones:

First Words?:  When do you know for sure that your baby has actually said their first words?  Addison has been saying dada and mama for weeks now indiscriminately, but this week she seemed like she might have said "dada" and KNEW what she was saying.  I just don't know for sure.  This is what happened...  We called daddy when he was on his lunch break and put him on speaker.  Of course, Addie loves to grab at the phone and "talk" to daddy.  When we hung up, only a few seconds later, Addison looked at me and said "da-da-da" and smiled.  Hmmm... you be the judge.

Miss Personality:  Over the last several days, Addison has been displaying a very different personality.  I guess you could call it moody but either way, she will go from happy to angry in seconds without any apparent trigger.  Some of the pictures below you will see that she's happy in one and this instantly angry in the next.  I've been trying to let the moods run their course without catering too much and coddling, but it gets hard when she's hysterical.  Lets hope this is a VERY short phase she is going through :)

First drink from Sippy cup:  This week we have been trying to introduce the sippy cup to Addison.  The one we are trying out is the Orthodonic with Air System by NUK.  The reason this sippy is supposed to be great is because of the soft mouth piece, easy grip handles, and it doesn't allow the baby to suck air so it makes for a great transition from an ordinary bottle.  At first, Addison wouldn't touch this unusual contraption but finally agreed to chew on it.  After a few more days, she finally sucked down her first drop of water.  "YUCK" is the only way I can describe her face at that moment as she let the water drip out of her mouth.  After another day though, she tried it out a few more times.  She still isn't sold on this new drinking method, but has kept down a total of 1oz of water.  A work in progress.

Flipping back:  One of Addison's newest excitements is to flip herself back.  She generally does this when in her high chair.  The best way to describe it is that she will lean all the way forward and then throw her head back as hard as possible.  Luckily, she can't hurt herself because she is buckled in and the chair is cushioned.  She seems to do it mostly for attention at the dinner table, but mommy and daddy are doing their best not to feed into it.  It's VERy hard not to laugh when she does it though! :)

Sleep Patterns...er... lack thereof:  Something we have learned as parents is that just when you think you've developed a routine with your child, you blink, and they're changed again.  Same goes with Addison's sleeping patterns.  She went from sleeping the night through (in the beginning) to on again off again sleeping through the night.  Some nights she'll sleep 7-9 hours with no problems, other nights, she will decide to wake up 3 or more times in the night.  We haven't really established a reason for either one yet either.

Standing more:  Addison can't stand without assistance yet, but she does great when she has something or someone to hold onto.  She hasn't tried moving her feet to a walking motion yet but she will reach for something on a surface that she is standing against.

Eating solids:  This week (with the exception of one or two days), Addison has had two meals of baby food solids per day.  So far, Addie has been somewhat of a picky eater.  Her favorites right now are Carrots, Corn, and Sweet Potatoes.  In an effort to conquer her pickiness, mommy has been mixing things she likes with things she does not like.  We also tried introducing YoBaby Yogurt, but that was a complete FAIL.  Something funny we noticed this week was that when Addison doesn't like something she's eating, she will close one eye, make a face and start shaking her head "no".  Although COMPLETELY funny and adorable, we're trying to keep from giving attention to such behavior :) ha ha


More Pictures from week 38:


She loves to watch daddy brush his teeth.

Using the couch to stand/lean against.

Kindly asking the "paparazzi" to stop flashing pics

A glimpse of her newest "personality"

Still amused by feeding time 

On our Lunch date, Addison was flipping herself
back while trying to eat/hold a bottle in the highchair.

Mommy feeding Addie dinner.

Addie has taken the liberty of censoring her chest
in this picture :) ha!

Modeling a new outfit that "auntie Jenn" (one of
mommy's college roommates) gave to Addison.

Good mood.....
 Bad mood...
 Good mood!!

 Put up your dukes!




Thursday, January 20, 2011

37 Week Update - Here's winkin' at you kid!

Week 37 Picture:


Over the weekend, Shane and I went to a surprise 40th birthday for a friend out of town.  We decided it was best to have Addison stay with Uncle Dillon and Aunt Joy since it would be a bit of a drive and not much for her to do once we got there.  It was really hard to leave town without her.  We were already missing her while pulling out of the driveway at uncle Dillon's.  While away, we received several updates (via text photos) from uncle Dillon and Aunt Joy, so it made being away a little easier.  By the time we picked her up on Sunday, it seemed like an eternity!  It was nice to be able to hold her again :)

Milestones:

Crawling:  Last week we posted that Addie is crawling more and more but it has mainly been backwards.  This week it seems as though she is trying to go in other directions.  She was playing on a mat in the living room and crawled backwards off of the mat.  A few minutes later, Shane and I noticed she made her way right back onto the mat facing forwards!  It's only a matter of time before this kiddo will be all over the place!

Bouncer:  Addie has started bouncing on her butt when she sits.  Wether music is on or not, she will just bounce!  She gets a kick out of herself when she does it too because she will look up at mommy or daddy to make sure we're paying attention and then she'll do it again and smile really big!

Rhythm:  Of course we watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse when it comes on and Addison loves the intro "M-I-C-K-E-Y, M-O-U-S-E...MICKEY MOUSE CLUB-HOUSE, COME INSIDE IT'S FUN INSIDE"....yada yada yada.... Now, Addie will kick her feet or bounce to the rhythm of the song.  She actually keeps with the beat too!

Little Smarty Pants:  We have a toy projector that has a music button and a nature sounds button.  While playing on the floor the other day Addie kept hitting the music button.  At one point, mommy reached over and hit the nature sounds button.  Addison looked up at mommy like "what do you think YOU'RE doing" and then hit the music button again.  Mommy and Addie went back and forth like this for several minutes until we both started cracking up!  It was such a kodak moment!

Winking:  We're not sure where Addison picked this up, but she has started blinking and winking at us.  She doesn't do it all of the time, but she started it the other night while we were eating at the dinner table.  I was making faces at her and she just started winking and blinking back at both Shane and I.  It's very cute!

Celebrity:  For Christmas Addison received the cutest book from her cousins Ana, Roman, Grant, Jackson (Angela and Brian on Kristin's side).  The book takes fairy tales like Cinderella and puts Addison as a character in the text!  So she's famous!! :)  We haven't had a chance to really look through it until this week when daddy was reading it to her at bedtime.  She loved watching and listening to daddy read to her!

More Pictures from Week 37:


Listening to daddy read to her

She loved her book!

One of the text updates that mommy
and daddy got while they were out
of town.  Aunt Joy feeding Addie.

Another text update that mommy and daddy received.
Addison and cousin Avryl hanging out.

Uh oh.... :)  Where did you get that??  Ha! She
 LOVES to play with unopened cans when they are cold!!

Seeing how much she has grown and that
she's nearly longer than her diaper changing pad!

Loves playing in her toyroom!

Notice, that pumpkin has been in MANY pictures 
and remains one of her favorite toys.  
We've had it since October and it's STILL not old!



Friday, January 14, 2011

36 Week Update - The Claw

36 Week Picture:




Monday and Tuesday we had a small snow storm so mommy and Addie stayed in for the majority of the week.  Uncle Dillon came over on Wednesday with cousin's Blake and Avryl to sled.  It has snowed before, but this was Addison's first time playing in it.  She didn't last long though because the temperature with windchill was only about 12 degrees!

Milestones:


Little biter:  When you're holding Addie, she will sometimes lean into you like she's going to bite you.  She will get really excited, open her mouth really big, shake her head back and fourth and lean into your face or chest.  It's one of those things you have to see to really appreciate, but it's so hilarious!!  We have a picture of her doing this to one of her dolls (see pictures below).  Funny stuff!


Tickle Bug:  Addison's tickle spots are not consistent.  Sometimes you can tickle one spot and she cracks up but then if you go for the same spot another day she isn't phased by it.  What's really funny though is when you tickle her inner thigh.  When daddy is holding Addison, mommy will tickle her and she will bury her head in daddy's chest, laughing.


"No":  Within the last week or so, Addie has started shaking her head "no" for no apparent reason.  When she was just a few months old, Addison would shake her head when she was really tired, but now it seems like she's doing it out of fun.  The other night, mommy would shake her head and Addie would copy her.  It's really cute now, but lets hope it's not a habit that follows her into her teens....

The Claw:  Addie does the funniest thing when mommy and daddy make a "claw" motion with our hand up in the air and bring it towards her.  She will brace herself and start giggling in anticipation until we tickle her.  It's so stinkin' cute!!  We are in the process of getting a new digital camera with video capability so we can get her in action!

Waking Up:  We have posted before about how Addie will wake up the happiest baby.  Her waking habits have changed slightly.  Mostly she will still wake up very happy and talkative.  In fact, she will lay in her crib for quite a while after a nap, just "talking".  On occasion though, if Addison hasn't had her full nap or wakes up hungry, she is a BEAR!  It's still sometimes cute to hear her "bear" cry.  That sounds crazy, but even her worst "bear" cry is no where NEAR as angry sounding as most babies.

More Pictures from week 36:




Addie's first time in the snow... "enjoying" the snow

Giving love to the baby doll?????



Addison LOVES to watch the dogs eat!




Tired and hungry after her photo shoot....

Talking to PawPaw Charley on the phone


Friday, January 7, 2011

35 Week Update - 8 Months

Week 35 Picture



Addison is 8 months old today!  This week, Addie and mommy were in Chicago visiting Nana (Kristin's mom).  It was a short visit (Monday to Thursday), but a nice and relaxing one.  Nana has carpeting throughout her place so Addison had a much easier time crawling around.  Nana also lives right next to the airport so when the airplanes flew by, Addie's eyes would open up and she would stare out the windows.  

Milestones:

Cartoons:  Addie doesn't watch a TON of TV, she seems more interested in things she can play with, but when Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is on she is GLUED!!!  We've posted before about how much Addison loves the cartoon Mickey Mouse Clubhouse but I really thought it was just something she would grow out of.  Even if she hears Mickey's voice on mommy's iPhone app, she stops what she's doing to listen.  We have turned on other cartoons and she will watch for a few seconds or minutes, but seems to lose interest in them quickly.  She LOVES Mickey!

Solids:  Week two of baby food and Addie is still going strong!  Daddy and Mommy have pureed a few other foods (pasta, etc) and she seems to like everything!  Our routine right now is that Addie gets solids in the morning before having a bottle and sometimes at dinner.  If we try giving her solids after she has had even a little bit of her bottle, she usually wants nothing to do with the solids.  It's such a relief to see her finally enjoying ALL solids.  I was starting to think we were going to be sending her off to college one day with a cooler full of breast milk!! HA!

Holding bottle:  Ok, so we posted last week that she is getting better and better at feeding herself.  Now, she's getting better and better at PLAYING with the bottle!!  She will start eating and then snap the bottle out of her mouth quickly (the nipple makes a "pop" noise when she does this.  Also, she now likes to shake the bottle to hear the 'swish' noise it makes.  It's actually really funny to watch her play around now, but I'm sure it will be frustrating when we really want her to eat ;)

Sitting up:  Addie has been sitting up for quite a while, but now she's trying to get into a sitting position from laying flat on the ground.  She is able to sit up from a reclined position with no problem but when she tries to do it while laying flat, she just ends up on her side.  

Crawling:  With every day comes a new type of crawling with Addie.  Now she crawls out of her "doughnut" pillow.  Sometimes she will immediately face plant and sometimes she will catch herself with her hands as she's crawling out of it.  She's getting better at it each day though.  The house is pretty much "baby proofed" but I'm sure as the crawling progresses, we will find more we need take care of.  

More pictures from week 35:



Waking up from a nap at Nana's



Making her "crinkle nose" face 

Watching her favorite cartoon, 
M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E 






 Crawling around at Nana's