The Handley Family: January 2012

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Weekly Update - "Bang Bang"

Addie's Weekly Photo, Week of January 27, 2012 (90 Weeks):

Addie's Weekly Milestones:

Bang Bang: Daddy and uncle Dillon have set up an area of our property that serves as a shooting range. Some of the guns can be quite loud and used to bother Addie quite a bit. I think with as often as the guys shoot though, Addison has become used to the noises and now says "bang-bang" when she hears their guns. Sometimes she'll plug her ears, but we usually just have to remind her "not loud, it's ok" and she'll uncover her ears. Another cute part is that she will point her fingers out sometimes when she's saying "bang-bang" (like she's shooting).

Artist: Coloring/drawing is still pretty new to Addie. We will sometimes give her a pen and paper, and we've also let her experiment with Color Wonder markers, but definitely not often enough. I think most kids love the opportunity to color and I feel like I've neglected to allow Addison to express her artistic abilities. We picked up a large sized sketch pad this week hoping for a good sized "canvas" for Addie to color on. Addison's eyes lit up the moment she saw the paper and markers! It was really exciting to watch her doodle on the paper. Every day now, she points to the desk where we keep the supplies and I've caved each time!! I'm going to run out of wall space for all of her art work at this rate!!

Naping: We've been in a phase where Addie would only take one nap a day. Usually she would take them in the morning or early afternoon and by the time daddy got home from work, she would be a cranky-pants! In the last week though, she's been taking both a morning AND afternoon nap while STILL sleeping through the night. Right now, she takes her first nap between 9:30 and 10:00 for about an hour and a half. Her second nap is generally around 3:00 and can last nearly two hours. It's been nice because mommy gets extra time to get things done, and Addie is extra sweet when daddy gets home from work. Love it!

Peek a Boo: Addison gets funnier with this game every week. Now, she will grab the nearest pillow and cover your head and ask where you went. If there's a pillow anywhere near her, she wants to play hide and seek. She will get really excited and say "hide....hide...hide" and then get you to cover her with the pillow. The cutest part is that she will giggle under the pillow the whole time you're looking for her.

Finicky with food: I think I've mentioned this several times but every week she does something else funny at the dinner table. If food is stringy (like chicken, pineapple, etc) and there's a string or fiber hanging off, Addie will pull it off like it's hair and put it aside, all the while making an "ew" face.

Vocab: There are dozens of new words that Addison says each week. Shane and I are shocked at some of the things she picks up. It's hard to keep track of each and every word, but here are a few more we remembered from the week.
"Oh gross" ("oh-goes"): Addie must have heard me or daddy saying this at some point and picked it up. She says it in the right context too.

Baby #2 update:

Can't wait! Of course we've been excited about Cooper since day one of finding out we're pregnant, but I think the enthusiasm has really come out of all of us this week. We have just under 6 weeks left before d-day, and every passing day brings more excitement to our house. Shane was just rubbing my belly the other day and saying "I can't wait to meet him"!!

Gest. Diab: My numbers are still looking good. I have my "cheat" foods from time to time and my number still look great even after consuming the "bad" (high sugar/high carb foods).

More Pictures from the week:

Pretending to eat out of the toy dog bowl!

She loves to hold Mickey in the car!

Addison's favorite place to shop...

Home Depot! She gets very excited

about the race car shopping cart.

Celebrating Grandma Jenny's birthday.

Lounging around with mommy. She saw mommy lay

back on some pillows and then mocked what I was doing!! LOL

Amazing weather this week gave us a chance to

go outside. Addison loves going down our driveway

here and looking for cows and horses on the adjacent property.

We didn't see any cows or horses, but there's

a monkey on her head!!! LOL

Bath time is one of her favorite times! She gets

sillier every time we do bath.

Dumping water on herself... she was cracking up!

Our little artist.

So pretty!!

Showing mommy her name.

A finished product. A few of daddy's doodles are included :)

Getting ready to begin a new work of art.

Addie gets really excited about coloring!! :)

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Weekly Update - Little Pretender

Weekly Photo, Week of January 20, 2012 (89 Weeks):

Nana left for Chicago this week :( It was such a relief having her around for the last few weeks to get us ready for Cooper. Addison didn't seem ready for her to go though. When she woke up the next morning, she walked around for about 15 minutes calling "Naaaa-Naaaaa". Now that the house is clean and organized, mommy can finally relax a bit and enjoy this last part of the pregnancy. Thanks Nana!! :)

Milestones:

Little Pretender: Addie will bring toy bowls/plates/cups to us and say "mmmmMMMmmm". She will then expect us to pretend to eat. It's super cute because then you pass the bowl back to her and she will also pretend to eat/drink. It's adorable!

Tattle Tale - If someone does something that upsets Addie or won't give her something she wants, she will turn to the nearest adult and tell them. Of course her words come out as gibberish, but it's hilarious!

Feeding Self - Of course she's been feeding herself for a while now, but it's been primarily with her hands versus using utensils. In the last week or so, Addison has improved significantly with using her children's forks/spoons. We thicken up whatever item we give her and it seems to help quite a bit. She's definitely best at eating items like oatmeal, potatoes (mixed with veggies/meats), and rice. It's a work in progress, but every day she gets better.

Snuggle-Bug: Whenever Daddy or I lay on the floor, Addison will lay belly down next to us and reach her arms out to tuck her hand under us. She does it every time and it continues to be cute each time!

Brushing Teeth: Addison LOVES brushing her teeth! The moment daddy mentions bedtime and "brush", she gets really excited and rushes to her bathroom. We try to brush once at night and then in the morning but sometimes only get the nighttime routine in.

Vocab: Every day there's something new that Addison is saying. She ceases to amaze us with her ever growing vocabulary. Some of the more recent words and phrases that have really stuck with us though are:
"Come-ere" - She started yelling "come-ere" (come here) lately. Sometimes she will say our name first "MAMA....come-ere". No matter the situation, it's very cute because she says it so seriously.
"Shane"- If I yell for Shane, Addison will repeat his name right after me. I don't know why I laugh, but it's very funny and I have to hide my face every time so she doesn't get too encouraged.
"Oh Tootles"- On her favorite show (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse), there's a part of every episode where the characters yell for "Tootles" (another character on the show). They cup a circle with both hands around their mouth as they're yelling. Addison will put her fingers to her lips and and yell "oh too-els". When she's looking through her Mickey book and sees Tootles, she will do the same thing. Shane and I smile every time she does it!

Baby #2 Update:

Bi-Weekly Checkup: Doc said everything is looking great and was happy with my blood sugar numbers. My next checkup will include a 3D ultrasound, so daddy made arrangements to be at the next appointment.

Sugars: I've been keeping up on checking my blood sugar 4x's daily and everything has been great. I've even slipped a few times in my diet and still managed to keep the sugars at a healthy level.

More Pictures from the Week:

Reading a magazine with Nana

They both seem pretty interested!!

When she goes to visit daddy at work, she will

make a bee-line for the front office, to sit with "aunt" Kathy.

She loves being able to play on the computer!!! LOL

Addie's new face she makes while eating.

She will fidget her hands and scrunch her face like this

and it gets cuter every time!! LOL

Tired of playing with toys?

Reading books with Nana

AWWWW!!

Her serious face

"Cheese-burger"

Giving loves to daddy

Brushing teeth with daddy

Making her scrunchy face!

Never gets old!! LOL

I think she was even cracking herself up!

She's actually pretty good at brushing.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Weekly Update - 20 Months

Addie's Weekly Photo Week of January 13, 2012 (88 Weeks):

Addie's Weekly Milestones:

Counting to 5: Okay, so she usually skips the number one, but I actually got her on camera counting to five this week! We've been working on numbers for a few weeks, and by "working" I mean we simply try to count with her when we think about it. She LOVES to count, and it's absolutely adorable to hear!

Loving Mickey: She seemed to stray from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (on TV) for several months because she became pretty in love with the Fresh Beat Band Show. I can't say she doesn't still love Fresh Beat, but she definitely loves Mickey more now. If she sees any of the characters (on books, toys, etc.) she freaks and gets very excited! So cute!

Bye-Bye: I wasn't sure if we had ever mentioned this in the blog or not, but she loves to say bye-bye in just about any situation. If we are leaving the room that she's playing in, she will say bye-bye to several of her toys. If we are taking her out of her crib, she will say bye-bye to her paci. If we are turning off the TV, she will say bye-bye to the characters on TV. I think the cutest part is that she doesn't just walk away saying bye, she will actually say bye to specific items like "bye Mickey, bye ball, bye paci".

ABC Books: We all know Addison's love for books and not a day goes by that she isn't nose deep in one of the zillions in her collection. Well one of her recent favorites is the ABC book. She's been able to name quite a few items but this week was able to name every item on every page!! Of course the pronunciation is not 100% there (zebra is "ebah"), but we definitely know what she's saying. So stinkin smart!!

Picky.... Not Picky: I'm astonished at some of the foods Addison will try/eat. I don't know if it's really common with other children or not, but I can put a plate of food in front of her that she will finish off and then the next week put the same thing down and she won't touch it! One of the items she seems to be most picky about is meat. Hot dogs, chicken (and nuggets), steak, burgers, etc. are all items that she is most finicky with. Spicy foods, veggies, casseroles, fuits, and pasta she's hit or miss. Some days she will love certain items, and the next day she wants nothing to do with them. Again, maybe this is pretty normal for kids her age but I'm not sure what other parents do when their children become finicky. Is there a solution?? hmmm

Animal sounds: On Sunday, Addie, Shane, Uncle Dillon and AV went for a ride in the Ranger and stopped to pet the horses in the neighboring lot. Ever since, Addie has been obsessed with animal noises! So far she has learned Horse, Cow, Duck, Cat, and Dog. The horse noise comes out more like a laugh "he-he-he-he", but still counts for something. I think her favorite animal noise right now is the cow though.

Drinking noises: Mommy took a big drink of water while we were eating lunch and upon setting down my glass, I breathed out going "ahhhhhh" (like they do in Pepsi commercials after a sip of soda). Addie thought it was hillarious and it's her new favorite thing to do at the table!

Baby #2 Update:

GB: My test results came back from my 1 and 3 hour Gestational Diabetes tests and I failed them both :( The nurse said it's not completely uncommon to not have the issue with one pregnancy and have it with the second. The plan now is simply to follow a pretty strict diet and keep an eye on my blood sugar. At first I was pretty upset with myself because I look at it as though I "failed" as an expectant mom to keep myself healthy enough to avoid such issues. Now though, it's been made clear to me that for many pregnancies it's unavoidable. Since Monday, I have stuck close to the GB diet and feel pretty good. Lets hope that my next checkup will give us some better numbers and we can be free and clear of any other health issues!

Braxton Hicks Contractions: I had these with Addie but it wasn't until much later in the pregnancy. I've read that it's pretty normal to have the contractions early on in your second pregnancy. The contractions aren't painful and can actually be neat to watch (your belly will become really firm and sometimes change shape).

More Photos from the week:

Reading to Fredbird