The Handley Family

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

Feeding Fredbird

Giving him juice

Trying to say "cheese" with a mouth full of crackers!

Says "aahhh" and opens her mouth to show you

she's done eating!! Soo funny!!

Still trying to share juice with Fredbird

Hanging out with her buddy

She will sit and have conversations with him, so CUTE!

Fredbird takes much abuse too! LOL

Still trying to get him to eat a snack

Giving Fredbird some love ;)

Sitting down with her latest novel

What a sweet face!

She loves to sit on the ledge of the shower

Trying not to smile for the camera

Playing Peekaboo with mommy

Asking "go?".... as in where'd she go?

Says "ba-na-na" now and LOVES

pretending to eat the toy banana she has.

Friday, January 6, 2012

Weekly Update - Happy New Years!!

Addie's Weekly Photo Week of January 6, 2012 (87 Weeks):

This week was the start of the new year. On Saturday, we kept it pretty simple and stayed in. Of course Addison only lasted until around 9pm. We had Nana, Uncle Dillon, Aunt Joy, Blake and AV over but everyone was so tired that they had left by 10pm! Nana, Daddy and mommy stayed up until midnight watching TV but by the time midnight rolled in, we were ready for bed!!

Addie's Weekly Milestones:

Refusing Help: Addison has always been little miss independent but lately it's been quite hysterical to watch her in action. Wether it's trying to climb onto a bed, couch, or other task, we will ask "do you want help" and she will reply "no" while shaking her head. Very rarely, she will ask for help. We've always been really diligent about not jumping right in and assisting her with everything because we wanted to make sure she didn't rely on us for every little thing. Many times, company will try to help her with little things like climbing the stairs, getting on the couch, etc. and she will throw a fit if they intervene. I usually have to let people know to give her a chance to do things on her own, so we can avoid the tantrum!! LOL

Best Friends: Addison actually has TWO best friends right now. Fredbird has been there for her for a while now and he seems to be her main squeeze anytime she's in the house. She likes Fredbird to be involved in tasks like mealtime, bedtime, storytime, and playtime. We've even caught her trying to feed Fredbird at breakfast, trying to give him her pacifier at bedtime, and pointing to pictures in books and then looking at him to make sure he sees them too!! LOL Mickey Mouse is her other buddy. We keep Mickey in the car so she has a toy in the car. If we don't get Mickey in her arms right away in the car, she will repeat "Meeekeee-Meeekeeee-Meeeekeeeee" until we do. The only problem with having these cute little friends is that they get very dingy after she takes them everywhere with her. How do parents keep stuffed toys clean??? LOL I'm afraid to put either of them in the washing machine because I'm not sure how they will come out. I guess it's something I will just have to chance once of these days.

Helping Nana: Nana has been helping mommy get the house ready for Cooper so she's been spending a lot of time with Addie. One afternoon, mommy took a brief nap while Nana and Addie were hanging out. Apparently, Nana stepped out onto the back deck for a second and upon turning around, she saw Addison pushing the door closed! It didn't become a scary situation until Nana realized that the door was locked! Before panicking, Nana said she pointed to the door handle (a french door-style knob) and told Addie to "open". It apparently only took Addison a matter of seconds to follow the order and get the door to open just enough that Nana could push it the rest of the way. What a smarty-pants!!

Teething: We took a trip back to the doctor this week because Addison was not eating much and very restless at night, not getting much sleep. By Wednesday, she had a fever again so we knew it wouldn't be a bad idea to get her checked out. We figured that maybe her ear infection was back. Doc checked her out and found that the ears look great and fever, lack of sleep, and lack of appetite was due to at least FOUR new teeth coming in! It was a relief to know that the symptoms were going to be temporary and she should be back to normal within a few days.

Changing time: We have been working with Addison on naming parts of her body (eyes, ears, nose, etc.) and we do it most while changing her because it keeps her from getting restless and annoyed about changing time. In the last few weeks, she's been naming the body parts on her own without us prompting her. She will point to her eyes, mouth, nose, etc and tell us what they are without us asking! What's more, when we put her pj's on, she will say "bye-bye, toes.... bye-bye, belly button"....etc. It's super cute!!!

Baby #2 update:

"Nesting" : Over the last week, Nana has been staying with us to help mommy and daddy get the house ready for Cooper. With the move and the holidays, mommy hasn't had much time to focus on unpacking the necessaries for bringing baby home. It's been SUCH a relief to have the extra help around to clean, cook, and organize. If it weren't for having Nana around, we probably wouldn't have knocked out all of our to-do's until the last minute. Thanks Nana!!! :)

Bi-weekly checkup: Everything is looking good according to doc. We won't do the 3D sono until week 36 so for the next few weeks, checkups should be pretty quick and uneventful. Mommy had the usual Gestational Diabetes test at this weeks appointment. Unfortunately, mommy didn't pass the 1-hour test so I was sent back in for the 3-hour. I won't find out the results until Monday but I'm hoping that the negative result was only because of my poor diet the night before the test! Fingers crossed.

More Photos from the week:

Singing with Elmo