The Handley Family

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Weekly Update - 21 Months

Addie's Weekly Photo, Week of February 10, 2012:

Addie's Weekly Milestones:

Fashionista: Monday morning, Addie had her new Mickey t-shirt on and decided she wanted to pick out the rest of her outfit. After grabbing some old pj pants, she walked into her closet and picked out some vinyl red boots to complete the ensemble. I can't tell you how hard I was laughing as we got her dressed....(I included pics below). Since Monday, Addison's newest obsession is her red boots. They're a vinyl-like material and zip up on the side. I think she has worn them every day this week! I'm sure you'll be seeing these things in several pictures over the next few weeks because she doesn't seem to be getting tired of them anytime soon! LOL

Buckle: She's tried before, but hadn't succeeded until this week. Addison has finally figured out how to buckle her high chair straps! She was quite excited the first time she snapped them into place, and was quick to get mommy to un-buckle them so she could try again. Very cute!

Hair Cut: I've procrastinated getting Addison another hair trim for whatever reason. Part of it is that she doesn't handle things well and the other part is that it seems like most beauticians around here have NO training on making the process quick and simple! Her bangs are really my only concern right now because I want to keep them out of her eyes. Yesterday, I grabbed a bag of M&M's, scissors, a comb, and put on her favorite show and got the job done in seconds! Not only did she cooperate 100%, but we didn't have to pay anyone and I didn't have to watch her go into a full blown panic attack!! LOL Maybe her hair doesn't look as cute as a professional would have made it, but at least she can see :)

Sleeping: I think I spoke too soon when I last posted about Addison's sleeping habits. She had started to take two naps per day in addition to sleeping through the night. Shortly after that post, she went back to her old ways of only taking one two-hour nap per day.
Another unusual bedtime habit of hers started Tuesday night, Addison threw a FIT when we put her into her crib saying "NO, NO, NO". We figured she just wasn't ready to go to bed and let her stay up a bit longer. Then on Wednesday after lunch, Addie said she wanted her paci (which usually means naptime). Upon placing her in her crib, she freaked out again! Instead of taking her back out of her crib like the night before, I told her gently "no-no Addie, night-night". Upon walking out of the room, Addie threw a pretty big tantrum. It broke my heart to leave her like that, but I knew that it wouldn't be smart to let her see me give in. I could hear Addie on the monitor going back and forth between tantrums and playing, but after about 45 LONG minutes, she went to sleep. I'm hoping this new phase doesn't last long because I feel awful walking out of the room when she's upset like that :...(

Music to our ears: I don't know if she has a future in the musical industry or not, but she LOVES music. If her show Fresh Beat Band is on, Addie will grab her drumsticks and imitate when the drummer bangs the sticks together saying "a-one....two.....three.....four". Addie sounds more like "a-one...two....one....two". When she's not practicing her drums, she loves to sing. Her favorite song right now is Twinkle Twinkle little Star. Addison will ask you to sing and then she will do her best to keep up with you. When you get to the end of a line, she will hold the tune until she runs out of breath like "twinkle twinkle little STARRRRRRRRR.....how I wonder what you ARRRRRRRRRR". Shane and I get the biggest kick out of it!

Vocab:
"How Bout..." : She says this most when ransacking the pantry. I will open the door to our pantry up and she will walk in and say "how bout....". If it's snack time, she usually wants goldfish and if it's lunch or dinner and she doesn't like what is on the table, she will ask for a can of veggies, lasagna, or mini ravioli's (chef boyardee).
"Oh, I fell" : Addie will fall (sometimes intentionally) and then afterwards, she will say "Oh, I fell". I think it's funniest when she falls on purpose and says it, but it's pretty cute either way!

Baby #2 Update:

Doctor Checkup: We had an ultrasound at this week's checkup. We were supposed to get 3d pics of Cooper's face but he wasn't very cooperative, so doc said we'll try again at one of the next appointments.

Home Stretch: We're down to the last month of pregnancy!! Can't believe we only have 4 weeks left before we can finally meet our little Cooper! I've noticed movement slowing down a bit (most likely due to the lack of space in there), but he still moves a few times per hour.

Dizzy: Of course it's pretty common with pregnancy but it's the first time I've ever experienced it during either one of mine. On Tuesday morning, I began to feel really REALLY dizzy. The crazy part was that it didn't matter if I was standing, sitting or laying, the spells were equally intense and annoying! This continued until sometime in the afternoon. The best thing I knew to do was to take it easy and keep myself from holding/walking with Addie, to be safe.

More Pictures from the week:

Grabbing some breakfast with daddy and

mommy. She didn't seem to mind that daddy

put this hat on her. She left in on for quite a while!

An outfit she picked out to wear... Very stylish!

Eventually, Addie got rid of the outfit so

she could admire the boots more.

Big cheese at the table!

Our little sweetheart!

Watching Fresh Beat Band, she's got

her drumsticks ready to go!

Playing peek-a-boo and not wanting to participate

in a mini photo shoot with mommy! LOL

The only way I could get her to sit

for more than a few seconds was if I let

her wear her red boots!

A bit of a smile? :)

"How bout...."

Saying cheese and avoiding direct eye contact with the camera!

Still avoiding mommy... LOL

There we go! But no smile! LOL

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Weekly Update - Family Car

Addie's Weekly Photo Week of February 3, 2012:

Neither of us thought we would ever own a mini, but after careful thought, we've decided that they are the most practical way to go when multiple car seats are involved. After much research, we went with the Honda Odyssey. What's awesome is that the seats can be rearranged so that the third row is still accessible, even with two child seats in the middle row. In addition to the versatile seating, there are a million neat and convenient features that make this vehicle the perfect match for a family!

Addie's Weekly Milestones:

Our little Sweetheart: Addison's new thing is that she will put her arm around you and pat you on the back/shoulder. She does it most at the kitchen table during a meal and it's usually random, but very cute!! She will lean towards you and say "awww da-da (or ma-ma)" and then extend her arm out and pat. Mommy and daddy get a kick out of it every time!!

Cookie Monster: Addie was cookie monster for halloween last year and her outfit is stored in the dress-up bin in her toy room. Recently, she dug the hood out and it seems like she's been wearing it ever since!

Climbing on Toilet: We've mentioned Addison's love of pretending to use the toilet, but recently it's gone to a new level. Before now, she would ask us to put her up to go "pee-pee". This week though, she has figured out how to set up the stool and actually climb onto the toilet by herself!! At one point, I walked in seconds after she climbed up and was not able to catch her in time before her foot went RIGHT INTO THE TOILET!! Although I laugh about it now, I was quite grossed out at the time!! LOL

Keeping Clean: We use baby wipes for everything. We even keep a container of them right at the kitchen table for easy access. Recently, Addison has expressed her own interest in them. She will point to them and ask for one to wipe her hands/face. After cleaning herself, she will tidy up her surroundings by wiping the table and her high chair. I don't know why it's so adorable, but it puts a smile on mommy and daddy's faces every time!

Singing:
Some of Addison's favorite songs to sing right now are, The Birthday song, Twinkle Twinkle, and Head Shoulders Knees & Toes.

Vocab:
"Oh goodness"- She will say this when people sneeze, when something is dropped/falls.
Number one - It doesn't sound exactly like the number one, but she says it right before saying two, three, four.... so we're assuming she's finally trying to incorporate the number one into counting :)

Baby Number Two Update:

Cooper reacting to his surroundings: I've noticed sometimes if Addie is in my lap and her back is against my belly, Cooper will kick right where Addison is making contact. I'm not sure if it's his way of saying he's being crowded, or if it's his way of pestering his big sister, but it's interesting nonetheless. This week, Addie put her toy xylophone on my lap and began to bang on it. The chimes were very loud and, a very relaxed Cooper, began to kick and punch in a way that I had to push the xylophone away to get some relief!!

Out of room: I've realized how very little room the two of us have now (Cooper and I). His kicks and punches have turned into him stretching in ways that can be very painful at times. Despite the uncomfortable nature of some of his movements, it's exciting to see Cooper shaping my belly in so many ways when he stretches. I love it!

More Pictures from the week:

Addie's newest crave.... sitting on the toilet!! LOL

She loves to swing and will sit inside, looking out the

window at the play set saying "sing....sing....sing".

We took advantage of the awesome weather

and went for several hikes this week!

Addie and cousin Avryl

The girls and cousin Blake

More swinging!! We had such awesome weather!

Our new ride!! Check out the mini!

B-E-A-utiful!

There are many seating configurations, but this

is the one that works best for us.

Addie still loves the Cookie Monster Hood!

At Steak N Shake with mommy and Uncle Dillon

Looks more adorable every time she wears it!

Addie loves to explore the garden. Not much of one now,

but will probably be great in the spring!

On Wednesday, we went for a walk and made our way over

by the horses. Addie pet and fed the one you see in the background!

Telling mommy shhhhh!

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!