Daddy's turn to post

Occasionally, it's not my fault that I can't find my running shoes. Here she is caught red-handed. She's probably trying to think of a new place to hide it.


Touching the magical foot of Syd. Feel the power!


There's nothing like a good dog.


And there's nothing like a good dog's saliva on your fingers. Yummy.


Playing with the trash can and watching tv - can anyone tell that Mommy is away?


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Peek a boo!

Addison is back to nursing four times a day! YEAH!!! She's waking up in the middle of the night and crying about something, but I'd take that over her not nursing. Pretty soon, everything will align just right and we'll have a good day of eating AND sleeping...I just know it. It might be when she's 16, but it will happen. Ha Ha!

We had a nice and relaxing weekend. We went to Sydney's first birthday party (Addie will be having one of her own in less than a month). Syd was an absolute doll. She even shared her toys graciously with all of her guests.

Addie loved playing with Sydney's cool toys!


Here's Addie playing in half of her clothes. Doesn't she look like she belongs in the film Zoolander?



We got Addie her new car seat for when she turns a year old and can face the front. She looks so tiny in it, but it's supposed to work for her until she's 100 pounds.

Memaw made Addie a new hat. She's so stinking cute!!!


Oh Yeah! Addison wants to play PEEK-A-BOO!

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Nursing Update...

Okay...things are starting to look up. Thanks for those encouraging comments. I called the doctor yesterday to see what to do and they told me to bring her in to see if she had gotten over her sinus infection or not. I pretty much knew already that she was over it b/c she wasn't fussy and had no more snot running down her face.
At the doc's office, they checked her out and said she had no reason (physically) to not be nursing and they really wanted her to get one more month of breastfeeding (at least). The doctor thinks that Addison is just one "smart cookie" and learned that she can get her milk sooner from a bottle/cup and not have to wait for a let down. She can also bite them and not get scolded like she does with me. In an effort to regain nursing, she suggested that I not give her anything to drink and only offer my breast. I was concerned that she would get dehydrated and Dr. Williams assured me she would not. She said babies don't do that to themselves. She would eventually give in. By that evening, she was running up to me and pretending to nurse but then she'd run away. She didn't nurse at 7:00 so she went to bed AGAIN without any milk. But, when she woke up at 11:40 last night, she gladly nursed...only by then my milk wouldn't let down and she was frantic. Today, she has nursed twice and although they were very short, at least she didn't bite me or push away. I think I offered her the sippy cup too soon and she became efficient at using it before weaning was necessary. Since she's so independent, she didn't see the need for me anymore, I guess. Anyway, I think things are going to be better from here on out. I just can't believe how difficult these past two days have been. Thanks again for your prayers...it really does help! I hope no one I know experiences a "nursing strike" like I have, but if so, hopefully you'll learn from my experience. :)

Nursing Strike!

I'm very sad right now. Addie has refused to nurse all day! I don't know why but I'm starting to speculate that I've made the mistake of reacting strongly when she bit me once and now she doesn't want anything to do with me. I don't really know how to take this. My goal was to nurse her for a year, but I was willing to nurse longer if it was going well...now I don't even think we'll make it to eleven months! She acts as if she wants to nurse, but when I pull her on my lap, she bites and then cries and wriggles away. It's hard not to get stressed out about the whole thing. Addie hasn't ever had formula, so I can't see her wanted to try it now, but it's too early to give her cow's milk. I'm trying not to feel like she's rejecting me either. I really loved nursing her and I don't think I'm ready to quit!

Our Busy Baby is Baaack!

Addison is feeling much better since we went to the doctor on Monday. I turns out she developed a sinus infection from a cold/cough she had the previous week. She's on an antibiotic and back to her busy self.


I finally got a picture of her two new teeth.


The dog whisperer
Here's Addie "walking" Lucas around the house after we returned from an outdoor walk. He wasn't too thrilled, but he played along anyway.


She's been obsessed with anything that swings (ex. cabinets and doors). She is especially pleased when she gets the door completely closed.


She's twirling the computer chair here. She also likes to sit in it while I twirl her.


I let Addison have her food in a bowl this week. She picked it up and scooped her food into her mouth straight from the bowl!


Bathtime is still her favorite time of the day. She is so happy once she hears the water running. We have no idea how to do her hair, so we're experimenting. What do you think of the "wild child" look?




After her bath, Addie gets to run around her bedroom and have "naked time". She's hilarious...going a hundred miles an hour. Even though she's got a lot to do before bedtime, she managed to give me some love (probably since I was in her way). She lays down on you as if she's just resting but doesn't stay long, of course.


This week, our sweetie pie did something really cool. Right before her morning nap, I asked her to get me a book (in sign lang.) and she ran to the bookshelf and brought a book to me. I was so amazed, I called Micah at work. At bedtime, I asked her to get a book and she ran and got one and brought to me again! Micah saw it with his own eyes too! It's such a testament that babies really do understand more than we know.

Then we tried to get it on video, and she didn't quite perform as expected...but she is still adorable to watch.



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Sick Baby...

Addison has been sick this past week and I think I'm going to have to take her to the doctor on Monday. She has a terrible cough and a small rattle in her chest when she breathes. She still seems to be sleeping fine, but is unbearably fussy during the day and especially before bed.

We don't have many pictures to show you because she is so sad in every shot we've taken. Nevertheless, she is still moving and shaking as long as she's got some medicine in her system.

She's also doing some signing now, which is so delightful to see. So far, she's signed: "milk", "all gone", and I think she's doing "more" in her own way (she's clapping instead of touching the tips of her fingers together). We're being very diligent in signing because we want to escape some nasty fits she might want to throw in the future. I REALLY want to avoid as many tantrums as possible.

Also- Addison's two bottom teeth are almost completely in. I haven't had a chance to get a good picture of them yet because she either a) has a binkie in her mouth or b) is too fussy to cooperate.

Here are some pictures we did manage to take of her this past week...



Addie and Lucas sharing



We installed a tiny little flat screen TV in our kitchen after Christmas and Addison is zoning out while I was cooking/cleaning.




Addison has been doing this a lot lately. She likes to look through her legs. It's pretty cute. It's actually the "downward dog" position we do in yoga. Looks like all the prenatal yoga I did really paid off! :)

Here's a video of Addie playing with her new toys she got at Christmas:

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Christmas

We spent Christmas in California with the Hunt's and in Missouri with the Williams' .
She did fairly well on the plane trip out and back. Both of our flights were delayed so she got some walking in at the airport before take off.

Here are some highlights of our trip in the bay area:

• We got to see our family and had a great time with Gigi, Papa, Aunt Beth, and Uncle Cory, and Rowan.
• Addie got some great presents, including gifts from Russia!
• Rowan and Addie played nicely together.
• Micah and I got to go for a run along the bay...it was beautiful!
• We got to have In-n-Out burgers.
• The girls played a lively duet on the piano (see below).

Here's Addie trying out Rowan's Sit and Spin!


Ruthann read to both the girls before bedtime. I was actually nursing Addie before putting her down for bed and she heard Ruthann reading downstairs. She sat up and started saying "da-duh da-duh". She wouldn't settle down, so I took her downstairs and she finished listening to the book. It was so cute!


Addie feel asleep on the plane in mommy's arms both flights!


We had a problem with Addison dropping her binkies on the first flight out and it was nearly impossible to get them from underneath the seats, so Micah rigged this contraption up on the way home. It worked well!



Here are the highlights from our time with Memaw, E-pa, Aunt Joyce, Uncle Ken, Caleb and Toby:

• Addie watched Caleb ride his scooter and big wheel around the block.
• We opened lots of fun presents (again)!
• Christmas was at our house, so we had lots of fun with our family staying the night.
• Mommy and Daddy got to go to a movie with A. Joyce and U. Ken while Memaw and Epa stayed with the munchkins.

Addie shared her new activity table with her cousins (Toby & Caleb).


Here I am with Addison and Toby (my nephew who is 4 months younger than Addie, but one pound heavier)!



Toby sucks his thumb. It's so cute I had to take a picture.


We were extremely blessed this Christmas by our generous parents and siblings. Addison now has lots of clothes and toys and we have "toys" too! Most of all, we got to celebrate our Lord's birth. God is so GOOD!

After many months, Addie Sue has decided to allow a tooth to come forth. She spends most of her day chewing on one, or two, index fingers as she waddles around. I guess the pointer fingers taste better. Here she is about to taste her right finger. Her proud tooth is just visible on the bottom.





Addie is looking forward to Christmas this year. However, I think that we told her the truth about Santa Claus a bit too soon.





We're slowly learning that if your child is playing quietly by themselves, then they're probably up to no good. Apparently, there was too much soil in one of Mommy's plants.




Why does the word "debonair" come to mind?


Addie Sue has a unique way of letting us know when she's had enough to eat.

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Blessed family

Nothing really major has been going on this month. Still haven't seen a tooth. Addie is walking very well now and rarely falls. She's talking a bit too. She says "dada" and "duh"=dog, and occasionally says "hi". Why is it that the mom puts in so much work and they say "da da" first?

Anyway, here are some highlights of the last couple weeks:


Addie really likes spaghetti and hotdogs.



Rowan and Cory came over to visit us this weekend. They played nicely together (for the most part). It will be fun to see them together more at Christmas.



Addison still loves to play with everything that she shouldn't....The trash can for one example.


As she gets older, it's becoming more and more evident that Addie is a smart, playful, and sweet little girl who loves to talk (LOUDLY) to anyone who will listen!!! She loves her "Peekaboo" book (Thanks Tara!) and remembers to flip the flap down to see the baby's face everytime. She's also started to recognize signs, such as "milk", "more", and "all done". She loves to be chased and ride the "horsey" on mommy's leg. And everytime she hears music or I sing to her, she dances...it's adorable!



We are incredibly blessed with this little girl God has entrusted to us. It brings tears to my eyes to think that He has trusted us enough to parent such a joyful and special little girl.

Happy Thanksgiving

We got together with the Wilsons and the Morgans for an early Turkey Day. Here's a picture of Addison with her cousin Sydney. Aren't they sweetie pies?


Addie walks EVERYWHERE all the time now. She's really a toddler trapped in a baby's body.


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Very Funny Video (VFV)- Micah captured the essence of the video with one question: Who spiked Addison's sippy cup?



The weather was absolutely awesome so we got to spend more time outside than usual. We found her outside with her E-pa when we got back from a bike ride.


Addison loved eating at the bar...we don't have one of these at home. She could watch us cook while she snacked away. She did give us quite a scare though b/c she pushed on the counter with her feet and tipped the chair once.

Lucas spent a lot of time outside. He wanted in and she wanted out.

Addie is trying to talk so much now too. She says duh for dog (we think) and she tried say kitty/cat by making the "k" sound. She's imitating our intonation too. One time I said in a strong, loud voice "Bad dog" to Lucas (shocker, I know) and she mimicked my tone as she babbled. It was so funny!


As expected, Addie loved looking at the lights on the tree. She stopped to check them out briefly...then went on her way!

Walking Baby

We finally got a picture of Addison walking. She is walking most of the time now. Of course, she falls a lot...but she thinks she's pretty talented anyway.


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We take her to the doctor today for her 9 month check up. She'll be nine months this Friday! I can't believe how fast she is growing up. :(

UPDATE:
Her doctor's appointment went well yesterday. She's 27 1/2 inches tall and in the 75%tile for height. However, she is only 17 lbs and 8 ounces which puts her in the 35 %tile for weight. That's not really a surprise to me since the girl hardly eats and never stops moving. The doc said she's not concerned though because once they start walking around, they thin out a bit. She's healthy in all other aspects which is the most important thing.

Fun Videos

We haven't gotten a video of her taking steps yet, but we're bound to soon. It seems that she is brave and tries to walk when our camera is no where near us. And we've got the camera rolling, she just squats down and crawls away!

Here's a picture of her standing on her own. She does this a lot now and has pretty good balance...even correcting herself when she almost falls.


This clip shows how she squats and then stands back up on her own.


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Addison climbed in her swing backward yesterday and started swinging herself by holding onto the dangling toys on the side. She's so independent and busy!


Here's the video of her swinging:

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Addison is getting fast at climbing up the stairs. She'd probably be fast going down them too, but I don't think it would be a pretty sight. There would be a lot of crying afterward, I'm sure!


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I just had to add a picture of our first "baby". She sleeps most of her life away. We only see her act lively when there's food or a walk involved.