8 Months Old!

Life has been flying by in general!  We’ve had a lot of fun the past month and Addison always keeps us amused.  

Size Stats: Weight, Height & Head – Addison is weighing in at 18lbs 13oz and is 28 inches long!  We had a sick visit to the doctors just yesterday so I know these numbers are correct.  She just has a cold and thankfully it isn’t in her chest and no ear infection.  Addison is wearing 9 month tops and 12 month bottoms.  She can fit into sleepers ranging from 9 months to 12 months as well.  She seems so long!!  She usually wears 9 month old dresses but I have thrown her into some 12 month ones. 

Development:  Addison is sitting up on her own very well at this point.  I still keep a boppy pillow close by, but at daycare they haven’t been putting anything behind her.  Addison’s newest development is waving hi & bye.  It’s very sporadic, but when she does it, it is so cute!  She usually waves with her palm facing her.  Sometimes it seems like she shouts hi or bye at the appropriate times, but one never knows.  She likes being in the standing position.  She can’t stand by herself, but she loves when we stand her up.  Addison also is into dancing.  She will start to rock back & forth and will mimic us sometimes if we do it.  It definitely cracks me up!  At first I couldn’t figure out where she learned this, but then I asked her daycare teachers and apparently they turn music on and dance around the room for the kids and the kids usually join in. 

Personality:  Addison loves to hear her own voice.  She chats, sings and happy screams ALL THE TIME.  If we are in the car, playing on her quilt, sitting on the bed, “taking” a nap in her crib, at the pool…she is generally talking to herself or making some sort of noise.  She loves her reflection and will screech when she sees herself.  When we are at the pool or playground she is delighted and will make all kinds of noises to get the other children to pay attention to her.  She is just not a quiet child.  Even when we take walks, she will sit in the stroller and kick her feet, wave and talk.  It’s usually just Addy, Brinkley and I, so it isn’t like she is joining in on a conversation!  Lately Addison has been testing her limits when it comes to naps & bedtime.  She puts up quite a fight for naps and seems to like to wake up in the middle of the night to hang out.  I’m trying my very best to not give in, but sometimes I just need her to sleep and will do whatever!  As soon as I go into her bedroom she smiles at me like she knows she won the fight.  Sometimes I pick her up but I mostly try and let her fight it out on her own.  Justin said he is training me more than Addy because I hate hearing her cry and will appease her much quicker than her daddy will!

Addison is also completely nosy!  She wants to see everything!  When I hold her and she is facing me she is bobbing and weaving left & right trying to see what’s behind me.

Eating:  Addy still has several bottles throughout the day and continues to eat solids for lunch & dinner.  I keep throwing in new types of food for her to try and she usually likes just about anything.  I have continued to make some food for her and she continues to gobble it down.  We recently bought some puffs for Addy to try.  Puffs are a finger food kind of like cheerio’s but dissolve quicker in your mouth.  She likes to play with them, but she has a horrible gag reflex and doesn’t like any food sitting on her tongue.  This whole gagging thing has made it difficult when trying to introduce finger foods.  She’ll suck on fruit if you hold it to her mouth, but the second a little piece breaks off and hits her tongue, gag city!  I’m not too concerned about it since she enjoys her mashed up food, but I am hoping the gag thing goes away soon.  We recently introduced teething biscuits as well.  She loves to suck on them and they don’t break apart very easily so it works out well, except I have to make sure it’s at the end of the day because she gets so messy and usually needs a bath after.  Brinkley has caught on quick.  She sits or lays right next to Addy’s highchair ready to help her with whatever she may drop.  She really is a good dog though.  I can sit Addison on the ground and give her puffs and Brinkley will keep her distance and not go over to grab anything from her.  Now, don’t get me wrong, Brinkley will stare holes into her head, but she won’t make a false move until I give the OK.

Sleeping:  The child hates sleep, I am convinced.  In this aspect she is like her father (or her Nonna or Bisa-Nonna!)  Justin is a night owl but I could go to bed at 8pm every night and wake up at 10am and be happy.  I love to sleep which makes Addy’s love of non-sleeping that much more fun!  I do find it incredibly adorable that Addy lays the same way Justin does when sleeping…on her back with her hands behind her head.  She has been taking crappy naps lately and really just wants to lay on me and snuggle.  I would love to be able to be her bed, but sometimes a girl needs some time to herself!  On the weekends I usually just let her sleep on me because her naps are so short anyways.  A few of my mommy friends have told me to enjoy it now because in a few short months she won’t want to do it anyways.

Likes:  The mirror, pool, bathtub, watching cartoons, going for walks in the stroller, people watching and anything that involves not sleeping!

Dislikes:  Napping and sleeping through the night!  She really is such a good baby and there isn’t much that upsets her. 

8 Fun Addy Facts:

1. I have to be careful when I say daddy’s name.  If I say daddy’s name she immediately looks around or at the door assuming he will be announcing himself shortly.  Coincidentally, I have the same problem with Brinkley!
2. She has started to show a little separation anxiety.  She loves her mommy and will let someone know it if given the opportunity.  Hopefully she outgrows it quick because it will just break my heart!
3. Addy is starting to mimic things that she hears.  Justin & Addy will have “weird sound” making chats where he’ll do a noise and she will do the noise right back.  Just the other day I was positive Addison was saying “Good Dog”, after I said it to Brinkley.  She at least was using the same inflection!  I’ve pretty much made everyone aware that I would not like Addison’s first words to be swear words, so everyone is to be on their best behavior going forward!
4. Addison loves playing in the pool.  I have to be careful not to keep her in the baby pool too long because she becomes a wrinkly mess!  She especially loves it when there are other kids in the pool that she can scream happy sounds at.
5. Her favorite toys seem to be electronic things, i.e. cell phones & computers
6. I think she poses when I bring the camera out.  She literally lights up when I hold my cell phone in front of her to snap her pic…she is a complete HAM.
7. She loves to hear me sing Baby Beluga.  If she is fussy or upset when she is in her car seat, I can start to sing this song and 9 times out of 10 she relaxes. 
8. She loves to dance…in any position!  She rocks back and forth in her highchair, sitting on the ground, laying on her back or chillin watching TV in mom & dad’s bed.  She must hear music in her head!





Brinkley is thinking, "Is this photo really needed"?



7 Months Old!

Another month that has flown by!  Every day Addison amazes me more & more and brings such joy to our lives.  The past month has been a little crazy.  My parents, sisters, Addison & I all flew to Texas to visit my grandma.  It was so great to see my grandma interact with her great-granddaughter!  My grandma particularly liked the video monitor we had.  She sat there and kept watch over Addy whenever she napped!  Justin, Addison & I went to NY 2 weeks after our Texas trip to visit family.  Addy is such a good baby and just went with the flow.  We visited Justin’s papa at the nursing home and you could just tell he loved it, which in turn made Justin & I so very happy.

Size Stats: Weight, Height & Head – I weighed her in at 19.8 lbs.  She is wearing all 9 month sleepers.  She can fit into onesies ranging from 6 months to 12 months depending on the brand.  She pretty much wears all 12 month sized bottoms.  I feel bad trying to squeeze her into anything smaller than that!  She seems so long and I am regretting getting the changing table we got because her head is to the top and her feet almost reach the bottom…doesn’t leave a lot of room for an excited baby to kick and try to twist and turn when we are changing her.

Development:  She still hasn’t rolled over!  I can’t wait when I can finally say she has done this!  She sits up very well now.  I usually keep her boppy behind her, but I really think she’d do fine without it.  The poor thing has been chewing or sucking on everything!  I think a tooth may be making an appearance soon.  Her new thing is to rotate around in her pack n play.  She doesn’t do it in her crib for some reason though.  I’ll lay her down for a nap the long way, but when I go to get her after her nap, she has turned so her body is going the shorter way.  Her head and toes are pushed up against the ends…I have no idea why she thinks this is fun!  Maybe she likes the way the mesh feels?  She constantly pushes up on her legs when you hold her.  She wants to stand but she is very wobbly!

Personality:  She is still a super happy easy-going baby!  She just has the sweetest personality.  A dark side has started to emerge just a little.  After her bath at night before her bottle she has been throwing little hissy fits.  At this point, I find them to be pretty cute!  The teachers at daycare keep saying Addy is the most talkative baby they have ever been around…I believe it.   She just talks & talks.  She loves to give me hugs & kisses which are very drooly at this point!  It is pretty much my favorite thing.  She still hasn’t said Ma Ma, but she really only gives out her hugs & kisses to me, so I’m not too upset about that!

Eating:  She has been doing really well with food.  She has several bottles throughout the day and food for lunch & dinner.  She has tried a number of foods including: Brown baby rice, Baby oatmeal, summer squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, green beans, peas, peaches, apples, a tomato medley and baby mac & cheese.  She wasn’t a fan of avocados, but other than that she pretty much eats it all!  At this point, I have pretty much bought all of her food pre-made, but I have a Beaba which lets you steam, blend and cool all sorts of foods.  I recently bought a sweet potato, cut it up, steamed it and then pureed it.  In a perfect world, I’d do this for all her food, but for right now I am just trying to make enough at the beginning of the week for just Addy’s dinners. 

Sleeping:  At least she is consistent!  She still only takes 2 -3 naps a day ranging from 20 minutes to 45 minutes.  Addy is heading to bed around 7pm (if she makes it that far) and sleeps until about 3 am where we feed her a small bottle and then she goes back to bed until about 7am.  We will be working on dropping her middle of the night feedings in the next week.  The doctor said she shouldn’t need to wake up in the middle of the night, it is just a habit she has gotten herself into.

Likes:  She has a newfound interest in Brinkley.  She enjoys watching Brinkley run for a ball and she likes to pet her paws with just her pointer finger, kind of random!  She loves bath time still and I get soaked from all the kicking and splashing.  She really loves looking at herself in a mirror, she gets so excited!  She loves her talking book that Justin’s nana bought her.  It sings several nursery rhymes and lights up, what’s not to like!?  She loves it when anyone is silly with her and there is no shortage of that from anyone!

Dislikes:  Still doesn’t enjoy tummy time and hasn’t been a fan of me wiping her nose because of her cold. 

6 Month Checkup!

Size Stats:

Weight: 17 lbs 4 oz (75^th percentile)

Height: 27 ½ inches (90^th percentile)

Head: 43 cm (70^th percentile)

Addison’s doctor appointment went really well.  I love Dr. Sarah, she is so good with Addy and takes the time to chat & explain things thoroughly.  Dr. Sarah said she is very happy with her development and now is a good time to start baby proofing the house!  She wasn’t worried that Addy still doesn’t feel like rolling over since she is already sitting up on her own.  She told me not to be surprised if Addy decides to crawl before turning over!

Addy got several shots today which make me soo sad!  I feel so bad for her, but I know they are for a good cause.  She was fine for most of the day, but once the evening hit, she really just wanted to cuddle and be held…fine by me!  

Here are some pictures of Addy waiting to see the doctor…it was hard to get her to sit still & make sure she didn't fall off the table AND get a good picture!!

6 Months Old!

I honestly can’t believe Addison is 6 months old!  Just last week I said to Justin, “Can you believe we’ve had her for almost 6 months now?”  It just seems like time has flown by.  We’ve had so much fun with her and day after day she continues to amaze us. 

I will be receiving the worst mom of the year award though because today I let Addy try a very very small amount of frozen yogurt!  Girl went crazy!  I was eating an ice cream cone at Jason’s Deli and she was fussing and reaching for it, so I put it to her mouth and she was sooo happy!  Justin & I were dying laughing, she just looked too cute & happy.  Probably not a food she is ready for, BUT again, it was a very small amount.  I’m not sure who enjoyed it more though, Justin & I watching her or Addy tasting it!

Size Stats: Weight, Height & Head – Right now she most comfortably fits into size 9 months for sleepers.  She can still fit in certain brands of 6 months.  Most clothes she wears are 6 months, but I have definitely put her in some 9 month outfits.  They are a little big, but nothing too silly looking.  We have her 6 month appointment when we get back from Texas, so I’ll update her stats then!

Development:  This child still refuses to roll over!!  She can sit up on her own now, but won’t roll over!?  I’ve seen her in her crib a few times looking like she might go from back to tummy, but nope!  She pretty much hates being on her tummy for anymore than 3 minutes.  She is very nosy and wants to be able to see everything going on around her.  She will grab anything that comes in her proximity and immediately put it to her mouth.  She loves her toys that light up and make sounds.  I’ve started trying to read books to her, but again, she just wants to put the books into her mouth!  She is constantly saying, “da, da, da”.  I think she is saying dad but Justin doesn’t think so.  (I think he is just trying to be nice since I obviously want her to say ma ma ma!)  Still, it’s exciting to hear her saying something that resembles a word. 

Personality:  She continues to be an “easy” baby.  She is so easy to appease and just goes with the flow.  We took her to one of Justin’s work functions which was basically a motorcycle shop grand opening.  You’d think with all the loud motorcycles and tons of people she might not be a fan, but she was as happy as could be and hung out for about 3 hours.  She still is very chatty and has a tendency to talk herself back to sleep after her middle of the night feeding.  Even when she wakes up for her bottle in the middle of the night, she doesn’t cry, she talks until someone comes in.  How wonderful is that!?  I hope I’m not jinxing us by saying that!

Eating:  We are on a pretty good food schedule right now.  She has bottles throughout the day, but will have a veggie or fruit for lunch and then rice cereal for dinner.  I’m hoping I can widen our horizons after her 6 month appointment, but I don’t want to jump to anything too advanced and mess up her stomach before chatting with her doctor.

Sleeping:  She still isn’t a napper!  She has three to four 30 minute naps a day.  I am noticing that she is getting tired earlier in the evening.  She use to be able to make it until 7:30, but now we are lucky if she gets to 7:10!  I am guessing daycare is taking a lot out of her with all the things to watch & do.  She is now only getting up once in the middle of the night which is making our life a little nicer!  Justin & I will do every other night, so that means we have both been getting  full nights sleep here and there!  She will then wake up by 7:30 for the day, not too shabby.

Likes:  She is loving life right now.  Again, she pretty much goes along with anything and can find anything amusing.  This is a very fun age and I am just counting down the days until she decides to crawl.  I have a feeling to will be very busy once she learns to do this!

Dislikes:  I honestly can’t think of anything she hugely dislikes at the moment other then tummy time.  We’ve honestly been so blessed with her!

Easter Sunday

Addy's first Easter!  We were supposed to be in NY but ended up staying in NC this year.  A lot of family members in NY are sick and we didn't want to get Addison sick.  We headed to 11:30 mass with my parents and Amanda.  The church was packed and Addy decided she needed a nap so Justin took her out and snuggled with her for her short 15 minute cat nap.
After church we headed to the Brier Creek CC for brunch with my parents, Shelly & Audie.  Amanda headed back to Charleston after church so she could spend some of the day with Ian when he got off work.
The Easter bunny was hopping around so we decided to get a few pics with him.  Addy loved him!  She really just wanted to touch his fur, but it was super cute. 
Here are a few pictures of Addy in her Easter outfit...then there are some more pictures after I changed her outfit so she was a little more comfortable!
p.s. Justin was pumped I was making him take a picture with the Easter Bunny!

My Loves...

5 Months Old!

Size Stats: Weight, Height & Head – I don't have the specific weight because we don't have another well visit until 6 months, but I will try and weigh her at home later on.  Addy hasn’t completely outgrown all her 3 month clothing, but she most definitely has to wear 6 month sleepers.  Her little arms & legs are way too scrunched if we put her in anything else.  I might have to switch her from her infant car seat to her convertible car seat because she is getting too heavy for me to be carrying that thing!  Its one thing on the weekends when Justin can cart her around, but going to and from daycare or anywhere else is hard on my own!  Add to it the several bags I lug around as well and I’ve become a packing mule!

Development:  Addy is doing all sorts of fun things lately.  She definitely grabs at anything we put in front of her whether it is a toy, a cell phone, Brinkley or a cookie.  (We obviously aren’t letting her eat the cookies!?)  We just started trying to let her sit by herself.  She usually hunches forward, but she seems like she is getting the idea.  She loves to be held in the standing position and pushes down on her legs.  She still isn’t flipping from side-to-side, but I feel like any day now she might do it at least on accident.  She is so busy when she is on her tummy or back.  She flaps and flails like a bird flying or a frog swimming!

Personality:  She has quite the personality…she talks NON-STOP!  Even the people at daycare say she just chats away all day when she is there.  She loves to hear her voice I guess!  She thinks her daddy is hysterical even when he isn’t trying to be funny…good luck disciplining her someday Justin!  He’ll just look at her and she laughs, it cracks us up.  She still has a very sweet demeanor and is such a good baby.  She is generally happy and hasn’t cried once when I’ve dropped her off at daycare.  Now, I realize the time will come when she does cry, but it has made it so mush easier on me these first few weeks knowing she is happy.

Eating:  Some day’s she likes food and other days she just wants her bottle.  I’ve been trying to incorporate food on an every other day basis, but sometimes she just isn’t interested.  I see no need to push it at this point and when she does actually eat her oatmeal, fruits or veggies it seems to have no impact on her sleep…she still likes to wake up several times at night.

Sleeping:  She still hates to nap.  She’ll take a few 30 – 45 minute naps a day, but that’s it.  Sometimes she’ll lie down and talk herself to sleep, but sometimes she won’t buy into the whole nap thing and cries until you get her out.  At night she is going to bed between 7:30 & 8.  Usually she’ll sleep until at least 12:30 until she “needs” a bottle, but lately she has been waking up like a ½ hour after we put her down and is not a happy camper.  Justin still has the 1^st feeding shift while I have the 2^nd shift.  It is looking like we will be trying the ferberization method ASAP (aka crying it out).  I’m not really looking forward to the crying that will be involved but I am looking forward to a full nights sleep for all.  Most mommies I have talked to said it took their child about 3 nights to get the hang of it.  So if we start on a Friday night, hopefully by Sunday she will be somewhat use to the routine.  My only problem is that she is usually good when we put her to sleep…it’s the middle of the night feedings that I’m worried about.  I guess we can only try and see how it goes!

Likes:  Addy pretty much likes everything!  She loves to be held and cuddled with.  She is starting to really enjoy Brinkley.  I think she knows Brinkley’s name, but I could be wrong!  She loves laughing, being tickled or entertained.  She still loves bath time and at the end I sit her up to look at the frog that is on the faucet.  She can also see her reflection on this silver piece in the tub which keeps her captivated.  She always smile when I lotion her up after her bath and kicks like crazy.  She loves watching us throw the ball for Brinkley and gets very excited when Brinkley runs back with the ball.  She seems to really enjoy her exer-saucer.  We keep in primarily in the kitchen to keep her occupied when cleaning up or making a meal. 

Dislikes:  she definitely dislikes waiting for her bottle at night time.  After her bath we bring her in to get lotioned up and dressed for the night.  Towards the end of getting her dressed, she usually looses her patience and gets fussy.  She knows her bottle is coming and she wants it right away!  She also hates it when I wipe her nose or face, she swats at me in protest.  She also isn’t a fan of the nose suction I’ve been using on her lately since she’s had a runny nose, but I really can’t blame her there!