20 Months

This month I had to admit to Justin that I was wrong...yup, imagine me being wrong!?  I had bought Addison a sandbox a month or so before and he warned me sand would be everywhere.  I didn't think it would be that bad and Addison would just LOVE it!  Well, the sand did get that bad and Addison sort of "liked" it...needless to say, I made the decision to empty it out and call it a day.  I then found a water table on CraigsList which is so much easier to deal with and Addison seems to find joy in any body of water!  I guess sometimes I should listen to my husband!

Moving on...
Size Stats:  Addy has hit her 25 lb mark.  She is pretty heavy to carry around!  She is wearing size 5 diapers, size 4 shoes (such tiny feet) and mostly 2T clothing.  She can still fit into a lot of 18 months clothes though!

Development:  Addison has become a pro at carefully getting of the bed and couch.  She knows to go onto her tummy and shimmy off.  This child continues to love to talk.  She is soo chatty!  This month, her favorite words seem to be, “Airplane, wa-lah (water), birthday and I did it”.  She could hear a loud car and she’ll look into the sky for an airplane, it’s so cute!  Her vocabulary just keeps getting bigger & bigger.  This month we switched her carseat from rear facing to forward facing.  Her legs were cramped facing backwards and the constant struggle of getting her to “behave” was enough to make me want to crash the car!  Her forward facing days have been much more enjoyable! 
Lately Addy has been calling Grandpa, Guppy.  I have no idea how it went from Pa-Pa or Bampa to Guppy, but that's where she is at!  It is sometimes frustrating when trying to decipher what she is saying, but man, she tries so hard!  In fact, lately she has been saying "Bobby" a lot!  At least that is what I think she is saying...we know no one named Bobby and we don't watch any shows with a Bobby as a character, so I am kind of freaked out!  I feel like she is seeing spirits or something!  I'm hoping that I am just misinterpreting something!

Personality:  We have a hard headed, determined child on our hands.  Addison doesn't even cower when we raise our voices!!  There was one day when she wouldn't stop trying to touch a night light and after several attempts of yelling I decided to slap her little hand…I did not get the reaction I had hoped for…she LAUGHED at me!!!  Justin and I looked at each other like what the heck!?!  She likes to stand on her Minnie Mouse chair and will only basically sit down when we go over to make her sit down.  Sometimes on a rare occasion, she will sit down when we ask her to.  My favorite new thing is when she sings.  She will scrunch her face up and shake her head from side to side and “sing”.  It cracks me up!!  She looks like she is putting her heart & sole into it!

Sleeping:  Ask me in 5 years...between teething, strep throat and a cold, our nighttime sleeping patterns have been all over the board!

Likes: This month we found out that she loves the sprinkler.  She also loves the baby pool at my parent’s house.  It stays out back on the deck and she has a ball.  She currently loves our neighbor’s water table.  Does anyone see a theme forming?  I just don’t get why water is so exciting, but it continues to be!  We also just got her a little car "coupe".  My mom let me bring it into her house and Addison played with it for awhile getting in & out and putting baby & polar (bear) into it.  

Addison has gotten a few new pairs of shoes and she loves them!  I’ll put them on her little feet and she immediately begins to walk towards the hard wood floors to test them out and see how they sound.  On our way to and from school, we listen to kids songs which she loves and I loathe!!  Some of them are soo horrible!!  They make me want to pull my hair out, but it keeps her happy & relatively quiet!
She is also on a pizza kick...she loooves pizza!  

Dislikes:  Still dislikes getting her diaper changed…Booo!

Pictures:  Here are some of my favorite pictures from this month...

Strep Throat

Can this poor kid catch a break!?  Addison's canines have been trying to come in for weeks now, which have been bothering her to know end!  Just this past Sunday (May 19th) Addy started acting more clingy then usual.  We had errands in our plans, so we dropped Addy off at my parents house and went on our merry way.  Once we got back to my parents, she was in full-blown mommy mode.  She definitely felt warm, but I thought maybe, just maybe those teeth were going to pop through!  
She went to bed well, but was soon awake around midnight.  She was burning up and was not a happy camper.  I could just tell she wanted to throw up and after hanging out downstairs for a little bit, she got sick to her stomach.  Thankfully it was the only time, but both her & I needed a bath after. I felt so bad for her!  We were still awake around 2:30 am, so I knew she wouldn't be going to daycare on Monday.  I sent a quick email to the director and we finally cuddled up and fell asleep in our bed with daddy & Brinkley.  By the time we woke up on Monday, I had an email back saying another toddler was out due to Strep throat...YUCK.  I decided to make Addy an appointment to get her checked out, just in case.  We really cuddled all day long on Monday until her appointment and well into the evening.  She just wanted to be rocked or held.  I finally gathered her up for her appointment & sure enough, her strep test came back positive.  We got a prescription for Amoxicillin and started in on the dosage.  She was to be on her meds for 24 hours before she should go back to school, so more of the same on Tuesday. By Tuesday afternoon she was looking & feeling a lot better.  She wasn't 100% but she was on her way to recovery.  My poor baby!  I hate it when she is sick!

Monday morning bath to bring that fever down!

Medicine + Chocolate milk = FAIL!

Hanging with Baby

Finally getting a little of her appetite back

Back to her old tricks...trying to stand on her chair!

19 Months

This month we've really started to notice how grown-up Addison seems.  She seems like such a little girl!  It is a sad/happy thing for me because while I love watching her grow, I still miss the days of having a little baby.  She is into EVERYTHING and loves all things outside. 

Size Stats:  Addy is right around that 25lb mark and I believe it!  There are days where she wants to be held more and my arms sure feel it.  On these days, I try to pass her off to her daddy who is much better at carrying her around.  When we went to Texas, my arms were so sore from carrying her around the airport.  

Development:  We have started to see Addy trying to climb onto the couch…I am very certain she will master this skill soon.  We have to be very careful about getting off the couch/bed/seats.  She just likes to fling her body with utter abandonment and hope she lands smoothly.  Addison is very busy and will rarely sit still for 5 minutes. We had a recheck awhile back with the ENT and her right ear was still giving her a slight problem.  It was still draining, but the doctor assured me this is normal.  10 more days of drops should do the trick, which it did!  Her ears as of Friday May 10th looked beautiful!

Personality:  We are still testing boundaries and ignoring us when we are reprimanding her.  I know she understands me when I say things.  For example, when she is in the bath tub, I’ll ask her to stand up so I can wash her legs & butt.  She’ll gladly stand up; I’ll wash her and then tell her she can sit back down.  BUT when I say OK  please stand up so you can get out of the bath tub, she acts as if I don’t even exist!  She’s very smart this one!  She’s at a point where she wants daddy smothering her with love & affection or him sitting back and not even looking at her.  It’s so weird, she’ll go from daddy, daddy, daddy to no, no, no in the matter of 2 minutes.  Someone please explain the logic here!  Her favorite words have been momma and NO!

Sleeping:  Once again, we were starting in on a good pattern.  I was hoping these 8pm to 6:30am nights lasted for a long time, but they didn't! When we were in Texas visiting my grandmother and aunt, she was all over the board.  She pretty much slept with me in bed, but still was very restless.  I think her teeth are playing a big part in no sleep.  She continues to wake up once a night and freak out.  

Likes: She likes to take our phones and take “selfies”.  She’ll hold the camera up and say cheese! I really think half the stuff she does is to see how everyone around her will react.  She recently discovered the drawer underneath my parent’s washing machine.  Thankfully my parents only have rags stored here because Addison really likes to unload this drawer and drag the rags around.  She does the same thing with my jewelry drawer, my t-shirt drawer and my shorts drawer!  Why can’t she mess with daddy’s drawers…he could care less if his things are in order or not!  Addison & our neighbor Charlotte (or as Addy calls her, Toe-Tie) love playing together.  They are so excited to see one another and play really well together.  Charlotte is about 4 months older then Addison so it’s fun to see what Addy will be “up to” next. We like to play with chalk out front of the house or head to different playgrounds.  Addison loves the slides, but we are trying to teach her to be more careful.  I am hoping that will come with time!  She’ll climb up the jungle gym then walk to the slide and keep trying to walk down it!  She doesn't completely get that she has to sit down and this terrifies me!  Addy loves the sandbox at school and on the different playgrounds we visit, much to her daddy’s dismay!  She loves to get messy and I honestly don’t care because she is usually having fun and I know a bath will fix everything.

Dislikes:  Addison still isn't pumped about getting her diaper changed…some days it’s a hit and some days it’s a miss!  I think she just doesn't like to sit still!  I can’t think of many more dislikes…she pretty much finds enjoyment out of anything!

Pictures:  Here are some of my favorite pictures from this month...

Our smiley girl!

Heading to church with Grandma & Grandpa

Pool time!

This is such a Rosplock face!

Enjoying the nice weather

Picture Day at School

Picture Day at School

Texas Trip

Right at the beginning of May, my mom, sister Michelle, Addison & I went to visit my Grandma, Aunt Diane & Uncle Wes in Austin, Texas.  We had made a similar trip a year ago that included my dad & sister Amanda, but we couldn't get all our schedules to match up this year. 

I was worried that Addison might have trouble flying this time around because a) she now had tubes in her ears & b) she can't sit still!  Much to my SURPRISE she was an A++ traveler!  She really was such a great baby on both flights to Texas and both flights home.  On the last leg of our trip, she literally fell asleep on me right before take off and slept until 10 minutes before we landed (2+hour nap).  I was hugely uncomfortable, but she was as cozy as could be.  Several people commented on how great she was on the flight and I was like yeah...she was sleeping people!  

The Texas weather turned cold pretty much the day after we got there, but it was a great trip regardless!  Shelly and Addison were able to enjoy the pool the day we got there, but not at all after!

My aunt found many things that her boys use to play with and brought them out for Addy to use.  She loved the little reclining chair and made it her own very quickly.  She also enjoyed bowls, spoons & Tupperware of all sorts!

We went to dinner one night which was easy to get to because it was right around the corner from the nursing home and in walking distance.  Addison was very well behaved thankfully!

It was so nice being able to visit and see my Grandma...my Grandma watched Addison's every move and found her very amusing.  We tried getting several group photos, but that proved to be incredibly difficult!  

Thankfully everything went really well and Addison was a superstar.  She even got use to airport pizza quickly and downed several slices on the way there and home!

TIME FLIES!!!

2013 Plane Flight

2012 Plane Flight 

2013 Hanging

2012 Hanging

2013 Car Ride

2012 Bumbo Time

18 Month Well Checkup

Addison's 18 month visit went pretty well.  I thought she was still in the 90^th% for her size, but I guess she has tapered off!  Addison only had to get one shot at this visit, but I think she has started to remember what happens when they lay her down.

Here are her stats:

Height - 32.25 inches (70th% percentile)
Weight - 24 lbs 2.5 oz (70th% percentile)
Head - 47 cm (70th% percentile)

Dr. Sarah came in to look at her and said everything was perfect.  She said that Addy’s canine teeth were coming in which can leave her grumpy and cranky.  I am hoping that is what is causing Addy to be a little “feisty” lately!  Everything went really well and her next well visit isn't until she is 2 years old!

Here are some pictures of Addy before the doctor came in.  I bribed Addy to behave with some Lucky Charms.  Lately when we have visited a doctor's office she just wants to run around and explore like a crazy person.  Marshmallows help me out...yes, I know that's horrible, but sometimes you do what you got to do!

CHIPMUNK CHEEKS!! 

18 Months

This past month I feel like I have heard the word "Momma" uttered just shy of a million times!!   She is constantly talking, either actual words or her own language.  She is currently obsessed with cheese ("Ch ee") and grapes.  It's ridiculous that we have to cut her off from eating more than her fair share of cheese!

Size Stats:  I feel like she is a peanut, but she is in the 90^th % for height & weight.  She is wearing all 18 month clothing with some 2T things thrown in there as well.  She is still in a size 4 diaper and we recently moved up to a size 4 shoe.  The 4’s are a little big, but 3’s were getting to be too small.  She is long & skinny and I miss her baby fat!!  

Development:  We have a full blown walker/runner on our hands!  She is so proud of herself as are we.  It is so stinkin’ cute watching her walk and still seems unreal.  Our “baby” isn't very baby-like anymore!  Her motor skills seem to be great, she has a ball with shapes cut-out in it and can pretty much find the shape, put it where it’s supposed to go and push it through.  Ah-mazing!  She can put a the chap stick top back where it belongs and loves doing it over and over again.  She can also put a water bottle top on & off.  Her vocabulary is always expanding; I’m continually shocked at what she tries to repeat back to us.  The daycare teachers have said that Addison is a parrot at school lately.  I guess we have to be extra careful what comes out of our mouths at home!  She is very good at pointing out mouth, ears, eyes & nose on herself & others. 

Personality:  I think Addison knows she is funny…she just has this look about her like she knows she is entertaining you.  In this aspect she is so like her father!  They both have great comedic timing!  Everyone at daycare said she smiles from when I drop her off til when I pick her up.  It's still hard leaving her there, but she does seem to enjoy it.  Addy already shows off some when it is just Justin & I, but when anyone else is around, she puts on a show.  She still is very hard-headed and wants to have her way.  She knows she shouldn't touch the DVR, but will go up to it and turn around to look at us to see if we are paying attention.  Same thing with Brinkley's water bowl and same thing with standing on her Minnie Mouse chair!  She knows its wrong, but is constantly testing her boundaries.  

Sleeping:  Sleeping has been a disaster lately.  It’s so hard to make a plan and stick to it.  A few weeks ago, we had gotten to a point where she’ll come into bed with us for a little while, watch some TV then head back to bed.  She is always willing to head back to bed after a little time with us, but it still makes for a very tiring night.  Since she got her tubes, we've had some good nights and some awful nights!  She's slept in bed with us a few times and let me tell you, sleeping with a snoring husband, a snuggly dog and wild sleeping baby is sooo NOT fun!  We've had some good nights for a few days so we are hoping we are getting into a good pattern!

Likes:  She still has a deep love for baby wipes.  She always wants to have one!  She likes to put things in the garbage still so we have to be careful to not turn our backs…you never know what she may try and throw away.  She loves to brush her teeth and always wants more toothpaste to suck off her toothbrush.  She also likes to put lotion on after bath time.  Her new favorite activity is to unload my jewelry drawer.  Thankfully I don't have too many nice things, but man, it isn't fun to clean up!  She is very into going outside and playing with chalk.  The weather has turned nice and all I hear is "o-side, o-side"...it's going to be a long spring/summer!  

Dislikes:  I think I have finally found the secret to making Addison not hate diaper changes…singing!  If I sing short little songs (Twinkle, Twinkle, Row your boat, Itsy Bitsy Spider) things go so much more smoothly. She has short little hissy fits when she doesn't get her way, but moves on quickly from them.  For awhile she hated wearing her pink puffy winter coat…I had to ditch it and just add layers so I didn't have to deal with it!  

Pictures:  Here are some of my favorite pictures from this month...

Addy's Surgery

After several months of back-to-back ear infections, we were referred to an ENT by Addy's primary doctor.  Justin & I were both sick of Addy having ear infections and what comes with them: pain, irregular sleeping patterns, antibiotics, pain relieving medicine and crankiness!  The poor kid just couldn't catch a break, so after visiting with the ENT specialist we decided to go ahead and get tubes.  I had heard from numerous people that life would be "so much better" for Addy once she has the surgery.  The doctor said the actual surgery should only last 10 - 15 minutes and overall was a very simple procedure.
Addy couldn't eat past midnight the night before her surgery, so we got her out of bed around 11:45 for some late night snacks.  She seemed totally pumped to be hanging, eating & drinking with us...I think she thought it was a small party for her!
Friday morning, Justin & I woke up at 5:30, showered, dressed and got everything situated before we woke the patient up.  She was happy when we woke her up, but immediately asked for her cup.  I kept telling her that we forgot it and she seemed to buy it.  Once we arrived at the surgery center we had to sit down and fill out some paperwork.  Addy continued to be in good spirits.  She probably asked for her cup about 40 times that morning, but at no point had a meltdown.  
We finally got called back to the pre-op room.  She meet several nurses, her anesthesiologist and then our doctor came in.  She was great with everyone and they were honestly great with her.  Everyone was so kind and tried to make it easier on all of us.  The time came where the nurse who would be in on Addy's surgery came to get her.  Addy was a little apprehensive, but didn't cry when she took her & puppy back to surgery.  Justin & I went out to the waiting room, sent a few text messages, grabbed coffee and then waited patiently to hear how it went.  I looked at my phone and saw that 11 minutes had passed and I was getting nervous.  I told Justin she should be done by now and about 1 minute after that the doctor snuck up on us from behind.  He told us Addy did great and she was already in the post-op area waiting for us.  He said she hadn't had an active ear infection, but she did have some fluid build up.  This is where it gets a little sad...as soon as we went through the doors to the post-op area, I heard Addy crying.  A nurse was holding her on her lap and Addy was just so upset.  I don't think Justin or I had ever seen her that upset before.  She seemed completely out of it.  We had been told to expect this, but it still sucked!! Even once I grabbed her from the nurse she continued to cry & scream.  The poor girl was just so confused and still fuzzy from the anesthesia.  
Justin & I dressed her pretty quickly and tried to leave ASAP.  The nurses said that the little kids usually get much better after leaving...well I think these nurses think that because they can't hear them crying anymore once they leave!  Addy cried the whole way home and was still pretty upset once we got home.  I just stood and rocked and she started to calm down.  She finally decided to have a fruit squeeze pack and started to get more comfortable.  Justin went and made her some french toast sticks and she went to town on them.  As the morning went on, she got better & better.  Soon it was time for a nap..for Addy & myself!  We both took a nice 2 1/2 hour nap and when she woke up happier then ever.  All in all it was a good day and we are hoping this solves her ear problem.  We have to administer drops in both ears twice daily.  We were told that most kids have huge problems with this, but so far she has been an angel.  Justin holds her, puts her little head on his shoulder and i put the drops in as quick as possible.  She hasn't made a peep yet!  
We have a follow up appointment in a few weeks to see how everything has healed, but so far so good!
Here are a few pics of our very tired baby before surgery:

She wasn't really sure why she had to have a tag on her ankle...probably the only real time she fussed beforehand!