Adelline is ATTENTIVE at 2 Years, 2 Months

This month’s discovery was an amazing grant-funded program to ensure Mississippi children are ready for kindergarten called EXCEL BY 5.  The facility offers a block room, toddler room, preschool room, art area, toy lending library, and a snack and toy/book with each visit.  They also sponsor parenting classes.   Mike was expressing his disbelief at all the free services to the director saying, “We don’t have anything to this extent in Wisconsin.”  Ms. Sue gently reminded Mike that this is Mississippi, 49^th in national education rankings!  Our adventures this month have taken us to the Biloxi Lighthouse, Biloxi Burger Burger restaurant, Mississippi Coast Clean-Up, Ocean Springs 5K, Spooky Ooky Chili Cook-Off, Fall Muster at Beauvoir, Biloxi Cemetery Tour, New Orleans Audubon Zoo, The Green Goddess restaurant in New Orleans, and Bourbon Street by night.  We’ve reached the point where Addy is talking so much that we really can’t keep track of her new words anymore, unless it’s something particularly memorable or entertaining. 

Our adventure in military terminology continues as we are advised to “go to your shirt” (first sergeant). Mommy is also learning more acronyms like NCOI (non-commissioned officer in charge), although she’s still not very clear on what they actually mean.  Our southern friends have also taught us the following this month:  in’it (isn’t it?) and snowballs (snowcones).    

Addy is very cognizant of her little sister.  She frequently reminds us to “check on Stella,” and she is always “checkin’ on Stella” as well.  Of course, we sometimes observe the classic “set-up” as Addy puts an off-limits item in front of Stella and then frantically calls for us!  Addy loves telling us when Stella is getting into MISCHIEF.

Addy also has to know what Stella is doing at all times.  While she is eating lunch, we hear over and over again, “What’s Stella doing?  What’s Stella doing?  What’s Stella doing?” 

Addy discovered sunny-side-up eggs recently as Mommy was eating them for lunch.  Addy declared, “I want yellow eggs.  I want dip.”  Mommy prepared a sunny-side-up egg for her, and soon Addy’s entire face and hands were coated in gooey yellow.  Mommy couldn’t help but laugh as Addy slurped the yolk from her piece of dipping bread.

Addy is very concerned when any toys or animals are dropped on the ground.  She runs over and asks in a serious voice, “Are you okay?”

After her Itsy Spider costume arrived in the mail from Grandma Gretchen, Addy announced, “Family REALLY likes my costume.”  

When Mommy reports to Daddy how storytime or our adventures at EXCEL BY 5 went that day, Addy always responds sheepishly, “A little bit of talkin’,” even if she was very well behaved.   

Addy loves her bike helmet as much as her bike.  She tries putting her helmet on whenever she has the chance.  When we ride to the park or go outside to throw the ball, she will leave her helmet on the entire time.  She has also always enjoyed wearing her sunhat, which makes life so much easier!   

Addy helped with her first neighborhood trash pick-up in our military housing development—West Falcon—this month in honor of Make a Difference Day:  National Day of Doing Good.  Later when we saw a piece of trash on the ground at the library, Addy pointed it out and wanted to go pick it up.  Mommy also volunteered at Hiller Park for the Mississippi Coastal Clean-Up effort on October 20.    

People have a hard time identifying or understanding “homemade” costumes, as culturally, we seem to have settled for purchasing expensive yet poorly designed television and movie character costumes at Walmart.  At our library storytime party, another child asked in reference to Addy, “Is she a sheep?”  Answer:  If sheep have eight legs, then yes.  Baaaa! 

Addy has been informing everyone what Stella is dressed as for Halloween by saying, “Stellaluna chicken!”  Chicken.  Turkey.  Close enough!

Addy had an accident in the bathtub one night as an incredible amount of poop entered the water near Stella.  Since then, every time Addy’s toes touch the bathwater, she yells, “Poop comin’!”  This has resulted in a lot of potty sitting time while Daddy gives Stella a bath.  At some point, it also requires convincing Addy that there is time to give her a quick bath before the aforementioned “poop comes.” 

While we try to downplay the pooping in the bathtub incident, Addy loves to reminisce about it on a daily basis.  We pretend to have forgotten about it, so she has to tell us the entire story each day.   

Addy was intrigued by the entire trick-or-treating process.  She loved watching all the costumed kids come to our house for treats (string cheese, Clementines, stickers, pencils, notepads, and spider rings).  She would cruise around on her tractor until people started walking toward the house.  Then she’d pick up her tractor, run to park it in the garage, and stand by the garage door to watch.  She was particularly interested in the princesses.  Periodically, Addy would say, “Happy Halloween,” to the families.  Afterward, Addy said she loved “trick-or-treating.”  What an easy-to-please kid!   

One day, Mommy noticed that the cover on her sewing kit was ajar but didn’t think much of it.  As it turns out, Addy discovered Mommy’s sewing needles and stuck five of them in the carpet at the top of the stairs.  What a pleasant morning surprise for Mommy’s foot!

While Mommy was preparing Addy’s breakfast, Stella started crying.  When Mommy asked what happened, Addy replied, “Stella faceplant.” 

Prior to going on the Biloxi Cemetery Tour, Mommy and Addy talked about “appropriate cemetery behavior.”  Addy suggested that we do “a lot of laughing.”  Luckily, we were able to compromise that we would do “a lot of whispering” rather than “a lot of laughing.” 

Addy likes to “play basketball” before bed with Aunt Lyddia.  This involves holding a picture of Aunt Lyddia in one hand while throwing the basketball around the house.  There are also a lot of, “Are you ready Lydi?”

Addy loves Brussels sprouts, aka “super balls,” especially when Daddy plays the “try a new spice game” during dinner.  On each super ball, Daddy sprinkles a different spice, and Addy “taste tests” it.  Her current favorite is pumpkin pie spice, which she reminds us has “ALLLLL different spices in it.”  Addy also declares that things have “flavor.”  She is a girl after her Mommy’s heart!  Mommy is highly entertained by this game, especially when Daddy says things like, “Should we try cream of tartar next?”

Addy’s new phrase is, “Yokie dokie.” 

When Mommy said it was fun to try new things, Addy responded, “I’ll remember that.” 

One morning, Addy unloaded all the garbanzo beans from her oatmeal.  When Mommy asked why, Addy said they were “going to family reunion.”  Sure enough, the garbanzo beans were all gathered in a circle on her tray having a great time!

After nap, Daddy asked Addy if it would be okay to set Stella on her bed.  Addy had woken up a bit early and was still quite sleepy, but her quick response of “no deal” still surprised us a bit! 

We’ve had a breakthrough this month as Addy expressed interest in using the potty, so we decided to give it a try.  Mommy finished reading, “Potty Training in One Day” just in time, although we are currently employing a longer-term strategy.  We’ve been using “special stickers,” M & M’s, and a sticker reward chart.  So far, Addy’s earned a family trip for ice cream, which the restaurant gave us “on the house” once they found out why we were celebrating.  She loves M & M’s, so that continues to be a huge incentive.  Hopefully, we can keep the “potty train” moving in the right direction through our holiday travels. 

As Daddy encouraged Addy to try going poop in the potty, Addy was thrilled one night when the “poops visited the pees!”  She proceeded to “role play” the visit.  “Hello poop!  Hello pee!” 

Addy figured out that the big stickers at the end of the row of her sticker chart are the most desirable ones that earn her special rewards and toys, so she snuck into the bathroom and filled in all the biggest circles on the chart, making it appear that she had completed all the rows.   

Addy gets very animated and dramatic about moving everything out of Stella’s reach, even toys Stella is allowed to play with, and often tells us that Stella is “coming to get me” now that Stella is so mobile.  Addy has always been very good about sharing toys with Stella, but it seems like she’s not quite ready for Stella to be moving around and able to tag along behind her. 

We’ve had a few incidents where Addy has hit Stella or moved a toy, causing Stella to lose her balance and fall over.  Addy responds with loud fake laughing, which is what she normally does to make Stella laugh when she’s crying.  Addy doesn’t quite understand that when she causes the injury, it’s not really appropriate to begin the fake laughing immediately!

Adelline is A GOOF at 2 Years, 1 Month

It has been a month of adventures for us as we’ve settled into “coastal living” in Biloxi, Mississippi.  We’ve also started our Thanksgiving countdown!   Some of our adventure highlights include:  Biloxi Tour Train, Biloxi Shrimping Trip, Hurricane Katrina Memorial, West Biloxi Library weekly storytime, Biloxi Library weekly storytime, Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church masses, Biloxi Visitors Center, Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary mass, Lynn Meadows Discovery Center, Gulf Islands National Seashore, Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, French Quarter horse-drawn carriage tour, Honey Island Swamp Tour, and IMAX Theater “The Last Reef 3D.”  We’ve dined at Mary Mahoney’s French Restaurant, Atami, Sweet Thangs Ice Cream Shop, Aunt Jenny’s Catfish Restaurant, New Orleans Seafood Festival, and Bourbon House on Bourbon Street in New Orleans.  Atami is our new favorite place for sushi, and I was shocked at Aunt Jenny’s that the menu itself wasn’t deep-fried for authenticity!  We’ve enjoyed walks along the pier and harbor in Biloxi, as well as swimming at the community pool.  I am relieved to have finally found a wonderful fresh bread and organic vegetable source at the Ocean Springs Fresh Market.  Of course, despite our attempts to expose her to culture and new foods, Addy is most intrigued by the huge guitar outside the Hard Rock Café and Sharkheads, the souvenir shop boasting a giant shark head entrance that would make Wisconsin Dells proud!

Addy had her first popcorn experience in Mississippi.  Daddy was laughing when Mommy asked him to show her how to pop popcorn.  Apparently, Mommy can make homemade noodles, prepare a full Thanksgiving dinner, freeze and can produce and spreads, and bake anything you request, but she missed the lessons on making air popped corn and coffee.  Note:  She still has no idea how to make coffee!

Addy loves looking for the Biloxi Lighthouse, big TAR (Hard Rock Café guitar), dolphin friends (sculptures of dolphins in oak tree remnants left by Hurricane Katrina), jump house (from the International Children’s Festival), and big houses (multi-floor casino hotels).

One night before bed, Addy befriended a piece of dirt from the bathtub.  When she put her pajamas on, the dirt got lost, resulting in an extremely dramatic display of tears.  Mike found a “replacement friend” from the laundry room, and while Addy knew it was not her original buddy, she accepted her “new friend.”  Crisis averted by Daddy!

Addy is a fan of “takin’ a break” on the walk home from the park.  This involves her sitting down in the grass and refusing to move, while we explain that the park is only two blocks away, thus not a long enough trip to require a break!

When Mommy asked Addy how she got hurt, Addy responded that she had been “goofin’ round.”  She also enjoys the phrase “bein’ a monkey.”

Addy dribbles a basketball by crouching down, bouncing up and down, and pushing against the ball with both hands. 

At the library, Addy was having trouble choosing books for herself and Stella.  It finally got to the point where Mommy had to narrow the choices and eventually just put some books in the bag.  When Mommy told this story to Grandpa Mark, implying that Addy had inherited Grandpa Mark’s indecisiveness, Grandpa Mark said he was proud that Addy was so deliberate and cautious!

When Mommy introduced the song, “This Old Man,” Addy was intrigued.  She proceeded to go for a hunt around the house “lookin’ for the old man.”

Toward the end of mass at the Cathedral, Addy loudly announced that “all the people go on the boat.”  She was very excited about our Biloxi Shrimping Trip.

When we boarded the rickety old Biloxi Shrimping Trip boat, Addy pointed to one of the huge fancy yachts and declared that she wanted to ride on a “different boat.” 

Daddy’s comment so far on Grandma Vicky’s “1000 Books By Kindergarten” challenge is, “You know, there are some children’s books that are better off not read, but when you have to read 1000, you are going to come across them!”  We let Addy choose almost all the books when we go to the library, and she’s picked some real winners.  One night, Daddy got stuck reading a poorly translated Norwegian folk tale.  It contained grammatical mistakes and made no sense in certain parts.  It also had a very memorable line spoken to a bear in the story, which read, “Hey pussy, want some sausage?”  Addy is also quite adept at choosing books that have little to no plot or involve things we really don’t want to reinforce like, “At Grandma’s house, we eat treats all day,” and, “When I was little, I drank milk, but now that I’m big, I eat Cheetos.”

Addy calls everyone FRIEND and often asks us to, “Find a friend for me?” followed by, “Find a friend for Addy?” at the park and on our adventures.  Of course, “friends” range from pieces of dirt to wooden sculptures to stuffed animals to actual people, so this is not a difficult task at the moment! 

One day, Mommy was sorting through Stella’s closet to pack away outfits that no longer fit.  Addy held them up by the hangers and declared each one TOOT (cute).

If we catch wind of something that could potentially be a messy diaper, we ask Addy if she needs to go potty.  Her most common response is, “No, just toots.” 

Addy woke up one morning with her hand raised as if to hit something.  That should have been Mommy’s first clue as to how the day was going to progress.  By mid-morning, we had already had one timeout and several lectures about hitting.  Finally, Addy agreed with Mommy that the best thing to hit, if she needed to hit something, would be a pillow.  We will see how long this lasts…

During timeouts, Addy now runs over to her bookcase and knocks her framed ultrasound picture off the shelf.  Unfortunately, her room still remains the best spot for timeout, as it has the safety gate on it!

Stella loves pulling CDs off the rack and playing with them.  (For my technologically advanced friends and family members, CDs are the mechanism by which we used to purchase music.  They came after eight-track tracks, records, and cassette tapes.)  Addy loves alerting us when Stella is headed across the room toward the CDs by yelling, “Stella playin’ with CDs!”  One day, she brought a pile of CDs over to Stella and proceeded to shout the warning.  Luckily, Daddy caught on to that set-up!

We continue to work on Addy’s manners.  She was struggling one day to use her “may I please” request.  After many failed attempts, she finally said all the words nicely with appropriate voice volume and no fingers in her mouth while making eye contact.  Unfortunately, one of the hands no longer in her mouth happened to be down her pants, so we had to start over.  Ahhhh!

We were invited over to finally meet our next-door dog neighbors, Bruce and Rusty, and Addy was both intrigued and terrified by them.  They are taller than she is, so Mommy does not blame her for being a little intimidated by two Dobermans.  Rusty was quite the character and had to go to the garage for timeout after humping Bruce and jumping on the couch.  Addy talked about, “Rusty go to garage for timeout…jumping on couch!” for days afterward. 

Grandma Vicky would be very impressed with Addy’s “cheerful smile.”  She puts her fingers to her mouth and forces a smile when Mommy reminds her that we need to have a “cheerful attitude.” 

Daddy is working with Addy on saying “yes” rather than the usual “no like that” or “no thank you.”  They practice saying YES with much enthusiasm.  Unfortunately, the practice has yet to transfer over to everyday life requests!

Mommy asked Addy what she would like to be for Halloween, and her immediate response was ITSY SFIDER.  Despite Grandma Gretchen and Grandpa Bob’s best attempts to show her all the other possible costume options in the catalog, Addy stuck with her original choice.  Sorry Grandma Gretchen. We know spiders are not your favorite creature!

Addy loves helping Mommy with cooking and baking, but her excitement for the final product is hampered by her memory.  By the time the item is finished cooking or baking, she has usually forgotten about it.  After assisting with zucchini cake, Addy forgot for several days until Mommy and Daddy decided they should at least drop a little hint.  Suddenly, Addy remembered and wanted her cupcake for breakfast.  She proceeded to spend 15 minutes savoring every little bite. 

Addy and Stella love playing with a box of Mommy’s old toys.  Addy’s favorite is the mailbox with openings to “mail” various shapes and then “unlock” the box to gather the mail.  Hopefully, most of the lead paint on the other toys has neutralized by now! 

Addy is intrigued by Mommy’s makeup and loves when Mommy puts a little powder on her nose.  One day, Mommy was using the tweezers to clean up her eyebrows, and Addy kept asking questions about it.  Mommy admitted that it did cause a little “sting,” but when she offered to pluck some of Addy’s unibrow, Addy said, “No thank you—too stingy.”  She then reasoned that maybe the “doctor check unibrow.” 

At the library storytimes, Addy states her full name, “Addy Grace Roltgen,” and given that this is the south, Ms. Dede and others now call her “Addy Grace.” 

Addy loves spinning in circles in the living room and declaring, “Floor moving!”

Addy informed Mommy that her dolls were hungry and needed to eat.  When Mommy suggested finding their bottle, Addy said, “No, no, no,” and began to lift Mommy’s shirt.  Apparently they are exclusively breastfed as well!

For Stella’s six-month birthday, we once again attempted to have pictures taken of the girls.  At some point, we should probably just throw in the towel, but Daddy and Mommy continue to torture themselves at family photo sessions.  We’ll probably laugh about it someday, just not anytime soon!  The photographer was a southern belle who called Mommy “Miss Tiffani” and had all sorts of little nicknames for Addy and Stella, including sissy, little miss pris, pretty girl, and ma’am.  Addy was not impressed with the photographer’s attempts to tickle her and adjust her body position.  The famous Addy “knee lock” occurred when the photographer tried without success to bend Addy’s knees into a cute sitting pose.  When Addy refused to do an outfit change into a pumpkin shirt, the photographer asked if she could put the shirt on, and Addy said, “Yeah,” in what was clearly an “I don’t give a crap” tone.  Ahhhhhh!  The photographer gave us some wonderful unsolicited parenting advice that the more we bring them in for pictures, the more comfortable they’ll be in front of the camera.  Judging by the fact that we’ve religiously brought them in from birth through two years at every major milestone—newborn, two weeks, six months, one year, 18 months, two years—and a few extra times to boot, we are going to go ahead and disagree with that advice! 

Addy was beyond excited to see the USO Sesame Street concert on Keesler Air Force Base.  She kept telling all the kids in line to “be verrrrrryyyyyyy quiet” during the show, as they were running around like wild monkeys outside the theater.  Throughout the 30-minute performance, Addy was completely entranced by the singing and dancing.  Mommy and Daddy had never seen her sit so still!  Daddy commented that we’d probably get a similar result if we let her watch TV.   

We decided to venture into Sharkheads, the huge souvenir shop along the beach that boasts a shark’s mouth as the entrance.  Rebuilt post-Hurricane Katrina, the entire shop is now on the second story as supports lift it high above the beach.  As we marveled at the junk for sale, Addy found a rock collecting station to play in.  Within minutes, she had picked up and dropped a shot glass that was out of place among the rocks.  Daddy had to take it to the front register to show them that it broke, explain what happened, and ask if we needed to pay for it.  Did Mommy mention that the shot glass was in the shape of a boob?  In his former life, Daddy would have probably thought it was a really cool purchase!  The clerk’s first question was if Addy was okay, which impressed us, and thankfully, we did not have to buy the ceramic pieces of boob.

During the precious time when Mommy gets both girls napping together in the afternoon, the sound of engines revving filled the house one day and threatened to disturb the peace.  As Mommy looked outside to figure out what was going on, she realized that the Cruisin’ the Coast cars were parading on the road right behind our house.  Despite bringing an early end to naptime, the cars provided some interesting afternoon entertainment from the comfort of our backyard area.  We did have to look through the spaces between the poles of the Keesler Air Force Base security fencing, but nevertheless, our wish to live “on a parade route” was finally fulfilled! 

When commercial airplanes fly overhead, Addy refers to them as “far away planes.”  She is used to the huge Air Force planes flying right over our rooftop.      

One morning, Addy had a scratchy voice, so Mommy asked if she had a frog in her throat.  Addy opened her mouth for Mommy to check.

After a family run on base, Mommy ran back to our house to get some extra miles in, while Daddy loaded the girls in the van.  Daddy got Stella buckled in and situated before walking around the vehicle and calling Addy over to “her side” of the van to get into her carseat.  Addy responded, “Am on my side!”  Apparently, Daddy had buckled Stella into Addy’s convertible carseat, but Addy was still waiting patiently next to Stella. 

Addy has definitely picked up on the little phrases and nuances of our conversations.  One of our favorites we hear her repeat is, “Ohhhhhh Stelllll,” whenever Stella is getting into something she’s not supposed to or is crying.  She also warns us to “be verrrrrryyyyyyy careful” when crossing the street, opening the oven, and in other hazardous situations.   

Addy is really interested in our Halloween decorations this year.  She especially likes the GHOST-ES, as she calls them.

Mommy tried teaching Addy that when it was morning and the digital clock in her room said “7,” she could get out of bed to choose books to read independently and quietly in her bed.  Addy interpreted this a bit more broadly as she now enjoys getting out of her bed to gather books, clothes out of her dresser, and hair accessories.  She also likes taking off her pajamas and diaper in the morning, so Mommy usually finds her completely naked among her animal menagerie and books.  Throughout the day, Addy will take note of the clock and let us know if it does or does not say 7.  This has prompted many discussions about such abstract concepts as a.m., p.m., and the need for Mommy and Daddy to get more sleep.

We’ve noticed some southern terminology that is somewhat foreign to us.  Of course, everyone says “y’all” constantly, but we’ve even heard a few “all y’alls.”  Strollers and carts are referred to as “buggies,” when you prepare to leave the house, you are “fixin’” to go somewhere, and females young and old alike are referred to as "ma'am."  Example:  “Y’all fixin’ to go to the park in the buggy, ma'am?”  Then there is also the entire vocabulary of military terminology, most notably PCS (permanent change in station), DITY (do it yourself), and TDY (temporary duty).  Example:  “Thankfully, we were able to PCS here through a DITY move, rather than TDY.”  We’ll get it all figured out by the time we are ready to leave!