Adelline is A CLIMBER at 1 Year, 3 Months

Addy is using her words to communicate. It is amazing to watch her work so hard to form a word and then beam with pride as she realizes she has said something that makes sense to us. Language development is also mysterious, in a way, as you never know what words and concepts have made the biggest impression. It makes me think twice about the words we use on a daily basis, as those will probably be some of the first added to her vocabulary! Addy loves climbing onto chairs, couches, and highchairs. She is our little monkey, although she has yet to link her ability to climb with getting things out of reach or off limits. Whew!

Addy has several favorite books including Peek-A-Boo Snail, My Daddy and I, Hug, The Going to Bed Book, In My House (touch and feel book), My First 100 Words, The Little Composter, My Little Book of Words, Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See, and any lift-the-flap books.

Addy loves pointing to and touching Mommy’s eyelashes and teeth.

When Mommy tells Addy she has a baby growing in her tummy, Addy lifts up Mommy’s shirt to see this baby for herself!

When other people are clapping, Addy will join in. She tries to “roll ‘em up” for pat-a-cake, but it ends up looking like wild flapping arms.

Addy says OWWW for wow, UH OH when a ball gets lost or her sippy cup gets dropped, BOCK for block, and FIFE for five or fine. She loves saying FIFE whenever you say a word that starts with “f.” Her latest words are SSSSSSOCK, STUCK, and SNACK.

When you ask Addy what a snake says, she responds, “Sssssssssssss.”

Addy finds books she would like to have read to her, hands them to the reader, and then turns away so she can “back it up” into his/her lap for a story.

When Aunt Britty, Aunt Lyddia, Grandma Vicky, and Grandpa Mark were coming down to watch Colby at state football, Mommy and Daddy asked Addy if she was excited to have Aunt Britty stay for the weekend. She responded by vigorously shaking her head NO from side to side, which made us laugh and the head shaking continue. Now when we ask Addy if she is excited about anything, the answer is always NO with a head shake!

Addy likes to go to the closet to find a washcloth before her bath.

Addy can “gobble” like a turkey by brushing her lips with her fingers, but she hasn’t quite figured out how to make the gobbling sound yet.

Addy loves her fleece footie pajamas. When Mommy was putting away laundry, Addy spotted a new pair and immediately fell in love with the “horsey” on the front. She ran around the rest of the night holding the pajamas and eventually went to bed clutching them. An hour and a half past her bedtime when we could still hear her screaming and being a monkey despite multiple attempts to check her diaper and offer water, an exasperated Mommy took off Addy’s cotton pajamas and put the fleece horsey pajamas on. Problem solved. We have a very persistent little girl!

One morning, Addy was throwing balls around the living room. She knows our rule is that only balls can be thrown—not toys. She looked at Mommy, deliberately tossed a green cup across the room, and then ran over to the Jumperoo for “timeout.” Somehow her “excitement” for timeout was not quite what Mommy was hoping for.

Addy did really well at the Roltgen family gathering for Thanksgiving this year. We learned that playing catch helps her adjust to all the commotion and new people. Addy bonded with Alice Schreiner, one of Daddy’s young second cousins. By the time we arrived in Colby for Thanksgiving, Addy seemed to be a little overwhelmed. She spent most of the weekend clinging to Daddy and pulling him around by the finger. We realized later that we should have brought a ball along!

When Addy is very excited about a food or activity, she breathes heavily. This HUH HUH HUH is usually reserved for bagels with cream cheese and going downstairs to throw balls in the storage room with Daddy.

When we ask Addy if we can see her prettiest smile, she scrunches her nose and eyes into a ridiculous funny face.

Lunch with the daycare kids often involves funny face time where we all try to make each other laugh with our silliest faces. When Eli was first learning how to make a funny face, he would squint his eyes and bat his eyelashes, but he could not figure out how to scrunch up his nose at the same time.

Addy loves throwing balls. She has a quite extensive wind-up that sometimes results in the ball being released behind her. Other times, it’s a softball fast pitch. Our favorite is the “run full speed toward the target with arm raised and refuse to let go of the ball, despite being asked repeatedly to throw it, until you are at point-blank range with someone’s face!”

Addy’s new favorite word is “YEAH.” Do you want to play with the ball? YEAH. Should we go on an adventure? YEAH. Is Mommy the best? YEAH :)

We may have discovered the “magic” stuffed animal who will eventually help with potty training. “Reindeer” was found in one of the Christmas bins, and Addy has a new best friend!

Uncle Jay babysat one night when Mommy had a meeting and Daddy was at parent-teacher conferences. Addy did a great job “teaching” him the bedtime routine by leading him to each activity, starting with the closet to find a washcloth for bath. Uncle Jay struggled a bit to interpret the HUHs and pointing. He also said bathtime involved every toy and letter being dumped into the tub and lots of splashing. How much actual washing took place is questionable!

Addy loves grabbing Daddy’s finger and leading him around the house to all her favorite spots, mostly the gate in front of the stairs to go to the basement.

Addy is a climber. She likes crawling onto chairs and sitting like a big girl. When Daddy was home for the day when Mommy had the flu, she insisted on eating all her meals from a regular chair. She will also try climbing into her highchair at mealtime and up onto the couch without help.

When Mommy had the flu, Daddy took Addy to school for his first two classes. She enjoyed throwing balls with the kids and sitting in the desks. The kids informed Daddy that her “reindeer” stuffed animal is actually a “moose.” Oops!

When the flu hit our house, Addy only threw up one time in the night. She went back to sleep with Daddy on the couch while Mommy tried to get some rest.

When we read My Little Book of Words, Addy fakes a laugh during the line, “A chuckle is a little laugh.”

Naptime at daycare is usually easy to identify. It starts with someone throwing toys, followed by a tantrum over being asked to only throw balls. Soon, everyone has lost his/her sense of balance. After a few minutes of walking around like drunk babies, we start the naptime routine!

Addy is a big fan of “wooden soldier” legs. She walks without bending her knees in an exaggerated manner with legs out to the side.

Photos continue to be a challenge as we try to take nice pictures, but we usually get a stone face or blank stare. Lately, we have seen a smirk after multiple requests for a smile, so it appears Addy knows she is being a turkey when the camera is out!

Adelline is A SNUGGLER at 1 Year, 2 Months

Addy took part in her first official sleepover this month, as we hosted my daycare kids, Eli and Lily, for a Wild Baby Sleepover. It was a busy and crazy night for Daddy and me, but the kids had a great time. We played, ate dinner, took a bath, read books, and snapped a few funny pictures. What amazed us most was everyone slept through the night. Woo hoo! Daddy and I jumped up at 5:30 a.m. wondering what was wrong as the house was quiet, and no one had woken up during the night. We had pancakes and applesauce for breakfast before sending Eli and Lily back home with their parents. Three kids might actually be feasible someday, at least for a night!

Addy had so much fun at the Roltgen family October birthday celebration. She loved jumping in the leaves with Uncle Jay, going for walks with Aunt Sara, and playing with Cousin Tessa. She even took a good afternoon nap at Grandma Gretchen and Grandpa Bob’s house, which was a first!

At naptimes and bedtimes, Addy now needs snacks. If we forget or try to distract her, she will head to the kitchen to point out her food choice or bring us the things she can reach like the Triscuit cracker box.

Addy signs THANK YOU and SLEEP and says BA BA (bottle). She has her own word for blanket, which sounds something like “DU BAI DU BAI DU BAI.” She also has words for diaper and clock that originate from her own language! When she is very excited about something, she’ll often say, “NOM A NOM A NOM A NOM A.”

Addy enjoys helping us Swiffer, which involves swinging the pole of the dust mop around wildly, almost taking off heads and knocking pictures off the walls.

Daddy and Addy are best friends and have special playtime that includes activities like laundry basket spaceship rides, throwing balls around the storage room, and other things that Mommy does not want to do every day. Addy particularly enjoys throwing the pool ball onto the cement floor in the basement storage room, which makes Mommy think the house is cracking apart!

We headed up to Colby for a quick visit over Halloween weekend. Addy loved playing with Presley, throwing sticks, and sneaking food to him during dinner. She was caught red-handed by Aunt Britty when she tried feeding him her sippy cup of milk!

Addy is getting over her stranger anxiety. As soon as we entered the house, she jumped into Great-grandpa Lawrence and Great-grandma Adelle’s arms and snuggled with them. They were impressed, since they don’t see her very often. Addy also ate three plates of Great-grandma’s beef tips at lunch, played quietly with toys, and showed them both her “muscles” by putting her arms up in the classic pose.

Addy is quite adamant about signing when she is ALL DONE with something. Unfortunately, it happened to be Aunt Lyddia the weekend we went to visit and Dr. Bellissimo at her 15-month check-up.

Addy likes to “wild dance” now by marching quickly in place with her feet. This is usually most popular right before bedtime.

Addy’s favorite foods this month are yogurt, Clementines, Mum Mums, spicy chili, spaghetti, cheese, Triscuit crackers, sweet potato fries, corn, frozen strawberries, and homemade applesauce. Of course, Aunt Britty will be happy to know that Mommy hides all kinds of good things in these foods like shredded carrots in spaghetti sauce, walnuts and brewer’s yeast in yogurt, and everything but the kitchen sink in chili!

This was Addy’s first year of trick-or-treating. She dressed as a cow (a-Dell-ine), Mommy and Daddy wore cowboy hats (farmers), and we attempted to be the “Farmers and a Dell.” Addy was less interested in the candy and more intrigued by our neighbors’ cats and dogs.

Addy experienced her first bonfire this year at our neighborhood Halloween event. She made everyone around the fire laugh as she started jabbering exuberantly and pointing at the fire as soon as we walked up to the circle. She kept up her chatter for several minutes.

Addy’s bedtime antics continue to amuse and drive us crazy! When Daddy was gone for his military weekend, Mommy was hoping to take advantage of the extra hour of sleep from daylight savings time. Addy had a different game plan, which included unloading all her diapers from the basket, running around like a wild child, refusing to pick out books, repeating FIFE FIFE FIFE when Mommy said “five books” is the limit before bedtime, and putting her head on the ground and butt in the air waiting to do somersaults when asked to pick up her toys.

Addy puts her head on her shoulder or snuggles with her blanket when you ask if she’s sleepy, but we all know how long that lasts!

Addy was talking to Daddy on the cell phone when he said, “Good job not buying a pretzel at the mall today with Mommy.” Addy immediately dropped the phone, ran to the snack cabinet, located the bag of pretzels, and signed “more please.” Wow, the power of suggestion is strong!

Addy helps by putting her dirty clothes in the laundry hamper.

Addy makes monkey sounds—AH AH AH AH—in a high-pitched voice when asked if she’s being a monkey.

Addy loves doing SO BIG, with her hands up in the air, waiting to be tickled.

Our attempt a few months ago to move Addy’s bedtime up to 7:30 p.m. was a bust. Thankfully, daylight savings time helped us out this month, and we were finally able to get some of our evening back to get things done, at least for a few days. Addy is slowly starting to push things back again.

From the minute Daddy gets home from work, he and Addy are always exploring the house, naming and pointing to various objects, and having a great time, but Daddy ends up carrying Addy quite a bit. When Mommy reminds him to let her walk once in a while, Addy proceeds to assume a “plank” position with her legs bent at the hips, refusing to touch the floor with her feet. Mommy then asks if her legs are broken and whether we should call the doctor. Addy thinks this is all very funny, but refuses to put her feet on the ground. I think someone has Daddy wrapped around her little finger!

Mommy now says, “Goodnight monkey,” to Addy as she gets settled into her crib. Addy responds, “AH AH AH AH.”

Addy likes building and playing in forts with Daddy. Mommy tried to make a fort during daycare, but it was a very amateur attempt. After consulting with Mr. Kevin, Eli’s Dad, Daddy made some minor adjustments, added a second couch, and blew the kids away with his ultimate fort!

Addy gives “bonks” by touching her forehead to things she loves—Eli, Lily, horsey on a stick, Mommy, and Daddy.

Addy and Mommy started making funny faces at dinner one night. Now, toward the end of meals, we see who can make the silliest face.

Before bed, Addy likes touching Mommy’s teeth while she’s singing bedtime songs. She also enjoys funny faces, raspberries, and other antics that make her laugh. Mommy has decided this is better than the usual screaming, so she’s happy to oblige.

Grandma Vicky and Grandpa Mark gave Addy a press-the-sound book about trick-or-treating for Halloween. She loves dancing to the music button and ringing the doorbell over and over and over and over…

Addy enjoys grocery shopping and is a good helper. She places all the items in the cart, mostly by throwing them over her shoulder. There is one thing, however, that is too good to place in the cart. Addy has taken bites out of two blocks of cheese now, plastic and all, once with Mommy and once with Daddy!

Adelline is A HOOT at 1 Year, 1 Month

Addy has definitely inherited her dad’s sense of humor. She is such a hoot and always making us laugh. She’s really been catching on to the idea of “teasing” and likes to show us that she knows what she’s not supposed to be doing. She will walk casually over to the electrical outlets and slowly reach out, pretending to touch them while grinning at us. We’ve discovered her “petting” the freestanding lamps in the living room, and when we ask for something back that she’s not supposed to be playing with, it promptly gets whipped across the room as if to say, “What are you talking about? I don’t have anything!”

There was a recent accident with Addy’s “princess-mobile,” or “cruiser,” as Daddy likes to call it. Car and driver were both involved in the sideway rollover, but no major injuries were reported. A dispute between Addy and Eli ensued after the accident over who was going to set the car upright, so the princess-mobile headed to the body shop (AKA the bathroom) for the afternoon.

Mommy has had to employ some creative strategies with the daycare kids including toys in “timeout” when there are arguments over sharing, bathroom fans on to create “white noise” during naps, and big praise for helpers who throw away diapers and assist with other daily chores.

One night before bed, Addy would not let go of her plastic bathtime book. Daddy decided to choose his battles and let her take it to bed. When he snuck in later to remove it from the crib, Addy was clutching it tightly to her chest.

When Addy was being particularly wiggly on the changing table, Mommy said, “Lyddia!” That story made everyone laugh as they recalled that Mommy did not change very many of Lyddia’s diapers.

A lady at church was so kind to suggest that we attend 10 a.m. mass on Sunday mornings, when “the nursery is available.” Obviously, we are still working on appropriate church behavior.

Addy loves spotting birds and airplanes outside. She will notice and point out birds on top of lightposts or flying in the sky. She will stop what she is doing in the house if she hears a plane flying over.

After reading more of Tracy Hogg’s “Secrets of the Baby Whisperer for Toddlers,” Mommy is convinced she classified Addy and Eli incorrectly as babies. She thought Addy was a “textbook” baby who adhered to a strict schedule (in reality, it was Mommy who adhered to the strict schedule!), and Eli seemed like a “touchy” baby, who was sensitive to change. Toddlerhood has made things more apparent. Eli is hands down an “angel” baby who adapts easily and naps like a champ, and Addy is “spirited.” No wonder we are always so exhausted, and the Longs are well rested! Spirited kids have the most energy and are the most active of all babies and toddlers. They also push limits, get sassy, and are extremely persistent. Why did Mommy ever think her offspring would be spared these traits? The book does note that spirited kids grow up to be great leaders. Now if we can just keep working on toning down that sass. The good news is that it only took Mommy twenty-two years or so!

Timeouts have officially begun. With three little ones running around during the day, we need some separation from the group at times. The timeout ratio is about five for Addy to every one for Eli and Lily. Oh man, we are in trouble during adolescence, aren’t we?

When Mommy went to get Lily up from her nap, Addy felt compelled to help herself to some Triscuit crackers. Addy has always enjoyed unloading the snack cabinet, but now she knows how to open the packages. She had one Triscuit down and several more in her hands before Mommy made the discovery!

At lunchtime, if one baby/toddler is still eating, the other two are like little scavengers, circling the highchair, waiting for food to drop or a chance to sneak something off the tray.

Addy was pushing her car from her bedroom down the hallway to the living room. This required a turn to navigate into the hallway. Mommy was encouraging Addy to keep trying as she rammed the front of the car into the wall over and over again instead of making any attempt to turn the wheels. Daddy was watching in disbelief as Addy eventually just gave up and walked away. Mommy had to break the news to Daddy that Addy has apparently inherited Mommy’s engineering/mechanical skills!

Mommy was making sweet potato fries one night before bedtime. Addy caught a glimpse of them and immediately started signing “please” over and over again. This was literally five minutes before bedtime, and the fries weren’t even done baking yet. The meltdown that followed was one for the record books. Mommy had to go through a big “goodnight sweet potato fries” routine and put them “back to sleep” in the oven. It was a still a rough bedtime.

Addy likes to rub her eyes with her toes. She’s our yoga girl!

Addy will point to her eyes, mouth, toes, and nose. She pretends to put her socks and shoes on her feet by setting them on top and then looking at Mommy and Daddy.

On our family trip to the apple orchard, Addy was very intrigued by the sheep. She loved running around under the apple trees. It was somewhat comical to watch as she would lose her balance occasionally when she stepped directly on top of a fallen apple! Addy was also interested in taking bites of apples, which Mommy and Daddy learned when she picked up a worm-infested, rotten apple and took a huge bite before anyone could stop her!

Addy’s new favorite book is a nursery rhymes pop-up book. We read it approximately 100 times per day, especially “Baa Baa Black Sheep.”

Addy was exposed to her first swear word this month. Mommy had just cleaned out Addy’s diaper into the toilet and pressed the handle to flush when Addy came running in and decided to throw a wooden puzzle piece into the swirling water. Apparently, the natural reaction to this happening is saying, “SHIT,” as you stick your hand into the poop to retrieve the puzzle piece. Thankfully, it wasn’t the puzzle pieces Grandma Gretchen and Grandpa Bob made, and even more of a relief was that Addy has yet to repeat the “new word” she learned! Oops.

Addy is Mommy’s little helper. She likes to sweep the kitchen with her little broom, throw diapers away in the Genie, and attempt to feed Lily. When Mommy had her back turned, Addy grabbed Lily’s spoonful of garden vegetables and ran at Lily in her highchair trying to put the spoon in her mouth. Luckily, Mommy intervened before any injuries occurred, but it was really cute!

Addy’s newest words are NA NA for banana, DOG, DUCK, HOT, and BALL. She also says MUM MUM MUM MUM in front of the pantry cabinet whenever she thinks she should have a Mum Mum rice cracker. This is usually several times a day, to which Mommy has to say, “No, we just had lunch,” or “No, we just had a snack after nap.”

Addy’s one-year molars are coming in on the bottom and top. Her bottom set popped through around her first birthday, and the top two made their appearance at about 14 months.

Addy enjoys throwing away tiny pieces of fuzz or dirt from the floor. She is very proud that she can lift the cover of the garbage can now. Of course, this led to her seeing a piece of bread from breakfast in the trash and proceeding to take it out and eat it before Mommy knew what was going on.

Addy enjoys teasing Mommy by touching the outlets and floor lamps in the living room. She usually “pets” them while grinning mischievously.

Addy loves playing “ghost” with her blanket. She covers her entire head with the blanket and then walks around like a ghost until she runs into something.

Addy is really into “snuggling” with her blankets. She carries them around and buries her face in them.

Addy learned about somersaults, so she now places her head on the floor, butt in the air, and waits for you to flip her forward.

Addy now signs the following words consistently: MORE, MILK, PLEASE, YES, ALL DONE, and EAT. She also growls like a bear, pants like a puppy, shakes her head NO, and follows simple commands when she feels like it.

Adelline is A LITTLE GIRL at 1 Year

Maybe it’s just me being emotional, but I’m really feeling the transition from “baby/infant” to “toddler/little girl” this month. Between weaning from breastfeeding and bottles and asking Addy to be “Mommy’s helper” at daycare, I can already picture that first day of kindergarten, and it breaks my heart. Okay, let’s be honest. I’m pregnant and hormonal. Yay! I know Addy is going to be such a wonderful big sister. I can’t believe it’s time already to start expanding our family. We’ll have some busy and exciting years ahead. In some ways, I hope it’s a girl, as I can’t imagine life without my sisters, but I do know Mike really wants a boy at some point. Given my family’s track record with many more females than males, we’ll take a healthy baby boy anytime God wants to bless us with one!

One day, Mommy was doing some laundry and left Addy playing in the main room of the basement. When she walked out less than ten seconds later, Addy had completely disappeared. Mommy started going through the storage room, expecting to find her playing with something poisonous or potentially life threatening. As it turned out, Addy was just hiding under the foosball table!

Addy loves throwing the dryer balls into the dryer. Mommy is grateful for this game, which gives her just enough time to switch the laundry over and start a new load.

Since 2% milk was not a hit, and Dr. Bellissimo said Addy could use the extra calories (Mommy is jealous!), we switched to whole milk. Apparently, that was the ticket, as Addy loves her sippy cup filled with milk at mealtimes. Mommy and Daddy are still a little unsure about when to phase out the bottle. We’ll have to keep experimenting.

Addy’s is working on her problem solving skills. After she finished unloading one side of the silverware, Mommy encouraged her to walk around the door to reach the silverware on the other side. Addy responded by crawling on top of the dishwasher door, picking up a fork, and handing it to Mommy.

Mommy was able to take a shower while Addy played with blocks on the floor. Victory! Now we just have to lock the toilet lid as one of the fun things to do with blocks is try to put them in the little potty chair and the toilet.

Addy is not a big fan of the word “no.” We’ve started to see several head-flailing tantrums lately. Arching the back and legs (an impressive yoga position) so it is impossible to lay her down on the changing table is also very popular at the moment.

Daddy and Addy have become big buddies this summer. There were even days when she’d cry when Daddy had to leave for cross country practice or errands. Someone might be in for a real shock when school starts. Hopefully the daycare kids will help her transition. In the meantime, Mommy has enjoyed the break!

After much grief, Mommy and Daddy agreed to have a small first birthday party for Addy. We celebrated on August 28 with Great-uncle Dave and Ella, Aunt Lyddia, Aunt Britty and Uncle Eric, Grandma Vicky and Grandpa Mark, Great-uncle Kevin and Great-aunt Julie, and Second Cousins Emily and Bailey. Everyone came to our house for a luau. We had kabobs on the grill, potato salad, crab noodle salad, veggies and dip, fruit salad, cheese, sausage, and crackers. Addy enjoyed her first piece of cake—angel food with strawberries and Mommy’s homemade whipped cream. Yummy!

Addy has started playing foosball downstairs. She used to just throw and chase the balls around, but the other day, Mommy heard “plunk” as Addy stretched on her tiptoes to place the ball up over the side and into the game. She has not caught on to the little black cup that would be easier to reach and still achieve the same result.

Daycare has begun for the year, and Addy is officially Mommy’s little helper. She brings all the dirty diapers to the Genie and tries pushing them down as far as she can. She only needs a few reminders on the way there to keep them out of her mouth. She helps put all the kids down for naps. Since she is the worst sleeper of the bunch, she also helps get them up from naps. No need to worry about getting some quality one-on-one time with her after all!

On the first day of daycare, Addy crawled over to Eli and kissed him on the head. We all missed him over the summer!

During the first week of daycare, Mommy was trying to adjust the kids into a similar schedule. Unfortunately, Addy was the one who had to make the sacrifice as Mommy tried to keep her up until the other two were tired. Interestingly, Addy gets really wild when she’s overtired, and her repertoire includes all the things that are no-nos such as chomping on the corner guards on the coffee table, trying to use Lily and Eli’s heads as leverage to stand up, throwing toys, pulling all the cookbooks off the shelf, running away from Mommy, flailing wildly around the living room, and just basically being a Rambo! These antics will be split up by random collapsing on the floor and snuggling with blankets and pillows. Another feature of this time is avoidance of a diaper change. It usually takes Mommy almost sitting on Addy to get a diaper back on her bare bottom. So far, there haven’t been any accidents.

Addy has her old pal Eli and her new buddy Lily at daycare now. They love playing together!

Addy and Eli have a daily “stairs race” when Mommy has no hands to carry them. So far, victory has gone to the one who doesn’t get distracted by socks or things on the stairs.

Addy is quite adept at ignoring her name when you say it ten times trying to get her attention. This occurs most often when she is playing with plants and other no-nos.

Addy has just taken off from hesitantly walking to running between items she can hang onto for support.

Addy is now becoming my picky eater, while Eli thinks I am the most fabulous cook. So far, he’s loved kabobs, peanut butter sandwiches, pancakes, and my purees. Eli’s mom can’t believe how much he eats here and the fact that he’ll let me feed him healthy purees with a spoon. Watch out Iron Chef!

Addy and Lily were playing in Addy’s room. Mommy was trying to locate a blue rectangle shape that she didn’t want Lily playing with since it was too small for her. She looked high and low but could not find it. As it turns out, Addy was hiding it in her pants.

Aunt Lyddia’s play kitchen is a very popular item. Lily loves the pizza slices, Eli is a bacon man, and Addy enjoys trying to “pizza cutter” both of them. She is also a fan of the ice cream cone, which Grandma Vicky jokes, “Too bad she’ll never even know what that is.” Mommy’s family thinks she’s too strict with Addy’s food options.

Addy is doing really well with weaning. We are down to breastfeeding once a day and one bottle before bed. It was harder on Mommy than Addy, as she just can’t believe her little girl is growing up so fast.

When Addy wakes up from her nap, we’ve always given her time to transition before we go into her room. One day, there was immediate sobbing coming from the crib when she woke up, so Mommy thought her foot might be stuck. She ran in there to find Addy’s blanket on the floor and a very distressed little girl. Taking the bottles away may be the least of our battles!

Addy enjoys brushing her hair before bedtime. She almost closes her eyes as the hairbrush is whipped around wildly, sometimes hitting herself in the face.

Addy loves climbing in and out of her umbrella stroller and plastic lawn chair. She is trying to figure out how to climb out of the pack ‘n’ play when Mommy puts her in there for a few minutes of safe “containment” during daycare.

Addy is a parrot now, as she mimics a lot of our phrases and sounds.

Addy likes to “pet” Lily and Eli on the head during daycare.

Addy loves going to Daddy’s cross country meets, as they involve running around, eating supper in her stroller, watching kids, and hanging out with her best buddy Daddy. Mommy appreciates the change in pace after a long day of daycare.

Addy attended her first wedding and was entertained by walking up and down the handicapped access ramp leading into the dining area. We all took turns eating dinner and walking the ramp.

Addy is very diligent about notifying us about important things like the smoke alarm in the kitchen. It has gone off a couple times while Mommy’s been cooking, so she is hyper-aware of its presence now. She also likes pointing at the smoke alarm, clock, and doorbell over and over again while Daddy names them one by one.

Due to wild pre-bedtime behavior, we are going to try moving Addy’s bedtime up to 7:30 p.m. So far, so good!

Adelline is A CHARACTER at 11 Months

I think I’ve said this before, but this might be my favorite month so far. It’s amazing to see Addy starting to communicate with us through her sign language. She uses very exaggerated and dramatic signs to tell us “more” and “all done!” Addy is still very curious. She loves opening and closing things, exploring, and getting into everything, including off-limits items like toilet paper, magazines, plants, and Mommy’s cooking booklets. Even though she gets into a little mischief and is definitely a high-energy kid, I am looking forward to celebrating my sweet Adelline’s first birthday and appreciating the fact that this year, I am not in labor and giving birth!

Thanks to Daddy, Addy has learned how to stack up the pillows in the living room to create a step stool up to the couch. Her initial few attempts at getting down involved face-first dives to the floor. We’ve since learned to lower ourselves feet first!

Grandma Vicky and Grandpa Mark conveniently purchased several “birthday” items that just happened to find their way to our house. They were appalled that Mommy and Daddy were not going to have a big birthday party for Addy. Now we have “princess” blowers, window cut-outs, a birthday shirt, and a birthday book to help us get prepared for the special day.

Addy is a “social eater.” Mommy and Daddy cannot eat anything in front of her without sharing.

Addy loves taking cover or caps off things and putting them back on. Her favorites include the bubbles container, vaseline, tupperware, boxes, and kettles.

Addy is responding to a lot of different directives now. When asked, she will brush her hair, get her blocks, throw a ball, laugh, turn the light on, snuggle with her blanket, read books, turn pages, and give kisses.

Addy’s new “laugh” is a cough-like cackle that is often directed toward Daddy. It also seems to be most popular right before bedtime when Mommy is trying to keep things calm.

When everyone started arriving for Daddy’s Surprise Pirate Birthday Party, Addy kept crawling in circles while stopping occasionally to laugh loudly.

Taking things out of Mommy’s purse is the first form of entertainment. This is followed by removing all papers and magnets from the refrigerator. Then it’s on to the snack cabinet next to the oven. Finally, the water filters and pots are removed from their cupboard. The tornado-like debris that remains is all in a day of Addy’s work!

Addy loves “lift-the-flap” books. Mommy found a couple of larger ones at the Dane County Fair. We’ll have lots of flaps to lift and things to learn about life on the farm and Spanish!

Addy will stand for a few seconds on her own and walk holding one adult hand. She’s still a bit hesitant to let go.

Addy enjoys being held by Daddy and directing him where to go through exaggerated arm movements, usually accompanied by a “huh.” Daddy has started to realize that Addy is not really interested in hanging out with him; he is merely a mode of transportation to all the things she can’t reach!

Addy has graduated to most table food. We continue to serve “super porridge” in the morning, which usually includes a cooked whole grain (quinoa, brown rice, oatmeal, barley, or millet) with dry beans or tofu, ground flax or brewer’s yeast, a spice, and a pureed fruit or vegetable. We also give iron drops and offer a finger food such as prunes, bananas, or other fruit. Lunch consists of an egg yolk every other day, pureed vegetables, and a grain finger food such as whole wheat bread, cereal, or crackers. Dinner features yogurt and nuts, tahini, cheese every other day, and whatever fruits or vegetables are being eaten by Mommy and Daddy. Addy’s favorite foods are prunes, cheese, watermelon, cantaloupe, sweet corn strips off the cob, sweet potato fries, spicy Texas caviar, whole wheat tortillas, avocados, bananas, cherries, applesauce, Mum Mums, O’s, and yogurt.

Addy enjoys looking out the living room window, trying to play with the plants and dirt, petting the wooden snake, jumping, playing with the strings from the blinds, waving to people and dogs, and rolling around on the pillows.

Addy’s bedtime routine now includes a period of rolling around on the rug while periodically burying her face in blankets and pillows.

Addy signed “milk,” and after offering many foods at dinner, Mommy finally realized she was asking for her sippy cup filled with milk.

When Addy is asked to show how much she loves Mommy, she tips her head and snuggles into her shoulder.

Addy took her first unassisted steps at Grandma Gretchen and Grandpa Bob’s house moving between Mommy and the chair.

Addy “Skyped” with Grandma Vicky, Grandpa Mark, Aunt Lyddia, and Aunt Britty through the internet. They were excited to see Addy on the computer screen.

Addy is very interested in books and reading. She holds up books when she wants you to read them to her. “Moo, Baa, La La La” by Sandra Boynton is a favorite that she calls, “La La La,” as she begs you to read it. When we read “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?,” Addy growls like a bear.

Addy loves Mum Mums. She knows where they are stored and starts laughing hysterically when Mommy asks her if she wants a Mum Mum and starts to reach into the cabinet.

Mommy and Daddy are counting their blessings. Addy is FINALLY sleeping through the night from 8 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. most days. Ahhhh, sweet sleep!

Addy is an active girl during church. Her main activities now include handing books to people around her, squirming, jabbering, trying to walk/crawl out of the pew, laughing, trying to go through Mommy’s purse, jumping, and eating Mum Mums when Mommy and Daddy finally give up. Addy likes the music, but her attention span is approximately three seconds!

Addy officially walked on her own without prompting on August 12, 2011, two days before her first birthday!

Addy loves emptying Daddy’s wallet of all his ID cards and money. We have started to find things stashed in various places around the house, such as ID cards behind the cookbooks. When we went over to our neighbor’s garage sale and tried to pay for our items, we discovered that Addy had emptied all the cash out of Daddy’s wallet. Daddy had to run home and find some money.

Addy likes to stuff ten pieces of watermelon in her mouth at one time and then sign “more” as her cheeks are puffed out with food.

When Eli visited for the first time in several months, Addy shared all her toys very nicely, petted Eli on the head, and tried to give him kisses. Eli is a pretty mellow kid who is content to play while Addy is the hurricane that rotates around him. Eli’s mom joked, “I hope Addy doesn’t get kicked out of daycare this year!”

Addy and Daddy have a new game called “rocket.” Daddy positions Addy with her body sideways and head pointed forward. He then runs as fast as he can down the hallway while Addy laughs.

Addy signs “all done” when she is finished, but just in case we didn’t catch it, she also starts throwing food. She has a great over-the-shoulder, no-look throw that gets Mommy every time!

Addy has a lot of conversations that involve gibberish and random pointing.

When we ask Addy to “use her words,” she signs what she wants. All those months of teaching with no reaction are finally paying off.

As we approach our neighborhood park, Addy starts talking very loudly, pointing, and trying to get out of her stroller or wagon.

Getting professional pictures taken with Addy is always an adventure. For her one-year photos, we decided to try three different outfits. We thought Addy might need a “warm-up” before she started smiling, so we began with a “starter outfit.” That was our first mistake, as the first five shots were the only smiling pictures of the session. It went downhill from there, as Addy was much more interested in playing with the props, trying to crawl away, wriggling off the chair, and reaching for things with her tongue sticking out. Luckily, Daddy is very nonchalant about pictures, while Mommy tends to get a little stressed out. We did manage to pick out some really cute shots, and it certainly makes choosing much easier when there are only eight decent pictures out of the whole session. We’ll have to try the toy train and overalls for Addy’s two-year-old pictures!

Adelline is AMUSING at 10 Months

This has definitely been the month where Addy has started doing so many new things from day to day that it’s hard to keep up with all her antics! She is a ham around other people, especially kids, and we’re really starting to see her sparkly, determined, and high-energy personality. I think we may have our work cut out for us with this little girl!

Mommy always wondered if the day would come when letting Addy run naked would be a bad idea. Welcome to that day! While waiting to get into the bathtub, Addy proceeded to grin mischievously before going to the bathroom all over the rug. Let’s just say she’s a well-hydrated little girl.

Addy had a great time with the Roltgen family while Mommy and Daddy took their free trip to Mexico. She was able to visit with Aunt Sara, Aunt Betsey, Uncle Kevin, her cousins Tessa and Jack, Uncle Thomas, Aunt Angie, Grandma Gretchen, Grandpa Bob, Great-aunt Therese, Great-grandma Alice, and Uncle Jay. Aunt Sara and Addy were BFFs by the time the weekend was over. When Addy saw Mommy and Daddy for the first time after being gone for four days, a big smile lit up her face. The next morning, she said, MA MA and signed “more” during breakfast!

When Addy is done, the food starts flying off her tray onto the floor. Sometimes she does a fake-out by holding the “O” or piece of fruit hostage over the floor before changing her mind and moving it into her mouth.

While visiting family in Colby, Mommy and Addy went out to eat at Highview with Grandma Vicky, Grandpa Mark, Aunt Britty, Uncle Eric, and Aunt Lyddia. Toward the end of dinner, Addy was getting a little antsy, so Mommy picked her up only to discover that “pancakes” were apparently on the menu. There on the highchair seat was a perfectly shaped “sweet potato” pancake. After much laughter, Mommy did manage to recruit some helpers to clean up the mess!

Addy finally says MA MA and G-MA. We think she may have said UP and DONE.

Addy “prays” by clapping her hands together when we say, “Amen.” This sometimes leads to “patty cake,” as it is difficult to discern whether one is praying or playing patty cake, since it’s the same basic motion. “Patty cake” is followed by “roll em’ up” with hands getting caught on elbows, so then we know we are done praying.

One night, Addy was very energetic before bedtime. Daddy decided it would be a good idea to play hide-and-seek and encourage her to do hot laps around the living room rather than go to bed. One hour past Addy’s bedtime, Mommy said it was time to try settling down. Addy proceeded to start rolling around and laughing. What a silly girl! She finally did go to sleep at 8:30 p.m.

Addy likes to stand up next to the bathtub and reach into the running water. She also puts her arm up and says, “Huh,” to tell you, “I want my bath toys from up in the corner.” She then throws the toys into the tub, with or without water in it.

Addy’s latest mealtime antic is to pull the spoonful of food out of her mouth with her fingers or hit the spoon out of Mommy or Daddy’s hand if she doesn’t approve of the food being served. Luckily, Mommy and Daddy are experts at spooning in food between pieces of hot ticket items such as Mum Mums, cheese, and prunes! We also use Addy’s iron drops to entice her to eat her breakfast.

Daddy has coined the phrase “quinoa butt” in reference to the pebbly pieces of quinoa that seem to pass directly through Addy’s digestive system and get plastered to her backside. They are very difficult to clean up and usually require a butt dip in the bathtub!

Addy holds the cell phone up to her ear or mouth to talk. She also “types” on the I-pad and cell phone screens. She tries doing this on Mommy’s cell phone, but it does not have a touch screen. Soon she will figure out just how old-school Mommy really is!

The cashier at Ben Franklin in Monona gave Addy her first balloon. She was absolutely thrilled and played with it the entire time Mommy ran a few errands.

When we ask Addy to chew up her food, she covers her teeth with her lips and acts like a ventriloquist dummy, chomping her lips together rapidly and pretending to chew.

When we ask Addy to eat finger foods one at a time, she usually interprets this to mean 10 pieces at a time in her mouth.

Addy loves imitating everything. If Mommy is wiping up the floor, Addy pretends to wipe up the floor. If Mommy is cooking, Addy starts taking the pots and pans out of the cupboard. Unfortunately, Addy has yet to imitate us picking up her toys and cleaning up her messes!

Addy stays busy in the kitchen by playing with magnets and papers on the refrigerator.

Addy has become quite the little monkey in church. It’s a world wrestling federation match starting with the opening hymn and continuing all the way to the final strains of the closing song. Antics include playing peek-a-boo with people behind us, babbling, squirming, crying, whining, flipping through the hymnal, throwing toys, back arching to escape Mommy and Daddy’s arms, laughing, making faces, sniffing, and monkeying around. Some older women have been so kind as to bring Addy books from the children’s basket in the back of church. She promptly throws these on the floor. Hmmmm, I guess we don’t need your parenting assistance after all!

Addy likes to do the “sprinkler” with one arm behind her head and the other pumping water out in front of her body when she’s really excited.

Addy figured out how to open the garbage and recycling cans and is fascinated by them.

Addy has officially pushed her bedtime back to 8:15 p.m. The hour before bed involves Mommy and Daddy trying to encourage calm activities like puzzles and books while Addy does laps around the living room, rolls around the rug and over pillows, giggles, screams, and acts like a wild animal. It’s so hard not to laugh!

The sass is starting already. Addy tossed her triangle musical instrument across the living room when Mommy took the cell phone away and continues to throw head and back arching tantrums over getting her diaper changed.

While we were visiting J. Fisk in River Falls, Addy woke up from a nap and proceeded to take off her diaper and stomp around in her poop. Mommy learned a valuable lesson about making sure Addy goes to bed with her pajama bottoms on!

Adelline is A TALKER at 9 Months

People always have advice to share with new parents, and I’ve really taken a lot of it to heart. Some of my favorites include:

It goes way too fast, so hang on to every moment.

The days are long, but the weeks fly by.

Enjoy every day, kid, because it doesn’t seem like that long ago when you were just a little girl.

You draw on patience you never knew you had.

By the end of the day, you are so exhausted, physically and mentally, that any requests made by your husband feel akin to organ donation!

Anyone who thinks being a stay-at-home mom isn’t tough, guess again!

Mommy was driving to a baby shower with Aunt Britty and Addy in the backseat. Addy kept playing with the tissue paper in the shower gift and trying to pull it out. Aunt Britty was getting irritated after taking it away from her several times. Mommy had to laugh as she finally heard Aunt Britty say, “Presley, I mean Addy, stop it!” And who claims she never yells at her dog? 

Mommy likes to remind Daddy every day: “You are the protector of Addy’s head, skin, and emotional well-being.” Sometimes Addy and Daddy get so busy playing, they forget about being careful, wearing sunscreen, and taking a minute for hugs and kisses after falls.

Addy LOVES our neighbors’ cats. She chases them all over their house and then sits up on her knees, waves her arms wildly, and “talks” to them. “Ahhhhhh (hi kitty) ahhhhhh (wanna play?) ahhhhhh (can I pull your tail?) ahhhhhhh (why are you running away?).” That is Mommy’s interpretation of what Addy is saying to the cats!

When Addy wants something now, she leans forward, reaches with her arm and hand, and says, “Huh.”

While visiting Daddy at school, Lizzie Duffy, one of our high school babysitters came up to say hello. When Addy heard Lizzie’s voice, she immediately burst into tears and tried to crawl further into Daddy’s arms. We were amazed she associated Lizzie’s voice with us leaving even at school!

Addy loves opening cabinets and emptying them of their contents. She also likes taking a taste or two as she’s exploring. Today’s cuisine of choice: toilet paper!

We have found Addy’s first “disliked” food: asparagus. How did we figure this out? Shortly after setting a few pieces on her tray, they were flying onto the floor. That’s okay. More for Mommy and Daddy!

Addy said her first word at 9½ months—DA DA! She even managed to say it when Grandpa Mark, Grandma Vicky, and Aunt Lyddia were visiting.

When Addy gets tired, she buries her face in her blanket on the floor. One day, Mommy was feeding Eli his bottle and singing a lullaby while Addy was in the Jumperoo. Addy tried tipping her head over and snuggling into the Jumperoo to fall asleep.

Addy “helps” Daddy unload the dishwasher by taking out the clean silverware…and either throwing it on the floor or sucking on it! We’ve now taught her how to hand it to us. Next up—putting it away.

Addy has really started talking—LA LA, GA GA, and DA DA are her favorites. No MA MA, of course!

The doctor said Addy is doing well with her nine-month skills. She has good eye contact, social skills, and fine and gross motor development. Her language is a little behind, but she seems to be a more physical baby. We were assured that her language skills will catch up eventually. No worries.

Addy can locate her car and loves the under-the-seat storage feature best. Mommy and Daddy filled it with juice lids, which she enjoys putting in and taking out over and over and over again.

When asked, Addy can find her bib, the parrot on her Jumperoo, ball, books, and hat.

Addy has lots of important “routines” around the house including pulling cookbooks off the shelf to find a recipe, unloading the snack cabinet in the kitchen, opening and closing the microwave and touching the plate and light, pointing at and wanting to play with the breakables on the shelf in her room, snuggling with her blanket and touching her guardian angel picture after naptime, and opening and closing Mommy’s music box.

Addy was always fascinated by the outlet with the carbon monoxide detector until pulling on it one day and finding out what happens when it gets unplugged. The ear-piercing sound emitted was enough to keep her away from it ever since.

While Mommy was at a bachelorette party one weekend, Daddy and Addy had some father-daughter bonding time. Mommy thought she had left enough instructions, but she forgot to include: No rides in the MR2 convertible!

Mommy always wondered if the day would come when letting Addy run naked would be a bad idea. Welcome to that day! While waiting to get into the bathtub, Addy proceeded to grin mischievously before going to the bathroom all over the rug. Let’s just say she’s a well-hydrated little girl.

On the last day of daycare, Addy crawled over and kissed Eli several times. Daddy commented that Eli was being a “typical male” by leading Addy along and getting a kiss from her before taking off overseas for the summer. I think Daddy may have been recalling something from his own life! Hmmmm…

Adelline is ADVENTUROUS at 8 Months

What a memorable month with an unexpected family vacation to Orlando as Daddy had an opportunity to attend an education conference at NASA courtesy of the military. We had so much fun enjoying the sunshine and visiting Seaworld. Addy’s first plane ride went well, considering Mommy was by herself, the flight was three hours long, it took place during Addy’s normal bedtime, and Mommy was supposed to keep an eight-month-old on her lap the entire time! Addy was a trooper, as she stayed up until 10 that night helping Mommy gather luggage and make shuttle arrangements to the hotel. The trip home was a lot easier with help from Daddy and a nun on the flight between Milwaukee and Madison.

Addy likes to “dance” to “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” the song that is played at the end of her recordable book from Great-grandma Adelle and Great-grandpa Lawrence. She sits up on her knees, bounces, and flaps her arms.

Addy’s memory is really improving. It’s much harder to hide things she’s not supposed to be playing with. She knows exactly where the keys are hanging in the kitchen and reaches for them every time we walk by!

After much discussion, Mommy and Daddy decided that enough was enough during the second week of naptime antics. It was a showdown as Addy pulled herself to standing and screamed for 30 minutes before passing out face down in the crib. Ever since then, naptime has returned to normal!

One night before bath, Daddy yelled to Mommy in the kitchen, “Ahhhhh, Mom, could you please come here and help us out?” Mommy arrived to find a naked baby standing next to the bathtub with a turd stuck in her butt. Apparently, this is a job for moms!

Addy now pulls herself to standing without help using the coffee table, crib, couch, or anything else she can reach.

Addy has started “shooting” the basketball into her hoop.

Addy finds her blankie, “Rudolph” book, and bib when asked to locate these items.

Addy gives high fives and waves “hi.”

Addy enjoyed her first airplane ride this month as Mommy flew with her to meet Daddy in Orlando. Many people on the plane helped out by making faces and playing peek-a-boo! The first-class travelers may not have been as impressed by Addy’s attempts to pull back the curtains separating first-class from coach, kick the seats, grab ice cubes out of Mommy’s cup, and squawk intermittently.

Addy had an exciting day at Seaworld in Orlando. As we waited in the parking lot for the next available trolley, Addy proceeded to urinate through her diaper, down Daddy’s arm, and onto the ground. Mommy and Daddy just stared in disbelief before starting to laugh.

Addy loved being in Orlando. We could tell by her arm flapping, nose crinkling and sniffing, and waving to strangers.

At the airport check-in desk, Daddy had a momentary loss of memory as he couldn’t spell Addy’s legal name. Before we left, the agent jokingly recommended that he learn how to spell his daughter’s name for the next time he flies!

Addy seems to be getting over her stranger anxiety. She tolerated a few new babysitters, and she was happy leaving Mommy’s arms at the last family gathering at Aunt Britty and Uncle Eric’s house.

Addy loves Presley, Aunt Britty and Uncle Eric’s dog. She starts smiling and flapping her arms wildly whenever he is around.

Addy is still hesitant to crawl on or touch the grass outside. She will stay on the blanket when we go out to play. Mommy and Daddy are happy that she can still be “contained,” at least for a few more weeks!

Addy is an avid reader. Her librarian grandmas will be so proud! She helps turn pages and enjoys her bedtime stories. She will often find her books and read by herself for a few minutes each day. Addy’s favorite books are “Baby Animals Touch and Feel” and “In My House,” which also features various textures throughout the pages.

Addy decided to start climbing up the basement stairs all by herself. What a big girl!

During meals, Addy says, “Mmmmmm,” after each bite of food she really likes. Right now, her favorite dish is cooked pears with mangoes and yogurt.

Adelline is ALL OVER THE PLACE at 7 Months

Well, I think this is officially the month when everything changes for us! Addy is completely mobile and determined to get into absolutely everything. We are still discussing how much childproofing we are going to do v. teaching her “no.” Of course, we have all the outlets covered, major hazards put away, and a baby gate on the stairs, but we still have some work to do with plants, wine bottles, cabinets, and breakables. Every day, she seems to point out something new that we didn’t realize she’d be interested in playing with. Addy is still a very adventurous eater. She now eats tofu, avocados, mangoes, squash, potatoes, oatmeal, puffs, egg yolks, yogurt, and garlic powder. Despite some napping/sleep issues and a cold/cough this month, Addy’s been a busy, active girl who is truly all over the place!

Addy likes to imitate things now. When Mommy sticks out her tongue pretending to be a frog, Addy smiles and slowly sticks out her tongue too.

Daddy had an interesting diaper changing experience as he took off Addy’s cloth diaper and tried moving it away from her kicking legs. In the transfer, a log-like turd happened to fly out, but Daddy caught it before it hit the floor. Nice hands!

Addy’s “Sophie” giraffe, supposedly the world’s most popular teething toy, has started to mold. Unfortunately for Eli, this means that Addy’s main goal throughout the day is to try to sneak his “Squeakers” giraffe while Mommy isn’t looking. Update: The lab testing results came back, and it appears that “Sophie” has scuff marks, not mold. Hmmmm, when was “Sophie” outside on the blacktop?

Addy has started snoozing in the jogger while Mommy and Daddy are on their runs.

Addy is very good at scooting backward and sometimes gets “stuck” under couches, cribs, and dressers.

Addy is still quite wary of “strangers” coming over. She started wailing when Grandpa Bob stopped in one morning and when Uncle Jay came over for dinner one night. Once she adjusted from the safety of Mommy’s arms, she had some smiles for both of them.

Addy loves “dipping” backward. She will arch her neck when she wants to be dipped again.

Addy’s favorite game is “1-2-33333333” where Daddy lifts her high into the air.

One morning, Addy discovered that she could lift one hand off the floor when in her crawling position. After two nose dives, she started crawling forward later that day. Go Addy!

When Addy is tired now, she’ll bury her face in her blanket. During naps and bedtime, she still likes to have a blanket next to or over her face to sleep.

Addy is still a bit shy, but she’s particularly scared of Aunt Britty. She will cry and try to crawl further into Mommy or Daddy’s arms when Aunt Britty gets too close. We’re not sure why. Could it be Aunt Britty’s gorilla impressions as she lumbers toward Addy talking in a loud voice? Probably not! Great-grandma Adelle says Addy has a “get me away from Aunt Britty” cry. By the end of a weekend visit, Addy was warming up to everyone, especially Grandpa Mark, who never really gives Addy a choice!

One morning, Daddy was letting Mommy sleep in while he played with Addy. Unfortunately, Mommy woke up to a scream as Addy fell out of the front of her umbrella stroller. She had leaned a little too far forward and wasn’t buckled in because of her sleep sack. Interestingly, by the time Mommy ran out to the living room, Addy was back in the stroller, so Mommy wasn’t sure what had happened. Apparently, Daddy believes in getting right back on the horse!

Addy is all over the place now. If we’re making dinner or putting away dishes, she crawls from the living room play area into the kitchen to find us.

Addy has discovered her “singing” voice, which sounds more like a loud, continuous “ahhhhhh.” She has incorporated this into mealtimes in her highchair, naptime, diaper changes, and crying in the middle of the night.

Addy is still getting up one time per night to eat. It is usually right before we go to bed around 11 p.m. or at 3:30 a.m.

Our friend Melissa Pfohl was comparing children to the raptors from the Jurassic Park movie, noting that they slowly become cleverer over time, using “tools” to accomplish things and most likely trying to kill humans in the end. Addy was our little raptor the next morning when we walked into her room after a nap to find her STANDING in her crib, using the rails as a support (tool). Daddy quickly began lowering the mattress while Mommy whisked Addy up to change her diaper.

When we went to Colby over Daddy’s spring break, Addy earned the nickname of “little owl.” When someone other than Mommy and Daddy is holding her, Addy tries to crank her neck around to see his/her face. Grandpa Mark and Grandma Vicky quickly learned how to keep Addy facing forward at all times and “dodge” her owl peeks to prolong the amount of time she would tolerate them holding her!

Addy loves her musical instruments, especially the rhythm sticks, cymbals, tambourine, and maracas. She is getting better at attempting to play the instruments, rather than simply chew on them. Maybe Kindermusik class is paying off after all!

Addy has had a very rough couple weeks with a cold, runny nose, cough, and possible teething. She has been one tired little girl, as she has gone on nap strike during the day. She hates being on her back and will move to all fours before pulling herself up in her crib and screaming as loud as she can at any hour of the day or night!

Addy now tries to pull herself up on the couch, piano bench, bubbles container, Mommy and Daddy’s legs, chairs, and anything else she can use for leverage. Her balance is still quite shaky, but she definitely has no fear. Addy will sometimes take a “rest” when she’s trying to pull herself up to standing by sitting back on her feet with her knees of the floor. It’s so cute!

While visiting Great-grandma Adelle and Great-grandpa Lawrence, Daddy tied a little mouse rattle to Addy’s pants, so we could track where she was in the living room while we ate lunch. It worked pretty well, as we were able to finish most of our meal before she was done with “independent play time!”

One day, Mommy was getting ready to take Addy outside while Eli napped. When trying to balance Addy, the blanket, a bag of toys, the baby monitor, and an egg salad sandwich for her lunch, Mommy turned to make sure she had everything. In that moment, Addy tore off a piece of the bread and stuffed it in her mouth. Mommy turned around to find part of her sandwich missing and Addy looking like a chipmunk.

In her highchair, Addy likes to tip her head all the way to one side until you imitate her.

Addy likes playing with her basketball hoop, which usually involves trying to pull it over on top of herself, but she also is getting better at throwing the ball, although quite wildly at this point.

Adelline is ANXIOUS at 6 Months

My heart just melts when I see Addy smiling and crinkling her nose at family, friends, babies, kids, and even strangers. She is such a friendly little girl, even though we have seen some pretty strong separation anxiety this month. It shouldn’t be a big surprise, given the amount of time she spends with me on a daily and weekly basis.

Addy seems to have her daddy’s laid back personality. She will sometimes roll and bump her head, but it doesn’t seem to bother her. We try not to react when it happens, so most of the time, she doesn’t even stop playing. She has also inherited a streak of stubbornness, although I really can’t say who that might be from. When there is a toy or something she wants to play with, no amount of distraction or redirection is sufficient. Most of the time when this happens, she is trying to eat real food from our plates or bowls, play with the camera or video camera, push buttons on the baby monitor, chew on paper books, or knock everything off her changing table. Her persistence is quite impressive!

We are starting to see more instances of separation anxiety as Addy recognizes Mommy and Daddy very easily now.

Favorite non-toy items include paper, food wrappers, juice lids, boxes, and anything electronic such as cell phones and baby monitors.

Addy loves pulling her socks off her feet, especially during diaper changes. One day, Mommy was looking all around the changing table for one of Addy’s socks. She finally decided to give up the search until glancing more closely at Addy and seeing THE ENTIRE SOCK stuffed into her mouth!

Addy now “smiles” by crinkling her nose and making a goofy face. She will do this to Eli no matter if he is just waking up from a nap or crying for his bottle.

Addy has started sniffing while she laughs.

During lunch with Eli, Addy figured out how to roll up her washcloth and snap it or just wave it around wildly. She tries to do this every time we give her the washcloth to wipe her face.

Addy is able to hold onto the spoon and feed herself. Mommy has considered stripping her down for mealtime to avoid some of the mess! So far, she has loved everything we’ve given her to eat—rice cereal, carrots, green beans, peas, squash, sweet potatoes, pears, bananas, and apples. She’s also liked the spices we’ve added including cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.

Mommy decided to try giving Addy a piece of toast to gum, since she read it can help with teething. Addy proceeded to go ahead and chomp off a huge bite of it before starting to gag. On second thought, let’s wait on the toast!

Addy really wants to start crawling. She will get up on her hands and knees or even all fours and sway her body forward and backward while looking back at her feet as if to say, “Come on, let’s go!” She’s also gotten to be a pro at rolling across the floor and stretching to get what she wants.

Addy continues to impress us with her yoga poses. Her latest is downward dog as she tries so hard to crawl forward with her butt in the air!

Addy’s on a bit of a hunger strike with Daddy at the moment. We’ve started doing formula before bed to preserve some of our frozen milk supply, but she only wants to drink the bottle from Mommy. No Mexico trip for us this month. We’ll try again in June.

Addy is able to hold her own bottle now. When she’s had enough, she likes playing with the nipple and trying to squirt milk out of the tip.

During meals, when Mommy asks, “More?,” Addy waves her arms, kicks her legs, opens her mouth really wide, and starts shaking in excitement!

At Ash Wednesday mass, Addy was a little ham. She kept smiling by wrinkling up her nose, trying to get people’s attention. She is fascinated by other babies and kids.

Addy tried out a Kindermusik class this month with Daddy. For the first fifteen minutes, she waved her arms wildly in the air while kicking her legs. She may have been a little bit excited to be there! This is also the reaction we see when Addy spots a puppy.

During naptime, we will hear a SNAP as Addy tries playing with the art cards we have propped between the rails and her mattress. She has also figured out how to get “Rexy,” her duck, down from the top of the crib. When we come in, she is usually on her stomach with her socks off chewing on an art card while Rexy sits nearby. It’s so hard not to laugh as she smiles mischievously!

During the Point Bock Race, Addy started squawking a little after the one-mile mark. With four miles yet to go, Daddy decided to stop the jogger and check out the situation. After attempting a failed bottle feeding, Daddy chose to cut his losses and turn back. Ironically, he ended up coming down the home stretch with the first place runners. People were cheering wildly for the guy they thought ran such an amazing time pushing a jogger! Of course, it didn’t help that Daddy was wearing shorts and a Baraboo track jersey on a 30-degree day. After finishing, Daddy informed the race officials that he had turned back early and needed to be scratched from the results. Better luck next year!

Adelline is A MONKEY at 5 Months

I was reading a survey that claimed moms of six-month-olds are very happy, and I can understand why. Addy seems to be learning new things every day, and playtime is much more interactive now. Her smiles light up her entire face. In the words of Sara from Jodi Picoult’s My Sister’s Keeper, “we never have children, we receive them.” It brings tears to my eyes when I stop to consider how blessed we are with a healthy, active, and curious gift from God who is already starting to develop her own spunky personality. I can also relate to Brian from Picoult’s book who notes, “I would have given anything to keep her little. They outgrow us so much faster than we outgrow them.”

Being a daycare provider for another little boy almost the same age as Addy has felt like going from one baby to twins! It certainly was an adjustment for everyone the first week, but now we’re rolling with it. I am excited to see Addy and Eli move from parallel to cooperative play. They definitely wear me out some days. When Mike walks in the door, I am tempted to say, “They’re all yours. See you later!”

Addy went from sitting for several seconds with support close by to sitting up all by herself. It seemed to happen overnight. She is even able to correct her positioning if she starts leaning one way or the other.

Addy is really “talking” now. She has discovered how to jabber and loves making lots of noise.

Let the naptime games begin. When we go in to check on Addy and say, “It’s napime, not laughing time,” she just giggles and kicks her legs, thinking we are playing peek-a-boo with the blanket that’s over her face. Then she squirms around in her crib trying to pull the books out of the sides and read them. After about 20 minutes, she’s usually had enough monkeying around and finally falls asleep.

Addy is very curious, especially when she’s supposed to be eating. Any kind of music, sound, or talking will result in a “head crank” to see what she’s missing. Daddy can’t even be in the same room anymore because he is way too distracting!

Several people have commented that Addy has a “good base” for sitting. Others have asked, “Oh, is she about eight months old?” No, she’s just a healthy, growing girl!

Addy has figured out how to “blow raspberries” and enjoys showing off her new skill.

When Mommy held up the phone to Addy’s ear, she heard Daddy’s voice and immediately looked at the front door. Smart girl!

Addy pretends to drink noisily from her cups.

After several instances of reverting to two middle-of-the-night feedings, Mommy decided it was time for rice cereal at supper. Addy was absolutely ecstatic about real food! She is a great “helper” with the spoon as well. Mommy keeps the whole process relatively tidy, but Daddy is only allowed to feed Addy on bath nights.

Mommy has started providing daycare for Eli Long. On Eli’s first day, Addy looked at him and started laughing. This was at 3 in the afternoon. Eli had arrived at 6:30 a.m. that morning. They are slowly starting to interact with each other!

Addy has started to scoot backwards when she’s on her tummy. She is a rolling machine on the floor during playtime.

Addy continues to be a squirmy worm on the changing table. We’ve tried offering a toy to distract her, singing, playing tummy games, telling her “no,” and repositioning her immediately. Of course, nothing has worked as her main goal is to arch her back, roll over, and proceed to knock everything she can reach off the table. It’s a competition to see if Mommy or Daddy can get through a diaper change with fewer items on the floor!

Addy is always very interested in whatever toy Eli is playing with at the moment. We’ve had a lot of talks about sharing.

Addy is really into waving her arms wildly and panting like a puppy.

Addy is a great grocery shopper. She loves riding in the front of the cart, looking around, playing with toys, and helping with (translation: eating) the shopping list.

At her six-month professional photos, Addy was too curious to crack any smiles until the shoot was almost over. We had a lot of proofs with her mouth hanging open staring at the photographers and their antics. We finally figured out that clapping was the secret, and Addy managed several cute smiles at the end.

Addy has started sleeping through the night again after a rough couple weeks. She goes to bed at 7 p.m. and usually wakes up around 4:30 or 5 a.m. to eat. We’ve been putting her back in her crib to sleep for another hour, so we don’t have to be up that early in the morning!

Addy is intrigued by the double mirrors in her bedroom, and she is slowly learning they are sliding doors. She likes to pull them across the tracks. Addy loves waving her arms wildly and hitting the mirror. She will also move her face toward the mirror very slowly until it touches, almost like a kiss!

Adelline is A GROWING GIRL at 4 Months

It’s interesting how much Addy seems to learn on a monthly, weekly, and even daily basis. I’ve found myself consulting my baby book to compare milestones and reading “Lyddia Learns” to see if she was doing similar things at the same age. It’s also interesting to consider how much we have learned in the course of a few months. We’re certainly not experts, but surviving those first couple months really does give you a lot more confidence. My favorite faux pas to remember is how I was so worried about Addy hearing enough words and having enough interaction that I used to play with and read to her in the middle of the night during feedings, thus keeping her up way too long, usually at least an hour if not more! No wonder I was always so exhausted in the morning. One day, a friend said something about making those night feedings quick, not talking, and keeping the lights off, so the baby knows it’s time to go right back to sleep. Mike and I looked at each other through a sleep-deprived stupor and realized that we were complete morons! I truly wonder how much earlier Addy would have been sleeping through the night if we would have kept it dark, put away the books and toys, nursed quickly, and put her right back in the cradle. Oh the joy of being first-time parents!

Addy has officially discovered her toes. During diaper changes, she’ll lift up her butt by grabbing onto her toes. Addy also started putting her toes in her mouth. She is our little yoga star!

We have transitioned to cloth diapers, so there will probably be more funny moments in the months to come as we figure out the best way to handle poopy diapers. Right now, we are anxiously awaiting the first major blow-out to see what happens!

The news of our transition to cloth diapers has traveled. For Christmas, Great-grandma Adelle and Great-grandpa Lawrence bought Addy a package of cloth pre-folds and a set of rubber scrapers “for different sized BMs.” We’ll think of them every time we’re scraping!

At Addy’s four-month check-up, Dr. Bellissimo was so impressed with her skills. Addy can already sit unsupported for a count of three seconds, which isn’t required until the six-month check-up. She is also a tummy time superstar, so Dr. Bellissimo gave her a “star for the day” compared to all the four-month-olds she had examined. Go Addy!

Addy does not miss meals. She is in the 95th percentile for height and 85th percentile for weight.

Addy loves Grandpa Roltgen’s Donald Duck impression. She will start to giggle in anticipation of it.

During our Christmas travels, Addy was quite a trooper. She managed to adjust to new environments and sleeping arrangements and even avoided getting sick after countless rounds of “pass the baby!”

Addy had her first sleepover with Aunt Sara in Fond du Lac while Mommy and Daddy went to a wedding on New Year’s Eve. She drank her bottles and slept through the night until 5 a.m. Now if she would just do that at home more reliably!

Addy loves raspberries on her tummy. Daddy can really get her laughing on the changing table.

Addy now finds tags on everything and likes moving them around between her fingers.

Addy can sit in the tripod position with feet under her and arms forward on the ground for support. She also rolled over from back to stomach for the first time. The crowd (Mommy) went wild!

Addy sleeps for about an hour in the morning, a couple hours in the afternoon, and 30 minutes around suppertime. She will sleep for ten hours at night, but she still gets up to nurse around 4:30 a.m. Thankfully, she goes back to sleep after nursing and usually wakes up around 7 a.m.

Addy has been giving her babysitters a run for their money. It started with a “hunger strike” for Grandma Gretchen and Grandpa Bob, followed by similar behavior for Taylor Eveland, our high school babysitter, and the Ellenbeckers. Addy also graced all of them with an hour of what Great-aunt Julie calls the “I want my Mommy” cry!

Addy enjoyed swimming for the first time at Chula Vista waterpark. She sat with Daddy in the tube on the lazy river and didn’t even flinch when the waterfalls splashed around her.

Mommy and Daddy have tried to “predict” the timing of Addy’s bowel movements, so we can use a disposable diaper at that time and avoid the extra mess. It usually works out pretty well, but if Addy misses her “window of opportunity,” we’re in trouble. Then you don’t know the time or place, only that it’s going to be an explosion!

Speaking of explosions, Mommy, Aunt Britty, and Aunt Lyddia went to eat at Polito’s Pizza in Wausau. Addy was very antsy all throughout lunch and then proceeded to explode through her diaper, up the back of her outfit, all the way to her neck! After Mommy and Aunt Britty stripped her down, put on a new outfit, and brought her back out, Addy then puked all over Aunt Britty’s sweatshirt and the floor. Later, Daddy found remnants of poop in her hair. Priceless!

Addy loves playing “peek-a-boo” over and over again with her bib. She now anticipates what is coming next after pulling the bib over her face.

Addy has really dry, sore hands from sucking her thumbs so much.

Addy likes wooden spoons, mixing bowls, and making “soup” with all her toys in a bowl.