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!