Adelline is A NURTURER at 1 Year, 11 Months

Despite our efforts to try to create a somewhat gender-neutral environment for Addy, it’s absolutely amazing how much biology or society’s stereotypes and expectations seem to play a role in behavior at such a young age.  Once Addy was old enough to understand what a stuffed animal was, she immediately fell in love with her furry friends.  We started with just one or two special friends, and her collection has now grown to fill her entire toddler bed.  Of course, every animal is special and needs to be in bed with her at naptime and bedtime.  It’s astounding how she can pinpoint the one who is not in the bed, resulting in a wild goose chase as we try to track down the missing friend.  Addy is such a nurturer to all her animals, feeding, holding, rocking, and putting them to sleep.  Her two constant companions are Moose and Hooey, as they also are wrapped in two of her blankets before bedtime.  It just melts Mommy’s bleeding liberal heart to see Addy so kind and loving to something as simple as a stuffed animal; hopefully that caring nature will transfer over into her interactions with classmates, neighbors, friends, family, and those who are struggling.      

One of our favorite vendors at the farmer’s market is “Farmer John.”  We especially love his string cheese “whips,” which he touts as “guaranteed to raise good children.”  At $6.75 a bag, we hope so, but Mommy reminds Daddy that quality, local, hormone-free food should be expensive.  Addy loves FARMER JOHN’S WHIPS and often asks for them at snacktime.

We’ve continued to talk about the potty and occasionally sit Addy down to try going to the bathroom.  Of course, when we ask if her diaper is dirty or if she needs to go potty, she replies, “NO FINE,” or “NO THANK YOU.”  While we appreciate the nice manners, we are going to get serious about this after our move to Biloxi! 

One day, Mommy left the girls in Addy’s room for a minute and returned to find Addy laughing hysterically as she gave Stella a “magic carpet ride” on her blanket, whipping her around on the hardwood floors. 

In Target, the clerk asked if someone was going to be having a birthday, since we were buying some monkey plates and cups.  She followed it up with, “How old are you going to be?”  Addy replied, “TWO MINUTES.”  Her other favorite answer is, “ONE!” 

Addy loves the book, “Hush Little Digger.”  She is especially interested in the backhoe that has a bad motor.  She repeats over and over again, “CHANGE BAD MOTOR.”

When Stella was crying before her nap, Addy decided she needed to be crying as well, but she wasn’t quite sure how to fake cry.  It came out sounding like, “HUH HUH.” 

We’ve asked Addy several times over the past few weeks if she needs a timeout when she is struggling with appropriate behavior, listening, or manners.  She always responds, “YES,” which then results in a self-administered timeout where she shuts the gate on her room door and starts fake crying. 

On the way home to Colby, there is a model log home along Highway 51.  Now that Addy is front facing in her carseat, she spotted it and asked, “BRITTY’S HOUSE?”  Yes, it would be so nice if Aunt Britty and Uncle Eric lived a bit closer, but no such luck. 

At Ashley and Caleb Zahl’s wedding, Addy was horsing around with Grandpa Mark and Daddy, who took turns swinging her and allowing her to “rock climb” up them.  The result was a dislocated elbow, called nursemaid’s elbow, that required an early trip back to Madison and a visit to Urgent Care, so the doctor could pop the bone back into place.  Addy was a teary, sad little girl, as she held her elbow close to her body and cried whenever any kind of pressure was placed on it.  Thankfully, she was back to normal in a couple days, and the “no swinging by the arms” rule was instituted. 

Addy loves being a mommy to “Lily,” the dolly she received for her birthday from Great-Grandma Adelle and Great-Grandpa Lawrence.  She is intrigued by the “disappearing milk” bottle; on the night she opened the present, she could not figure out why the dolly always seemed to be finished with the bottle and then when she tried setting it down, it would fill right back up again.

During a car ride, Addy told Mommy, “I love excavators.”  Mommy asked, “What else do you love?” thinking Mommy, Daddy, or Stella might make the short list.  Addy immediately responded, “I love Colby cheese.”  Anything else?  “I love Muenster cheese.”  Point taken!

Addy is still working on pronoun use.  She often refers to herself as YOU. 

Mommy made Addy an “Itsy Spider” cake for her second birthday celebration at Aunt Britty and Uncle Eric’s house.  When it was time to blow out the candles, Addy sniffed onto the cake.  The laughter that followed encouraged her to continue blowing air through her nose at the candles.  Finally, Aunt Lyddia helped Addy with a couple big breaths.

One evening, Great Uncle Rick and Great Aunt Karen were performing at the Dean House in Monona.  We spent time with Uncle Jay and Second Cousins Joseph Roltgen and Peter Cross, as we picnicked, took part in the pie and ice cream social, and listened to lovely western music.  Addy befriended a little girl, and they had fun climbing all over a big stump in the yard.  The little girl was happy to allow Addy to lead her around by the hand, so they became best of friends.  Addy was also very intrigued by a dragonfly she found and insisted on feeding him apples from a nearby tree.  Addy found a wild mushroom growing next to the stump and asked Mommy, “EAT MUFFROOM?”    
   

Addy always wants to help with TOOKIN’ (cooking), especially with her new apron sewn by Great-Grandma Adelle.  When Mommy asks, “What do we do before we start cooking?” Addy responds, “WASH HANDS,” and, “APRON ON.”  She is able to identify the mixer, blender, colander, rubber scraper, turner, metal spatula, tongs, measuring cups, measuring spoons, grater, wooden spoon, and basic flatware.  Addy loves to whisk, measure, and stir.  She makes her family and consumer sciences Mommy so proud!

The day before the Roltgen Family Reunion, Daddy and Addy helped with set up, and everyone went to Joe’s Fox Hut in Fond du Lac for pizza dinner.  Uncle Kevin gave Addy and her cousin Tessa each a dollar to play the “claw” stuffed animal vending machine game.  Lo and behold, Addy put her dollar in, and snagged a blue stuffed donkey on her first try.  Of course, Tessa was devastated that she didn’t win anything with her dollar.  Grandpa Bob suggested naming the animal “Lamby,” and despite an effort to clarify the species and possibly change the name, Addy liked it, so “Lamby” has now joined her menagerie. 

At the Roltgen Family Reunion, Uncle Joel asked Addy what the brown marks on her face were, and Addy grinned mischievously.  Apparently, she had been carrying a log that rubbed up against her face.  When Uncle Joel teasingly asked if she was eating wood, Addy ran over and chomped into a log sitting on the trailer. 

Addy started rolling down the hill from the dome to the field at the Roltgen Family Reunion.  When she got up at the bottom, she didn’t realize how dizzy she would be and proceeded to lose her footing and wobble into the weeds. 

Aunt Betsey encouraged Addy to make Stella laugh.  Addy scrunched her face into a silly look and buried it in Stella’s chest. 

We have really been working on manners.  Addy now asks, “MAY I HAVE SOME ______ PLEASE?”  This is a huge improvement over, “I WANT SOME ______,” repeated over and over again.  Now the conundrum occurs when Addy uses her “May I” manners to ask for treats.  Unfortunately, the answer is still no most of the time.  Our top two excuses are, “Ohhh, I’m sorry, that’s for when friends come over,” and “Ohhh, I’m sorry, that’s for mommies and daddies.”  We’re wondering how long this tactic will work!    

At the Neighborhood Night Out Celebration at our house, Addy was captivated by LEMON JUICE (lemonade) and kept requesting it from anyone she could get to fill her cup.

One morning when Addy woke up, she announced that Hooey was hungry.  She asked Daddy to unzip her jammies.  She proceeded to put Hooey to the breast and feed him.  Daddy noted that Addy was very modest, as she shoved Hooey’s entire head inside her pajamas.  Addy also breastfed Hooey when Arlene Welcher was at our house for the day, so Mommy could get some packing done.  Addy loved TOOKIN’ (cooking) with MISS ARLENE! 

Aunt Katie saw Addy eating beets and cottage cheese at our house, so she decided to give it a try and discovered she really enjoyed it.  Mommy couldn’t help but laugh as she normally uses cottage cheese as a “vessel” for some of the less desirable foods like beets, kale, spinach, brewer’s yeast, flaxseed, and other vitamin-packed foods.  Mary Long was appalled by this dish, as she hates beets, and Eli was not a fan of this combination either, as he made himself throw up all over Mommy when she tried feeding it to him during daycare. 

Addy sometimes declares foods like meatballs TOO SFICY (spicy). 

Addy has picked up on two of our nicknames for Stella—STELLALUNA and FUSSLES!

Addy is able to finish the sentences of most of her bedtime prayers.  She is a big fan of dipping her hand in the holy water at church, so she can do the sign of the cross.  One Saturday evening, she took off out of the pew at church headed straight for the holy water in the middle of mass.  Apparently, she was moved by the HOLY SFIRIT (Holy Spirit)! 

Addy and Daddy like to find music videos to watch on the Ipad.  Addy’s favorites include the “Itsy Bitsy Spider,” “Mary Had a Little Lamb Little Lamb Little Lamb,” “No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed,” and “Wheels on the Bus.”  Their favorite version of “Itsy Bitsy Spider” features a jazz band and gospel choir.

Adelline is NEGOTIATOR at 1 Year, 10 Months

It’s humorous that my child is fascinated with many things that I find rather disgusting like spiders, bugs, and snakes, as well as things I have no interest in like construction equipment and semis.  However, I am very happy that I’ve managed to avoid “projecting” any personal sentiments about these things to Addy.  I’ve done my best to be excited when we find spiders and cicada shells (ultra gross, by the way).  I do draw the line at mice and rats and will simply decline to comment on them.  EWWW!  Someday, Addy, you’ll read this and thank your mother for her tolerance for the sake of your curiosity and development.  Until then, I will paste on my best smile, and say, “Let’s go find an ITSY BITSY!”       

One day while Mommy was changing Addy’s diaper, she exclaimed, “Holy moly,” as she saw the natural disaster she was going to have to scrape out of the cloth diaper.  Addy immediately repeated the phrase and later entertained Grandma Vicky, Grandpa Mark, and Aunt Lyddia at the dinner table with a long string of extra dramatic “holy molys!” 

Addy loves the Henry Vilas Zoo, especially the monkeys, which are technically orangutans.  She has been able to feed the goats, who definitely have no manners as they jump up on the cement guardrail with their front legs and try to eat as many food pellets as possible.

Addy and Mommy went to Fired Up Pottery to pick up donated gift certificates for the Elvehjem Neighborhood Fourth of July raffle.  As Mommy tried to steer Addy toward the cheaper pottery items, Addy was intrigued by a miniature car priced at $12.  Knowing the quality of one-year-old artwork, Mommy was able to convince Addy to choose a $5 dinosaur.  After fifteen minutes of painting while propped up with a telephone book and using as many brushes as possible, Addy’s masterpiece was complete.  Stegosaurus turned out so cute in black, blue, and yellow.  It definitely had a “modern art” feel to it, and Addy is so proud of her creation. 

While Mommy and Daddy went to buy a minivan for our family, Addy spent the afternoon with neighbors Jamie, Kyle, and Andrew Meise.  She was thrilled to go swimming and play with “SOPHIE” and “TOEY” (Chloe), the “TATS” (cats).

Addy has been a little sassy lately as she says “NO NO NO” very adamantly when she does not want Mommy or Daddy making a certain noise or saying something to Stella.  We usually look at her with raised eyebrows and sometimes say, “Excuse me?”  After a couple seconds of silence, Addy responds with, “YEAH???” as if to ask, “Is that what you want me say?”

Addy loves playing with water, especially when she is able to pour it from one container to another.  She continually asks for cups filled with WA.  If Mommy and Daddy say, “Not now,” she then follows her request for WA with, “Wash hands…dirty?” in an attempt to get close to the sink where she can be sneaky and fill her cup at the same time.

Addy helped Mommy make brownies for the ENA Firecracker 5K Pre-Race Pasta Party.  She was devastated that she was not able to eat the CATE (cake) right away, but Mommy said, “We’ll have cake when friends come over,” thinking Addy would forget about it by then.  Addy asked for CATE at every meal and snack leading up to the party; when the first “friends” finally arrived, Addy yelled, “EAT CATE,” but by the time she was finished her spaghetti, salad, and watermelon, she had forgotten about cake.  Just as the last guests were about to leave, she spotted the brownies and enjoyed a delicious bedtime snack.

At our neighborhood Fourth of July Celebration, Addy was very protective of Stella.  When a neighbor started talking to Stella, Addy said loudly, “LEAVE STELLA ALONE.” 

Addy has learned that when her teeth hurt, we give her a little Tylenol.  She now enjoys self-medicating as she declares, “TEETH HURT…MEDICINE?”

Addy likes putting her stuffed animals in TUMMY TIME on the activity mat, just like her sister Stella.

Daddy suggested an adventure to a small, roadside farm on County Road Ab.  Addy loved watching the goats, miniature horses, and donkey.  We felt badly for the animals, who were having a hard time finding any grass in the desert-like field due to the drought this summer.  Addy began pulling flowering weeds to feed to the horses and goats.  Mommy said to Daddy, “Do you think it’s okay to let her feed them?” since we certainly weren’t at a sanctioned petting zoo.  Just then, Addy’s hand lingered a bit too long near the horse’s mouth, and he proceeded to chomp down on her pointer finger.  As Mommy struggled to pry open the horse’s mouth, Addy was screaming and in tears.  We’ll see how much she continues to love horses! 

Addy is into classifying everyone as “nice” and telling us what she “loves.”  For instance, she told us, “Aunt Sara…niiiice.  Tessa… niiiice.”  At dinner, she told Mommy, “I love Colby cheese.  I love Muenster cheese.  I love Swiss cheese.”  At church on Saturday night, she announced, “Mr. Greg (church music minister)…nice guy.”  The next day Addy told Daddy, “I love Aunt Betsey…nice guy!”

Addy loves to swing FASTER and HIGHER. 

Addy and Daddy went to Farm & Fleet to pick out seat covers for the minivan.  Mommy asked Daddy to avoid any camouflage or leopard prints.  Upon assessing the covers available, Addy asked Daddy, “Tiger in there?”  Apparently, there were quite a few of the animal print options available!

Addy’s painted pottery piece suffered its first injury when stegosaurus lost a piece of his tail.  Luckily, a little super glue did the trick.

Addy enjoys telling “stories” to her high school babysitter, Rachel Russell.  She recently shared with Rachel that she bought a new van.  She also likes insisting on, “ONE MORE TIME,” even when Rachel needs to leave. 

Add likes putting toys on Stella’s face and laughing hysterically.  Stella doesn’t find this very amusing.

Mommy told Addy she had a headache.  Addy suggested that Mommy, “TAKE NAP.”  Yes, wouldn’t that be nice? 

Addy loves PANES (cranes), SE-MEES (semis), DUMP TRUCKS, CEMENT MIXERS, TANKER TRUCKS, BUSES, and EXCAVATORS.  She is also enthralled with ANTS, ITSY SPIDERS, FLYS, SQUIRRELS, SNAKES, PEET PEETS (tweet tweets aka birds), and WOOF WOOFS (dogs).  When looking out the living room window, Addy spotted neighbors outside for an evening walk.  She noted in a very disappointed voice, “WALKERS…NO WOOFS…JUST PEOPLE.”

When we were home for Colby Cheese Days, Mommy attempted to take both girls to 4 p.m. church at Abbotsford.  The “golden oldies” were not ready for the Roltgen family circus that day.  Mommy was literally sweating by the end of mass, as she wrestled with Addy for 60 minutes.  It didn’t help that we sat in the “immobility pew,” so we were not even able to go up for communion for a little change of scenery.  And yes, everyone in the entire church knew that Addy wanted a SNACK and that apparently her DADDY [was] AT HOME, which was not even true, as Daddy was working a military weekend! 

Addy had a slight mishap with her toy wagon.  Daddy was giving her the usual ride down the hallway, followed by a whipped around turn at the end.  This time, Addy lost her balance and faceplanted out of the wagon onto the floor.  There were quite a few tears, and the wagon was put away for a few weeks. 

Addy is working on her negotiation skills.  Anytime Addy requests something, whether it be extra time outside or marshmallows, she asks for “TWO MINUTES PLEASE.”  One night she wanted to read “Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel” for “TWO MINUTES.”  Since it was getting late, Mommy said there wasn’t enough time.  Addy asked, “THREE MINUTES?”

Addy can count to ten consistently.  She knows some of the numbers between eleven and twenty.  She can identify basic colors including red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, brown, black, and white.