Pumpkin Festival

We took Addie to a Fall Pumpkin Festival today - what a fun time! Addie got to see lots of animals at the petting zoo, feed the goats, play at the playground, and roam through the pumpkins. We purchased vegetables for the week at the farm's market and had some fresh squeezed lemonade. A beautiful Sunday in Florida...although it didn't feel much like fall with the 80 degree weather.

Fishing Trip

We took Addie fishing to South Lido Park on Saturday night. Well, actually, Jay fished and Addie and I played on the beach. Addie loved picking up seashells, putting her toes in the water, and chasing the birds. Jay caught a ton of little bait fish, and Addie had fun pouring them from bucket to bucket. She also dug in the sand and played with all of her beach toys.  It is so nice to be able to spend some time on the beach now that it is not so hot outside. Evening beach time is perfect!

A Day with Addie

I got to spend a Friday at home with Addie today, just us.  It was so entertaining to just follow her around and watch her play.  Today she was all about art - we played sidewalk chalk, colored on a large piece of paper that I hung on the wall, and decorated with stickers. We also created a little house out of a big cardboard box. I cut a window in it and she thought that was very neat!

We played outside a lot today too. She still loves to swing, and she has started exploring in the grass, which she used to hate to touch. The weather finally cooled down this week, so she got to wear her cute little yellow Juicy Couture jumpsuit that Auntie Jennie bought for her last March - it finally fits! I also included a picture of her from a couple weeks ago of her playing in her sand.  We went on a long walk today too and went to see Shannon - she just loves to say "Shannon."

Addie's hair is getting so long and it's so curly! She finally cut two molars this week, so she is up to 8 teeth now - 6 on the top and 2 on the bottom.

She has become slightly obsessed with TV and computers and likes to watch Youtube videos - especially the Taiwanese opposites song, I'm a Little Teapot, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and any songs from The Little Mermaid. She has discovered that she can watch videos on my phone (nice work on my part for ever showing her), so whenever she sees my phone she does her sign language for "I want" - which is the same sign she uses for "more" - and gets all frantic until I let her watch a video on my phone.  At least it's nice for at restaurants and in line at the grocery store.

We went out for dinner tonight to Molinas, a new Columbian restaurant just up the street and sat out on the patio. She loved the food and just sat in her highchair the whole time...we read books while we were waiting for our food and she had a few Cheerios. She is just so patient and well behaved at restuarants. I really think she likes being out and about among the people!

Last weekend we attended an American Water Works Association fundraiser for Water for People. Addie was the life of the party and loved playing with the bean bag toss game. Here are a couple photos of us at the event. Jay and Uncle Adam came too.

Every day is so much fun! I think this weekend we are going to the beach or Mote Marine with Grandma Julie. The weather has finally cooled off so it's great to be able to spend more time outdoors.

Addie at 16 Months

I can't believe six weeks have passed since my last post!  Addie is sixteen and a half months old now, and she is just growing up too fast!

She still loves playing with her baby dolls, reading books, and playing outside.  We bought her a wagon and she loved it for about a week....then she realized that she can get out of the wagon and walk on her own.  So now she insists on walking by herself during our evening strolls, which means it takes us about 30 minutes to go four blocks since she likes to stop to look at every bug and pick every flower. Poor Dakota doesn't get to go very far these days!

We also got sand for her sand/water table and she loves it!  She uses a small shovel to pick up sand and sprinkles it in random places around the patio. She also likes to dig in the flower boxes and move dirt from one flower pot to another. She says "dig, dig, dig" now when she is playing in the sand or in the dirt.

She had her first long weekend without mom and dad at the end of September. Jay and I went to the Black Hills, and Addie got to stay with Grandma Julie. They had a lot of fun going out to eat, shopping at Lowes, playing at Grandma's house, and taking walks around the neighborhood. It was hard to leave her, but she did just fine without us.

The day after we got home from South Dakota, Jay and I both took the day off to spend with Addie. She is just so busy with her toys, books, and going in and out of the house...just running everywhere!  We took her to Mote Marine and she LOVED it!  She says "fish" and was so amazed by all of the big fish, turtles, and manatees.

She loves to go on outings, and Kelcey takes her on a few each week. She has been to GWiz Science Museum, Selby Gardens, Sarasota Library, Kids Activity Center (baby gym class), and a music class. She still goes on her church playdates too. This week she has a class at Play Away Kids, another toddler gym class.

Addie is saying more and more words everyday. Some are definitely more clear than others, but we know what she is trying to say. This past month she has added these words/animal sounds to her list: Adam (Uncle Adam moved to Sarasota and Addie loves playing with him!), Shannon (Grandma's dog), teeth, dig, ear, car, key, cheers! (and clinks glasses with you), mooo, quack, who-who, blue, and I'm sure there were others. She starting to mimic a lot of what we say!

She also is starting to love music and dances - she bounces, sways, and spins whenever music is playing. She will start playing with all her toys that play music and just dance randomly around the room. She also picks up her babies or stuffed animals and dances with them.

I can't wait to see what she starts doing this month!