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!

Addie at 15 Months

We can't believe Addie already 15 months old!  She is learning so much and her little personality keeps shining through more and more everyday.  She had her 15 month check-up on August 13 - here are her latest stats:

Height: 30.3 inches - 45th percentile
Weight: 19.5 lbs - 6th percentile
Head: 17.9 inches - 42nd percentile

She's still a tiny little munchkin, but she actually increased a percentile in weight so we were very excited about that!  Still hasn't broken the 20 pound mark...poor thing is going to be riding backwards in her carseat for a while longer!

Addie's latest favorite foods are broccoli and chicken (yes, still), plums, blueberries, strawberries, bananas, oranges, noodles or any kind of pasta, shredded cheese, tomatoes, Gerber puffs (apple and peach flavors), and of course anything salty like chips, crackers, and pretzles. She still won't eat sweet potatoes, zucchini, carrots, or pretty much any other veggie we try to give her.  Hopefully one can get all vitamins and minerals from tomatoes and broccoli, because those are the only vegetables she will eat!

She is babbling like crazy and saying a few more new words.  She has said mama, dada, baba, bye, hi, ball, balloon, Laura, kick, and fat.  So cute - Jay said something about looking fat, and all of a sudden, she just mimicked him and said, "fat." Then we started laughing and she thought that was sooo funny!  She laughs all the time, and Kelcey taught her to throw her head back and cover her mouth with her hand when she laughs.  Too cute!

Although she doesn't say many words yet, she knows sooo many of them.  We can look through books and ask her all kinds of words and she will point to the correct object.  She also knows lots of body parts - feet, toes, legs, knees, tummy, belly button, hands, arms, fingers, neck, nose, eyes, mouth, teeth, tongue, head, hair, and ears. She understands and can follow simple instructions like, "go get your blankie and put it on Dakota's head."  She loves to play with Dakota and they keep each other entertained really well.  She also thinks it's very funny to tell Dakota, "no, no" and wags her finger at him. Sometimes he knocks her over and she doesn't cry, but she wags her finger at him and tells him, "no, no."  Every now and then, he will knock her down kind of hard, and then her lip will curl up and she will shrug her shoulders and put her palms up as if to say, "what did you do that for?"  Her little facial expressions are so precious.

She loves playing with her babies and will feed, rock, and hug her dolls.  She gives them her bottle and her binkie and tries to feed them her food.  She puts them to sleep in a little basket with her blankie and says, "shhh" and puts her finger to her lips to tell you that her babies are sleeping. She says, "shhh" to Dakota when he barks too.

We went to the beach yesterday and she had a ball walking around in the sand and wading in the water.  We definitely have a litle water baby.  She loves to take baths, play at her water table, and play in the outdoor shower. 

She has a blast going to Grandma Kristi's and Grandma Julie's house, and of course, they both have a ton of toys for her. She has a whole new set of toys at each house, lucky girl!  Whenever we go for a stroll she gets upset if we walk by Grandma Julie's street without making a stop to visit. Both Grandmas and Kelcey mostly take care of Addie during the week, and I will usually take one afternoon at home with her. I'm so glad I have a somewhat flexible schedule...she is growing up too fast!!

Happy 4th of July!

We spent the 4th of July at Grandpa Pat's lake house on Lake of the Ozarks.  We stayed for about a week and had plenty of fun, sun, and relaxation. Uncle Jordan and Aunt Jennie were also there for part of the time. Addie had a BLAST, thanks to Grandpa Pat making the house so fun and comfortable for her. He went all out and lined up a crib, highchair, swing, swimming pool, play house with slide, and a bunch of old toys from when Adam, Jennie, Jordan, and I were little. Needless to say, I think she was bored when she got home!

In addition to the baby toys, Grandpa Pat also has plenty of big kid toys. We had fun skiing and wakeboarding with the ski boat, cruising in the pontoon, and riding the jet ski. Jay actually made it through a lake trip without getting stopped by the boat police this year!

Addie loved riding in the boat and would clap for Jay when we wakeboarded, even when he fell :) She really started walking a lot while at the lake thanks to two factors I think: carpet rather than tile, and not having a huge white dog knocking her over all the time! She started talking more too...she now says mama, dada, baba, more, hi, bye, eye, and ball. She also put two words together: more balls.

She now knows how to point to her eyes, ears, mouth, tongue, teeth, hair, tummy, toes, fingers, hands, knees, and feet recently too. She's picking up so many new things everyday. Jay's favorite trick that he taught her is to "mess up her hair" when she rubs her hands really fast over her head and through her hair. It's pretty cute.

We had a great time at the 4th the year and plan to continue making it an annual tradition!

Play Dates with Ms. Kelcey

Addelyn has been with her new nanny, Kelcey, for a couple of months now. She has really started to love Kelcey, and we are so greatful for all of her help. She is wonderful with Addie, and she helps keep our house in order too! A couple times a week they go on outings or play dates. Some of their favorite spots are the fountain park at Marina Jacks, Longwood Run Park, play time at the Baptist Church in Bradenton, Subway, the grocery store, and Target. Here is a photo of Addie and Kelcey and a couple photos of Addie on her play dates.

Happy Father's Day!

We celebrated Jay's 2nd Father's Day with the Baumberger side of the family by having brunch at The Breakfast House.  Kelcey helped Addie make some footprint artwork as a present for Daddy, and Addie got Grandpa Pat a recordable booked titled "My Grandpa and Me."