8 Months...What a Month it's been!!

Sneak peek of her chair photos....hah

I know I've said it before...but, I think this has been my favorite time with our little Addison. This past month has been so amazing to watch her grow and change and develop into such a sweet little baby girl. (Not so much an infant anymore!).

Physically....she went from sitting up independently, to reaching forward more for her toys, then crawling backwards, then trying to pull up on things, going from her belly to sitting up 1/17/11, and now to crawling FORWARD on 1/26/11.(video to come) I think once she was able to sit up from lying down by herself that she developed the trunk control to be on all fours for crawling. Yes, that's the PT side of me asessing my baby girl. She's also been playing just on her knees ( tall kneeling) and has been progressing to half kneel or one leg up kneeling, which means she is following the developmental sequence...and who knows how soon it will be until she standing and then walking....ahhhh... (Yeah, she's already pulling herself up to stand - it's been 3 days since I first wrote this.) It was a good thing that we dropped her crib down a level in the last 2 weeks because she is now just sitting up in there when she wakes up.

Vocally....she's been saying "Da-da" and "Ba-ba" however we don't think they are quite purposeful yet. She was going crazy saying Da-Da on 1/16/11 - check out my video. Adam says that she has said "Ma-ma", but I'm still waiting to hear that one for sure. I know once I do, it will truely melt my heart. Of course she is screaming and grunting and making a whole lot of other baby babbles.

Eating...this girl is eating anything and everything she can get her hands on. Literally. Of course everything goes in the mouth....as she has now cut tooth #2 (bottom right) in the past 2 days 1/29/11. #1 came on 1/5/11 (bottom left)

This month started out with 2 meals a day of maybe 1-2oz of food, and now has progressed in the past week to 3 meals a day of 2-4oz of food. I guess she needs the energy for all of her motor skills, and to of course keep up with her rolly polly figure. :)

New menu items this month: bananas, green beans, peas/carrots combo ( she likes much better than alone) prunes, peaches, blueberries, strawberries, yogurt. Finger foods: puffs and mum-mums. It's amazing how well she can feed herself with her cute little "pincer" (finger to thumb) grasp, and how quickly she caught on. Still loves her squash, sweet potatos, apples and pears. I'm still making about 75% of her food, and buying organic baby food varieties for items that are not in season. Plan to introduce spinach, broccoli, chicken and turkey in the coming weeks.

I'm still nursing, 8 months down and who knows how many more to go. My goal was originally 6 months, and I guess they say don't stop a good thing. We both definitely seem to enjoy it, and it is the best thing for her. However, pumping 2 x a day at work is soooo much easier than 3. My supply has dropped a little, but we still have plenty of reserve in our new deep freezer. :)

This months photo session for 8 months was quite a work out for us all. Addison did NOT want to just sit and smile in her rocking chair----she wanted to crawl, spin, stand, climb over, etc. So I decided to take a video as well. (coming)

hmmmm..
Corduroy is my favorite book that Daddy reads to me

Ok, I'll look for a quick second...catch me if you can.

Leaning over the chair to give Da-Da a kiss

All fours....making my way for a swan dive off this thing...

Nope...not turning around

This is a classic Addison shot....she is totally giggly here...

Standing up...now that's what I wanted to do the whole time!

The only picture I got of her sitting...

Go Bears! (even though they lost, I was still the cutest fan)

Happy Birthday Uncle Brian! And the NFC championship Bears vs. Packers.


Hanging out with mom on the couch.

Such the little smiley baby.

Hanging out with my friend Kayla. Look how big I am, and she's 2 months older!

This is right before I POOPED in the tub, yes I said POOP. Not once, but twice. Can't you seem that gleam in my eye that I'm about to do something...

Bath time-Naked Butt!

I can't believe how big she is...this picture really shows it....

A sneak peek close up of my tooth (bottom left)

squealing in excitement to be standing at my music table!
obsessed with the small things in life...knots in the wood, fuzz on the carpet, screw holes in my toys. This girl has an attention to detail, and the eyes to see it.
Thinking about cruising along on the couch...(this was early Jan.) now she is almost doing it by herself.

Happy Birthday Auntie Lauren!

7 Months

Dec. 31st 2010/Jan1.2011

7 month stats

(per MD appointment on Dec. 23rd)

Weight: 18lbs 8oz (gain of 13 oz in 3 weeks)

Length: 26"

Eating:

Just switched from 5x a day to 4x a day (every 4-4.5hrs) with 2 solids. 6am, 10am, 2pm and 6:30pm. Still nursing...and all is going well. Glad to only be pumping 2x a day at work now, which makes my working mom life a little bit easier.

She is loving eating her solid foods, homemade baby puree's of: apples, pears, squash, sweet potatos, carrots (not a big fan), peas, avacados (not a big fan) and bananas Also getting her fill of oatmeal, and brown rice cereal. To soon be starting more combinations and "stage 2" baby foods. Addison is such a good eater, and it's been a lot of fun watching her react to all of the new foods. Making baby food is really easy...just need a little time (maybe 45 min every 2 weeks), a vegetable steamer, a mini food processor, and ice cube trays.

Sleeping:

Napping on average 4 x a day for 40 min in duration....loves the cat naps. We're TRYING to switch her to taking 2 naps a day, which has worked a couple times. Including a 2.5hr nap this past weekend allowing us to take down all of our xmas deco. It would be so nice if she could sleep a little longer during the day, but we'll see how it goes.

At night she's still been doing very well (except for the teething nights), so I'm thankful for that. They say if babies sleep well at night, they tend not to be good nappers...

Milestones:

1st tooth on 1/5/11 after a few sleepless nights, including one night of 3hrs to just be put to sleep. Yuck! So glad that my husband and I are a good team, I think we were both about ready to lose it. The 2nd tooth has started to come in this week (after a 3hr total night of sleep for us)...and should be in any day now.

Sitting up completely independently for the past 6 weeks;

Going from sitting to her belly

FINALLY rolling from her belly to her back consistently, and rolling back and forth and around and around.

Belly crawling backwards

Pushing up on all fours and rocking back and forth; tries to crawl forward with arms, then collapses

Pulling up to stand (assisted) on furniture, her toys and my lap

Standing with minimal assist; handhold primarily.

Reaching for EVERYTHING in her sight, and putting EVERYTHING in her mouth

Favorite toys to play with right now: her play phone, stacking rings, interlocking rings, elmo, balls, music table.

Has officially given up her pacifier (or maybe just temporarily with her teeth coming in)...which has made sleeping a little more difficult as well.

This past month has been a big transition from immobile, dependent infant to a more mobile, independent little baby, who's really growing into my little girl. Full of smiles, grunts, laughs, grrrrrrs, babbles and of course crying. Christmas was a lot of fun with her, and now we are playing with all of her new toys.

Her 7 month photo shoot was hysterical, assisted by both Adam and our friend Laura...because Addison seemed to want to just crawl off of the chair.... :)

Cheese!

What is this??

Perfect posture. A mommy PT couldn't be happier...

Turning around in the chair now...

Crawling off the chair...

Falling backwards while holding my legs...

Just hanging out with my favorite puppy dog, Kali...

Loving playing with her new "kitchen"

Passed out after church for her nice 2.5 hr nap...

Here's a photo dump of some leftover pics from Dec before xmas:

Professional pic...need to scan in the others still...

Loves to crawl backwards and get stuck under the couch...

Ahhh...

Kali babysitting...

My new trick...the splits...

Loves to grab mommy's necklace

Our sweet Kali dog...

Addison's First Christmas (x 6)

December went by so fast with all of the holiday festivities. 6 months was such a great age to enjoy Addy's first Christmas. She is sitting up all by herself...trying to crawl (backwards mostly) and starting to pull up onto things.

The BEST Christmas gift this year was on Dec. 23rd for Addison's appointment with the cardiologist...everything came back NORMAL. This was after 2.5 hrs in the office...taking her blood pressure (92/59mmHg), EKG (NORMAL), and a 30 min echocardiogram (ultrasound). Dr. Bryk-Serva did hear a "systolic murmor with a click at the end", but said that it is "innocent" (benign) from the fact that babies chest walls are so thin....therefore it's just an extra sound they're hearing. BIG SIGH of relief after this appointment, followed with a flood of tears on my part. Adam and I couldn't be more thankful and feel more blessed this Christmas for our beautiful HEALTHY baby girl. God is GREAT.

We went right over to my Mom's to start out the family get-to-gethers that night with Christmas with my Dad, Brian and Sarah. (and to Celebrate the GREAT news) We changed things up this year and had Mexican (yummy!) instead of the traditional fondue because Addison for sure wouldn't be able to sit through that. Addison was spoiled by her Grandma and Grandpa Jones and Uncle Brian BIG time!

Grandma and Grandpa proud of their Grand-Daughter

Ohhh...what's this? toys for me?

Whoops...too much fun in the box!

The Jones'

Our Family

Christmas Eve we went to 4:00 mass (instead of our usual midnight mass), and it was sooo crowded. Thankfully I got to sit down with Addison, while Adam stood by our side. We went over to the Seghi's afterwards for dinner with Adam's parents and sister, Lauren. Nick and Jessica were already on their way to Indiana. Again, the Grandparents and Aunts and Uncles spoiled little Miss Addison.

Grandma and Grandpa can't get enough of their Grand-daughter...

I don't know who's smiling more... :)

Can't wait to move and groove with this soon....

Grandma and Auntie Lauren with Addison

Christmas morning was just us; me, Adam, Addison and Kali at our house. It was a very peaceful and blissful morning. Kali laid on her bed eating her rawhide from Santa, while the rest of us opened our gifts. Addison's favorite thing of all this holiday season is the Christmas tree...her eyes just light up and her smile gets so big and she starts laughing or grunting in excitement. I can only begin to imagine her expressions in the coming years....

For the record, Kali has not digested any ornaments ( that we know of) this year, compared to her record of 7 last year. This is in large part due to the addition of the French doors Adam installed this past summer.

Snuggled up on Christmas Eve morning with my baby

That afternoon we headed over to my Uncle Dan and Aunt Heathers for the Carlson family Christmas. My Dad was able to join us there as well to celebrate, and be together for Addison's first Christmas. She was a snow princess for sure in her Christmas dress, and was a trooper keeping it on most of the day. A little bittersweet not having it at my Grandmas house this year, but we had a good time all around.

Loving the Christmas bear on Great Grandmas shirt...

Uncle B...

Soooo Happy with Daddy onChristmas... (can't you hear her yelling!! AAAHHHH)

Passed out again in the middle of the festivities... resting up for round 2 later that day.

Then we headed downtown to the Peszek family Christmas, Adam's mom's side with now 8 kids under the age of 9. Wow! Talk about Santa crazy! :) The girls were even in matching PJ's and hadn't even planned it. Addison was up until 9:30 enjoying all of the Christmas day activities, and enjoying her time with all of her family.

Julianna holding Addison... "she's heavy!"

Yummy toes...

Changing into my PJ's with my cousins entertaining me...

Joshua getting his chance to hold Addy

The cousins: Jimmy, Josh, Jacob, Emily, Danny, Julie and Kelly

Grandpa with his Addison

The girls...Kelly (14 months), Emily (4yrs), Addison (6 1/2 months)

Sunday, Dad came down to stay with us for the week to enjoy time with his Granddaughter. We went to the Seghi side family Christmas that night to round out the weekend long fun. Addison was able to play with her cousin Jacob who is 3 weeks older than her...it was so great to see them together. They are going to be big trouble together next year for sure! :)

"Well hello!

Addison and Jacob (7 months)

The proud Dad's and their babies

The happy momma's with their babies

The princess and her bows:

Uncle Nick and Jessica are back from Indiana! :)

Thankfully, I took off a whole week from work to enjoy Addison's first Christmas and Adam took off 4 days. So, we were home together Friday, Monday and Tuesday. My Dad stayed with us all week and was able to make it back to Sundance, UT despite the blizzard weather conditions. We were so happy to see him and have him spend time with us, since he hadn't been here since August. He was so surprised at how much Addison had changed since then, saying "last time I was here she was just starting to hold her head up by herself, and now look at her."

Laura was also in town, and Auntie L sure did spoil miss Addison this Christmas...I don't know who was having more fun as they opened the gifts...just priceless...