Even Addie knows it's funny to watch Dottie play basketball!

A week back at work

Last week, I had the opportunity to go back to the school I used to teach at and substitute teach for one of the math teachers. Dottie (Bob's mom) was generous enough to come watch Addie for the week, so I decided to go back to teaching for the week! I had a good time going back and seeing a lot of my former students and it was fun to be teaching math again as well, but it was also nice to know it was only for a week. I am definitely very thankful that I am able to stay at home with Addie every day. But, I know Addie had a lot of fun with Dottie last week (and I don't think Dottie was hating her time with Addie).

Fun with Dottie!

Addie really seems to like the Christmas tree. I thought she would really love the lights (which she does like them), but she likes to touch the tree more than anything. I guess it's a texture she's not used to.

Our little 8-month-old. It is hard to believe Addie is already 2/3 of a year old-it is flying by. Here she is on her 8 month birthday:

The other night, I needed to work on a few things and so Daddy and Addie were hanging out together on the floor. Daddy decided to let Addie try standing on her own for the first time and found that she was able to balance for a few seconds before falling! I don't think Addie knew what to think of it at first, but after a few falls, she was wanting a little more support. But, Addie does love to stand, though she does not yet know how to pull herself up to standing.

Nana sent a package of "pre-Christmas" presents for Addie the other day. I don't know that Addie even cared to open it-she enjoyed just hitting the box!

We ended up busting into it for her and found some books (which she loved) and a little pair of mittens (which I loved since she really needed them and I hadn't been able to find any).

Hanging out in front of the Christmas tree:

As I mentioned earlier, Addie loves to stand. So, we pulled this toy out that we had stashed away. She really likes playing with it since she gets to stand the whole time, but once again, there are falls at times. She is still working on her balancing...and realizing that it is necessary for her to hold onto something in order to stay standing. She'll figure it out.

That is our happy girl!

Thanksgiving 2009

Bob, Addie, and I spent Thanksgiving this year with family in Atlanta. We weren't there for a long time, but were glad we were able to go...and especially excited to meet the newest addition to our extended family! Pictured below is Logan Matthew Rowand.
Here are the cousins together. Once we saw Logan, we realized that Addie is officially not a baby anymore.
Addie got to go see one of her great-grandmothers, Mimi.

Thanks to Olivia for letting Addie borrow this shirt for the day.

Nana bought Olivia and Addie matching Christmas dresses. Addie's was not very modest, but still cute.

We actually got a bow to stay in her hair for a little while!

Nana enjoying time with Addie.

Sitting up and going to the park

We have been working on sitting up with Addie for quite some time now and she finally seems to have it down...for the most part. At times, she plays for 10-15 minutes without any faceplants, but other times (when she gets really excited and jerky) she may continually fall over without much time in between. We now know Addie is totally capable of sitting up on her own, but she does not always choose to use this new skill of hers. Here are some pictures of the sitting:

I just busted this toy out the other day because I thought Addie might like it (she is totally into anything that makes noise or has lights...or both). She loves it, so I'm glad I realized it was time to pull it out!

We got a few good shots of her here:

Napping together...except Mommy wasn't actually asleep.

On Saturday, we took Addie to the park for a little bit since it was such a beautiful day outside. We weren't there long, but Addie got to "play" on the playground for the first time! Daddy took her down the slide, which we thought she was going to love. Addie normally enjoys being tossed around (she really likes it when we pretend to drop her a little), but when she went on the slide, she surprisingly seemed to have no reaction. I guess it wasn't fast enough for her-I wonder how long until she can go on a roller coaster? Here is the before picture:

And they made it to down:Addie also got to try out the swing. I don't know if you can tell, but we did have to stuff a blanket behind her since the seat was huge. As an infant, Addie never liked the swing we had, so we didn't know what she would think of going on a swing now. You can decide for yourself as to whether or not she liked it:

Sorry the video is sideways...I have no idea how to turn it. If you are prone to motion sickness, you probably don't want to watch this, but otherwise, enjoy:

Our still toothless 7 month old

I am finally posting Addie's 7 month old update. Here is the picture I took of her on her birthday (if you can call it that). I did weigh her and she was 13 lb. 9 oz., so not much bigger than a month earlier, but some of that might be due to her little sickness a couple weeks ago. I tried measuring her, but that didn't work out. We'll find out how long she is at her 9 month appointment in January.

A few weeks ago (definitely not this week), it was beautiful outside, so I decided to wash the car while Addie enjoyed the outdoors in her Exersaucer. Little did I know of just how much she would enjoy the outdoors. If you can't tell in the picture below, she was able to grab leaves periodically and play with them. They were excellent toys as she loves things that make crinkling noises. Not great for her constant chewing, though.

Addie continues to love food-sometimes (as seen below) she reaches out of her seat, trying to get that next bite just a little bit sooner!

Addie is always wanting to try food that we are eating, though she rarely gets the chance to. This time, though, I allowed her to "try" my apple. She was able to suck some juices out and was hooked immediately.

We decided to be brave last weekend and take Addie out to a Bobcats basketball game Friday night. Bob had been given tickets, so we went for it. Addie looked confused for most of the time, but really did well. She has always liked watching tv, so she really liked watching the huge tv in the middle of the arena (too bad she didn't watch the live game right below the screen).

Daddy kept her warm on the walk to the stadium.

We had some friends over the other night for dinner, which Addie seemed to enjoy. Pictured below is Clay, who is about 2 months older than Addie. They seem like they have a lot bigger age gap, though, since Clay's head is one of the biggest for his age and Addie's is one of the smallest for her age. They seemed to enjoy looking at each other quite a bit, and holding hands a little...until Bob quickly put a stop to it!

Halloween

This was Addie's "daytime" Halloween shirt. It was size 12 months, which is nowhere close to what she normally wears, but we made it work for the day. Can you tell her face is filling out a lot? We noticed this weekend that her cheeks are starting to sag some-pretty funny...and cute!
We worked very hard at trying to get Addie to smile in her Halloween costume, but she was not very cooperative. So, I put a couple of our best attempts below. It was a rainy Halloween and Addie had been sick, so we didn't take her to the fall festival at church like we had planned. We did walk around to the neighbors close to us and showed her off in her cute Winne the Pooh costume!

Play date with Owen

Addie and I went over to a friend's house last Friday to play for a while. Addie's friend, Owen (pictured below), is 2 months younger than her, but weighs more than her! We decided to sit them facing each other to see what they would do. It wasn't quite as entertaining as we thought it was going to be.

Here is another friend who was there, named Jonathan. He is 9 years old and really enjoyed holding and playing with both Addie and Owen. Unfortunately, our time there was cut short when Addie decided to throw up...twice! Thankfully, the only people it got on were herself and me. As a side note, Addie is fine now...she had a cold and a lot of stuff draining down in her throat, which made her cough, which led to her gagging and throwing up. Nice. We already knew she was doomed for this at some point since both of her parents have tendencies to regurgitate easily.

Addie loves plumbing, peas, and her paci

Our little plumber girl, as we affectionately like to refer to her at times like this:


"More peas, please!" Addie was introduced to peas for the first time a couple weeks ago. I hate peas (and most other green vegetables), but thought they would be good for Addie to eat. So, I had thought it was going to be a long drawn out process, trying to get Addie to eat peas. I was so wrong. Addie loved them more than squash and couldn't get enough of them. Now, I'm worried that I am going to have to include peas (and possibly other green vegetables) into our daily meals once Addie is older and eating what we eat!

All done, but she saved some for later all around her mouth and on her bib.






Addie has figured out how to chew on every possible part of her pacified. She turns it every different direction, seeing what she likes the best. Her pacifier seems to entertain her more than anything else. Thankfully, it is easy to take along wherever we go, but we also dread the day we will take it away from her...it might be tough!

Backwards and upside down!

Pigtails

Since Addie's hair has continued to grow quite a bit, I have put pigtails in her hair a few different times. Her hair is extremely thin, though, so it's hard to get the little rubberbands in while she is squirming constantly. Also, it was hard to get a good picture where both pigtails were visible, so here are my attempts: