New Car Seat

On her 7th month 'birthday' Addison made the move into her 'big girl' car seat.  According to the salesperson at Babies 'R Us, she was due for an upgrade as she was too long for her infant carrier.  I purchased a car seat while we were in San Antonio in addition to the one previously purchased for Monty's truck.  On our (my parents, me and Addison) way back from San Antonio, Monty installed her new seat in his truck so we could begin using it that night during our Halloween adventures.  She absolutely loves sitting in her new seats and I am sure will love it even more once she is able to face forward.

Bye, Bye Baby Swing

Addison was not feeling well on the 19th, and since I was finished with tax season (hooray!) I stayed home with her to snuggle while her teeth came in.  I put her in her swing to see if this might soothe her and it was a successful venture, but it caused me to realize that she is now too big for her swing.  She enjoyed it, but she is now big enough to grab on to the mobile and is the length of the swing.  The swing was a wonderful gift from Grammy and PaPa, but we said our goodbyes for now until Addison passes it down to her future sibling some day.  

It caused me to get quite sentimental as I put items like her swing and bouncer away because it really is starting to sink in how very fast she is growing.  Here is a picture from one of very early swing adventures to her last one.  What a difference a little more than 6 months can make in a wonderful girl's life!

April 7, 2010

October 19, 2010

Puffs!

According to Monty, puffs are the greatest invention ever with respect to meal time.  When Addison was a little over 6 months, we gave her her first taste of Gerber puffs (sweet potato variety).  As with all foods, she loves them.  Her first introduction was made as we placed them in her mouth but she very quickly began to start picking them off of her tray and feeding them to herself.  At this point, we are not quite sure if she is going to be left or right handed as she will alternate the hand that she uses to eat no matter where we may place the puff on her tray.  Monty's great adoration for puffs developed because puffs are fantastic filler and allow Addison to occupy herself so that we can quickly eat and return our full attention to her.  In the very beginning, it would take her a few tries to go directly in her mouth, but now (about 3 weeks later) she is the master eater.

First solo puffs - October 17, 2010

Around the same time that she started to self feed her puffs, her first teeth were really beginning to poke through.  In order to soothe her poor gums, she would take a puff and grind it between where her teeth eventually broke through.  She preferred this method to frozen rings or any other remedy we tried.  In the process, Lisa dubbed her 'Mater' from Cars.  Do you see a resemblance?

Mattress Move

Addison is on the move!  She loves to pull up on any and all things that surround her (if you have put her in a seated position or she is on all fours).  She has discovered her the rainforest toy that attaches to the side of her bed.  In true fashion, she quickly learned that it too could be used to pull her up.  This immediately made us realize that it is time to lower the mattress before she becomes even more brave and attempts to make a getaway.  You are one adventurous little girl! 

October 10, 2010

Crazy Water Festival

Mineral Wells is known for "Famous Water" and our annual festival to celebrate this fabulous water is the Crazy Water Festival held the 2nd weekend of October.  PaPa and I had to work in the Rotary T-Shirt booth and Addison hung out with Grammy until our shift was over.  The booth next to us was selling kettle korn and because Addison is so cute they gave her some.  Needless to say a six month old did not partake, but her family sure enjoyed the rewards of having such a beautiful, sweet girl.

The festival moved locations this year to the grounds around the Famous Water Co. and added chalk art as new exhibit.  My firm bought a square which turned out really well.  By the time our shift was over and Monty arrived to meet us, Addison was passed out for the afternoon.  Next year I know she will be ready to partake in the petting zoo and every other wonder they have for children.  It was a fun first year for us nonetheless.

Can you tell the Aggies were playing that afternoon?  We were ready to go cheer them on as a family!  

6 Months

As I look back over an entire half year, it amazes me how truly far you have come from the tiny 7lb. 10oz. baby to the adventurous 16lb. 14 oz. daredevil you are today.  You are so much fun to be around.  You are the happiest of happy babies.  You constantly smile (even first thing in the morning) and laugh and giggle all of which are all contagious beyond my wildest imagination. You light up any and every time you see your daddy, even if he has just been out of your range of vision for 30 seconds.  You have never met a mirror that you did not like and smile every time you see yourself in one.  You obviously do know who that pretty baby in the mirror is.

A little before you turned 5 months, you were beginning to use our fingers to pull up to a sitting position with our help.  At this point, you will reach for our fingers and pull yourself up without any assistance from us.  You are just beginning to attempt to pull yourself up on other objects, but mainly still reach for our fingers to pull yourself from your back to a sitting position and then up to your feet.  Once you are on your feet, you love to 'walk' to obtain any and all items that surround you.  Your dad and I like to attribute this to the introduction of the exersaucer at 3 months.

You are beginning to 'dive' to reach objects that you can see but can't quite reach.  Needless to say, you can no longer sit anywhere unattended.  You sit extremely well and your doctor is impressed at all of the physical milestones that you surpassing.  At this juncture, it is rare to do terribly more than sit.  As far as crawling goes, you have the motions down (at times) but seem much more interested in either scooting on your stomach or simply skipping straight to walking.

You still love your baths and now have toys that we play with each night.  You especially love your blue and green turtles.  I think you would stay in there forever if we would allow it.  We are starting to go on more walks now that it is beginning to cool off and you seem to really enjoy the outdoors and the opportunity to take in some new scenery.  You also have started riding in shopping carts and love the opportunity to look around at all the other shoppers.  We are constantly stopped and told what a beautiful baby you are; I must agree.

You are continuing to be a good eater and up until your 6 month appointment, you ate a 4oz bottle every 3 hours and cereal before bed.  You eat every last bite and make it known that you are not finished or we are taking too long to get the food to you.  You would think the moans you let out were indicative of great pains.  You were sleeping really well until about two weeks prior to your 6 month appointment. We are hoping things will get back on track and you will again sleep through the night now with the addition of solids.

You still seem to love both church and mother's day out.  As of yet, you have not exhibited any signs of separation anxiety.  This makes leaving you, which is difficult, a much easier task.

God has blessed our family beyond our greatest dreams and we are so thankful to have you as our daughter.  We look forward to all of the new adventures that our next months will hold.