First Present

At work on Friday, my sweet friend Ashley gave me a present for Addison. It was her first birthday present and I couldn't wait until Saturday to let her open it. This was the first present she had really ever opened since she was only 3 months old at Christmas. It didn't take long for her to catch on. She enjoyed the present, but she liked the packaging too.

Walking

A step or two at a time.

Then down she goes.

She's off and running!

Walking around at the lake.

Those new tennis shoes are getting a lot of miles on them in a short time.

Addison loves to walk using her walker. She initially just pushed it forward and ran into things. Now she can maneuver around obstacles and turn around to go anywhere she wants to. But I don't think she will be using it for long. This week she started taking a few step on her own. She can now take about 7-8 steps on her own before falling although she still prefers to crawl because she can get where she's going so much faster.

Eleven

This is what we refer to as "Addie-tude" and she's got a lot of it! :-)

Addison was eleven months old on August 12th. Wayne and I celebrated 11 years of marriage on August 15th. So 11 is a lucky number for us this month. Hard to believe either of these milestones!

Addison continues to be a wonderful baby. She has become a climber--on top of her toy box, into rocking chairs where she stands up to rock, onto the dishwasher door, etc. Despite being this daredevil climber, she's hesitant to let go when standing up so she's not walking yet. But she loves to walk holding onto her walk-behind toys and holding on to people's fingers. She is "cruising" around the furniture and enjoys this independence. She continues to be a good eater, although she is becoming a little more picky. She loves most fruits and veggies, but watermelon is probably her favorite. Addison is consistently saying "mommy", "daddy", "nana" (my mom), and has added "night night" this week. She now has 6 teeth. She is completely passy-free and this process went much smoother than I expected. She continues to get one bottle (at bedtime) but will soon be bottle free. She started having issues with reflux this month (spitting up her entire bottle all over both of us several nights in a row) and is now on reflux medicine. This is much better now. I'm thrilled to say Addison has slept through the night for about the past 2 weeks. For about the past week, she has been putting herself to sleep when we lay her in her bed at night. What a big girl! Hard to believe she will be 1 year old in about 2 weeks. Where has the time gone?

Treasures!

I keep a few diapers and wipes in the den for convenience. I've done this since Addison was born. In the last few weeks, Addison has found this "treasure" and often pulls out all of the diapers. On this particular day, she was very "mouthy". Too funny not to share!

Sweet Diaper Baby

Addison doesn't get the freedom to crawl around in her diaper much. She was such a mess after dinner last night, we stripped her down and let her play in her diaper for a little while before bath time. She was "helping" me fold towels and decided this one was hers. She would play peek-a-boo with it and then throw it over Wayne and I to play peek-a-boo. Sweet pictures of our sweet girl.

The Box

Who needs toys when you have a big box to play in (and on and under)? This is the box to Addison's new "big girl" carseat. It's been in our den for about 3 weeks now and it is Addie's favorite toy. She's very funny walking around the outside, crawling into it when it is on its side, and playing inside for quite a while.

Knock-A-Noggin and Bye Bye Passy!

A big evening at our house--good and bad. While I was cleaning up after dinner, Addison proceeded down the hall following her daddy as she often does. But rather than going into our bedroom with Wayne, she decided to try climbing the stairs up to her room but neither of us realized it. That was until we heard the "thud" and the crying. Addison was face down on the hardwood at the bottom of the stairs. I don't think she was very high on the stairs, but she has a bruise on her forehead. Thankfully it didn't look too bad and she didn't bust her nose or teeth, but we felt awful! Off to Lowe's tomorrow to purchase that gate to go at the bottom of the stairs.

And I also decided that it is time to get rid of Addison's pacifier before I go back to work. The only time she gets it at home is when she is going to sleep or in bed to sleep. So we managed to get her to sleep this evening without her "passy" and so far so good. Say a prayer that my "Little Bear" sleeps through the night without her pacifier. Another big step for my big girl! I can't believe she is growing up so quickly.

Tuesday Morning Update---Addison did pretty well for her first night without her pacifier. She woke up at 10:30 and needed a little help getting back to sleep but slept the rest of the night in her bed. I heard her fussing a few times during the night, but she would always settle herself back down before I had to get up. What a big girl!
Her head doesn't look as bad as I was afraid it would. She's got a little bruise on her forehead above her right eye, but it should fade in the next couple of days. Now time for a shower and our trip to Lowe's to get the gate for the stairs.