Monday, November 29, 2010

Chase 10 Months

There isn't too much difference between Chase at 9 months and 10 months. Here are a few things that are different:

He is army crawling - started this the first week of November.

He is eating more finger foods and is becoming a little difficult with being fed pureed foods. I continue to give him pureed food (at least 3-4 ounces each meal) because I don't feel like he consumes enough fruits and vegetables when feeding himself. I mean clearly, at 24 pounds, I have reason to worry! But, in all seriousness, I don't want him to start dropping weight now that he's on the move, so as long as he continues to tolerate being spoon fed, I will continue to give him pureed fruits and veggies.

I mentioned in my Thanksgiving post all the new foods he tried. Other than those (collard greens, corn bread casserole, turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing), the only other pureed foods I can remember are mango and yogurt. Some finger foods he eats include egg whites (not a fan), crackers, puffs, yogurt melts, cheerios, black beans, green beans, bread, sweet potatoes, cheese, ham, turkey, and chicken.

He now says "mama" and "dada". Those are the only words I can make out so far. He's a pretty quiet guy.

He is growing too long for many of his 12-18 month clothes.

He has two bottom teeth and his two front top teeth are coming through.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Maggie

Addie got a new dog for her birthday. Kidding! I haven't had a chance to talk about the new (temporary) resident in our home. My best friend, Emily, moved in at the beginning of the month and will be staying with us while her apartment is being built. She adopted a beautiful labradoodle, Maggie, over the weekend. We're happy to have both of them living with us! Maggie is great. She is very sweet, a little insecure (understandably!), and the most well behaved puppy (not even a year old), I've ever encountered. Addison loves her, Wrigley loves her when she isn't trying to "hunt" him :) and Chase thinks she's his new life sized stuffed animal!

Welcome, Maggie, and a belated welcome to our favorite non-family member of all time....Emily!







Saturday, November 27, 2010

Happy 3rd Birthday, Addie!!!

Our little princess turns 3 years old today. I can't believe she's been with us for 3 years, yet I have a very hard time remembering life without her. I continue to fall more and more in love with her every day as she continues to grow and mature into such an amazing little girl.

Addison had her 3 year doctor appointment at the same time Chase had his 9 month, a couple of weeks ago. She weighed 29 pounds (30th %) and was 37 1/2 inches tall (60th %). She is such a little peanut and actually easier to carry around than her brother, though that doesn't happen often. She still wears diapers or pull-ups at bedtime (and soaks them!) and wears the same size as Chase - 4's. She had her blood pressure taken for the first time and received the meningococcal vaccine booster (which, by the way, made her thigh SO SORE that she wouldn't walk on it for an entire day and a half). We play "doctor" a lot at home and the blood pressure cuff and shot are her favorites, ironically. Her only health issue is her Asthma for which she uses an inhaler twice a day. Otherwise, her doctor gave her a clean bill of health and thinks she (and her vast vocabulary) is pretty darn special!

Addison is a magical little girl. She is wise beyond her years, very inquisitive and analytical, creative, athletic, talkative, excitable, and sweet as sweet can be. She loves to pick out her own outfits, accessorize, dress up, put on makeup, do hair, play with her babies, have tea parties and picnics - girly girly girly! She also loves teeball, soccer, basketball, trains, riding her bike and scooter and her swingset and indoor swing - tomboy, tomboy, tomboy! She also loves to read, stack cups, string beads, color, play with stickers and playdough, paint, cook, bake, eat, cuddle, kiss, hug, sing, dance. I guess she's kind of like a jack of all trades. :)

She loves and absolutely adores her brother. She tells me this all the time. She is protective of him, and drags him (literally!) away from things he shouldn't be getting in to (cords, dog food, etc.) She's also sort of a tattle-tale. :) She tells on adults (Daddy and Grandma are her favorite victims) if they don't do things "the right way", otherwise known as the way I do things. She tells on Chase if he's doing something he shouldn't be doing or "eating" (putting his mouth on) her toys. She tells on the dog (i.e. "Wrigley is trying to eat Chase's food"). She tells on her friends and cousins when they hit, push, take a toy, won't share. Sometimes, this trait comes in very handy, while other times it worries me. I'm sure she'll grow out of it. Right now I actually think it's kind of cute.

She loves school. She asks almost every day if that day is a school day. On our drive there, she exclaims how excited she is to see her friends and on the way home she tells me what a great time she had at school that day.

Her favorite color is PURPLE!

Addison is pretty well behaved. I think we expect a lot from her, which I know isn't good and we are trying to lower those expectations. She's just so capable and relatively mature (having had to grow up maybe a little more quickly than the average child due to my health issues), and it's easy to forget she's only 3 years old. She's pretty independent and for the most part, I can count on her to behave, thus not having to keep an eye on her at all times. I hope the freedom I allow her doesn't mean that one day I'll find her drawing on the walls or cutting her hair or something worse!

She is a great, healthy little eater....and is constantly eating. She doesn't care for pizza, mac and cheese, chicken tenders...all the things kids are supposed to like! She would rather have black beans, chick peas, blueberries, strawberries, avocado and yogurt. Oh, she loves yogurt. She usually eats about 3-4 a day and always wants more. She also loves her snacks, whether they be crackers, pretzels, veggie straws, goldfish, etc.

She wears some 3T clothes, but most are big on her. She mainly still wears 2T and some 18-24 month dresses, that function more as tunics now. I finally put away her favorite top (used to be a dress), which was a size 6-12 month. Not kidding! She wears a size 7 or 7 1/2 shoe.

She goes to bed around 7:45 or 8, but usually doesn't fall asleep until closer to 8:30 or 9. She wakes up, on average, between 7-7:15am but sometimes is up at 6:30, with her lights on, clothes for the day laid out in front of her, reading a book. I strongly discourage this! I always put her back in bed, hoping she'll fall back to sleep, but she usually doesn't. Either way, I don't go to her until at least 7:15. We are working on sleeping until Mommy or Daddy come to get her, or at least having her call our names to let us know that she is awake, while still laying in bed. Most days, she's pretty good about this. She takes a good, consistent 2-2.5 hour nap in the afternoon (usually 1-3ish)

I really don't know what I would do without this little girl. I know for a fact that I would not be in the position, health-wise,that I am today if it weren't for her. She truly is an angel in disguise!

I love you, Addie-Bear!!!!!!!!!

Friday, November 26, 2010

Putting up Christmas tree

Our 12' Christmas tree went up today. I put ornaments with no sentimental value on this tree because, well, because they match my great room decor and look nice. We always put up another (real) tree in our family room that we call the "kid's tree" because it's fun and playful, comprised mostly of ornaments that Addison has accumulated the last 3 years and Dustin's from his childhood that his mom kept around. Last year, Addison and I strung cheerios as garland. She is so excited to get "her tree". We're going to have to get that soon!

In the meantime, she was a big liability help with the big tree!

(More pictures of the tree to come!)



Thanksgiving

I hosted Thanksgiving for 12 of us, so didn't really get around to taking many pictures, which is unfortunate considering it was Chase's first Thanksgiving. Chalk that one up to the second child syndrome. You know, the one that says that the second child doesn't get nearly as many pictures taken as the first? Yeah, I took 182 pictures of Addison's first Thanksgiving. Granted, it was also her first birthday, but still....

We had such a wonderful time! Addie enjoyed seasoning the turkey and all the food was delicious. Wait, the cook isn't supposed to say that, is she? Okay, well everyone else told me the food was delicious. :) We had turkey (duh), stuffing, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, corn bread casserole, collard greens, rolls, pumpkin and pecan pie topped with Dustin's special whipped cream....is that all? I can't remember. I soon thereafter slipped into a food coma and everything is kind of blurry. :) Chase enjoyed the turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, corn bread casserole and collard greens.

Not included in pictures - Dustin's entire side of the family. Ooops. :(




Chase is Poppy's "flyboy"








Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Recent Family Pictures

We had some pictures taken a few weeks ago (10/28) - for Chase's 9 month and Addison's 3 year. The following weekend (11/7), we had pictures taken with the Frazier side of the family. In both instances, neither of my children were especially cooperative but I think we got some okay ones!


























2010-2011 School Picture

(l-r) bottom: Danielle, Abby, Donovan, Addison, Shelby
top: Mrs. Reed, Matthew, Mrs. Ramsey

Monday, November 22, 2010

Thanksgiving craft

Gammy, the creative preschool teacher, came armed with supplies for a craft that she wanted to do with Addie and Noah. So, they morning after Addie's birthday party, they got to it. It turned out super cute and made a great centerpiece for our kitchen table!







Bathtime


Picture taken 11/18