I decided to try a new format and interspersed photos throughout the post. So if you're just interested in pictures, keep scrolling down!
All parents recognize the game referenced in the title, right? The one where you ask your adorable toddler how big they are, and they fling their arms as wide as they can and say "sooooooooooooooooooooo biiiiiiiiiiig!" I'm just getting a head start! The pictures above were taken on Addie's two month "birthday". I thought she needed a feminine touch so I added a bow! She was a lot happier in these than in her one month photos.
Addie really is getting so big! She is a precious little chunk these days. The baby loves eating. She screams with rage whenever I try to gently remove her from the breast. In fact, the only way she stops eating these days is to spit up copiously all over both of us while she is still feeding. Then she will accept that she is, in fact, full. She spits up a lot. She bears a strong resemblance to a trick fountain at a theme park. It will be half an hour after her meal and all over sudden, BAM, an ounce or so of fluid all over us both. Perfect example: yesterday I was playing with her about 20 minutes after she ate. I was kissing her face and making her chuckle and coo...and all of sudden she spit up all over my face. She thought that was hilarious...either the sight of my shocked face or my shriek or both.
Anyway, I asked Tim if he thought she had a digestive problem and he sort of stared at me incredulously and tried to pinch a fold of skin off her arm. He wasn't able to do so because the skin is stretched taut, like she is a little sausage. I say all this to say that she is obviously growing! I love a good chunky baby. Tim says that every time he sees her feet, he wants to bite them...and I have to say, I agree, I could just eat her up! Especially those big cheeks! We kiss her so much that she actually gets angry at us. She'll let out an indignant squawk and wave her fists, like "ok guys enough already!" Poor baby, with her adoring parents loving her to death.
We have recently been able to establish a schedule with Addie and that has been soooooooo great. She nurses for about half an hour, and then has "activity time" which might encompass playing in her play gym, going into her sling and doing chores with me, taking a bath, etc, and then goes down for a roughly two hour nap. Repeat the cycle until it's truly time for bedtime, around 11 or midnight, when she has a bottle with Tim and goes down for the night in her crib. She'll wake up around 5 AM to eat again and then she'll sleep until about 7 or 8 AM. She isn't actually sleeping on her crib mattress yet, since she still dislikes sleeping on her back. She actually sleeps in her crib, in her car seat. I think once she starts rolling over she'll be able to sleep out of the car seat. She just realllly wants to sleep on her stomach or her side and we can't risk that until she's able to turn over on her own.
I'm also happy to report that Adelaide has had several "firsts" this month. She had her first Carolina/Dook game...that didn't go so well but it's an important milestone nonetheless. Hatred must be carefully nurtured from an early age.
Here she is in her game gear:
Looking delighted with the hustle!
I like to think she's making her first "N" here...you know, "U-N-C, Go Heels, Go!"
Well, this is NOT going according to plan
She also had her first significant time with "babysitters" aka Grandpa and Abuela aka Randy and Terri, Tim's dad and his wife. They were kind enough to watch Addie so that we could (finally!) go see Avatar. The movie was great and Addie had a good time sleeping at her grandparents' house. I was certainly far more worried than she was.Here are a few random pictures from the last month or so
Relaxing with Daddy
She loves riding around in her sling with us. I told Tim that he looked thrilled, so of course he responded with the next face. Smartticus.
Napping in her swing. Just look at those cheeks!
Addie also had her first ice skating session. No, I'm not kidding. Tim and I took Addie to a Mayo Families Event that was at an ice skating rink. Tim whizzed around the ice with her. He held her and I held my breath. Everything went great and I only had a few minor heart attacks, so you know, that was good. I have a hard enough time skating when I'm breathing normally but I didn't fall. I consider that a successful outing!
In other exciting news, I've decided that Addie is starting to understand English! She wants to eat as soon as she wakes up from a nap (are you sensing a theme yet?) and she wasn't happy with me when I decided to offer her some potty time (yes, I will explain this later). She was screaming while I changed her diaper in that "I mean business feed me now or I'll bring this place down" way ....you know, "unWAHunWAHunWAH" and without picking her up or changing anything that I was doing I said "OK, Addie Bell, do you want to nurse?" Now, I say this every single time I feed her, under the basic idea of treating her like a little person. She immediately stopped screaming and instead starting doing her "oh goodness yes please" excited panting that she always does when she knows she is going to be fed. I was astonished. I didn't really expect a reaction, you know? I suppose this means we have to start watching our language (remember that Carolina/dook game?) already!
It might also mean that she is in danger of thinking that her name is "Pumpkin" or "Precious Pea" or "Punkin Seed" or "Sweetie" or "Lovie Dovie" or "Chumpkin (a contraction of Chunky Pumpkin I invented) or at the very least "Addie Bell". I'm thinking she isn't going to really identify with Adelaide or Addie for quite a while! Nicknames are very much a currency of love in our household and I rarely hear my name from Tim directly and vice versa. It's much more likely to be "Baby" or "Love" or "Exalted Leader of our Home" (that one is mine, of course). ;-) I have been trying to say Addie and Adelaide more now to prevent her from answering to Chumpkin Ewald for the rest of her life.
