These Boots Are Made for Walking

11 Months!

What an exciting month! Adisyn has been up to so much this past month that I had to write it all down as the month went on.

To start off, the moment we've all been waiting for - Adisyn is officially walking! She has been standing and taking a step since 11/11, then on Thanksgiving day she took about 2 steps and on 11/24 she took 4 or more steps! Here is a video from that day:





Mark had to work on Thankgiving day and originally we planned on making a nice little meal for the three of us when he got out of work. But, on Thanksgiving day we were invited to the Rousey family dinner and they didn't want to take no for an answer. We really love spending time with them and Adisyn really likes playing around Jefferson. Adisyn had her first taste of turkey and she loved it. She ate all the pieces we put on her tray. She also ate stuffing and sweet potato casserole. It was nice to share Adisyn's first steps with them so we had a memorable Thanksgiving around great friends!

The following day we decided to have our own little Thanksgiving at home when Mark got out of work. Besides turkey Adisyn had some more stuffing and sweet potatoes. She is really getting the hang of finger foods and is starting to prefer to feed herself. She even drinks her milk from a sippy cup!

Thanksgiving meal

Thanksgiving Day







Adisyn has a lot of special friends. At the end of November we went to the park with her friend Amelia, who's about 4 months older than her. She liked watching Amelia walk because she's so good at it! She also met, for the first time, Ava and Bella (who are a few years older than her) at the park.


Adisyn & Amelia 11/2012



Adisyn & Hunter playing at his 1st birthday - 12/1/12

On December 1st Adisyn went to Hunter's first birthday party. Hunter walks so good and can run where he almost looks like he's skiing with his arms back! She also met Santa for the 1st time that 
day. We went to a place called "Hatcher Gardens" where they had free picture in exchange for can goods. So, we got Adisyn dressed up in her cute Santa outfit and got her picture taken. The only problem was that the photographer took the picture right when Adisyn first sat down, so she wasn't looking at the camera....it was still a cute, memorable day, though!

Adisyn's 1st time with Santa at Hatcher Gardens

Adisyn has been to a couple play dates since the last blog. In November her friend McNeill hosted, then in December, Jefferson had a playdate where Santa came. All of her friends wore their pajamas, so it was really cute!


Playdate at McNeill's house 11/18/12

Pajama Santa Playdate 12/9/12



Pajama Santa Playdate 12/9/12

 

It's apparent that Adisyn is understanding a lot more words. On 11/14 she started nodding "yes" when you ask a question. On the 19th she actually said "dada" on purpose, when calling or talking to Mark. Now, she loves to call him all the time! She knows what the words kitty, doggy, mommy, daddy, grandma, light, fan, ball and dolly are. She also blows a "kissy" and waves "hi" and "bye" on command. Later in the month, on the 26th, she started saying "mama" on purpose (not just when she was mad).

As Adisyn is starting to understand more, she is also letting her personality really show through. She now tries to be silly and makes funny sounds like putting her hand up and down on her lips when talking and she starting clapping. The first day when she started clapping, on the 29th, she would crawl 2 feet, sit, clap, then crawl another 2 feet and do the same thing.

Adisyn clapping:



We noticed she is also getting more sociable because she wants to wave at everyone (and everything). The three of us went to the Greenville Christmas Parade on December 1st and she really liked all the music. But, what she liked most of all is that everyone was waving! When people in the parade or in the audience would start waving, she would just wave back to everyone around her. When we go in a restaurant or store she waves at everyone that goes by. Every morning when we wake up she has to wave at Mr. Snowman by the fireplace, Zoie, Guss, Camo (the cat), even the ceiling fan. She is quite the social butterfly!

After the parade we went to Roper Mountain Lights. There, you drive through and look at all the Christmas lights from the car. By this time it was getting late and she was really tired, but when I got her out of her car seat to look at all the lights she watched them like they were the coolest thing ever! We loved to see her face of excitement! It makes us feel like we're re-living our childhood again. I loved the feeling I use to have around Christmas and as an adult, I never thought I'd feel that same way again. Now, to see everything though Adisyn's eyes and to join in to all the festivities makes us feel as we did when we were younger.

Greenville Christmas parade 12/1/12

We really want to make Christmas special for Adisyn so that she loves it as much as we do. One thing that we decided to do and we want to start the tradition off when she's young, is that she understands the meaning of Christmas. Mark and I have been talking about this for some time and then I got a message from my sister telling us that she is trying to get my niece, Kylli, to appreciate less materialistic things during Christmas time so she is limiting her spending. I just thought this was such a great idea because we were wanting the same thing and to know my sister is on the same page just gave us the push we needed to come up with some ideas. To begin, we adopted a family in which we bought Christmas gifts for the family. Adisyn went with me as we picked out the gifts for the children. We want to be a part of this as a family every year so Adisyn will grow up and look forward to this.



Adisyn helping pick out gifts for a special family

We also decided that we are only going to buy a few things for her. We don't want her to think of Christmas as a time when she gets infinite toys that she doesn't even need. At the same time we do want to get her a few things so that she will get the thrill of the excitement of a few new things. What we really want to focus on is, like I said, what Christmas is all about. We want it to be a celebration of Jesus's birthday and not about proving your love through materialistic things. We have what we want in our family and we want to share that with others. To further encourage us with this idea was our Sunday school lessons this month were about the "Advent Conspiracy" which basically talk about the same idea of how commercialized Christmas has become. The lesson's don't necessarily say not to get gifts for one another but instead makes you realize how you can make the season more meaningful to your family to celebrate the real meaning of Christmas.


With this in mind, the final thing we plan to do this year is bake cookies to deliver around the neighborhood to the new neighbors. We figured we have about 6 new families living here, so we want to make some cookies, put them in some pretty packages, put a tag on them with a verse of the true meaning of Christmas followed by "welcome to the neighborhood". We thought it would be a fun thing to do as a family every year. Adisyn and I have been busy making crafts to give to her grandparents that we thought they would enjoy, rather than gifts. We hope this all will create great traditions for us as a family and at the same time get Adisyn excited about Christmas time, while understanding what Christmas is all about.

This pass month Adisyn has been trying a lot more finger foods and she finally has 2 bottom teeth! We thought she was teething long ago, then, at the beginning of November the two finally came through! Besides our Thanksgiving dinner, she has eaten spaghetti squash, wheat pasta, black beans, turnips and instead of processing everything in the food processor, we're getting her to eat more solid foods of things we eat such as meats, fruits and vegetables. She weighs almost 19 pounds now and is growing by the day. She hardly fits in some her her size 2 shoes but some of the size 3 are still a little big. I have been pulling out more of her 12 month clothes, although I noticed she still fits into 6-9 month clothes, but I guess that's because of sizing. She fits better in her 12 month footy pajamas than her 9 month ones. Her new favorite things are her dollies and sleeping in with mommy and daddy on their days off (after getting up at her normal time, we bring her back to bed and she has slept to 9 or 9:30!). She has also started trying to play with Zoie and is learning how to climb up on things (such as the mantel). She still loves to chase Camo around the house and he's realizing that she's getting a lot quicker! She loves to be outside as she'll kick her feet as we're opening the door. She loves being able to be more independent and she's able to explore the world around her!

We're all ready and very excited for Adisyn's 1st Christmas! We can't wait to share it with you next month!


I just love this video, so I had to share. Adisyn really doesn't like to nap....

One Busy Chick

10 Months!

Is Adisyn really 10 months already? She has had a busy month so it really flew by fast! Not only has she been doing some new and exciting things but she has also been to a lot of new places!

To start, for the long weekend on October 19th to the 22nd the three of us drove up to New Jersey to see my dad. The trip was supposed to take about 10 hours but took over 12 with traffic. Adisyn did really good on the drive, despite having to be in a car seat for so long. We spent Saturday with my dad in Philadelphia. We took in the sights, got some cheese steak and went to the New Jersey Aquarium. Adisyn really liked watching the fish, the sea turtle and the penguins.

Adisyn loved watching and trying to touch the Sea Turtle

 

Adisyn watching the penguins



New Jersey with Philadelphia in the background

Adisyn and Pops watching the divers

 

We left Sunday morning, but wanted to make the most of our drive and take our time, so we stopped in Washington D.C. There, we went to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Adisyn loved the Butterfly room! She really wanted to touch them but the #1 rule was that we couldn't touch! After leaving D.C that afternoon we headed towards Richmond, Virginia, which was about the 1/2 way point for us. We spent the night in Richmond before heading out the next morning for home. We really enjoyed the ride home much more because we got to take our time and stop more frequently. We had a great trip and I was glad my dad got to see Adisyn for the 1st time.

Me & Adisyn in the Butterfly room

On October 28th Adisyn and I went to a Halloween party. All of her friends were there dressed in costume and it was so cute! I love to see how she is able to interact with her friends more and more.

The cutest bumblebee ever!

Attempt at doing a group shot at the party

Adisyn and Jefferson (the magician) playing



On October 27th we went to the apple farm. It was our 1st time there, and we're thinking about making it a tradition. We went to the pumpkin patch, went through the corn maze, and bought some apple butter. Adisyn loved the big pumpkins there that were bigger than she was!

Checking her height

Not in the mood for pictures after her nap 

Adisyn loved playing on the big pumpkins

Pumpkin patch

Mommy & Adisyn in the corn maze

Corn maze

The following week was Adisyn's 1st Halloween. That night, we headed over to our neighbors across the street and sat outside with the fire pit to hand out candy. Adisyn dressed up as a chick and it kept her warm! It got really cold that night and the fire pit really helped. Adisyn got to see her friend Hunter, who was a lion. His older brother, Jackson, was Mario. We also had hot apple cider, spider cupcakes, mummy hot dogs and apple bread (all of which Mark made). We had a total of 1200 trick-or-treaters before we ran out of candy at 8:00. It was a fun night! Adisyn held in pretty good, kept her hat (or chicken head) on the whole time and at about 7:30 or so she started getting a little sleepy. Mark is already thinking about what he wants to do next year!

"My 1st Halloween" picture

One happy chick

Daddy and Adisyn getting ready for Halloween

Adisyn & Hunter (the lion)

Over the Sims house
 

Besides all the festivities, Adisyn has been up to a lot of new and exciting things this month. On October the 6th Adisyn started dancing! It is the cutest thing but I haven't been able to catch it on video yet but she does it whether she is crawling, sitting or standing. She will pretty much dance to any type of song or beat she hears, but she really loves her stuffed dog that plays music. As soon as I get it out, she starts to shaker her head a little, letting me know she wants to dance.

Since the 25th, she standing has been standing on her own and has been pulling up to standing in th crib. Now, when I say "standing up" she was actually in her bathtub, put her hands on her knees and stood up without holding onto anything or pulling up on anything to a standing position. When she did this she was so shocked (as was me & Mark) that she started crying when she realized she was doing it on her own! That night, she wouldn't stop doing it in her crib, in fact, the rest of the week she didn't sleep so well because she was so excited to stand up every chance she got! She is able to take a step but then dives towards you because she's still afraid to do it on her own....she'll get there!

Her new favorite thing to do is chase the cat around the house in her walker. She can go so fast now and the cat is terrified (but yet still comes out for her to find him again). She just runs, giggles and screams as she follows him everywhere.

Since Adisyn has been more mobile our dog Zoie has taken a new interest in her. Zoie really likes to be with her no matter where she is. One day when Adisyn was crawling around and Zoie was playing with her favorite stuffed squeaky toy and Adisyn seemed interested. Zoie looked at Adisyn like she wanted to play but then placed the toy right in front of Adisyn and walked off as if saying "you can play with it".  You have to understand that Zoie loves her toys! But, if Zoie wants to be in the same room as Adisyn is in, she stops at the door and waits for us to tell her it's OK for her to come in. Adisyn really likes Zoie and loves to watch her play!

Adisyn has had a few new foods this month: beets, eggplant, whole pieces of bananas and avocado as well as different flavored yogurt flavors like peach. She still really likes bananas and avocado no matter what form they come in. She is getting more efficient with her sippy cup and is cracking down on the paci habit and uses it only when in her crib or out in a restaurant.

For the first time Adisyn has had some separation anxiety. Any time I leave, whether at church or before I go to work, she cries. It seems like this month she has been more attached to me than before.  She prefers to play with Mark, but cuddle with me, but I'll take it! I know this won't last for long so I want to enjoy it while I can!

This has truly been a fun and busy month! We are so proud of Adisyn and how much she is learning every day!

And she's off....

9 months!

If it's possible, Adisyn is getting cuter and cuter each day. On 9/16 she started actually giving kisses -when you make the kissing sound, she does it right back to you. She is really comfortable waving "hi" and "bye" and she even says "ba" when she waves. When she is upset, or just wants my attention, she says "ma".

Since Adisyn is moving around a lot more, she is able to play a little more with her friends. She really likes Sunday School. When we bring her into her class, she waves "hi" to her teacher and I sit her down on the floor with the toys and where the other kids are and she just picks up a toy and starts playing. I don't think she cares that we leave because she's becoming so comfortable with it.

One afternoon Hunter, from across the street who's a month and 1/2 or so older than her, came over while Adisyn was playing in the front yard and he was crawling and climbing everywhere. Adisyn was mesmerized by him crawling all over the front lawn and she wanted to do it too! She gets on her hands and knees, rocks, then dives forward (which she's been doing since about 9/15.) She wants to be able to move so much! She is able to stand on her own for a couple of seconds (about 8) and she rather "walk" around holding onto our hands than crawling. She has found that she can now get around in her walker. At first she was only able to go backwards, but now she's getting better at going forward as well. She loves being outside and I put her in her walker so she can explore on her own. She loves to watch the dogs run around! She is also able to sit on her "bike" and push herself across the floor. Adisyn is really loving her new found independence.



It wasn't until 9/29 that she officially started crawling!

Then, just one week later she got a lot quicker:

On September 22nd Adisyn went to her 1st birthday party for her friend McNeill, who turned one. Adisyn really seemed to like it - she played on the floor with Jefferson, got to say hi to McNeill, visited other children who were at the party and played with a balloon for the 1st time (which was really cute). We noticed she is very sociable - she waved at everyone who we saw for the first time. Not everyone waved back, but if they did, she would smile and wave even more!

Adisyn & McNeill at her birthday

At Adisyn's 9 month check up she weighed 15 lbs 5 oz, 26 inches long with a 17 inch head circumference. Dr. Jack said she's doing well and she's right on track! This month her new foods were: kale, yogurt, broccoli, apples, Cheerios, and yogurt bites. She is getting too small for her size 2 diapers and fits good into her size 2 shoes now. She's growing fast and is definitely on the move!

 

Night Crawler

 8 Months!

 

Adisyn is 8 months and growing so fast!

So far, this past month Adisyn has ate: oatmeal, avocado, zucchini, asparagus, yellow squash, acorn squash, white potato and her 1st fruit was prunes, then bananas, and plums. We actually gave her some prunes because she was a little constipated and we hope that would do the trick. She seems to not be sure of new things on the first bite but then is happy to take more bites. Grandma doesn't think she likes the asparagus as much, but she continues to eat it, so that's good with me! Adisyn is growing out of her 6 month footy pajamas, but she still fits in other 6 month things. Her 6-9 month things fit much better now! She weighs about 16 pounds!

Adisyn's favorite things are her walks around the neighborhood, giving raspberries, smiling with her mouth wide open (you'll see this in her pictures), giggling and playing peek-a-boo. Her favorite thing to do of all, though, is spend time with Daddy. They have this thing that they do where Mark will kiss her belly or neck and she will laugh like it is the funniest thing ever! She really looks forward to this time with daddy and she doesn't give anyone else the same response...it's so cute! She's really starting to show her personality more and more. I love it that she can express things that make her smile, really make her laugh as well as things she doesn't like. She is turning into be quite the character!

Adisyn had her first weekend away from us. Mark and I celebrated our 10^thwedding anniversary so we dropped her off at grandma and grandpa’s (who live 2 hours away from us). I was excited that my in-laws wanted to show her off to their friends and how much they prepared for her stay. I think Adisyn really liked it!

Since August 8th, Adisyn had been able to stand, while holding onto something and has began "creeping". When I came home from lunch that day, I was playing with her in her room and I decided to try to stand her up, as we always do. This time I had her hold onto her toybox and she just held on, by herself. I really wanted to take a picture to show Mark, so I put my legs beside her, just in case she fell. She did great! She is able to play with her toys while standing and everything! She is really excited when she learns a new trick that she wants to keep doing it. Adisyn is soooo close to crawling. I think over the past 2 months or so I really thought she was going to crawl any day now. She knows how to do it, as we see her crawling around her crib at night so we call her the "night crawler" but during the day she will get on her hands and knees but then she either does the frog to get out of it or rolls off to the side. She really prefers to walk. She has pulled herself up a couple of times and if you hold her hands, she'll just walk to where she wants to go. She has a little bike that she sits on and is able to pull herself across the floor. She loves it that she can get to more places now....the dogs better watch out!


Having fun in the sand!

For Labor day weekend we all went as a family to Charleston to remember Adisyn's big sister, Ada. We know Ada is a precious angel watching down on her little sister. We had a great time in Charleston. We rode a horse and buggy ride, went to the South Carolina Aquarium, and went to the beach. Adisyn loved to sit in the sand for the 1st time to pick it up with her hands while she watched it fall through her fingers. I made a nice diving catch as I caught her hand before she put the sand in her mouth. While we were there we found a nice, local beach called Sullivan's Island. We originally went there looking for a lighthouse since it was my mom's (MiMi's) birthday so I wanted us to have a family picture with a lighthouse in the background. We loved the beach and we plan on going back. She also really liked the aquarium. She would stand up against the glass and try to catch the fish as they went by. Adisyn did well on our short trip to Charleston. They had a pack-n-play provided for us so we didn't have to bring much. We walked everywhere and now that Adisyn is drinking water out of her sippy cup, she's able to get some if she gets a little too hot. Overall it was a great time to spend time as a family!





1st time feeling the sand - Sullivan's Island, SC



Walking in the ocean with Mommy 9/4/12



Charleston park 9/4/12

Watching the baby donkey while waiting for the horse & buggy ride



Waiting for the horsy

I love to make silly faces!

Smiling at the SC Aquarium in the eagle's nest 9/3/12

Riverbanks Zoo 9/4/12



Look at how big the gorilla is! 9/4/12

Taking a picture with Mommy in the park in Charleston 9/3/12



Trying to catch the fishys at SC Zoo

Family picutre in front of the lighthouse - Sullivan's Island, SC

Hanging out with Mommy at the zoo 9/4/12

Feeding the Giraffes