Mmmm Good!

17 Months!

 

Adisyn LOVES food! Well, at least some days she does and when she does it's the greatest thing ever! As she eats, if it's something that she is really enjoying, she will say "mmmmm" after every bite. She seems to be eating better, when it's something she wants to eat, otherwise, if she's not in the mood she's "all done". She loves her breakfast and it seems to never get old - she eats yogurt with some type of fruit, or just plain with baby oatmeal mixed in. Lunch and dinner can be a surprise concoction on whatever we have around. She likes chicken and she tried quinoa for the first time, just to try something different for all of us.

We took a trip to the local pond to feed some ducks. Adisyn's favorite animals are "kitties" and ducks. She loves to quack like a duck and flop her arms like wings. She gets so excited every time she sees either one. So, we thought she'd really like to actually feed them:

 

 

 

 

Adisyn really likes to color with crayons now and she looks forward to her bed time books. Before bed we pick 2 books to read and she sits patiently when we read them before she goes "ni-night". She loves her Hello Kitty pajamas and will pick them out to wear to bed and will point out all the kitties on them. She also says "I don't know" and motions her hands for the "I don't know" sign when you ask her a question she doesn't know the answer to. She is tall enough now to climb onto the couch herself (and finally reached the 20 pound mark). She says "good bye" to things when we tell her we have to go or if she has to put something away. She can count to 3 and knows (and can say) the colors purple (and less consistently knows blue and red). She will laugh when she sees a picture of someone laughing or if you ask her to laugh. She also will repeat words you say more frequently. It's really funny the things she comes up with!

We had a great Mother's Day! Mark was off that day so we had a great day together. I really wanted to plant a tree because we don't have much shade in the back yard, so we planted a Dogwood tree. We also went to McCallisters to eat lunch. It was a perfect day!


Mother's Day



Mother's Day family picture



We all went on a vacation to the Outer Banks of North Carolina over Memorial Day week (including Zoie). We have never been to the area before, so we thought it would be something new! Surprisingly it took a long time to go to South Carolina to North Carolina (about 8 hours). Some of the drive time was spent driving up the beach and to the rental house which was in a 4-wheel drive section. The house was very secluded and very relaxing. We stayed just north of the city of Corolla and wild horses roam free on the island.

Adisyn & Zoie watching the horses from our porch

 

Going for a walk
 

Horses blocking our only way out

Out in the jeep on the roads looking for horses

 

 

While there we spent time on the beach, walking around the "neighborhood" which was all sand dunes and deep, soft sandy roads, hiking on some local trails and just relaxing. This is a video of Adisyn talking to herself on one of our walks:

 

Adisyn loved playing in the sand with daddy:

 

 

We spent one day on Roanoke Island, which is here the infamous Roanoke Colony settled. We decided to go to "The Island Farm" http://www.theislandfarm.com/ which is an old settlement from 1847. The employees re-enact the time period to see what their family life was like during that time. Adisyn loved chasing the chickens and just being able to roam free around the area and into all the buildings. We also went on a Ox drawn carriage around the area.



Playing an old horseshoe game on the farm

She loved the rope horseshoes

Family picture on the back porch of the house

She loved the chickens!

She loved running around the farm

One of the hiking trails we went on was called "Estuarine Nature Walk" and it was a fun hike in the woods then opens up to a nature reserve http://www.nccoastalreserve.net/About-The-Reserve/National-Reserve-Sites/Currituck-Banks/57.aspx



Walking on part of the Estuarine Trail

Looking over the edge of the deck at the end of one of the trails

The end of the nature trail


We also went walking around the town of Duck, North Carolina: http://www.townofduck.com/ourtownpark/. It was also a beautiful trail that went over the water and past some local shops. Adisyn loved pointing out all the birds that we saw.


Zoie, Daddy and Adisyn walking on the boardwalk

There are apparently a few lighthouses on the island, so we went to the Currituck Beach Lighthouse: http://www.currituckbeachlight.com/. There are 214 steps and Adisyn went with me (in her carrier) as daddy waited below so he could get a picture of us. It was a pretty good workout with a 20 pound toddler attached to you! She spotted daddy from below when we were up there and he snapped a picture!

Currituck Beach Lighthouse, Corolla NC

Me & Adisyn at the top (in yellow)


On the way home we made a quick stop at the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina:  http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/aviation/wbr.htm. A lot of the exhibit is outside so Adisyn had fun running around the grounds. It was a really nice tribute on the actual land that the first flight took place.


Me & Adisyn at the memorial. You can see on the ground the metal rail the brothers used to gain momentum for their plane and on the hill in the background the Wright Brothers monument

I hope you enjoy all the pictures and videos we really love recording Adisyn as she grows and the places we visit. We hope that these will be something she can look back on when she's older to see what a character she is!

Miss Independent

16 Months!

April has been cooler than I expected. We had a couple of warm spells so I was thinking Spring was finally here, but then it got cold again. Even with it being a little cool, after I pick Adisyn up from school we go outside to play before dinner. She really loves playing outside, being able to walk freely around and exploring. She is inquisitive about the flowers, dirt, acorns, birds and playing with her outdoor toys. She even throws the ball to me, then I throw it to her to chase it. She'll even try to throw the ball to Zoie! This past month, Auntie Jeannie sent Adisyn a talking picnic basket in the mail. She loved it! It also works perfect in her playhouse. She will sit and talk to it when she's playing with it, as it says things like "hello" and "goodbye".


Thank you Auntie - I love my picnic basket in my playhouse...

 

and I love to have a picnic in the yard too!



Playing outside after school

Speaking of playing, Adisyn has began to "pretend play" meaning that if she has two things in her hand, she pretends they are talking or kissing each other. She also has really claimed her baby. She is so excited when she sees her baby when she gets in the car after school but she hates to leave it when she goes to school. She is really becoming attached to her baby and she'll carry it around all day, feed it and when she's taking a bath, she'll bathe it too. It amazes me how she knew instinctively how to care for it.

Adiysn is being coming more and more independent. She wants to do more things herself, such as eating, rather than mommy and daddy doing it for her. She is getting very good at saying "thank you" and "please" when she wants something. Unfortunately this month she has gotten more particular with the food she's eating. I think this is just a phase that she's going through to exert her independence, so hopefully it won't last too long. Her new favorite foods (this month) are baked beans and shredded cheese. Not that these are the most nutritious foods for her, but at least she eats it! For some reason her favorite foods, such as bananas, are just fun to squish in her hand now! Here's some videos I wanted to share:

Eating with a spoon & "all done"

She is getting more and more communicative and I love it! She tries to repeat words that I say and she knows so many objects that I wasn't even aware of! She tries to say her name, which sounds more like "Aaaadi", which is really cute. She also tells us when she has to "poop" and can point out poop in the backyard when she sees it (I guess it's better than the alternative). Her teachers at school tell me that she's very tentative to the other children. They say that she takes a little to warm up in the morning, but once she does she walks around like she owns the place (in a good, cute way they said), not intimidated by any of the other children (some of who are much bigger than her, even though they're one as well). They said that she's very sweet to everyone and loves to cuddle. They all think it's hilarious that she eats a lot and she makes a huge mess! It's comforting knowing how she acts when we're not around. I realize some of her personality traits will be phases of her development, but some things, such as being sweet, are a just her!

 

"Happy and You know It"

 

 

 

We went to the Greenville Zoo http://www.greenvillezoo.com/for the first time this season and Adisyn is more excited about seeing all of the animals. She really enjoys watching all the animals, especially the monkeys, giraffes, birds, chicken and goats.

Watching the monkeys with Mommy

Daddy and Adisyn 4/2013



 

Mommy & Adisyn on the bear 6/2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also made our first trip of the season to Hatcher Gardens http://hatchergarden.org/. She loved smelling all the different flowers and watching the squirls run everywhere!





Smelling flowers 5/2013



3 Months Old pictures (4/2012) in front of same flowers!

Bye bye!

I also wanted to share some of the more recent hair bows and wall hanging that I made

Wall design we made

Some hair bows and flowers I made





Grandma made Adisyn a monkey and cat and I put them on a clip for her hair



 

 

 

Mockingbird

15 Months!

Adisyn had her 15 month check-up and she's staying on track! She's 19 lbs, 3 oz and 29 inches long. All of her 12-18 month clothes are out of our upstairs storage, which is mostly summer things hoping she could start wearing them. Even though Adisyn is wearing 12 month size clothes, her pants are still too big around the waist and I usually have to fold up the legs too. But, it's really all about the brand because some things fit really good, some are too small and some are way too big. There are some 9-12 month clothes that are still in her closet that fit fine, but all of the 6 - 9 month clothes have moved out. For some reason I hate putting them away because they're all so cute! But, we have a lot of 12-18 month summer clothes to look forward to! Surprisingly she's still in her size 3 shoes. But, just like anything else, it depends on the brand because I found that the Stride Rite that I bought on consignment fits her a lot better than other brands, which are way too big in the same size! I can't wait to put all of her cute sandals to use that found on consignment too!

Adisyn almost had her first kiss when we went to see Jefferson. They were playing together and I noticed Jefferson leaning over towards her, but Adisyn backed away. Later on they were walking around and Jefferson started doing it again. I asked Paige (his mother) if he likes to give kisses and she said they he doesn't even give her kisses! But when Jefferson leaned in Adisyn started pushing on his face to get him away. I guess she's playing hard to get!

On St. Patrick's Day I found a cute green dress that Adisyn could wear in her new 12-18 month clothes. It seems like all the other green clothes are really summery. Mark got out of work early so we went to McAllister's Deli (which has my favorite sweet tea by the way) and had a nice little family dinner.

St. Patrick's Day

Eating at McAlisters doing the "Itsy Bitsy Spider"

Picking out what book to read

We also had a great Easter! We weren't sure how Adisyn would do with the whole Easter egg hunt, so we first practiced Easter morning, before heading to Grandma and Grandpa's house. Once we showed her the Easter basket and what to do with the eggs, she picked it up right away! She went around the living room picking up all the eggs and putting them in her basket. We then all went to North Carolina to Grandma and Grandpa's house and they also hid some eggs for her. She was a natural! She loved it! We had Easter dinner there, then made the trip home. We all had a great day!
 

Easter morning

Easter morning with her bunny (that she got when she was a baby)

Easter egg hunt Easter morning



She found all the Easter eggs!

Making sure all the Easter eggs were in her basket

Just arrived at Grandma & Grandpa's

Picking up all the eggs

Easter picture with Grandma & Grandpa

Carrying her Easter basket and her new ducky around everywhere



Easter evening - she has her Easter bunny outfit on



The first week of April we all went to the beach for a little weekend get-away. We went to Brookgreen Gardens http://www.brookgreen.org/ and it was a beautiful place! Adisyn has learned how to smell flowers and with all the flowers now in bloom she loves looking at all the colors and smelling them all! Her favorite part was the zoo and they had a walking tour to watch them feed all the animals. She loved walking around, feeling "independent" going from animal to animal. When they would show us a new animal she would say "hi" to it. She met a little boy on the trail that was 2 weeks older than Adisyn and he was so much bigger than her!

Watching the horses

Watching the cows

 

Family picture at the swamp aviary

Adisyn with Liam - she was trying to talk to him, but he wasn't interested

Adisyn having fun on Daddy's shoulders

Adisyn watching the birds in the swamp aviary - I was worried she wanted to get too close to the birds in the water!

Later that day we went to the beach. It was a little chilly because temperatures were in the mid 70's, but there was a cool ocean breeze, but that didn't stop Adisyn from enjoying playing with daddy in the sand! Mark would build a sand castle and Adisyn would have fun knocking it down. Mark was showing her how to pack the bucket with sand and she followed in her footsteps and was doing it right with him. I brought her to the water so she could feel it on her feet, even though it was cold. We watched the water come up to our feet and Adisyn wasn't sure what to think of it. Then, the next little wave came up to our feet and it was a little stronger than the last and Adisyn feel on her butt. She was more shocked than anything, but I grabbed her and scooped her up and she just cuddled up to me as we took her back to the hotel. We had a relaxing and fun weekend!

Watching the waves

Adisyn wasn't too sure about the waves at first

Walking in the sand

Making sandcastles with Daddy

 

Playing in the sand

I noticed Adisyn is talking more and more. She can repeat some words if you ask her and she loves to "talk" on the phone. When I call Grandma, Grandpa, MiMi or when daddy is working, she is getting good about saying "hi" when they answer and is pretty entertained with the whole thing. She has a set of keys that have a car door lock/unlock buttons on them and she thinks it's a cell phone, so she talks on that too, as she holds it up to her ear. She even has a toy rotary phone that was given to her (I didn't know they made them any more) and when I showed it to her, she acted like she knew what it was and she picked up the phone and said "hi dada".

Adisyn likes music. She will dance when she hears it and she has some drums that she plays and will dance as well. Her favorite songs are still "If You're Happy and You Know It" as she will clap her hands when they tell you to, but she also now plays along with "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "Patty Cake".

Her other favorite things are:

Food: bananas (she gets very excited when you ask her if she wants one), black beans, oranges, yogurt, bread (or anything she can hold onto and eat), and drinking from a straw (which she has been doing for some time, but she's really good at it now)

Toys: baby dolls, toy keys, her rubber ducky, and bubbles


She loves putting her "bracelets" in the bathtub!

Games:  her rocking chair (which she will entertain herself by going on and off of it continuously), chasing Daddy around the couch, chasing the cat and puts her rings around her wrist like bracelets during bath time

She loves to sit in her rocking chair with everything!

Clothing:  her shoes, her pink hat, and anything for her hair (although she won't always keep her headbands in, now that she knows how to take them off)

Trying to put her headband on herself

She wanted to keep her headband on all morning!

Things to do: She loves to cuddle, give hugs, give kisses (but she looks like a fish when she's doing it), she likes to pick out books and sit on your lap to read (but it doesn't last too long) and point to body parts: she knows where her: nose, ears, mouth, lips, teeth, hair, head, ears, tummy, belly button, hands, and feet are. She also loves her playhouse. Adisyn's cousin Sarah gave her the playhouse and Mark put it together about a month ago, but she wasn't able to use it. One of Adisyn's favorite things is taking things out of the cabinets, so we put some Tupperware and cups in her playhouse and she can play with them now in her own house. We haven't been able to use the playhouse much yet, but when it gets warmer it's going to be a nice shady spot for her to go! Adisyn really likes to swing and go down the slide. She's almost able to do the slide on her own now!

She loves sitting in her chair in her playhouse

Washing dishes in her playhouse

Her new words are: "kitty" when she sees any cat, a picture of a cat, or even a small dog, says "milk" or more like "mmm", "nose", "eyes", "book" or "bbboo", "shhhh" with her finger over her mouth (especially if the dogs bark), "eat", "shoes" she points out her shoes any time we see them or anyone else's shoes, tells Zoie "ahh" when feeding her (she gets that from us telling her "say ahh" when we feed her a bite), "zozee" for Zoie's name, "poop" at times, when she's urinating or pooping in her diaper, and she will even sit on her potty when I'm using the bathroom sometimes.

As we're spending more time outside it gives us more opportunities for Adisyn to explore new things. She is mesmerized by the many new things out there and we just love watching her learn each day!