Big Helper

Dave recently took a trip to Rwanda. This picture is taken while he was on a road trip to Uganda. The hills in the background are terraced for growing crops. I'll let him blog in detail about the trip later. My goal while he was away was to night wean Addie. Dave tends to be the softie when she's crying in the middle of the night. I am happy to report that we are on day 4 of her sleeping through the night! WHOOHOO! I was also relieved that it was a relatively painless process with only 1 or 2 rough nights, which were only rough because of frequent wake-ups and not long stretches of crying. I think Adelaide was as ready as I was to have her sleep through the night.
On occasion, Adelaide has taken a paper towel or tissue and begun to clean the floor (much to my amusement). Of course, this behavior is encouraged. To further her love of cleaning, one day I made a sink full of beautiful, warm bubbles and invited her to do the dishes with me. The idea worked well for about 15 minutes. In the end, she was in tears as she was soaked with now cold water as I rushed to rinse dishes before I abandoned the sink to tend to her. It was fun while it lasted.
No longer is riding in the shopping cart enough fun. Helping is the way to go. She was happy as a lark pushing that shopping cart with me. That is until she saw 2 boys riding in the plastic car attached to the shopping cart.

Aunt Jamie came and stayed with us for about a month. She was a huge help and I was so thankful for her presence when Dave was away. A. Jamie learned how to play the guitar over the summer. Adelaide LOVED the guitar. I am pretty sure she now calls A. Jamie guitar. Anyway, Addie loves music and has started to dance, which is hilarious! Enjoy.

Happy Halloween

Memphis layover

Conversation with Addie

Outdoor fun with Dad

Bonus Picture:

Dave's first attempt at pig tails.

New Pics.

Here's a glimpse of our busy little girl over the past couple weeks.

And just in case you thought she was always darling and cute.

Birthday festivities

It is the end of August. Wow. My apologizes for the tardiness to document Adelaide's first birthday.

We had Grammie from TX in town to help celebrate on her actual birthday, along with some of our friends here in town. I attempted to bake a cake that is usually delicious. Let's just say that there was a LOT of frosting in the middle of the cake and Addie preferred the fresh blueberries over the cake.

The next week we headed to A. Jan and U. Bill's cabin and had a lovely vacation with the Bell family. Grandpa Bell made Adelaide a wooden shape sorter that she simply loves to play with. She needs a little bit of help to get the shapes into the right holes but she's thoroughly enjoys pushing the shapes through.

We had a great week playing with kayaks, canoes, wind surfers, and four wheelers. Addie had some trouble sleeping, which seems to be a common theme for our travels. But all in all we had a really fun time and ended up with a quick trip to Unionville to see family before heading home.

Adelaide checked in with Dr. Taylor a few days after her birthday. She weighed in a 18 lb 10 oz and was 29 in tall. *Sigh* That means that she will stay turned around in the car for a while longer. The good news is that she has continued to impress Dr. Taylor with her developmental progress and overall delightful character.

Addie has indeed started showing more of her personality. She likes to talk with her hands, flicking her wrists to make her point. We received a bag of clothes and in them were a pair of pink flowered sandals. Since Addie discovered these sandals, she has insisted on wearing them. She will locate them in the house, bring them to us, and continue to thrust them in our direction until we put them on her feet. She will then clomp around the house as happy as a lark, blissfully choosing to ignore the fact that she trips twice as much with them on her feet. In the mornings as I am getting ready for the day, Addie will sit on the toilet seat (closed) and mimic my morning routine until I am done and we leave the bathroom. My favorite, although it's perhaps the most negative, is the times when she is tired, or hungry, or just needing something more from us and the situation does not lend to immediate attention, Addie will lean up against walls or door frames, throw her arm over her face and cry or melt into a puddle and at our urging stand up and move to where we are directing her and then melt again. I can't help but chuckle as I scoop her up to comfort her and wonder if she got her dramatic tendencies from her dear Aunt Jamie.

Summer

We've had quite a mild summer so far. Adelaide has still gotten to splash around in her pool several times. She loves being outdoors, although she isn't too wild about the grass between her toes. We've been taking lots of walks and spent quite a bit of time in the hammock.

Adelaide seems to have gotten several words down. Dada, mama, ball, balloon, and dog are all distinct sounds that she uses appropriately, although not exclusively. :) Our neighbor Bill would also argue that she's mastered "Bill", but I have yet to hear it.

Adelaide is curious about our garden and munches enthusiastically on the sugar snap peas. In the kitchen, she has taken to pulling food out of the cabinets and bringing them to us so she can try them. Most of the time we let her discover the new tastes and textures but I'm thinking that I'll have to put another lock on one of the cabinets and put some of the goodies in there that I don't want her having on a regular basis.

This weekend we are flying to MN to visit with Dave's friends from high school. We are really looking forward to seeing them and spending time at a cabin on a lake. We are anticipating that Adelaide will have a great time since there are probably close to 15 kids under the age of 7 that will be there. Sounds chaotic, huh? Time to go pack! :)

Fun with cheerios

Progress

Adelaide and I are in sunny San Antonio and are adjusting to the heat by spending lots of time in the pool. Addie (and I) started swim lessons at the YMCA this past week and all the experience has come in handy for Addie to feel comfortable playing in the pool. Her 4th tooth broke through yesterday so she's been a bit more needy but no fever, which we are quite thankful for! We've been having lots of fun with Grammie and the G-Pops and will head back to Grand Rapids on Monday.