There seems to be so much to catch up on, and I don't even remember now what's "new" that I should include. It's funny to watch her doing something quite effortlessly (say, enthusiastically putting money in her little piggy bank... we'll deal with materialism and greed later in life) and realize that really not that long ago, it took a lot more effort.
Dear Addison,
You continue to be such a little ball of sunshine and joy and opinions and energy and fun! It's amazing to see you blossom a bit more each day into your own little person. To start off, I'll share a couple of pictures from our wonderful week-long trip to Florida, because I never blogged about it, along with a couple other random notes that didn't fit into a category.
Check out this Adirondack swing at Pop-pop and Mimi's, and you got to see Nama!
Here is your duck-calling position. You love ducks!
Swimming is still your favorite - winter can't take the swimmer out of ya!
You do this little "Where'd it go?" face and motion all the time, especially when you hide something.
You and Aslan will always be BFFs. Look, you're even reading Aslan's photo book to him!
You actually know the people you see a lot, and have real friends:
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| was it something you said? should we apologize? |
We go for walks every day, and you actually walk the whole way and keep up! For a while this was challenging because you wanted to dart off in every direction (usually the street) but it has gotten so much better and more enjoyable!
Language
Chatty Addie! I'm not being as good about writing down all the words you use consistently, but from what I've recorded we're up to 150. It's getting trickier to count since you'll repeat almost anything and are adding them all the time. Later tonight that number will probably be different.
My favorites right now are "nunnel" which you love to say over and over as we go through the neighborhood tunnels, and "happy" which you will say over and over in a high-pitched happy voice while you're playing. You've branched into a lot more two-syllable words and even two-word phrases (like "help, please!") but pronunciation can still be tricky ("pray," "plane," "play," and oddly, "bird" all sound pretty much alike). Even when you're not using "real" words you babble constantly, sometimes really emphatically and always very convinced of what you're saying. You've looked me straight in the eye and repeated over and over "Doppy-Dat." Anybody wanna help a sister out on deciphering that one?
You can follow all simple commands the first time, and I feel as though you are understanding almost everything I say to you. A couple months ago you got REALLY into shaking your head and stating "No" to just about everything. That was fun for everybody! You've now learned to nod your head "yes" when you mean "yes" and even to say "yes," so it's great to be able to ask you a question (Do you want a snack? Are you sleepy? etc.) and know I'm getting the actual response that you mean to say.
Learning
Learning-wise, we've started working on identifying colors (some are consistent, some you only consistently get wrong!) and are working more often on letters. You love to repeat the alphabet, and can correctly identify many letters - either pointing to what I say, or finding ones you know and saying them. Signs, books, and labels are all letter-finding games now!
Personality
Many of the things I've talked about before are the same, but a big thing that is coming out is your nurturing side. You will gravitate straight for the baby dolls in a new place, and love to carry your "babies" or stuffed animals over your shoulder very motherly-like. You've started to pretend-play motherly things too, like giving them a play bottle, spoon-feeding them, and lining your favorites up in order to go down the line to hug and kiss them. I recently asked you to burp the baby monkey after giving it a bottle and without hesitating you threw it over your shoulder and patted it on the back.
You're also very VERY helpful, and have your first chores: feeding Aslan, which you do like a pro (even returning the scoop to the closet when you're done!), and Swiffering the floors, which gets you so excited you'd think I've handed you a magic wand.
Last update I asked, Are we potty training???
The answer is, no. We went on vacation, didn't take the potty, and now we've totally lost any beginner's luck or initial momentum there was. All for the best, it was freaking me out anyway.
Train train train
And not the choo-choo kind, though you love those! This is an age of training, as I was starting to feel back when I wrote your 15 month update. A lot of things that seemed challenging back then feel a lot easier as dad and I have learned more about training and discipline and are trying to consistently enforce everything. You are so compliant, aim to please, and are absolutely crushed when you're disciplined for anything. That last one is like looking at myself in a mirror!
Sleep
So great, so easy. Sleeping 7pm-7:30 or 8am (some days even later), and one nap in the afternoon, usually about 2 hours long. You get so excited when it's time for "night night" and wiggle and laugh as I'm putting you down. It's the sweetest!
Food
This probably warrants its own post, but this month has been hard. We had three challenging areas: little to no appetite almost all the time, texture aversion and, most seriously, frequent vomiting - up to 3 times per week. All of this was, of course, causing weight loss. Thankfully we are now exploring some possible causes with our pediatrician, and we might just be onto something. More on that later, but I'm so excited to say you've eating three meals a day for nine days in a row and have not thrown up for 10 days. And today you happily ate chicken nuggets as part of your lunch. This is huge!
Life is full of challenges and hard things, sweet one. This month was no exception with an act of violence at our community college, remembering the anniversary of April 16th in our town, and a terrifying bombing at the Boston Marathon, on top of other more personal heartaches closer to home. I wish this world were a better one to raise you in, and that you'd never have to experience these things. But rather than despairing, let them point you to our Savior, who brings hope and justice and freedom.
Psalm 146:3-8
Put not your trust in princes,
in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;
on that very day his plans perish.
on that very day his plans perish.
Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who keeps faith forever;
the sea, and all that is in them,
who keeps faith forever;
who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives food to the hungry.
who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets the prisoners free;
the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
the Lord loves the righteous.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
the Lord loves the righteous.
what a smart girl! and 150 words?! You know that made me cry. How blessed to have such a NORMAL kid!
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