If she were armless...

Just a quick update this time. Though I mentioned in the last post that Addie has yet to begin rolling over, she has started to work toward that in the last week. She's been rolling onto her side for a few weeks now, but at least twice this week she rolled even further, stopped only by her bottom arm. If that bottom arm were gone, she'd be on her belly. Of course, we're not too conerned about that. She'll learn soon enough.

Addie is continuing to grow (naturally), getting longer all the time. She's still got a little pudge around her waist, but we're hoping a diet will take care of that.

It's fun to see how much more interactive the baby is getting. More and more she dislikes being awake without being interacted with. She's also getting more friendly with other people, throwing smiles around with reckless abandon. I'm thinking that the recipients really don't mind too much.

Addie is also beginning to play by herself more often. The couple stuffed animals that she has have been chewed on (and talked to) more than once, and she really seems to get a kick out of making noise with her rattles, which also have a way of whacking her in the head from time to time.

I suppose that's all for now. I'll try to put up a big picture post sometime soon.

Shake, Rattle, and Roll

Yes, if you want to be technical, it's only shaking and rattling. But let's not dwell on the details. We had our second meeting with the Parents As Teachers worker yesterday and were given a small rattle to entertain Addie with. Then we discovered that Addie was able to grasp the rattle and, well, rattle. And of course, we were obliged as parents to document and share this experience. Since my camera didn't come with a microphone, you'll just have to take my word for the fact that the rattle actually makes noise. Enjoy.

Addie rattle 1

Addie rattle 2

Addie rattle 3

Addie rattle 4

The Diaper Cover Photoshoot

We had a bit of a photoshoot today, intended in part to show off the diaper cover that Ame crocheted for little Addie. Sadly, it shrunk when washed and is on its last leg, as it were. Looking through the pictures, I decided that they were all too ridiculously cute to leave any of them out, so you shall be bombarded by pictures this time around. I don't think she could possibly get any cuter.

This Is Going To Be A Hard Habit To Break

I've uploaded two more videos for your viewing pleasure. In the first, you can clearly see that Addie is beginning to learn to fly by herself, without our aid. Right now we've got her practicing her wing-flapping; we're going to take her outside to practice actual flight once the weather gets a little nicer.

You can find the videos here and here.

Now with Video!

I finally got around to utilizing the video camera setting on my digital camera and recorded Addie in motion. I don't have the option to upload the video directly onto the blog, but I have put it on YouTube. You can find it here. (Note: there are a number of videos under the "Related" tab on the site that I have no association with. The website just put those up because they all have the name "Addie" in their titles.) She gives a nice little smile in the middle, then shows you just how mobile her tongue is. And her face isn't really as chubby as it appears (the apparent chub is a result of how she's sitting). They say the camera adds 10 pounds; apparently mine adds it right to the cheeks.

We had a warm beginning of the week and took the opportunity to open up the windows and dress Addie in summer clothes, including these very descriptive shorts:



We have now stumbled upon a fairly consistent way of making Addie smile, part of which is visible in the video above. When she's lying on her back, one of us will take her legs in each hand and move them around as though she were running, all the while talking to her (in the mandatory goofy parent-to-baby voice) about her running. Then, we'll take her hands and begin rotating them, telling her, in the same goofy voice, about how she's swimming. Sometimes she does the breaststroke, sometimes the backstroke. Lastly, we'll take her arms and flap them up and down like wings, again explaining what's going on. She'll usually go through a few cycles of this, sometimes running to gain speed so that she can take off flying, sometimes jumping into the water to swim, and sometimes doing just whatever comes to mind.

Not even three months old and she's already running, swimming, and flying. We've got a special baby.

She Just Keeps Changing

Once again I have gone too long without updating. Time flies. We can now most certainly understand when people make comments like "Next thing you know she'll be graduating college and getting married." It's hard to believe that she's been here an entire 11 weeks (as of tomorrow), but at the same time it's almost hard to imagine when she wasn't here.

I would like to take this opportunity to boast in the fact that on Thursday I elicited the first laugh from Addie. She was lying on the floor after a diaper change, was considerably smiley (she usually is after a diaper change; then again, I'm sure I would be, too) and had become rather wiggly. Determined to fulfill my parental responsibility of being as goofy as possible to make her smile, I began saying (in a funny voice) "Wiggle wiggle wiggle" and moving closer to her face as I did so. This, to Addie at least, was a fun game, so much so that began making happy noises (which she has been doing anyway). This of course forced me to continue in my goofiness, and before long she was creating those happy noises in such a succession that it came out as a laugh. And she did this multiple times.

Of course, Ame was in the shower for this entire procession, but she was able to witness the laughing (though not quite as pronounced) today. I felt a little guilty for getting the first laugh (I think I got the first smile, too), but Ame made sure that I was aware that, since she's staying at home, she'll likely be getting the first crawling and walking and talking (and bumping her head and breaking things and sticking forks in electric outlets) and so forth.

From time to time we'll hold Addie in front of the mirror, and she will occasionally make eye contact with herself and smile. I'm certain that she doesn't actually recognize herself yet, but it's cute all the same. I think she's just happy to see another cute baby.

We are saddened to report that Addie appears to be losing her beautiful (and ridiculously soft) hair. However, she appears to only be losing it, or losing it primarily, along one strip around her dome. Really, she looks a bit like Homer Simpson in reverse.

Addie seems to have discovered her hands. She has begun to hold them in front of her and just look at them, and can occasionally interlock her fingers to a certain degree. Her hands are also making their way into her mouth more and more. At times she will have one hand in her mouth while the other rests behind it, almost as though she's using one hand to hold the other in her mouth. This is humorous to us, but we're easily amused.

That is about the extent of the updates for now, at least as far as I can remember. It seems that no matter what I write, there is always something that I remember later that I should have included. At least I can always add it to the next post. Now for some pictures. These are just some random pictures that we've taken since, well, Addie was born. Some of them are relatively new, some not. Enjoy.

With matching zip-up sweather and hat:

Addie doing her best "I'm an adult, really" impersonation:

Preparing to go out into the cold for a trip to the store, we put Addie in this pink bunting to keep her warm. Lo and behold, the thing started to swallow her alive. Thankfully, we were able to rescue her before things went too far.


Preppy baby with her Ralph Lauren polo, her pink pants, and rather unenthused look:


Want a description? Read the shirt.


Lastly, here she is at two or three days old. It's amazing how much she's changed in this short time.

Odds and Ends

To start, I apologize for the lack of updates lately. Updating is the sort of thing that just seems to get put off until it's too late in the evening to do it, only it happens that way every time I think to do it. So, this post will serve to more or less summarize the past couple of weeks.

Two Fridays ago, we went in for our second WIC appointment with Addie, and she weighed in at a whopping 13 pounds. She's putting on about half a pound a week, which means that she'll be roughly Godzilla-sized by six months. She's still at the 95th percentile for weight, though she was only at the 55th percentile for length. This means two things: (1) Addie is/was gearing up for a growth spurt, and (2) Addie is short and fat. Hopefully the first one alleviates the second.

We went to St. Louis last weekend, which proved to be eventful. I think Addie met more people there than she could ever hope to meet in her life. She slept much of Monday as a recovery. At church on Sunday, I was surprised at the couple of people who asked "Is it a boy or a girl?" This question, by itself, isn't all that remarkable, but it just kind of makes you scratch your head when they ask that question about a child with a pink floral shirt and flowers stitched all over her jeans. How much more obvious can you get?

Addie is becoming much more conversant. Perhaps we're just delusional parents, but it actually seems as though she's beginning to mimic the basic pattern of our words. She's already added "Yeah" and "No" to her vocabulary, and she's currently working on "I love you." All this from a two-month-old. Who knew? Seriously, though, she seemed to want to stay up half the night discussing anything at all a few nights ago. This is one child that we will never let near a phone so long as we're paying the bill.

We are both becoming more and more convinced that our child really is adorable, and not just to us. There have been multiple occasions where strangers, with no social obligation to comment at all, will say how beatiful/cute/etc. Addie is. Talk about being a proud parent.

She's also at the beginning stages of being able to roll over, it seems. A few days ago I had her lying (on the floor) on an open diaper, airing out. I went to take the wet diaper that I had just removed to the diaper pail, and when I came back she was on her side and off the diaper. Then today, when I did the same thing, she managed to kick the diaper out from under her and kick herself about six inches up.

We gave Addie a bath while we were in St. Louis, and based upon the way she moved her legs while she was in the water, I am guessing that she's either going to be a swimmer or a frog when she grows up.

The baby is sleeping much better at night, something that Ame in particular appreciates. We usually put her in a disposable diaper for nighttime, since they pull moisture away from her skin better than cloth diapers (and thus she can go longer without a diaper change, a definite plus during the night). As of late, she's been sleeping well enough not to even need her diaper changed during the night, which means that it tends to weigh in at about five pounds by the time morning comes around and she's made all of her nightly deposits.

Lastly, here are a couple of pictures, taken just a few minutes ago. I'll let Addie wave bye to you all tonight.