Summer Is Here

Addison has been having so much fun this past month! She had a great time at the Giles County River Festival a few weeks ago. She watched her daddy and Uncle Ty compete in a canoe race standing up! Addison loves her daddy so much and cheered him on, even though she may not have realized it. After the race, we headed to a really cool little park on the river called River Bend Park. The park has a huge field and had some really good live music that Addison enjoyed in between napping in the stroller.

Addison spent some time with Gramma and Grandpa Hopkins. She had so much fun with them and especially enjoyed having Gramma Hopkins give her a bath! She was really entertained by her Grandpa making silly faces and talking just like Donald Duck!

Addison's most favorite past time is watching dogs, any dogs! She had the biggest belly laughs one night while we sat in the rocking chair and watched Lulu run back and forth in the living room. Every time Lulu passed us Addison baby roared with laughter. It was so funny!

One of her newest developmental milestones is that she is now reaching out for things. If we walk past something she wants to look at she will reach out her arm and try to turn her body (imagine how a baby rolls over)so she can see and touch whatever she has noticed. She loves windchimes so we take her outside and let her bat at them to hear the sounds. This morning as I hung her dragonfly toy over her head she reached both arms out trying to get it. I am still waiting for her to do that when she sees me!

Yesterday Addison had her first swim in the new pool! She loved the bright pink ring
of the inflatable pool and squeezed it for most of the swim. Then she remembered how much she likes to splash during bath time so she switched over to slapping her hand down in the water repeatedly. I had to hold her upright the whole time, but she is getting incredibly close to sitting up on her own. I have been telling her how much more fun she will have in the pool when I don't have to hold her, and I am pretty sure she is paying attention.

We are heading for our annual trip to the beach in a week. I am really looking forward to taking Addison for walks on the beach and maybe a trip to the pool! We have been down in Raleigh getting accustomed to the hot weather so we will be better prepared.

Addison is having such a great time in the pool! What a great way to cool off!

Addison Jemima

Wearing my hat on the way home from the Giles County River Festival

Addison loves exploring the world while strapped to her mama.

She may look unhappy in this picture, but really she is watching Harley, our cat.

Rollin' Down the Street...

We have reached a new milestone today! Addison rolled over! Ever since our doctor's appointment I have been much more diligent about making sure she was getting belly time. She has hated it almost every time. I tried distracting her with toys and laying on my back and placing her on my shins looking down at me, but she did not have much patience for either. Two days ago, I took her outside and put her down on the Boppy and threw the frisbee for Friar. She loves to watch Friar play catch and that was enough of a distraction to forget she was on her belly! I have also been rolling her over almost the whole way and showing her how to roll back. She had been successful at doing the 3/4 roll for almost the past week, but when placed flat on her belly she just could not make the connection.

Today we headed out to our blanket under the tree for some more belly time. After Addison watched Friar from the Boppy for awhile, I removed the pillow and laid her flat on the blanket. She continued watching Friar for some time and then began to rest her head on her hand. I laid down facing her and watched for awhile wondering how long I had before the screaming started. After about two minutes her head started to turn, the arm shot up in the air and she pushed off! I couldn't believe it! Luke was in the garage so I called him out and she rolled over a second time for him. Of course, I had to go on the hunt for the camera to get this occasion digitally recorded in history! I was lucky enough to get one more roll out of her before she decided she had enough and switched back to the old response of screaming and flailing her arms and legs. Here is the video!


Our other big success, though not as big as rolling over, is that Addison has slept about 12 hours straight four nights in the past week! She has been going to bed anywhere between 5:30 and 6:30pm and not waking up until anywhere between 5 and 7am. Yesterday, after a 5am feeding she slept until 8:15! I have been trying to feed her more often during the day to make up for the long stretch at night, since I have read that babies her age need to eat anywhere between 6-8 times.

I spoke with Addison's doctor a few days ago regarding her head size. He said there was a possibility it was hydrocephalus (fluid in the brain that doesn't drain properly) and we might want to look into an ultrasound since she still had the sutures in her head so a CAT scan wasn't necessary yet. Because of Luke's large head, and from what my dad had been telling me about my brother having such a big head when he was little I decided to wait on it. I am going to measure her head once a week and see if there is any more growth and if so, then take the necessary steps. As of three days ago, no growth! Hopefully this big head of hers means she will be a creative entreprenuer like her daddy and uncle!