Today was Luke's birthday! Addison was so excited about it she decided to wake up extra early to wish her daddy a happy birthday and spend some quality time with him reading books and playing. This afternoon we all went to the river together and waded in the water. I tried to dip her feet in, but she was having none of it so Luke took over and played in the water with Addison on his shoulders. She was much more patient with her daddy playing in the water too! Addison liked watching all the people at the river and especially enjoyed watching the dogs swimming.

Addison hit a huge milestone today. Grandma Pagano called us this morning while we were playing and having some belly time. She wanted to Skype with us, so we brought the laptop onthe floor where we were playing and as we talked, Addison sat completely on her own! She was a little wobbly and occaionally swayed to one side or the other, or threw her body backwards. We had to be a quick a few times to make sure she didn't flop too hard. Luke and I are so proud of her! I can't believe how quickly she is developing! Play time is about to get a lot more fun now that she can sit up and play.

Sitting up all by herself!

We have been having a pretty rough time with Addison’s afternoon nap recently. Her morning nap is typically an hour and a half and she goes down so easily. The afternoon nap consists of fifty minutes of screaming. I go in and try to calm her, but that only excites her. I leave her by herself in the hopes that she will tire out, but she hasn’t yet. Our sleep help book suggests we let her cry it out for an hour. I tried yesterday, but only made it about 45 minutes. It was heart wrenching to listen to her. Uncle Nunzio gave us a tiny wireless camera that we attached to her crib yesterday. The receiver connects to our TV so I can watch her on the television. It is just like a video monitor, but about a fraction of the cost! Of course, it only works if her room is well lit, which is fine since she is such a great night time sleeper. I have been watching her during nap time trying to figure out what might be the problem, but no luck yet. Today we reversed the nap issue, horrible morning nap and great afternoon nap. I am going to keep switching up things until I get dialed in. It is so sad when she is exhausted and grumpy!

My view of nap time. Today was a success!

A week and a half ago we gave Addison her first taste of real food. I know, I know, I should have waited, but I couldn’t! Her first meal was zucchini from our garden pureed and mixed with mommy’s milk. She made the funniest face like she was completely grossed out! We tried the zucchini for about four days, then switched to peas for about three days. She was not eating much of it (which they don’t at that age anyway) and didn’t really seem that interested so we decided to hold off until she acts like she is really ready for it.

Addison, taking her very first bit of big girl food.


Addison preferred to spit out her food.

I went hiking at pandapas pond today!

Mommy and daddy took me for a hike today. I love the hikes at pandapas because half the hike is in the cool shade of the trees and we can go for a short hike because all that fun in the woods makes me tired.

I love my off road stroller. I can go anywhere and have a smooth ride.

The pond at pandapas is a great place to see wildlife.



Here is daddy and me at the waters edge. I love to be on his shoulder so that I can see everything better. His hair is great to grab hold onto as well.

Six Months Old!

Addison turned six months this week. It is amazing she has already been in our lives half a year(out of utero)! It is flying by so quickly!

In the past month Addison has finally decided she will roll over every time she is on her belly. She still doesn't like to be on her belly for very long but she has discovered she likes to play on her side. She will roll back to side, but always stops short of rolling all the way. She is also getting even closer to sitting up on her own. I will put her on my lap and brace her legs and she will keep her body upright. We have had a lot more "Boppy" time on the bed. She is fascinated by the crinkly dragonfly on the pillow so she stays upright for quite some time playing with the wings. As I played with her on the floor earlier this evening, she actually held herself up for about 30 seconds before falling over onto my leg!

I have also been putting her in her high chair and letting her play with toys on the tray. We have yet to introduce any solids, but I want to get her used to hanging out in her chair and testing her ability to sit up for longer periods of time. As for when the solids will be introduced... still holding out for now. She is now starting to show more interest and will often watch us when we are eating, but has not acted fussy about it. I have been doing all kinds of research as to signs that show when she is ready and she meets a lot of the criteria. I am really excited to take the next step with her, but because of all the pros of exclusively breastfeeding that I have told Luke about in the past, he keeps bringing me back to earth and talks me into holding off a little longer. We will see if I can make it to seven months!

Luke, Addison and I met up with Ty, Joi and True this weekend for an evening at their friends house at Clater Lake and then again for some fun at the county fair! We had a great time watching the boats at the lake, but even more fun watching the monkeys at the fair! Addison absolutely loved watching the monkeys and stared, mouth wide open, watching the monkeys jump around their cage. The petting zoo had all kinds of neat animals, a llama, yak, some goats, turtles and even a camel. We also walked past a number of penned sheep. Addison watched the sheep with interest until one of them walked up to her and baa'd. Her lower lip started sticking out and she slowly started to cry. It didn't take long to calm her and get her interested in the rams though!

Addison has been such an incredible sleeper these past couple of months! Every now and then, usually after a day of traveling, she is a little fussy when put down to sleep/nap. These past few days she has really become difficult. Nap times are usually ok, except for this morning, but when we put her down to bed at night she will scream bloody murder! Two nights ago it went on for about 45 minutes! Luke went in with her for awhile, then I took my turn walking her around the room and I watched her eyelids droop so I placed her back in her bed and the screaming ensued. At that point I realized I was going to have to let her cry it out and I sat on the top step, outside of her room, with my stomach in knots listening to her cry herself to sleep. I think we are coming to the point where she would rather play with mommy and daddy then sleep. Friar has been so attentive toward her when she is upset too. Anytime she is crying her runs upstairs and lays outside of her room until she is asleep, then he comes back down and lets me know everything is ok now. What a good dog!

Addison had her six month checkup this week. Everything is normal. Her head has grown a little more, but it is slowly making its way back onto the charts and because she is completely normal developmentally, we are all very confident that she just takes after her daddy. She is now weighing in at 15lbs 10oz and I think she was about 26 inches long.

Addison loves her bunny blanket and pulls it completely over her face to fall asleep. She had already pulled it away from her eyes by the time I snapped this shot.


Addison and Daddy like to go to the duck pond on campus and feed the ducks. She loves daddy time!

A duck says "QUACK"

Beach Wrap Up

What a great time at the beach this year! Luckily I was able to get over the flu with a few days left to enjoy the sun and play a bit with Addison and the family. Addison had such a great time and was not bored even once, which would be pretty hard with about eight people around all the time! Thanks Aunt Clarke for letting us use your home to have such a great time!

Addison, Mommy and Daddy relaxing under the tent.

Relaxing on the beach.

Addison thinks it is so funny when I wave sheets, blankets, clothes, ANYTHING above her while she is laying down. She kept kicking her legs and laughing as I made the bed.

She loves wearing shades!

Addison hanging out in her shades with her Great Aunt Clarke.

Check out those puckered lips!

This is very high tech age enhancing software. This is what Addison will look like when she is eight years old.

Liz and Addison during our last day at the beach.
Grandma Pagano and Addison

Addison is very interested in that blade of grass!

Addison loves receiving kisses from her uncle!

Addison's great grandmother came by to see us off!

Goodbye Pawley's Island!

Beach Baby

We have been at the beach for a week now and Addison is having a great time! She has loved spending time with all her relatives and has really enjoyed her one on one time with Great Aunt Clarke. She also was finally able to meet her cousin Hannah, who has another addition to the family baking away... another January baby!

I got sick last Saturday, had a fever and the works. Fortunately, there were a number of helpful hands that were able to entertain Addison while I tried to stay as far away as possible. So far so good and Addison has shown no sign of getting sick, other than the fake cough that she has now decided is a fun sound to make. She will cough repeatedly until someone reacts and then she will smile/laugh and do it again. She will also cough in response to someone else coughing. She is already taking after me as I used to pretend to be sick to get out of school on a daily basis. I'm so proud. :-)

Yesterday, we took Addison "swimming" in the ocean. I had already dipped her toes in the water a few times through the week, but we got her in waist deep yesterday. She was very excited and doing a lot of kicking. Kicking her legs is her favorite way to show her enthusiasm! She also likes to kick people. If she starts to get upset, her Grandma Pagano will lay her down and let her kick at her and that usually does the trick.

Another activity that Addison has enjoyed this week is watching Aunt Clarke's dogs Jack and Zoie run and play around the house. She is such a dog lover! She will laugh every time she sees dogs play. She loves to watch and explore everything. She has a great time going for walks on the beach and watching the ocean waves and people walking by.

Addison had a weigh in this past week. According to Aunt Clarke's scale she is now a whopping 15.5 pounds! She has been eating so well and continuing to sleep so well. Luke and I are so lucky to get such long nights of sleep and it is even more rewarding waking up to such a smiley happy baby!

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!