A TOOTH!

While playing with Addison on the bed this afternoon, I noticed she had sprouted a tooth. Her very first tooth at 10 1/2 months! Luke and I spent the rest of the day trying to get a picture of it and this evening, right before bed, I had success. Look closely and you will see the tiny little ridges poking out of her gums. This was such a surprise! I was pretty sure Addison was just going to be a little toothless wonder the rest of her life.

Pictures with Santa!!.... uh oh...

We took Addison downtown on Friday to get her picture taken with Santa Claus. I went into this experience knowing it wasn't going to go over very well. I bet Santa Claus can be just as scary as a clown to a little kid!

Santa and Addison are having a lot of fun together!

"I don't know if I like you or not... what is that white stuff on your face?"

"NO WAY I am going to smile, but I won't scream since Mommy is here now..."

"I want to smile, but I just keep seeing that big scary man in the red suit..."

Kissy, Kissy!

Addison has learned how to give kisses. She loves to give kisses to just about anyone and everyone! I have been trying to teach her to make the sound of a bomb exploding after I whistle a high to low pitch, but she sees my puckered lips and gives kisses instead.

Thanksgiving

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving with Daddy's side of the family. Grandma and Grandpa Hopkins came to Blacksburg to visit. My Aunt Meg and Uncle Dan came for the holiday festivities as well. We went for walks in the woods at the Jaasma farm and had a huge Thanksgiving dinner. I sure do love turkey!

Here I am in the back yard with my new winter vest and the hat that my mommy knitted for me. Now I can be extra warm on all of our outings!

Here I am with my Aunt Meg and mommy hiking around in the quarry in our back yard. I am looking forward to seeing some snow this winter.

Grandma and Grandpa Hopkins gave me some new toys over Thanksgiving. They gave me foam building blocks. My favorite thing to do is take all the blocks out of the bag and put them all around me. If Daddy tries to put them back in the bag I will take them all back out again. I also got a roll and crawl ball that has been fun to play with as well. If I am getting presents for Thanksgiving I can't wait until Christmas!

I love bath time, my favorite part of getting ready for my bath is getting NAKED!

Fun in West Virginia!

It was an incredibly warm day today in West Virginia! Luke took advantage of the good weather, and high water, and went out stand up paddle boarding this morning while Addison and I hung out and Granddad's house and waited for him to finish up so we could get some breakfast. After breakfast we decided to make the most of the sunshine, and push off our afternoon nap a little bit, for a nice hike out to the Long Point overlook in Fayetteville.

The hike to Long Point is about 3.5 miles round trip and is fairly flat so it was pretty easy going. Addison had such a huge smile on her face while we hiked along. She is so cute when she gets excited because she crinkle up her nose when she smiles... she gets that from her mommy! When we made it out to the overlook she was able to get out of the backpack and stretch her legs a little bit by walking around. She is getting so good at walking and instead of me having to hold her up under her arms, she will hold herself up by my fingers.

After our hike, we went to meet up with a friend of ours who is working on a project for us and ended up getting back to Granddad's house for a nap at 3:30pm! Addison was very, very grumpy and I was so afraid she was too tired to sleep, but she was a rock star and went right to sleep, with minimal crying. I just can't believe how lucky we are to have such a good spirited and easy baby!

Addison will be turning 10 months next week. I am amazed at how quickly the time is flying by. Ten months old and still no sign of a tooth! Addison does not like me looking in her mouth, so instead of prying it open with my fingers, I have to try to make her laugh so I can get a glimpse of her gums. Not that she needs them anyway. Addison has gotten really good at chewing food with her gums. I wonder if it feels good to eat dry toast with no teeth, might be a nice scratchy, itchy feeling.

We took Addison out to eat for a late dinner. There were only a few other people in the restaurant with us, but Addison was fascinated by them. I have no idea why. She kept turning completely around in her high chair to stare at the older couple and smiling with her nose all crinkled and breathing heavily out of her nose. The couple kept talking about the cute little boy that was staring at them. It's funny how often I hear comments or questions about my "son." I guess Mommy needs to do a better job at picking more gender specific clothing! Nevermind the fact her shoes have flowers on them, and if they could have seen her shirt under the sweater they would have seen embroidered hearts, and even a cherry on her pants. Oh well! I think she looks like a beautiful little girl and that is all that matters anyway!


Uncle Nunzio and Aunt Sunita were in town for a wedding, so Addison was able to spend a little time with them. She had not seen either of them in quite a few months and was very shy. They went with us down to the river and watched Luke paddle on the river. She was initially shy with her Granddad too, but warmed up quickly. He knows just how to entertain her with his whistling and by visiting his bird Leo. Addison is fascinated with Leo! Leo talks a lot, calling the dogs and mimicking a lot of the sounds in the house. Granddad is now working on teaching the bird to say Addison.

Peek-A-Boo!

Addison has proved me wrong once again! She has started feeding herself. I think I was just giving her pieces of food that were too small for her, so I gave her a spear of asparagus and she loved it! We sat facing each other and while I bit of pieces of my spear and chewed, she did the same.

Addison loves to play peek-a-boo with Mommy! She plays with anything that is within reach, pieces of clothing, stuffed animals, books, anything.

Never Say Never!

How Big is Addison??

SO BIG!!!!

Addison has grown so much in the past month! She is talking a lot more, although it is mostly da-da-da. I have yet to hear any sound of the letter M or N, she is stuck on B's and D's. Addison is getting a lot stronger too. She loves to stand up and when I ask her if she wants to stand up, she stiffens up her legs so she can go right up into standing position. She loves to stand up and hold on to her singing cube while playing with all the little tabs and buttons.

I have said for a long time that Addison will probably never crawl since she absolutely HATED being on her belly. Well, about a week and a half ago, she decided to prove me wrong. Our little late bloomer is finally rolling around the floor and bed to get things she wants. She "crawls" by rolling from side to side and pushing forward with each back and forth. She is getting closer to bringing up her knees now, but still seems to be a ways off from crawling. What was the secret to getting her to move? Her Robeez! She loves both pairs (just bought a third today!) and will choose her Robeez shoe over any toy placed in front of her.

We have been eating a lot more big girl food now too. She really loves her vegetables, just like her mommy! She loves broccoli, cauliflower, kale, butternut squash, asparagus and sweet potatoes. She is getting more interested in fruit. I can get her to eat grapes, kiwi, pears, and if I hide it in oatmeal she will eat banana. Addison is a Cheerio nut! She loves them and whether she is hungry or not, will eat them, picking up each one and then sticking her whole hand in her mouth trying to get the Cheerio. I have offered her other foods that are bite size, but she is not interested in feeding herself those foods, only the Cheerios.

The weather is getting colder now, but we have had a few nice days and have taken advantage of them by going for walks, feeding the ducks at the duck pond, and going to the park to watch all the big kids play. She has so much fun watching them that I can't wait for her to be able to walk around and play with them on her own and not watch from afar.



Addison had her first sleepover this past month too. Her friend Ellen (and Ellen's mama) both stayed over at our house while both of their daddy's were out of town for the weekend. Ellen is such a sweet little girl and is very friendly with Addison. She loves to give Addison kisses. Addison is not that advanced yet, so she would just try to grab Ellen and hold on to her while squealing very loudly. It was so cute to see the excitement on Addison's face when she woke up in the morning and watched Ellen walk in to say hello!

"I am a big girl!"

Ready for the cold weather!

Evening at the park



"Watch me roll all over the place!"