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!

Memorial Day

Addison really enjoys telling stories.

This was the most exciting point of the story. You can see it in her face!

We all had a great time at the Memorial Day cookout at Ty and Joi's!

Our little peanut had her four month check up this week. She also got her next dose of immunizations. It's a pretty stressful event for me. It is one of the moments in parenthood where it feels like you are making the wrong choice, no matter what you choose. Addison had received the first dose of both of these shots at her two month appointment, so I was a little less concerned about an adverse reaction, but it was still there in my head. After her appointment we stopped by Ty and Joi's house and sat out on the porch talking. At one point I looked down at Addison's leg and noticed small red dots on her lower leg. I started getting nervous and wanted everyone to look at it, but Joi reassured me she saw a gnat on her leg earlier.

We did find out that Addison's head has grown quite a bit in the past two months... two inches! I had noticed a few weeks ago that she had a nice sized cranium and I often told her it was because of her very big brain. After the nurse measured her head on Friday, I was a little surprised by the number and brought it up to our doctor. She is completely fine developmentally, but he did say that was a significant increase in size. She is off the chart! He is going to consult with some other doctors and let me know what he finds out this week. Other than that, everything looks normal and she is a healthy little girl... not that little anymore, she weighed in at 14 pounds! She has almost doubled in weight from birth!

This week's "What's New With Addison": Addison has started to laugh when I pretend to nibble on her ribs. She only does it when I nibble on her right side, and not every time, but the ticklish response is starting to kick in.

What a talker!

My cousin Bladen got married this weekend in Charleston, South Carolina so we packed up Addison Friday morning and headed south. Addison doesn’t sleep in the car like she used to, but she is still very pleasant and easily entertained. The drive only took about an hour longer than the directions said it would because of the stops, but we still arrived in Charleston completely exhausted! I tried to get Addison to take a nap before we were to leave her with her very first babysitter.

Addison has been napping so well lately that I was nervous about our weekend away from home with no schedule. I was right to be nervous. She was exhausted, miserable and cried all afternoon. I was worried she was going to scream for the babysitter the whole night. We found our sitter through a nanny service based in Charleston. They provide profiles for all of their nannies so you can learn about their background, education, experience, etc. By the time Karolayne showed up at our room, Addison was completely exhausted and was finally falling asleep in my arms. As I made the switch to Karolayne’s arms, I held my breath waiting for the worst, but she opened her eyes and looked at her for a minute than fell back to sleep.

The rehearsal dinner was oceanfront and beautiful. I drank a glass of wine and enjoyed the salty breeze in between the two dozen times I checked my cell phone. I was determined not to call and check in. I wanted to enjoy my first evening away from Addison and not think about how much I missed her the whole night. We arrived back at our room at 10:45pm. Addison was fast asleep and absolutely adorable. I felt great!

Most of the Smart side of the family got to meet Addison this weekend. Friday, she met her great grandmother. Saturday she met her great aunts, great uncle and most of my cousins and their kids. We strolled around the city market and stopped for some yummy raw oysters. It was really hot out and the restaurant was open air and not much relief from the heat. I had my first experience with a busy restaurant and nursing. I wasn’t prepared. I think she was getting really hot when she was up against me so she did not nurse well. Even though I stressed myself a lot of the time, Addison seemed to enjoy herself. She would nap a little, smile a little, but she was still grumpy from her lack of sleep. Of course, what is most important is that she looked good. Her Grandmother(aka Ganny, Nanna, to be determined) and her aunts and uncles bought her an adorable daisy dress that made her look like a little southern belle. I forgot her matching hat, but she was so cute anyway.

Addison spent two nights with her babysitter. Luke and I loved her and felt completely comfortable leaving Addison with her. Luckily, Addison slept almost the whole time she was there, which I would imagine was kind of boring for her, but made me happy because she was getting plenty of rest. Sunday morning, Mother’s Day, we had a quick breakfast with the family then made the long drive back to Blacksburg.

Addison has started talking this week. It started this past weekend and over the past few days she has been more and more vocal. It is so funny to hear her in the next room telling stories. Sometimes when I feed her she will stop in the middle of eating, look at me and start smiling and talking. It is so adorable I can’t stand it! I feel like bursting into tears every time I hear it.

Yesterday, Addison hung out with her new friend James. James is nine weeks old and came down to Virginia with his parents to visit his grandparents. He is already talking a lot and smiles quite a bit too. We drove out to see him and his parents, Jimmy and Bekah, today. We hung out at Jimmy’s dad’s house which is in the mountains and beautiful. Addison enjoyed lounging by the creek on his property while we took turns paddling around on the stand-up paddle boards. Before we headed back to Blacksburg we got some cute shots of the two little ones side by side.

James and Addison

Addison and I are enjoying our sunny day on the New River.

Addison and her Great Grandmother, Clarke.


What a sweet and happy little girl!

Addison loves all her pretty dresses!

Luke and Addison digging in the dirt.


Mommies and babies

True, Addison and Ellen

Addison loves playing her piano!

Who couldn't love this fat face!

Sleepy Time!

Since my last post, Addison has started to interact more every single day. It is so rewarding to see the little milestones that you read about. She is really examining her hands a lot these days. She is also grabbing at toys more and more. When I put something in her hand she will usually hold it with the death grip for maybe a minute before forgetting about it and letting it go or by throwing either into her face or over her body with a jerky force.

I have tried relentlessly to get more laughs out of her since my first success. I have given myself whiplash from throwing my head in all directions and making any goofy noise I can think of, but none of it brought more than a big smile…until yesterday. While Addison and I were hanging out on the sofa, I had to reprimand Friar who had been barking at the neighbor. The magic phrase was “FRIAR…STAY!” and she would immediately throw her head back and begin to laugh. Keep in mind, she has not yet mastered the laugh, so it sounds even funnier than a real laugh. I was dying!! I was so bummed that no one was there to share it with me. When my friend Kate came by, I tried to reenact it, but it didn’t work that time. Later in the night, I also found a funny sound that used the same force as Friar stay, that brought it out again. Luke was there to hear it that time.

This week has been nap time training. I have been reading the book “Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child,” loaned to us by Joi. I realized that I have not been creating an opportunity for Addison to nap. I was still under the assumption that she would just fall asleep when she was tired and it didn’t really matter what we were doing or where we were. Addison had not been napping much over the past couple weeks and I was keeping her up for long periods of time trying to entertain her, when she was actually just really tired. For the past week, I have been putting her down every two hours in a quiet place and she has been napping! She is sleeping for about an hour or more each time. What is crazy is that the statement in the book “sleep begets sleep” is totally true! I have picked up on her cues and noticed she is ready for bed earlier each night. I used to put her down at 8pm and she would go right to sleep. Last night, she went down a little after 7pm! It is great to know I have all the time in the evening to work, clean, unwind, etc.

Our other sleep success occurred yesterday as well… the move to the crib! I have made a few attempts at getting her to nap in her crib. Normally she would be content for a few minutes and then start screaming. I tried using the mobile, but that seemed to be more stimulating than calming. I tried spending more time in her room, reading books and having belly time, but when I would leave her alone she would start screaming every time. Yesterday morning, I put my shirt in the crib with her and sat in the chair watching and waiting. She was asleep in only a few minutes. I kept the shirt in the crib all day and all night. She took every nap in the crib and slept in it all last night. It was a bittersweet victory as I miss having her right next to me. We went in and checked on her a few times through the night to make sure she hadn’t escaped.


The weather has been incredible lately, which has really been great for getting Addison out and about. We have made trips to the river, where there is a great grassy park for us to hang out and watch the water and watch Luke paddle around. We have also been spending the early morning hours either on a walk or under the umbrella right outside our bedroom door. Addison loves being outside so we take her for walks around the yard every chance we get. When we were in Raleigh a few weeks ago, Addison decided to catch some rays. She is really excited about her beach trip in July.

Luke and I bought a bouncy exersaucer toy at a yard sale last weekend. It was such a great find and Addison loves it! She is too young to be left without assistance since she has not mastered the head control yet (we are so close!), but she gets a huge smile when I put her in it and bounce around with her. She also loves when I hold her and do really fast, deep squats. My thighs have been burning and I walk with a limp now, but it makes her smile, so I am happy. I think that she is going to take after her father and be the adrenaline junkie… oh the days of worrying I have ahead of me…

Addison is Laughing

OK, I got the first hint of a real laugh out of her two days ago, but today was a huge change! She loves when I make funny faces and sounds and she laughed for real today!! Here is a video.