4 months old!!

Addison turned 4 months on Friday - November 9, 2007. We went for her doctors appt -here are the stats:

Weight: 13lbs 4 oz (50%)

Length: 24" (50%)

Head: 39 1/2cm (25%).

The fact that her head seems to be 25% smaller than her body worries me a little bit, but the pediatrician seems to think that it isn't a big deal, and just said they will re-measure at 6 months. She is right on track as far as everything she should be accomplishing at this point. Addison was in a great mood at her doc appt until it was time for her shots. She did really well and only screamed for a minute. Once I gave her a bottle she calmed down.

This past week was a BIG week for our little lady. She tried cereal for the first time. Because of her acid reflux our doctor has said we could have started it a month or so ago. However, I have been hesitant to do so. She was showing interest in what Erik and I were eating -so I thought I would try it out. She has done okay - we have given it to her 4 nights in a row, but I think I am going to hold off for awhile. She doesn't seem to really be ready and basically just spits it back out of her mouth. We will try it again in a month or so.

On Thursday Erik had to go get her from daycare because she had a fever -turns out squirrel has an ear infection. She is on medication, and if it wasn't for the fever we wouldn't have even known that she had the infection at all. She has been in the best mood and didn't show any signs of being uncomfortable. Hopefully she is feeling better!

Once I wrote the post about her no longer being a good sleeper - I am happy to report that since Tuesday night she has only woke up once to eat (sometime between 2-4:30am) and has only fussed for her paci a couple times!! Maybe we are turning a corner here!!

Addison has a lot of family coming into town the next few weeks. Her Aunt Jessica is coming in from Chicago on Wednesday, and her Aunt Carla & Uncle Cletus (yes she has an Uncle Cletus ;) ) are coming for Thanksgiving from Rockford, IL. We also found out that Erik's Mom Dana (who he lovingly refers to as "Grandma Smokey") is also coming in for Christmas! Bring on the Holidays!!!!

Here are some recent photos of our pumpkin squirrel :)

Addison happy about being 4 months old!
Sitting up like a big girl.

Laughing at Mommy

She loves playing in her exersaucer.

Daddy feeding Addison. This was Day 3 and she did pretty well.

She kept grabbing the spoon. She would just rather lick the plastic than eat the cereal, hence why we are going to wait another month.

My sweet girl getting in some "tummy time"

Where has my good sleeper gone?!?!

Well for the past 3-4 weeks I can officially say my daughter is no longer the excellent night sleeper she used to be :( She used to go down around 7pm and usually only need her paci once or twice and wake up at 5-5:30 to eat. Well those days are long gone. Its a struggle to keep her awake until 6:30pm, and she wakes up multiple times (by multiple I mean like 20 times!!) for her paci, as well as demands to eat at 11pm & 3am. So pretty much Erik and I have been working on little to no sleep. She has had a cold since her first week of starting daycare and I don't think that is helping her sleep either. We are going to try to slowly feed her a little less each feeding in the middle of the night and hope that tapers her off a bit. She went from eating about 24-26oz a day to almost 40!!! I think she overheard me talking about how she was under 20% for weight and is now trying to make a come back for her 4 month doc appt on Friday.

Even with her bad sleep habits - I can tell you she is one happy cat! She has been so animated the past few days. She loves watching the dogs and if I give her something to hold she will sit there and hold it with a death grip until I pry it away from her. She is also SUPER close to sitting up and rolling over. She doesn't really try to roll over when she is on her tummy, but when she is on her back, she will fling her body to one side and *almost* roll to her tummy. She is not sure where to put her arms -but she is sure trying! I am happy to report she can hold her head up now for the entire time she is on her tummy - that literally happened overnight!

Last weekend Erik and I had our first "date night" since Addison was born. We went to the Comedy Works downtown to see Matt Kirchen & Debra DiGiovanni. They were hilarious and we really appreciate that Addison's Aunt Erin was able to babysit so we could go out. Here is a picture of my little lady & her Aunt before we left:

Addison did okay for Erin. She got up a couple times for her paci (surprise, surprise) and then woke up at 9:30 demanding to eat. Thanks a million Aunt E for taking care of the squirrel! I will post more this weekend once Addison goes to her 4 month check up. I cannot believe my baby girl is already 4 months!

Addison has a Christmas dress:)

Just bought Addison's first Christmas dress :) I love the the dark pink& purple through out the dress. Gotta love Gymboree :) Yahoo for the holidays!

Addison @ the Stonegate pumpkin patch

I know it has been awhile since I posted. I should have posted a daycare update sooner (sorry about that!). To start off with - Addison will be starting her 4th week of daycare already. It has gotten a little easier to leave her, though I still miss her the second I walk out the door. Her "teachers" are Miss Robin, Miss Becca & Miss Jenn. Robin is the teacher in the morning when I drop her off and Addison seems to have really taken to her. She usually will give Robin a big smile and that makes leaving a little easier. There are 7 other babies in the room and 1 more that only goes part time. Addison has really adjusted well, and I know she has a good time when she is there. Her boyfriend Cade is the only one there with her in the morning until 7:30am - so they get some good time to play with Robin before all the other babies show up.

It took a total of 1 week for Addison to get sick :( She came down with a cough Oct 12. I literally called the doctor almost every other day for over a week. They told me just to treat her symptomatically, but after a week and 4 confirmed cases of croup in her class, I took her into the doctor. Sure enough she had croup and had to have a breathing treatment and a steroid shot. I can say today was the first day she was back to our Addison!! She was really smiley and sweet all day! She still has a little bit of a cough - but she was in a really good mood all day. I am learning colds are just a part of daycare. I am so happy she is feeling better!! On another note - she weighed 12lbs 8 oz at her doctors appt and will be 16 weeks tomorrow!!! My baby girl is getting so big!

We took Addison to the pumpkin patch this weekend. It was sponsored by our neighborhood and just down the street so we dressed her up in her costume and took her on a walk. There were so many cute kids!! We brought a few pumpkins home and carved them on Saturday. Erik carved a Cubs pumpkin and I carved a squirrel pumpkin for Addison (since we call her Squirrel Mayor, Squirrely, Squirrel Momma... you get the idea)

Here is the squirrel sitting in front of a few of the pumpkins we picked out.
Daddy & Addison (10/28/07)

Addison standing up (with a little help from her Mommy)

Ready to go home!

And a bonus picture - this was from today. We took the dogs to be groomed and she was sporting her new squirrel hat from her Aunt Mary & BFF Reagan! THANK YOU!!

Hardest thing I have ever had to do....

Well I just got home from dropping Addison off at her first day of daycare. That is a picture of her right before we left. I got her in her car seat and tried not to cry the whole time while I was gathering up all her things. We got to the daycare and I didn't cry a tear (pretty darn proud of myself). We walked up to the front counter and I lost it :( Tears started streaming down my face and there was nothing I could do to stop them. Luckily the Asst. Director was SO nice and told me that I am not the first mother who has cried while dropping off her child. She gave me a Kleenex and I tried to hold it together to bring Addison in the room. She was sound asleep so I decided to just leave her in her car seat. I gave Robyn all of her things and saw which crib will be hers. She has the "prime" spot in my opinion. She has the crib in the way back - the least amount of noise and distractions. I was so worked up about leaving her that I forgot her formula and had to go back home to get it. So I left her there to go fetch her formula. Once I got into the 4Runner I started bawling :( It was honestly one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. I called Erik and pretty much cried all the way home. On the way back to the daycare Erik's Mom called me and had some comforting words... I think this will just take time. I dropped off the formula and there was now another baby in the room with Addison. His name is Julian and he is pretty cute. Addison was still sleeping in her car seat, so I dropped off the formula said thank you to Robyn (who told me that she thought Addison was adorable and to call anytime) and left. Again -I did okay until I got to the truck - then cried the whole way home :( I think this is going to be a long day. Its going to take all my will power not to go get her in an hour.... wish us luck that this gets easier - its got to right?!?!?!

3 months old on Tuesday!!

Well the little lady starts daycare tomorrow :( I am sure she will adjust fine and be well taken care of. Its a great daycare and the ladies there are really nice! Addison also turns 3 months old on Tuesday! I cannot believe she is 3 months already - time has flown by. She is cooing all the time and loves to stand up (assisted of course). She is still smiling all the time and has just started to grab onto things this week. Here is a picture of her holding on to her "pip-squeak".

Here is Addison showing off her orange sweatsuit before her day of shopping with her Mommy & Aunt Erin last Monday. The shopping days will be well missed!!

Addison was in her first wedding this Saturday as a "Flower Baby". Congrats to Annie & Gabe on their wedding! It was a beautiful ceremony and I couldn't be happier for Annie!! Addison was pulled down the aisle in a wagon w/ her BFF Reagan. You can check out Reagan's blog at http://reaganmaureen.blogspot.com/ The girls looked adorable and Addison was honored to be a part of Annie & Gabe's special day!

Here is a picture of Addison & Daddy before the ceremony. They both have the "stop taking pictures of me" face on ;)

Mommy & Addison - I don't think she was overly thrilled about the flowers on her head...but I thought she looked adorable!

And........were back!!

I know, I know its been WAY too long since I last posted. I am SORRY and promise to get better at posting. I will post and update and pictures and get better about staying on top of this!

So -Miss Addison is 12 weeks today!! She is around 11lbs (10lbs 9oz) at her last appt. She was 50% across the board. Her pediatrician said she is perfectly on track and right where she should be at this point(not to mention she is a gorgeous baby ;) ). We have had some major problems with Acid Reflux. She is now on 15mgs of Prevacid as well as special formula to help control the reflux and the major spit up issues we are having. She is supposed to grow out of the spitting up eventually....(I PRAY TO GOD!)

She is starting to smile and laugh and is becoming more and more fun to play with all the time!! I really cannot complain about her sleep habits (though as I write this its 11:15pm and she is stirring around in her room). She usually goes to sleep around 8pm and most nights wakes us up once around 3am b/c she wants her pacifier and then goes back to sleep until 5-5:30am. She is a great morning napper - but I have yet to figure out how to get her down for an afternoon nap in her crib. She doesn't want to nap in the afternoons and therefor is usually a crank-pot until her nighttime feeding.

She loves her leap frog music toy, her Baby Einstein lullaby cd's & a pink Poodle named "Annie". She also has this new stuffed animal she got today that Erin named "PipSqueak" that she was laughing at it all day. Addison loves watching tv w/ her Daddy (usually SportsCenter) and her favorite thing is to be outside!! She loves her walks, and loves to just be outside in the backyard and watch the dogs play. Its amazing how the outdoors can calm a crying baby

She starts daycare a week from today and honestly I am pretty broken up over it. I know she will be fine, and I have to say the daycare is really nice - but I am not ready to give up my days with her. I feel like she is changing so much everyday and I don't want to miss that. I don't want to miss all her milestones. She is honestly the best thing to ever happen to Erik and I. I couldn't imagine loving her anymore that I do now.

Ok - so here are some recent pictures since I know that is what you all want. I am sure most of you have already seen these, but instead of my e-mails -I am just going to post them on here. So check back for updates ;)Addison laughing at her Mommy...

At Lake Dillion w/ Mommy & Daddy

Cheering on the Chicago Bears with her Dad (and the Bears need all the support they can get!)