Partners in Crime

At the age of 2 1/2(can't forget the half), my Addison has "best" girlfriends. I didn't expect her to form such "meaningful and deep" bonds with other girls until grade school. Miss Addison is already asking me to call Ceci's and Sophie's mom to "tell them to come over." The other night, Addison was pushing her doll pram around packed with stuff animals and dolls. As she raced around the house I noticed that she was carrying her toddler purse over her shoulders and saying, "Come on Ceci and Sophie, let's go to the mall!" Gee, I thought I would have to deal with the mall thing 12 years from now! I haven't been a frequent shopper in years, so she certainly didn't get the idea of going to the mall just for fun from me. Could it be her girl genes guiding her pretend play to spend the day shopping with friends?

Addison had an evening play date last month with her buddy Ceci. They had a blast making pizza. Notice in the photos below how they seem to go beyond the parallel play typical of their age. These girls seem to have a special connection even though they get possessive with their toys and parents. The first couple of pictures are of Addison and Ceci at a jumping gym. The ones taken of them at the table show their successful teamwork to ignore my request not to throw the table covering on the floor. The last picture is of the two of them enjoying and "discussing" a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse DVD. Perhaps they already know the importance of having good girlfriends to share life's little and big moments. Or could these Ethiopian born beauties have a special bond because of their shared history? I don't know, but for a woman who truly values her friendships, seeing Addison develop her own special connections brings me great joy.


 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

Two Years Ago...

Tomorrow we will celebrate our second anniversary as a family of three. It's hard to believe that it's been two years since Addison was first placed in our arms. What a ride this has been! Addison is quite the toddler. She's full of life, curiosity, intelligence, excitement, love, and yes -- tantrums. She has had her share of "Time Outs" and yes indeed my typically calm parenting style has been challenged. In many ways Addison acts older than her age. Her independence, awareness, and verbal expressions used in the right context surprises us quite often. My sister is convinced that she's been on this earth before. However, in other ways she's such a typical young toddler struggling to find that balance and comfort level between autonomy and wanting/needing to be babied. Over the past year, Addison reluctantly gave her pacifier to Santa (only to beg us to get it back from him), decided that she needs privacy in the bathroom, became better at sharing (most days), has formed opinions about clothes, hair styles, the music she listens to, what books are read to her, and of course which DVD she wants to watch. This year became even more special because in late December Addison began to occasionally say, "I love you Mommy" and "I love you Daddy" without prompting. It doesn't matter that these verbal expressions of love may occur 30 minutes after a temper tantrum. They occur and it's music to our ears. Happy Family Anniversary Addison. WE LOVE YOU BACK!

President Barack Obama January 20, 2009

What a moment in history. Amazing. Simply Amazing.

What a time in history! January 19th, 2009

Happy New Year!

Is mid January too late for a Happy New Year post? Well, better late than never! I hope everyone's year is off to a great start. Just within the last three weeks, Miss Addison has been to three great birthday parties for neighborhood buddies and a fun celebration with her Ethiopian born friends. My girl's social schedule keeps her parents super busy. Something tells me this is just the beginning of many good times to come in 2009.

 

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I wanted to take a moment to give you an update on my almost 29 months old (going on 6 years old) daughter. Miss Addison has always been super independent for her age but she reached a new level a few days ago. After announcing that she needed to go to the potty, I began to follow her to the bathroom. My little girl turned around, looked at me, and with authority said, "NO MOMMY, BY MYSELF. "I'll BE RIGHT BACK. YOU STAY RIGHT HERE, O.K! She even had her hand out motioning me to stop! Stunned, I responded "O.K." Making sure I stayed a couple of steps behind, I continued to follow her. When she discovered my failure to follow her orders, she repeated them in a firm and clear voice, "NO MOMMY, GO BACK! I WANT TO DO IT BY MYSELF!!!" After a few moments, I tip-toed to the bathroom door and hopefully whispered, Do you need any help honey? She initially responded, NO! However, after about two minutes she called out, "Mommy, I need help washing my hands." So over the last 72 hours, Addison has reduced my role in assisting with her pottying ritual to that of the hand washing helper. If her step stool had been in that particular bathroom, she wouldn't have needed me at all. Of course Aaron and I are thrilled that she has done so well in the potty training area, but I must admit that we are a little sad that she is growing up so fast and is already telling us to get lost. This parenting thing never ceases to amaze me!

Of course you want a few pictures, so I try not to disappoint. Why lose my HUGE blog reader base?:-) The first picture is one of my favorites taken around Thanksgiving. The second one is her school picture. The last two pictures were attempts to get a cute Christmas card picture. That didn't work out so I'm now shooting for New Years cards! I improved my posting frequency a little bit in 2008, so I'll try to do even better in 2009. Laura (one of my dedicated and patient readers), please teach me how to blog more often!

Halloween 2008

OUR LITTLE LADYBUG!

I'm not that into Halloween. I dressed up as a child and went trick-or-teating, but I never understood why so many adults go nuts over Halloween. One very grown up neighbor told me it was his favorite holiday. Well OK! I must admit that last year I was slack in participating in the neighborhood Halloween hoopla. All the neigborhood kids were dressed in adorable costumes, and all I had for Addison was some cute pumpkin pajamas. One sweet neighbor gently scolded me for "robbing Addison of her 1st halloween. This year, I decided that I needed to at least get Addison a cute costume so she could participate in her school and neighborhood Halloween activities. I'm so glad I did because Addison (and her mom and dad) had a blast at several Fall/Halloween parties and she looked so stinkin' cute dressed up as a ladybug. Once during the festivities I made the mistake of calling her a bumblebee. I couldn't believe how she quickly corrected me with attitude, "Mommy, I'm a ladybug!" So there you go. Addison has fully been introduced to Halloween. Her parents have been reintroduced to costume hunting and having an excuse to have tons of candy in the house. I guess it's true that having a child allows one to relive some of the fun times experienced during childhood.

Here's Miss Addison. Just don't call her a bumblebee.