G'n'R Out West

We had a great weekend with a bunch of university friends who came to visit.  A few of us have kids now, so it was fun to see all the kids interacting.  It was also fun to put them all to bed and to have some fun adult time.  Adelle was her regular hungry social self.  She spent lots of time checking out the babies and an equal amount of time eating.  She cracks me up.

We also got a chance to see my cousins and aunt this weekend.  My cousin’s just a had a baby a few weeks ago and my Aunt was down visiting her new Grandbaby.  It was a pretty fun time, and it was so exciting for Adelle to FINALLY meet my Aunt.  Adelle is of course, in love with baby Aidan.  She had lots of love for him, although she let me know that she didn’t really want me to hold him…I guess my arms are just meant for her! 

Adelle’s other cousin Luca was there too and the two of them ran around the house like little terrors.  They were really cute.  Adelle didn’t really understand what was going on…but she thought everything Luca did was funny and was all about following him around. 

 Unfortunetly for us, Adelle has also decided that she doesn’t like sleeping anymore.  The last few nights she’s woken up between 4 and 4.30 to demand attention, and refuses to go back to sleep.  Makes for a long day dealing with a tossing and turning kid all night!  Oh well, I’m sure she’ll figure it out sooner or later.

My Aunt’s appetizer Christmas Wreath…so good

That’s my little girl!!!  Adelle and Luca spent some time checking out and giggling inside of the pantry.  She came out with this mega bag of chocolate chips….I was hoping she’d sneak me a few but Kevin caught her before we had the chance to open the bag!
 

Adelle gives some love to Makenzie.  This is her infamous face cuddle. She does give hugs, but more often she leans in and cuddles with her face.

Yikes, this month just snuck up on me….not even sure where to begin, it has been such a wonderful month.

Something I’ve been wanting to mention but keep forgetting is the cuddling. She isn’t much of a day time cuddler (unless she is sick)…but once the sun goes down – watch-out! At bedtime she is primarily concerned with getting to her blanket in her crib, which she cuddles and loves. If she wakes up in the middle of the night it is like you hit the cuddling jackpot. She is hands down the most aggressive cuddler I have ever met. She’ll come into bed with us, and it isn’t enough that she is next to us, she has to be on us, and it isn’t enough that she is on us…she needs cheek to cheek. It is pretty cute…a little sweaty in between our cheeks, but it is like being wrapped up in an Adelle love burrito. It is wonderful to have a tiny little baby lie on your chest and passively cuddle with you. It is totally a new level of wonderful for me to have Adelle wrap her little arms around me and wiggle in to ensure that there is no break in our contact from head to toe.

 Sleep:
Ah sleep…love it.  She sleeps though the night like I could have only dreamed about a few months ago.  The last two weeks have been a bit up and down because she’s had a cold…but on the plus side…we’ve been having lots of late night cuddling sessions. 

Napping has been going really well.  We are in a routine again.  Mostly my routine is to tire her out as much as humanly possible during the mornings so that she falls seamlessly into an afternoon nap.  The last week has been sort of easy on that front, with her being sick we can hardly keep her awake for lunch some days.

Eating:
She still has her preferences, but eats really well.  We hit a bit of a milestone on Saturday night.  For the first time she noticed me tricking her.  We were eating this delicious fresh garlic loaf (white bread).  She asked for bread, I offered her mulitgrain.  She provided feedback to me about that…and shortly thereafter she was also enjoying some garlic bread herself.  Gone are the days of her eating the bum ends of the bread for me!  I wonder how much longer it will be before she catches me in my other tricks. 

Getting Around:
She is really starting to run now.  It is so fun.

Hair:
So much hair!

Eyes:
Mostly brown…sometimes green.

Language:

She has added a few new ones:

helpa - usually she’ll only say this after we ask her if she needs help….and after she has freaked out…I have a dream that one day she will just walk over and say it before the freakout…
MUUUUUM – this is her new way of getting my attention (or Greg’s).   mamamama and dadada are still used but this is the one she uses when she needs something. 
Beara – she now calls all her stuffed animals bears.  She is attached to one in particular…they spend lots of time cuddling.

Personality:
She has been pretty cranky the last few weeks because she’s been sick.  But usually she spends a good portion of they day goofing around and laughing.  She loves to be thrown on the bed and hang out upside down. 

Stuff that happened this month:
- you figured out how to use a fork
- you are starting to learn to ask for our help (this feels like a huge milestone worth mentioning even though we aren’t quite there all the time)
- you use a spoon all by yourself
- you love to organize the Hallo’ween candy at home, and eat it at daycare.

I took this tonight – she wasn’t interested in eating dinner, but she thought sitting up at the table with us was hilarious.  Check out her teeth, they have been in for a while, but just recently they have crept into her smile (if you catch it at the right angle)

Lisa, Blake and Marie came to visit us this month…Adelle and Blake got along really well

My cousins Kevin and Kathleen had their first baby last week and we got to meet him when he was just a few days old.  They are doing so well, and Aidan is a pretty adorable little dude.  Unfortunately, Adelle was a little preoccupied with eating to fully appreciate the beauty of Aidan…but she did have a little love for him after she finished her 2 hour eating frenzy.  Adelle is definitely going through some kind of something right now, she has been eating like mad and she has had 2 days in a row with 2 1/2 hour naps!  So relaxing for me!!!!

A little love for baby Aidan and his radiant mama…we are so happy to have him in our lives!
 

As it turns out Adelle is a little dare devil.  Sometimes we go to a pool that has this huge 2 storey slide.  I can take Adelle on it because it ends in a long flat section and not in the pool itself.  She has never really liked the slide..in fact it makes her a little bit nervous.  But she insists we go on it again and again and again.  Yesterday we went on it so many times that my knees were actually sore afterwards from running up the concrete steps.  Every time we got to the bottom she got all excited and could hardly contain herself.  By the time we would get to the top she’d be all nervous and clingy.  The entire way down she’d whimper and then as soon as we got to the big splash at the bottom she was pointing to go back up again.  It was insane.

I wonder if she will be one of those people who see a lake side cliff and think that they have to jump off of it…even though they don’t necessarily want to.  My sister likes to think she is still the kind of person who likes to jump off cliffs despite evidence to the contrary…maybe her and Adelle are more alike then we suspected.

Adelle is really into forking these days so I thought I’d post a video of her superior talents.  I love to watch my determined girl.  She is currently exploring two different techniques so I have posted 2 videos to illustrate both styles.  The first video also gives me a great indication of why our daughter says no 97 times a day.  Apparently, no is the only thing I ever say to her!  I think I need to watch myself a bit more closely!

On another note.  Adelle continues to be the zero personal space girl.  We were swimming with some friends and Adelle gave her little friend Alex about 5 hugs.  The last of which required intervention from me as Alex was clearly done, and Adelle need to be unpeeled from him  Poor little girl.  She just doesn’t get why people done want to be cuddled all the time.  I on the other hand totally get her.  This morning she woke early and wasn’t interested in sleeping so I brought her back into my bed and we cuddled for an hour.  It was so awesome.

We had a fun Halloween week.  Adelle spent most of this past week playing with our Halloween candy.  We think she knew what it was because she would often put it to our lips or her lips.  However, she never asked to eat it…and we never offered it to her.  I suspect the candy situation will not play out like that next year!  She did however come home with chocolate breath twice this week from daycare, and both those nights she hardly ate any dinner.  Sigh….

Adelle spent a lot of time organizing candy.  I love to watch her organize.  A girl after my own heart.  I know this organization thing is just a regular toddler stage…but I can’t help but be just a tiny little bit proud

Adelle pretended for the first time this weekend…or at least the first time that we have seen her do it.  She had her doll up in her high chair and she was feeding her with a spoon and a bowl.  She was being very careful and concentrating so hard.  It was really adorable.  This morning her baby was hungry again and Adelle was kind enough to take care of the baby’s needs while I got dinner organized.

Another cool thing that Adelle is learning is forking.  We gave her one for the first time this week and she is basically the boss of forks.  She must have been using them for a while at daycare because she knows just what to do.  In some ways they are way easier to use then spoons.  She is always just so careful and concentrates so  hard on all her tasks.