* This was supposed to post yesterday so please excuse the mix up!
Addison Grace, today you are six months old and I can barely believe it. I can't remember what life was like prior to you entering our world but yet it seems like only yesterday we were bringing you home from the hospital. You make us laugh daily and you never cease to amaze me with your newly learned abilities.
You are by far one of the happiest babies ever. There are only a few moments during the day when there isn't a smile on your face and those moments are normally followed by bedtime. No matter what time of day it is whenever you awake from sleep you are always smiling...ALWAYS! I walk quietly into the bedroom in case you aren't ready to be up and there you are rocking back and forth in your pac n play peering over the edge with a grin on your face because Mommy has come to rescue you. I call out "Baby" and you just wiggle and squirm and just can't hold still. I kiss your round cheeks and run my fingers through your hair to fix it and I take in your sweet baby scent. It's mind boggling just how much I love you little one.
Mommy has been such a bad blogger and I haven't posted any updates or pictures for your four or five month birthdays so I am going to give your updates and then I will post pictures later. *Our computer hasn't been moved to our new residence so bear with me.
The last you were weighed you were so close to being sixteen pounds. My guess is since that was about three weeks ago you have hit the sixteen pound mark. You have such a good appetite when you pay attention but feeding you solids is such a struggle because you are such a nosey little girl, you pay attention to everything else but Mommy and the spoon heading towards your mouth. You are twenty five inches long and we can already tell you will be a long little girl. You are in six to nine month clothing because the six month clothing just isn't long enough for you.
These past few weeks have been a major milestone for you as you have started crawling. You're not a professional yet since you do more rocking back and forth than anything but you have crawled, especially when you want something that is just out of reach.
We are still working on your ability to sit up all by yourself but you are so close I can taste it. I think I am more ready for you to be sitting than you are but you'll get there before long.
Bath time has become quite the adventure as you no longer hold still. You flop around from back to belly to back to side to crawling all because you must have the cup in your hands at all time. This cup is bigger than you (plastic milkshake cup from Steak N Shake) and you are constantly trying to hold it just right so you can attempt to drink out of it. You have already experienced that that is a bad idea once but you still keep on trying it.
Diaper changes and getting you dressed is also no longer an easy task. As soon as you spot something you start rolling over and trying to take off after it. My life would be a little easier if I could just let you crawl around without a diaper or clothing.
As I mentioned above you are eating solids, of course this is only when you can pay attention long enough. You eat all of the fruits and veggies and just this week we have started you on Gerber Yogurt Drinks which you seem to really enjoy. You are capable of holding your bottle all by yourself but more often than not I still hold the bottle for you because like I said you won't pay attention. You see something you want...the bottles drops to the floor and leaks everywhere. You see Mommy or Daddy or anybody for that matter and you just have to grin which means your mouth full of milk spills out everywhere. I was not kidding when I said you smile all of the time!
You would much rather play with a cup or your bag of diapers than you would an actual toy. I don't know why we even spend the money buying you toys when just the other night Daddy gave you an empty Pringles can and you just couldn't get enough of it. Of course maybe it was because you knew what had once been in that can and memories of sour cream and onion Pringles flashed through your mind since Mommy ate them all of the time while you were growing in my belly.
You love dogs, especially when they are quiet since you still aren't fond of loud noises. We aren't even allowed to sneeze or cough in the same room as you since as soon as we do the waterworks start spilling down on the cheeks and that bottom lip of yours comes out full force. Grandma has a miniature schnauzer who is thirteen years old, Sassy has quickly become the center of your world and you stop whatever you're doing just to watch her. If you're in your excersaucer and she walks by you you make the funniest face, like you have to go to the bathroom but can't, and you form your little hands into fists.
I am so glad that this is my last week of work for a quite awhile...fingers crossed. Leaving you each morning is becoming harder and harder and it took everything inside of me to leave you yesterday morning. No matter what time it is you always wake up right as I am heading out the door and yesterday was no exception. I hand you a bottle, change your diaper, and throw you into bed with Daddy. Monday morning though you were not interested in going back to sleep. You just laid there under the comforter surrounded by pillows and all I saw was this cute little face peaking up from the covers watching my every move. I stood in the doorway with the door cracked waving to you and you just smiled. And then when I shut the door to go ahead and leave you started crying...Lord how that hurt my heart. I wanted so badly to walk right back in there and snatch you up but rest assured little girl...we only have a few more days!
Your new favorite word and pretty much the only one you will say is "hey". We all say "hi" to you and if we're lucky we'll get a "hey" right back. We were laying in bed Sunday morning when Grandma came in and she said "hi" to you, you said "hey" right back, talk about cracking us up! We can also get you to say "num, num" when we're feeding you. I'll say "yummy, yummy" and then you follow up with your "num, num". You still can't laugh yet. It's more like a giggle here and there and mainly it sounds like you have asthma and are wheezing to catch your breath. It drives your Aunt Megan crazy! You also remind me of a squawking bird. You do these short little squeal/screams back to back and I am not kidding...it sounds like a squawking baby bird.
Overall you are just amazing. I tell you time and time again how much I love you but there are no words to describe my feelings for you. A few weeks ago a baby just a tad bit older than you was killed by the hands of his Father. I cried for this child and his memory and I cried for the lack of love and emotion that his parents felt for him. The mere thought of someone hurting you makes me ill and I can't imagine my life without you in it. I honestly don't know that I could go on living without you in my life...that is how much I love you. How someone could not love you or any other child to the point of obsession is beyond me. I am so blessed that you are my child and that God chose me as your Mother. Please know that your Daddy and I will protect you until the ends of the earth and that our love for you is so strong we would die for you. We will always be your number one fans and we will support you through all of your journeys. We love sitting back and watching you go yet are sad at the thought. You are getting so big so quickly that we can't help but miss what we are losing. Happy six months baby girl...six more and you will be a year old and celebrating with a new little brother or sister. February is about to become a very busy month for our little family!
And on another note...when did it become acceptable for a complete stranger to come up to your child in the grocery and compare them with a butterball turkey? Just asking?
Shortly after she started crawling full time she started sitting up all by herself, something that I have been anxious for her to do for awhile now. Her sitting up makes bath time so much easier on me. In the past week or so she has started pulling herself up into a kneeling/standing position on us and on things low to the ground such as her toys. She is slowly becoming brave enough to attempt the couch and chairs but she hasn't mastered them quite yet. I watch her everyday and can't believe just how big she is getting and how quickly she is becoming a big girl. Before long she is going to be walking across the stage getting her high school diploma.
Another milestone for her which has benefited me greatly is she is more anxious to eat her solids. Before I would struggle to get them in her because she was so involved with everything else around her. She is finally this week paying more attention to me and opening her mouth wide enough that more good gets in her belly than on her belly. We attempted fingers food about a week ago but she's not quite ready. I am hoping that in the next few weeks she will finally be ready. Just this afternoon when Daniel was eating a caramel apple she went straight for it and grabbed it out of his hands. The kid is strong and she was not about to let go of it. Daddy was kind enough to let her gnaw on it for a little while. I wish her teeth would start to come in...she is gnawing on everything right now. She loves to drink her juice. We get her apple juice, a yogurt drink that is mixed with apple juice, and just the other day we started her on carrot/apple juice which she loves. My kid loves carrots and butternut squash and she is getting to the point that if we grab a jar of food and a spoon she takes off for her chair...she knows what she's in store for. I told Daniel just this morning that we have another foodie on our hands.
And not to be side tracked from the first birthday party but in the next few months we will be celebrating Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. I have always loved the holidays, the weather, the decorations, the family togetherness, the food, but now that I am a mother the holidays have taken on a whole new meaning for me. Just the other day I broke down crying much to Daniel's surprise. I am looking forward to this years holidays like you wouldn't believe just for the simple fact we will have Addison to share them with. Christmas this year is going to be crazy and next year it will be even better as we will have two little rug rats to share it with. I realize everyday just how blessed I am and I couldn't be more thankful.
Baby #2...meet the world. 
And only because I can only imagine what she must be thinking...
