The summer has started...

... at least the summer session at Daycare anyway. Today was a bitter-sweet day. Addison started daycare. Since my job can be quite demanding at times, we had decided it would probably be a good idea to enroll Addison in the same daycare Troy attends. Their program is in very high demand, so we requested 1 day a week starting with the summer session (and for the fall/spring session). It was hard to tell back in March where she would be at this point, so we figured it would be better to sign up for the day and change it later if we needed to. Since Tim got there early and was the 8th person in line, we got our request. We had until May 4th to make any changes, which came and passed before I even realized it. I had sort of decided to hold her off until this fall since she isn't walking yet and would have to go to the nursery instead of the 1 year olds' class. But, since it was too late to change, she went to the nursery this morning.

She had gotten up at 5a.m. (teething again) and ended up falling asleep by 7, so she didn't actually go until closer to 10. They said she did GREAT! Of course she did. She's a great baby. She only napped about 45 minutes, but the little aquarium toy they have on her crib was apparently enough to lull her to sleep today. She naps really well for me at home, but never does well on the road so I was a little nervous. It was a little bitter sweet for me to have a day to get things done. I'm on a work break right now, with new meetings starting up in mid-June, so I took advantage of the time to run some errands and start some spring cleaning. The day flew by in a flash and before I knew it she had scooted back over to my arms.

Troy also moved up to the 3 year olds' class today. He's more than ready to move up to the next level of skills, but I'm not as excited about the fact that they don't offer a nap. They have quiet time with a video (where I guess some of the kids actually drift off to sleep). I'm still not sure about this since he usually naps for 2-3 hours at home. It was a little rough tonight after he got home, so we'll have to play it by ear to see if it gets any better.

Other than that, things have been zipping by (and I don't even have any photos to show for it). Addison is working on more teeth. This time it's 4 on top... all at the same time. NOT FUN! Troy is still obsessed with all things creepy and crawly. We're all looking forward to the nicer weather sticking around for a while (although it's rainy this week). I think we might even break out the kiddy pool this weekend. I'll surely get pictures of that.

Birthday Take 2

We had a little party for Addison's 1st Birthday today. It started off a cold rainy day, but by the time the afternoon gathering began the clouds had cleared and the sun was shining. We cooked out and kept it simple, which was definitely the way to go. I think every one had a wonderful time... especially Addison.

She tried some new things today - hamburger. She really seemed to like it. Actually, she had a lot to eat. This is also a good before picture for what comes later... another newbie - chocolate cake.

I couldn't decide what kind of cake, but mid-week decided a May flower was only appropriate for the occasion. I'm not good at decorating cakes, but... I can arrange cupcakes to get the general point across. I love the flavor of the Wilton Whipped Frosting I use, but it doesn't hold it's shape well. I think her "cake" still turned out pretty cute. The bug is a little gummy bug that I picked up at after Easter sales. It was a fun addition.

Addison didn't even wait for us to finish singing "Happy Birthday" before she dug in to the frosting. I think it was a huge hit. She actually wasn't very fond of the chocolate cupcake, but the yellow cake a whipped icing were super.

Here are some pictures of just how yummy it was...

Now that's a fun day!

A look back

I did this with Troy and was curious if I could pull it off for Addison too...

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AND OUR BIG 1 YEAR OLD PRINCESS!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ADDISON!!!!

Wow! It's been a year. At times it feels like the time has flown by in a flash. At other times I can't imagine our life without her. Addison has been such a joy in our life. She's one of the most laid back babies I know. I thought it would be a good time to share some Addisonism...

-- We've all seen the scoot. While she has modified it a little, she still refuses to crawl.
-- So loves to clap and wave 'bye-bye'
-- When she finds my car keys, she scoots over to the garage door and bangs them while babbling "ba-ba". I'd say she's giving me hints, but she hates riding in the car.
-- She has learned to drop her fo-fun (pacifier) and fo0-foo bunny in her bed at the end of naptime/bedtime... and is very proud of herself when she does.
-- Macoroni & Cheese Baby Food is her favorite... but Kraft Mac-N-Cheese makes her break out in hives.
-- She watches very carefully to see how things work (and where they go) and then will concentrate really hard while she tries to do it.

I know she has a lot more... but it's late and has been a rough week, so I'll switch to tons of photos instead.

Addison - 1 year old





















We kept today pretty low key. Troy had daycare, I was swamped with work, and there were guys re-roofing our house, so we just hung out close to home.





















Addison had a little party (and cake) when we were in Champaign a couple weekends ago...

















Of course, Troy was graciously included too since he weren't able to visit during snow-filled February.











And just for fun... here are a few more from today...







And if this wasn't enough pictures... I'll post more after her party on Saturday!

Our first trip to the zoo

The weather this past weekend was gorgeous! (You wouldn't know it considering we had freezing rain today). With the sun shining, we decided to join the play group at the zoo on Friday morning.



Troy has been anxiously awaiting our first trip to the zoo. As you can tell from the photo, Addison was pretty tired but I'm sure she was happy to be out of the house too. Troy quickly ditched the stroller and chose to run from animal to animal. The Tiger was up and walking around, which brought a big smile to Troy's face.



Despite the fact that a lot of the animals weren't out yet and a lot of the zoo was under construction, Troy still had a BLAST! I have a feeling we will be going a LOT this summer. Last year we skipped the train because we weren't sure he would make it through without getting scared. Meg graciously took him for his first ride while I stayed with Addison and watched all the strollers.



I have a feeling this will be a new addition to our zoo visits as well. I don't know if we'll make it every week, but I think we'll be at the zoo often. Troy is actually old enough to take some "Tiny Explorer" classes at the zoo, so we're signed up for one next week and another one in July. I'm not sure what they do, but I know the focus of the class next week are kangaroos. It should be fun.

Here are a couple more pictures from our trip. The real turtles aren't out yet, but Troy enjoyed playing with this one...



Here's another with Lilly (his girlfriend)...



It was a great day. I'm so glad we went. I'm really looking forward to many more days like this over the summer. There are a couple zoos in our area that would make good day trips too, so we'll definitely be busy.

WOOHOO!!!!

It's through! It's through! Her first little tooth finally broke through. It will be a while before we can tell it's a tooth, but I'm so glad it's finally through the last layer of gum tissue. The one next to it (on the bottom) is right behind. Hopefully the rest of them don't take as long as these two have.

Another funny story to share while I'm writing... While out the other day Troy proclaims from the back seat, "Addison is older than baby Jesus." I find it hilarious that he has Jesus stuck as a baby for eternity. It reminds me of that scene from Talledaga Nights.

Never a boring day in the Smith household!

11 months (and a few days)

Still very hard to get a picture, but here are a couple cute ones!





She's still scooting. In fact, any time we try to get her on all fours to crawl she instantly spins around to her butt to start scooting. She's been working on her first tooth for most of the month and it still hasn't broken through. It just sits there... bright white... gums swollen. I'm sure it will come through soon and I think the one next to it will be right behind.