Addie - Month 10

Weight-Length-Head: We have your next well check at 12 months.

Clothes: 12 months

Diapers: size 3

Health:
It's been a rough month for you health wise.  Right before Thanksgiving, we noticed that you started coughing a lot and Daddy took you to the doctor to get it looked at.  It turns out it was just a cold, but you had a pretty nasty ear infection.  On top of that you were also cutting another tooth.  We felt so bad for you, it's no fun seeing you in pain!  We gave you antibiotics and were hoping that they would do the trick.  Unfortunately, we were back at the doctor's about 10 days later because you were still pretty fussy and tugging at your ears.  It turns out your single ear infection had turned to a double ear infection.  This time you were given Augmentin (which was my MOST hated medicine as a child!)  I thought I was going to gag just giving it to you, you didn't seem to mind it though and it eventually did the trick.  I have a feeling this is the first of many, many ear infections in your future...sorry!  You get the bad ear genes from me!

"Wait Mom, you said I'm how old?"

"10 months, NO WAY!  That means my birthday is coming soon!"

Diet:
These days we let you eat just about anything.  There's pros and cons to giving you table food though.  The pros are that I can just give you whatever we are eating for dinner, we get to watch you inspect it and make the most hilarious faces, and going out to eat is a lot easier because trying new foods keeps you entertained.  The cons are the amount of time a meal takes these days (I swear you eat dinner for a solid hour!) and the aftermath...you make a mess!  Some of your favorites this month have been baked potato with shredded cheese, yogurt with fruit, toast, perogies, and banana.  You're all-time favorite is still momma's milk, nothing beats that!
 
Sleep:
No changes to report here.  You still sleep like a champ, all night long, and are a pretty amazing napper too.  Keep it up Addie girl :)

"Peace!"

Such a pretty girl!

Likes:Mickey Mouse Clubhouse has soared to the top of your favorites list!  The second you hear the theme song or the hot dog dance you stop whatever you are doing and start dancing.  It is so cute!   You are pulling yourself up on EVERYTHING these days.  One week I got 3 calls in one week that you had pulled yourself up at daycare and then lost your balance and fell.  No worries though, you were okay...just a little bump on your head.  Feeding Cooper has become another favorite pastime of yours, he's pretty fond of it too.  I think he's the best fed dog around thanks to you!  Some of your favorite toys are your walker, baby band instruments, and you love all of your holiday books.

Dislikes:
Sitting still is still your least favorite thing - whether it's for a diaper change, in the car, or when we are getting you dressed.  You are NOT a fan!  You also hate having your face wiped off after a meal. 

Milestones:
-You are officially a crawler, up on all fours and on the move!
-Table food has become a lot easier now that your pincer grasp is pretty well developed.  You get food to your mouth (or Cooper's) all by yourself.
-We celebrated your First Thanksgiving this month.  It was a weekend full of good food, family, and fun!  You were a happy camper - even with your nasty ear infection and new tooth!
-You love to stand.  You can pull yourself up and hold onto something all by yourself. 

Personality:
You are the coolest baby ever, your dad and I are obsessed with you.  Your smile brightens our day and your laugh is the best sound in the world.  Even with the ear aches and new teeth, you still seem to keep a smile on your face.  You are extremely curious lately.  You new ability to crawl on all 4s has led to constant exploration.  It's like you all of a sudden realized that there are more than 3 rooms in our house.  Some days I will just follow you around as you crawl and pull yourself up on everything.  I love to watch you explore the world around you and learn new things.   

Visitors:
We celebrated Thanksgiving with Uncle Keith, Aunt Kristie, Samantha, Rylan, and Maddox.  Your Aunt Teresa, Dustin, Cody, and the kids also joined us.  Then, we spent the weekend in Pittsburgh with Pap, Grandma, Aunt Kristen, Uncle Brian, Carla, Uncle Jeff, Bryan, and the rest of the Castello's.  We are looking forward to seeing everyone again really soon for the holidays. 

Thanksgiving

Gobble!  Gobble!  This year, Thanksgiving was full of mixed emotions.  We had so much to be thankful for and really wanted to celebrate and enjoy your first Thanksgiving.  It was also a very sad time for our family because your Mom-Mom had just passed away and we all missed her so much.  When people you love pass away, it really puts life into perspective.  Family is forever and your dad and I are very thankful that God brought you into our lives and made us a family of 3 this year.  You put a smile on our faces every single day and we are so lucky to be your parents. 

We had a very busy Thanksgiving weekend this year.  One of my favorite things about Thanksgiving is that it brings families together.  On Thursday, we spent the day in Raleigh at your Aunt Kristie and Uncle Keith's house.  You had a BLAST playing with your cousins, Maddox, Samantha, and Rylan.  Teresa, Cody, Dustin, and their boys also made the trip for the day.  It was really nice to be able to share your first Thanksgiving with everyone and I know that you Mom-Mom was smiling down on us the whole time!

We woke up bright and early on Friday and made the trip to Pittsburgh.  Some of the highlights of our Pittsburgh trip were the Steeler game (your dad and I went to the game, you watched from home!), family pictures, Thanksgiving Dinner round 2, catching up with the Hendry's, and a shopping spree to Ikea.

I can't get enough of that smile!

That portable DVD player was hands down the best $80 that we have spent in a really long time!  It has been a LIFESAVER!

Tailgating before the big game.

Trying Pap's famous chocolate chip pancakes for the very first time!

Cutie pie in her Steeler's jersey

Extended Family Photos

 

We had family pictures taken over Thanksgiving as part of my parent's Christmas gift this year and I couldn't be more happy with how they turned out.  Not only did everyone show up, but they were also on time - which anyone who knows us, especially my mother, knows that being on time is quite an accomplishment.  These are photos that we will cherish forever and we cannot thank the wonderful Linda James for capturing these family portraits for us.

Two Peas in a Pod

Back in October, Kristen celebrated her 21st birthday and it made me realize how similar her life was to Addie's life.  We put together a photo book for Kristen in honor of her big day of the 21 ways that a drunk college student (Kristen) has in common with a baby (Addie.)

21.  Both are terrible at posing for pictures!
20.  They get caught making faces like this.
19. Only their closest family and friends appreciate their dance moves.
18.  Both believe that they could be the next contestant on The Voice.
17.  At times your sense of style is questionable...
16.  and so is your hair!
15. You both pee in public.
14.  You love everything about Red Solo Cups.
13. One word "selfie."
12.  They both feel "Pretty in Pink."
11. Seriously, neither one of you can get your food in your mouth, especially at 2am.
10. Apparently, pants are optional.
9. They both take naps between drinking..
8.  sometimes even with their 4-legged friends.
7.  They don't know when to stop drinking and always end up wasted (milk wasted of course!)
6. You both wear your sunglasses at all times of the day and night.
5.  They have terrible balance and fall over, a lot.
4.  Luckily, they always have their phone in their hand to call for help if needed.
3. They love double fisting.
2.  And after a long night of drinking you wake up looking like this.
1.  And last but not least, some things they do are just unexplainable.

Here is just a sampling of the photos used in the book...

You guys really are "two peas in a pod!"