New Tricks!

Mommy, Addie and Jojo at Stillwater
Just the three of us!
Opa, Addison and Jojo
Jojo loves me!

Silly, silly girl! :-)
Out for a walk...the brothers!

Snuggles with mama! :-)
Swimming time....check out my bikini! :-)

The last day of July already......the summer is flying by. Addison has had a busy couple of weeks. Our new nanny, Molly, started with us on July 21 and was with Addie for three days in a row! They quickly bonded and Addison has showed her all of her new tricks and fun toys! We are so thankful for an easy transition between our two nannies....Molly is fantastic!

On the 22nd we joined some friends in the building for a moving away party and Addison was fantastic! She fell asleep on daddy and then went down easily in her friend Levi's crib....it was nice to get to enjoy ourselves a bit vs. having to leave to head home for bedtime. Thank you Addie!

Saturday evening, the 23rd, Opa and Jojo (and Lager) arrived from Indianapolis! Addison was so happy to see them! She immediately was clapping for them, waving to them and giving kisses! :-)

We had a wonderful week hanging out around the city......walks outside on the river and lakes with the dogs, a trip to Still water for a day (where we hit up the Boat Cafe and Nelson's ice cream), breakfast outside on the river, golfing, a dinner on Lake Calhoun at Tin Fish, BBQs, etc. A relaxing week!

Addison has a couple new tricks these days!!! The afternoon of July 24th (Sunday), Addison was playing in the middle of the carpet when she suddenly stood up, grabbed her pink car, and took off walking across the carpet pushing it! We were all dumbfounded! :-) She is now doing laps around the house pushing her car and is even able to turn it around to change direction or steer through doorways. Addison has also started to say "mama!!!!" Of course, my heart melts every time I hear it! :-) After months of hearing "dadadadada" repetitively, it was a great sound to my ears :-) hahaha! Addison has 5 teeth now...just got her top left incisor this past week! (definitely made for a couple early wake ups!)

We had our first bad tumble this week as well....ugh, we hated it! Opa, Jojo, Mommy and Daddy were all standing around the couch taking pictures of Addie while she clapped in standing and was climbing around on the couch.....when in the split of a second she crawled right off the edge and landed on the hardwood! It seemed to scare her (and US!!!) more than anything.....but luckily she is just fine. I guess an accident was bound to happen sometime....but nonetheless, difficult to watch.

Opa and Jojo had fun babysitting Addison on Thursday/Friday while mommy and daddy were at work.....they played and played and played! So grateful to them for this too....!

Grandparents sure do love to spoil little ones! (Addison is already outfitted for Fall, thanks to Jojo! :-) and has her Happy 1st Birthday banner ready to go from Opa!) This morning Opa and Jojo left to head home....so sad to see them go!!

.....................But the fun is not over.....this afternoon, Nana arrived! She is visiting us until August 9th....with Papa joining for a few days. Addison is excited for more special playtime and spoiling! This afternoon Addie stood in the middle of the room and lifted her left foot forward 2 times.....(the start of walking?!)....definitely coming soon!

Enjoy the pics from the last couple weeks......

Minneapolis has turned in to Arizona!

Ready to eat mom!
My little hippie!
Love my monkey!
Snuggles and rest time with mommy
My beautiful girl at breakfast
A new hiding spot

Yuck!!!! It has been absolutely the worst weather here lately! Five straight days of temperatures in the high 90s, humidity and heat indexes of over 100 degrees! It has been difficult even getting the energy to take Wally out for a bathroom break. And I have felt terrible taking Addison out at all...even she gets sticky and gross! Definitely ready for a break....and I hear it is coming (at least a little bit) this weekend!

Opa and Jojo are also coming this weekend! We are so excited! They arrive on Saturday evening and will be with us for an entire 8 days.....so much fun ahead! And they won't believe little Addison and how much she has changed! Wally is also happy that he gets to spend time with his brother, Lager. Opa and Jojo leave the 31st, then Nana and Papa come that same day for 8 days....more great times...it shall be a nice couple of weeks!

Last week we had Annie's last day as our nanny. It was definitely sad to say goodbye....and will definitely miss her smiling face tomorrow morning when I leave for work. She is already hard at work in PT school (ugh, definitely don't envy her....but well worth it!) She got to spend a longer day with Addie on her last day, Thursday, so that mommy and daddy could attend a birthday dinner for a friend.

Saturday night we hung out with some neighborhood friends for dinner and Addison got to spend some time with her friend Riloh...and enjoying Riloh's exciting and different toys. It makes me laugh how Addie seems to get "so bored" with her toys, but the minute there are similar toys in someone else's house it is "game on" again! Oh well, I guess that is why there are playdates!

Sunday, we had a nice relaxing breakfast and bummed around St. Paul going in/out of stores for a bit. We popped in a toy store and I got all kinds of ideas for first birthday presents!!! We also took Addie swimming at "uncle" Freddy's house! She wore her new bikini and loved splashing, splashing, splashing in the water! She has now brought this new skill to the bathtub as well...oh my! :-)

This week I have been busy doing some more baby-proofing/reorganizing of the house in order to try to keep sanity when watching our little monkey! She is absolutely everywhere and pulls everything off shelves, unloads bookcases, empties the video cabinet, climbs in the dog bowl, opens cabinets, etc.....we are still waiting on daddy to install our cabinet locks.....(still sitting on the counter waiting for him :-)) Hopefully we can finish up some of these baby-proofing tasks this week!

Tomorrow our new nanny, Molly, starts with us! We are so thrilled to have Addison's entire first year of life covered with nanny care in her own home! :-) Molly will be with us until mid-September, when Addison will start daycare at mommy's work two days/week.

On the development front........Addison learned to wave bye-bye this week consistently and loves to practice ( in restaurants, the grocery, across the room), she has four teeth now (2 top and 2 bottom, with 2 more top ones starting to irritate the gums), and continues to stand for several minutes at a time (bouncing, doing squats, drinking, holding things) in the middle of the room....but no steps yet, thank goodness! :-)

I have booked my plane ticket for Chicago in mid-August....to run a half marathon with some girlfriends.....this will be my first time leaving Addison overnight. I know this will be difficult....but good for me at the same time. Annie and Noah will be with her, so all will be well.

I can't believe we are only 6 weeks away from one-year old Addison.....where does the time go? We cherish each new stage....but it sure doesn't seem like 10 1/2 months ago that we brought home that sweet little 5 lb. 2 oz baby....wow!

10 months, no hands necessary!! :-)

Rough life.....dinner and large beer....haha!
My new hot rod!
10 months today!
Standing up with no hands!!!! Such a big girl!
I love mommy's sunglasses!
Napping with daddy...my favorite naps!
It's so much fun to unload the video cabinet.

We are just back from a morning play date....so I am taking advantage of Addie's exhaustion

and updating the blog! It has been a very busy start to July! Lots of bbqs, dinners with friends, happy hours, outside time......true summer fun! We are also enjoying getting to spend more time with daddy, as he is now on research! :-)

Our new nanny, Molly, came for a visit on July 1. Annie showed her around the place and taught her about Addie's schedule. Things went well, and we are looking forward to Molly spending more time with Addison very soon! Seems like this will be a seamless transition! Annie's last day with Addison as her nanny will be this Thursday........so sad.......but we wish her the best in PT school, and plan to see her for some babysitting in the future! :-)

We had a nice 4th of July weekend. Mommy worked each day, so Addison had Daddy time! At night we ventured downtown for happy hour and apps one night, had drinks with the neighbors one night, and spent the actual holiday at our friend's place grilling steaks and looking out at the fireworks on the river from his balcony. Lots of fun! Addison decided she didn't want to be put down before the fireworks ended....so she was up watching them at 10pm.....our little party girl! :-) It was nice that she slept in until 9am the next day!!

We started going to the Corner Coffee kids playgroup on the 5th of July......such a cute play space! It is a neighborhood coffee shop that remodeled their basement in to a kid's playroom. There are tons of toys and baby equipment, and the space is baby proof! It can be rented for free for play dates, birthday parties, etc. They have started play dates for the neighborhood kids every other Tuesday. We had a great time, and plan to attend regularly! It's so exciting to live in such a kid-friendly part of town!

Addison turned 10 months old on July 6.......can't believe it!! We celebrated by buying a new pink car! Addison can ride on it and push with her feet, or stand and push from behind! She hasn't yet figured it all out yet, but still seems to have fun climbing on it and sitting on it for now. It will be fun to watch her grow in to in the months ahead!

Developmentally, Addison continues to change almost daily! Her latest skill is standing with no hands! She gets up from a squat position and stands for ~30-45 seconds without holding on. She can clap and eat in this position, but has yet to try to take steps....thank goodness! She is so proud! Addison has also totally transitioned in to a belly sleeper! She now immediately flips to her belly when placed in her crib....taking after mommy and daddy. Also, Addison now has her two upper teeth....one fully in, and the other breaking through! Such a big girl! Addie continues to be quite the talker.....and definitely without any volume control! :-) Just yesterday we had breakfast outside at Wilde Roast cafe. She does great, but loves to chat and tell the world all about it! Luckily, people generally find her pretty cute! :-)

We are looking forward to the week(s) ahead....a friend's birthday party, a weekend at home with both of us off work, and our parent's visits just around the corner!