Our toddler!!! (birthday, goodbye Molly, luau party)

Birthday morning!
Our birthday princess with our free 1st birthday cake from Lunds!
New, fun birthday toys!
Last day with Molly! We will miss you!
Stuffing my face at the birthday party!
Everyone stood around and sang to Addie at the luau! She loved the attention!
The absolutely gorgeous cake!
Our hula birthday girl!!! She wore this outfit with pride all night long! :-)
Celebrating family style! :-)
Opening bday gifts!! Thank you to all of our wonderful friends!!!

It has been a fun-filled week!!! I label this post "our toddler"-due to the difficult realization that Addison has transitioned to this new category with her first birthday! All of the baby websites sent me emails this week letting me know that this was the case. A little sad to no longer have a "baby".......although she will always be "our baby"!

Addison's birthday was an exciting day for all of us! We had breakfast out, played on the playground, had a playdate with Addie's friend Riloh, bought a new car for mom and dad (Addie had a great time running around the dealership!), opened presents, and smashed in to Addie's birthday cake! What a day!!! Addison was absolutely exhausted!

Addie's birthday was the first night that we decided to cut out the middle of the night feeding! She did beautifully...only a couple minutes of crying the first night that was easily soothed by daddy! Addison has now gone 5 nights straight of not a single awakening in the middle of the night.....at least if she awakens, she is able to put herself right back to sleep....we don't hear a peep! I think the middle of the night nursing had just become a habit for her....but so easy to break! We are all getting better sleep....even her! What a big girl! We have cut to nursing just first thing in the morning and before bed.

Friday was our nanny Molly's last day with Addison. So sad to see her go...but we wish her the best in London (where she is headed for grad school). We will be sure to send pictures her way! We feel so fortunate to have gotten Addison through her entire first year of life with in-home nanny care! :-) On that note...Addison starts daycare at mommy's work 2 days a week this Wednesday! Tomorrow, we visit to drop off all of her supplies....diapers, wipes, sippy cups, blankie, extra clothes, etc..... I know Addie will absolutely love it there...but of course mommy will have anxiety about it for the first few days!

This weekend we celebrated Addison's 1st birthday with friends! Yesterday was the big luau birthday party! We rented the party room in our building and ended up having quite the showing....26 adults and 8 children! Addison decked out in her hula girl grass skirt and pink shell bra top! We served tacos, chips/dips, fruit salad, cake, and Hawaiian punch (for the adults)! Everybody had a wonderful time, and Addison did great!! She smiled, played, smashed her cake, and ran around in her costume all night! We greatly appreciate our wonderful friends coming out to help celebrate this special occasion, and for bringing such thoughtful and fun gifts for our little girl! :-)

Daddy left for San Francisco for a four day work conference this morning....Mommy, Wally and Addie have been playing outside and watching all of the special tributes to 9/11. It is definitely difficult to remember that tragic, scary day....but how fortunate we are to have our entire family safe and sound 10 years later! Warm thoughts and prayers go out to those who were less fortunate that day.

Enjoy some of our favorite pics from the last week! :-)

Happy First Birthday Addison!!

Test drive....we are having Addison decide which car is best for us!
Playing outside with daddy and Wally! It's getting chilly here!
Opening Nanny's birthday gift! A gorgeous outfit from the Wooden Soldier!
"Addie's friend" and daddy at the State Fair!
Mommy and Addie at the State Fair!
Kindermusik class in the park with friends!
Addie's beautiful August hat from Opa!!!

Our sweet little girl is one year old today!! We can't even believe that it has been an entire year since we were in Labor and Delivery awaiting her arrival! What a wonderful year it has been! Another beautiful day......high in the low 70s and sunny, just like last year!!! We couldn't have asked for a more energetic, beautiful and loving little girl! This morning we celebrated by taking Addison out to breakfast and to the playground. We just watched her special tribute on Kare 11 News......so adorable!! (got it on video to save for years to come). Tonight we will do presents and cake! This coming Saturday is Addison's first birthday party-a luau! We are so excited!!

The past week has been a bit hectic with Addie coming down with a terrible virus on Thursday evening (Noah and I left the Vikings game after one possession as Addie had a fever of nearly 104...scary!). The virus came on strong and lasted throughout the entire holiday weekend. She had high fevers, diarrhea, a rash, increased irritability and a lot of sleepless nights! Our poor baby girl! We are not back 100%, but well on the uphill now....just needing a little extra sleep and cuddle time still. Daddy and I are attempting to recover from our sleep-deprivation as well.

We did find a little time to look at cars (new car coming soon to the Parker household, yea!!!), enjoy the state fair for a brief visit (Addie got to see pigs, cows, horses and sheep...she also got to taste a small sliver of pork chop, cheese curd and milkshake..yummy!), and quickly attend a housewarming party (Addie was pretty tired during this!).

Enjoy the pics from the last week or so......and more to come very soon of the birthday celebration and party this weekend!!! :-)

end of August already!

It's amazing that our baby girl will turn 1 in just a week!!! Addison is definitely on the move these days...... She spends most of her time walking now....it's amazing how quickly she has gotten the hang of it! Yesterday we had our first venture out of the building with Addison walking the whole way! We walked to the elevator, out the front doors of the building and down the street to the market and back.....it took a little while, but she was on her own two feet the entire time! She sure is Miss Independent....no hand holding for this little one! :-)

Last weekend (the 20-21), mommy's friend Ashley was in town visiting for a night! We had a great dinner out and Addison loved showing off all of her new tricks (including high fives, waves, walking, etc). Ashley was so sweet to bring Addie an adorable pink hat with ears for the Fall, and a book about Chicago. We loved spending time with her!

This weekend (the 27,-28) we were up at our friends Ana, Chris and Benjamin's lake house, about 3 hours north of here. It was a fun weekend......enjoying the lake, watching movies outside, eating yummy fish and barbeque, playing outside with babies and dogs, going on walks and relaxing! Addison seemed to enjoy it quite a bit.....even a chilly dip in the water! :-) Wally loved it....and swam literally the entire time (of course now we are burdened with what we think are ear infections for him...ugh!)

We are starting to introduce some whole milk from a sippy cup at Addison's mid-day feeding! This will help prepare her for starting "school" a couple days a week starting in mid-September! And will save mommy from having to pump at work and carry breast milk back/forth from school. I am still sticking to nursing for the other feedings for now.

Other exciting highlights of the last couple weeks: enjoying lots of play dates with our neighborhood friends...especially to the park where Addison now likes the slide (with mommy's help), the baby swing and playing in the sand; going to the library and playing outside with Molly; attending Kindermusik in the park with other little ones and their parents; shopping for new cars with mommy and daddy (Addie got her own little car from one of the salesmen); receiving an early birthday present from Uncle Nick and Aunt Jen (an adorable UNC outfit......including seer sucker material and heels on the panties!):-).

We have been starting to plan for Addison's birthday party in just a couple weeks!!! We are having a luau with a few of mommy and daddy's friends and some neighborhood friends of Addison's. So exciting! We shopped for some decorations and paper supplies with luau theme last week, and have already found Addison's birthday outfit! The party is set for September 10th, and we have about 25 people attending so far! :-)

On Addie's actual birthday, daddy and I are planning something special for her.....in addition to a special shout-out to Addison on Kare11 News to celebrate her birthday, and a First Birthday cake from Lunds!

Looking forward to a relaxing Labor Day weekend....wow, flashbacks to last year for sure! maybe even a trip the state fair for old time sake?!!? Although this year...no delivery on labor day....just special time with my sweet baby girl! :-)

Bi-Pedal Woman!! :-)

It's official........Addison started walking on Saturday, August 13th! Wouldn't you know that after months of standing without holding on, and a couple weeks of taking one step.......she would wait until the one weekend mommy is out of town to take off! :-) I was so upset to miss this milestone....but so happy for Noah that he got to witness it! And so thankful that we have some of it on video! Our little woman is bi-pedal! :-) I guess it is time to invest in actual shoes....ordered a couple pairs yesterday online.

It has been a busy, but wonderful, start to August! Noah's parents were in town July 31-August 1oth. Addison loved showing off all of her new tricks! Nana Trish brought Addison some super girlie outfits, which are just precious (see pics below)! Nana and mommy spent a lot of time on our big 1st birthday party invitation project.....creating hula girl paper dolls! Wow, it is hysterical how much time we ended up spending on these! :-) but luckily they turned out great! Papa Lyle was in town for a few days and was so helpful at installing all of our baby cabinet locks, toilet lid locks and new hooks for our bathroom for baby towels, etc. Sounds like a lot of work the whole time the way that I just wrote that....but we also had fun cruising around outside art festivals, eating lunch/dinner outside, listening to live music in the park, shopping, wandering around town. :-) Good times!

Mommy left for Chicago the morning of August 13th......first two nights away from Addison.....and first half marathon post-pregnancy. I definitely missed her a ton, but had a wonderful time running and spending time with girlfriends! I got to have lunch with Addison's "boyfriend" Will (our good friend's Liz and Dave's baby).......he's adorable, and doing so many of the same things as Addie! What a cute age!

I got back in town on Monday evening and the last two days have been spent relaxing at home and enjoying the beautiful weather around town with Addie and Wally. Yesterday, we did play group at the coffee shop (where we worked on learning to SHARE, as Addison took away toy after toy from her 16 month old girlfriend, Sophia :)) and then happy hour with daddy. This morning we took a long walk on Lake Nokomis, followed by a picnic and play date in the park with our friend's Kristin and Riloh, and Kristin's sister and neice. A beautiful day, and lots of fun! :-)

Enjoy the pics above.....not sure why some of my photos went sideways!!! Ugh!!! I tried and tried to get them to rotate, but unsuccessful!!! Sorry!

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!