Family Visits and Music Class

Last week my family came down to visit. Really Tami and Rachel only stayed one day and Alex came down for the entire week. Addison and I had a great time with all of them, although I think she enjoyed the slower pace of just having Alex around. :) After spending just one day with her (while I was at work) Alex decided she preferred the simpler life of having Addie in daycare and just hanging out with the dogs during the day. I can understand that... it's kind of hard to have a relaxing vacation with a 4-month-old.

Kindermusik class began yesterday and will go for the next 5 weeks. We are in the "Busy Days" class so all of our songs relate to daily activities. Yesterday was all shopping and buying groceries songs. It was fun, and nice to watch Addie observe the other kids. Even though she is with other babies all day long, I never get to see how she behaves with them. She is a big watcher and just smiles and laughs whenever the older babies would talk or walk around. The class was open to newborns all the way to 18 months; Addie is the youngest and there is a boy who is 14 months. (Incidentally this little boy kept bringing Addie his paper bag during the paper bag concerto). I don't know if she looked like she really needed another one, as she was busy chewing the corner off of hers. But every time he came over, little Miss Flirt turned up the charm, smiled, and lifted up her dress. Who'd she learn that from?!

The class also incorporates different simple signs that I am attempting to learn. "Stop", "in and out", "mommy" are just a few that we did yesterday. I am not opposed to having her learn to sign things, especially since I know she will not be talking for awhile and the faster I can figure out why she is fussing the faster I can make it stop. Every time she gets a good cry fit going I have PTSD and am reverted back to her newborn colic days. I am amused though because we sign to our dogs all the time and it's just like we've picked up an extra dog... who happens to be human. I'll be interested to see what Addie does when we use the "treat" command on the dogs, and vice versa!

Addie's Foot Fetish

If it is not her thumb in her mouth it's her feet in her hands. Addison has suddenly become enthralled with her lower extremities, most notably her feet. She loves to watch them fly around as she kicks in the air and she will grab hold of them with her hands and roll side to side, just chatting to herself. There have been a few attempts to actually get the foot in her mouth, one was successful but the others have been hindered by the fact that she is slightly chunky.

Life as a single parent still sucks but we are definitly used to our routine. It will be interesting to see when Alex gets back how much he will disrupt our flow. I suppose we will then just have to get into a new routine; life's all about changes and going with the flow. With such an easy going happy baby, I am sure it will not be difficult.

Bed time is a dream most nights. She will let me know when she is starting to get sleepy, usually around 8:00. I try to push it a little later, because I have found if she goes to sleep at 8:30 then she only wakes up once instead of twice at night. Weird how much difference 30 minutes makes. I don't know how much the cereal is really helping her sleep more, to be honest there is absolutely no difference. I guess everyone who told me babies sleep better when they start eating solids just got lucky babies!

This Wednesday starts our first Kindermusik class. Kindermusik is a national organization that brings music appreciation to all age levels. The class we have signed up for is entitled "Busy Bee" and we will be singing songs and playing musical instruments that all relate to our daily chores. Hmm, a song to help me get through laundry? Whatever works!

I have posted a few pictures from our four month photo shoot. I am Shea Halliburton's new biggest fan. This woman worked wonders for us because Addie was so cranky that whole day (of course) and just did NOT want to be photographed. But these pictures are amazing and I love them. I hope you enjoy them too. You can see more @ http://byshea.com/addisongrace