Miscellaneous summer fun

With the weather as warm as it has been, it seems that summer is officially here--okay, I know it's not "official" for another couple of weeks. But when the sunblock is out and hats are required...it's summer.

What does summer mean to Addie?

Swimming!

This was Addie's first time in a pool! She was a little hesitant at first ("hmm...this water is cooler than my bath...and why am I wearing clothes and a hat?") but she loved it after just a few minutes. This baby pool with detachable sun shade will be worth its weight in gold if it keeps her entertained and cool this summer--and it only cost us $15! woohoo! I'm hoping to have a lot of pool parties with Addie's baby friends Anne, Reese, et al, this summer.



You can see more pictures from our fun pool-party here:

Watching the summer storms

We had a huge storm over the weekend and while Addie looked towards the window with every crash of thunder, she wasn't ever scared. Watching the rain come down entertained her for quite a few minutes (in baby-time, a few minutes is eons in terms of attention span!). And no, she's not pulling herself up yet, I put her there and she stayed put.

Drinking coffee

No, silly, we don't give Addie coffee, we actually don't drink much coffee ourselves. But we do like meeting up with other people who do! Here's Addie hanging out with "aunt" Danielle at the Java Shack.

Being silly

Okay, being silly is just what happens all the time in the Silvestro household, but in the summer, silliness seems to be more fun, right? Here is a series of photos from some bath-time antics.

"Do you think anyone can see me?"

"Yay, Daddy found me!"

"Mom, please sing that bunny foo foo song again as you dry me"

"oooh...what's that white stuff?"

"I can spin it...and it looks like it tastes good..."
"Ew, that didn't taste as good as I thought it would"

Summer foods!

Summer to us means fresh fruit like watermelon and strawberries...yum! I can't wait to hit the farmers markets to get fresh seasonal peaches to make for Adeline. For Addie, summer means getting to try even more new foods--Yesterday was Addie's first taste of peas!


Despite the lack of a smile here, she really did like it. We love this pic because it looks like she has a fluorescent green goatee :)

Birthdays!!

Yesterday was Steve's 28th birthday! Happy Birthday!

Addie loved helping him open his presents.


Father and daughter playing with their respective toys. Daddy--a video game, Addie...the gift bag that held the game.



Hope you're having as much summer fun as we are!!

The many faces of Wonder Woman

#1#2

#3

#4
#5

Please feel free to provide the captions :)

Visitors, Getting ready for Indy, and a video milestone update

We were lucky to have our friends Rosanne and Rob come over with their three wonderful children Lila, Pearl, and Elijah--whom you may remember from such play dates as this one.

We had so much fun! Here, Elijah and Addie share some fun on the couch.


All the kids! Left to right: Addie, Lila, Elijah, and Pearl. These beautiful girls are usually much more smiley than this, it was just hard to get a picture when one of the four kiddos weren't super blurry! Addie says: Thanks for playing with me!


Addie and her Daddy getting excited about the new Indiana Jones movie



This is what happens when Addie gives me a two hour nap--a video gets born!
So many people ask "what's Addie doing lately?" so instead of typing it out in the most recent post "the post o' answers" I thought I'd put together a little video:

So long!

Questions answered

In my last post, I offered that you could ask anything about Addie and I would answer. Here are the answers to your burning questions!

1. What's Addie's favorite color?

When I asked Steve, he said "Clear....the color of the massive amount of drool she produces every day." Yes folks, Addie is an incessant drooler.

But I'm going to say pink, only because despite my desire to avoid "the socialization of gender by color," Addie looks really really adorable in pink.

2. How much is she weighing these days?

At Addie's 6-month doctor's appointment last week, she weighed in at 17 lbs, and measures 27 3/4inches long. She is tall for her age (she is taller than 90% of other babies her age!) and when we are out and about and people ask her age and we respond, the mothers out there all say "wow...she's big for her age!" and we just smile, nod, and say "yes, we have a future basketball star on our hands."

3. Does Addie prefer frogs or turtles?

I would say turtles. Not sure you can tell in this pic below, but her shirt has a turtle on it next to the slogan "Thrill Seeker" :) and her shoes are cute turtle shoes that Shannon lent her. There's a tree-frog hanging on her rainforest jumperoo and she usually ignores him for the toucan. Definitely turtles.



4. Do you think Addie would like to climb Mt Everest some day?

Referring again to the photo above, Addie is indeed a thrill-seeker, and will hopefully be an adventurer and think about climbing Everest. That said, before I became a mother, I would probably think "dude, if my daughter climbed Everest, that would be awesome." Now as a mother, I think "um....how safe is that?" :)

5. Do you think Ah-dee is ticklish? and if yes, where?

YES! Addie is most ticklish on her tummy and a little bit behind her neck. When we kiss her tummy she often has a funny little chuckle--a little on the deep side, a "huh, huh, huh" sound which sounds a little Beavis and Butthead-ish

6. Are there any new sounds she likes?

Since we've forayed into the world of solid foods, she likes when we make lip-smacking noises and will imitate us making those noises, which is super cute. Also--popping noises we make with our mouths.

7. Shannon: Do you mind when I try to eat you? I also like to pull other babies' hair now, is that okay with you?

mmm.....hair

Dear Shannon,

I don't mind if you eat me, as long as you leave a little bit left for my mommy and daddy. I've heard that my thighs are very delicious to nibble upon. Hair pulling? Well, I don't have much to pull, but to speak on behalf of the other babies out there---I'm not quite down with that at this point in my many months of life.

Love, your BFF, Addie.

At the shore...

This weekend we headed north to New Jersey to celebrate the wedding of my good friend Beth (aka "Schu") and Matt. I have known Schu since freshman year of college, which will make it 11 years this fall...um...that's a LONG time.

It was a beautiful ceremony, a very fun reception (can you say ICE CREAM BAR?), and we are SO happy for the newlyweds. Congratulations, Schu and Matt!

Addie spent some time with family while I was busy with wedding stuff. She and I drove up (Steve had to work so he came up later) on Friday and I dropped her off with her grandma and grandpa at their bookstore, the Booktrader of Hamilton and then I headed to the shore for the rehearsal. Here's Addie is getting all snuggly on Grandma.


Steve joined Addie on Friday night, then drove with Addie to the shore on Saturday afternoon. Uncle Doug and Aunt Alli came down from their part of NJ to watch Addie so Steve and I could enjoy the wedding festivities. After the ceremony and before the reception, we took pictures at a lake and at the beach. The pictures at the beach were just a few blocks from our hotel so I called Steve to bring Addie to see everyone (okay, I hadn't seen her in 24 hours...I was itchin' for a cuddle from my little bug!). Here's me in my bridesmaid's dress holding the peanut.
We came home with the high chair that the talented Grandpa Silvestro made for Steve and Doug years and years ago...she loves it!

Inaugural meal in the high chair--avocado. She loved avocado more than sweet potato and even better than bananas (which surprised me!)




Okay, folks. I saw this on another baby blog and I thought it was a fun idea.

Here's the thing--ask a question about Addie that you've been curious about...and we'll answer in the next post!

Put your question in the comments box, and as long as it is appropriate...we'll answer!

So...ask away!

Monica

Happy Mother's Day

Today is my first Mother's Day as a Mother. I woke up to the sounds of my beautiful baby girl babbling happily in her crib and immediately felt grateful. Grateful for my mother, Eva, for Steve's mother, Joan, and for all the other mothers in the world who have demonstrated what it means to be a good mother so that I can be the best one for Adeline that I possibly can be. I hope!

This year, more than ever, do I understand the feeling of immense love, of devotion, of the sacrifice of a mother that I have seen before, yet never fully understood until now.

When I went to Addie's crib and saw her smiling face as she grabbed her toes with delight, I knew immediately that I am the luckiest person on the face of the earth.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's in the world, but especially the ones who have helped me, Steve, and now Addie, to become who we are today...

My mother and little me



Mom with little me and little (Uncle) Dan



Tiny little Steve with his mama




The mama-san with little (Uncle) Doug and Steve



Proud Grandma Joan with tiny little bundle of Adeline



Grandma Eva singing to Addie during her first hour of life





And thank you, Adeline Eve, for picking me to be your mom.


Happy Mother's Day, to all the mothers--past, present, and future.

Happy Half Birthday to Addie!

Yes, folks, time sure does fly when you're having fun! Addie is 6 months old today. That means HALF A YEAR. Whoa. As usual, she and I spent the morning deciding on an outfit for her photoshoot, finding out she has already grown out of the outfit, picking another, drooling incessantly on that one (she's queen of droolage) and finally settling on a third outfit, putting it on quickly, and snapping away at those smiles.


Here's a slideshow to see how much she's changed and grown!




Other funness these past weeks...

Mom, please don't tell me my feet are going to be this big someday?


My roommate from freshman year of college, Megan, came to visit with her adorable son Sam.

Here is Addie getting a smoothie with her adorable friend Reese (also featured in the pile o' babies photoshoot)

Addie just couldn't let her half-birthday go by without seeing her daddy, so she woke up when he woke up for work--at 4:45am. Yay. ;) If Steve looks a bit tired to you that's because he is...in the last month he's taken a neurology test, done a presentation on autism, studied for and taken Step 3 of the Board Exams (Two 8-hour tests in front of a computer) and not had a full day off at all. Oh and he still works 70-80 hours a week. Today he's working from 6:30 am until about noon tomorrow, he may or may not get a few hours of rest in there.

Despite it all, he's still the most amazing and present father ever. He comes home and immediately rolls up his sleeves for bathtime. Between these two, I'm the luckiest mom ever.

bye!