It's the little things

No picture today, just a story.

But first a preface:

I fell in love with my friend Rosanne's girls Lila and Pearl well before Addie arrived on the scene. At work, Rosanne would tell me a particularly adorable story about Lila or Pearl or both and I'd run home with the tidbit and the minute Steve walked through the door, I would say "you'll never believe what Lila said today." Lila (now 7) called blueberries "boolies" as a little'un and since I told that story to Steve years and years ago, we've called blueberries boolies ever since. Until Addie recently renamed them "baoo" (ball). I left a voicemail for Rosanne to tell her about the boolies to baoo renaming and she left another one back with me asking if there were other stories about the girls that I remembered that she may have forgotten. Forgotten? Hm...seems that sleep deprivation and hard work can render a good parent amnesic when it comes to the little things, so I decided when Addie does something particularly adorable (in our eyes), I may just have to record it on the blog. Surely you all won't mind too much.

On to the actual story...

Last night Steve and I were both giving Addie a bath. He's a darn good singer and there's something about his voice that Addie just loves. As I gently cleaned away the food stains and dirt of the day, Steve sang a Bing Crosby song called "Count Your Blessings" while Addie stared up at him, enraptured. When he finished the song, we were all silent. Addie did the sign for "more"--so to please his encore-demanding crowd, Steve sang it again. Again she listened--rapt and open-mouthed. One more "more" sign, one more encore, then she was happy and bath was over. It was a beautiful moment for our little family. Luckily, recorded in the blogosphere for many many years.

Happy Birthday, Addie!

Well, blog-followers, I don't know if you can believe it, but tomorrow, Ms. Adeline Eve turns ONE YEAR OLD. I'm still in denial :) A year ago this evening, Steve and I were walking around the local mall because it was raining out. We were doing everything all the books say helps to get a baby out. She was already late and we were getting pretty antsy. At about 9pm, the contractions started and the crazy road of parenthood began.

It has truly been the best year of our lives. Adeline has brought us an immense amount of joy, happiness, laughter, tears, dancing, giggles...the list goes on and on. We want to thank all of you for following along this journey with us! You have watched Addie grow and learn and become the crazy little bear she is today.

This weekend we had a birthday party for her so that her grandparents and Uncle Doug and Aunt Alli could join us from New Jersey. We truly wished that we could have invited everyone, but we didn't have enough room in the house and we didn't want to overwhelm her with the crowds, so we kept it small. Addie held up well, even with all eyes on her. She was a bit clingy at times and didn't quite enjoy the cake as much as we had heard babies do (hey, as a nutrition counselor, my daughter rejecting refined sugar/refined flour cake is A-OK with me!), but overall we think she had a good time!

And also a very Happy Birthday to Gramma-San Silvestro! I took pictures of her cake with our slowly deteriorating camera and now I can't get them off. I'll update it when it works again.

My friend Megan (Reese's mom) took these AMAZING pictures--thank you, Megan! You rock!

Enjoy!

Getting ready for the fun with Mommy...

...and Daddy

Family Photo!

Back row: Uncle Doug, Grandpa Silvestro, Daddy Steve, and Uncle Dan (the menfolk)
Front row: Aunt Alli, Grandma Silvestro, Momma Monica, Addie, Grandma Eva (da womens)

Our theme was "butterflies" inspired by...the dress we bought for Addie to wear. :)

Steve and I made and decorated the cake!

No, Addie, it's not cake time, yet!

Addie's wonderful grandmothers share a hug

And a story

Uncle Dan arriving with balloons, aka "bah!" (ball, in Addie vernacular)

Trying out her new wagon from Gma/Gpa Silvestro!

Some of the details

Addie in a very good mood

And then we gave her some cake...

Despite her interest in it before, she didn't like everyone singing to her and being put in the high chair when she wasn't hungry. Not so happy anymore :)

Luckily she had some of her friends to cheer her up.

Pearl

Nate

Anne

And of course, her baby friend she knows the best, Reese

You brought me gifts, too? GASP!

Our future fashion bug was more interested in her new clothes than the toys...

...not for long--toys trump it all

Look at how big you are, Addie! You are growing and learning so much every day. You will soon be so big, it will be hard to remember when we could hold you in our arms....but you will always be our little baby girl.

A mere two weeks later...

Addie took her first unassisted steps just two weeks ago, as you all know. Well it didn't take long for her to become an expert! She practices all day long--she walks from the front door to the playroom and back over and over. She's often clutching something--a sippy cup (or two--"doublefisting" with one in each hand) or our keys or her hippopotamus sleep pal "Hiccup."





Trying on Daddy's hat

Bundling up for our morning walk! Despite the cold, we still go out every morning unless it's also raining. This blue fleece jacket zips up around the both of us and we stay toasty and warm!

Addie's 1st Halloween

It's time for Adeline's 1st Halloween! Well...sort of. Last year she was around, but she was just a little peanut hidden under a mountain of snow ;) One of the mom's in my mom's group (remember the pile o' babies?) had started planning a big Halloween party months and months ago. We were all very excited, talking about it in the past few weeks during meetups and costume preparations were underway in the Silvestro household (thank you, Bess, for your wonderful sewing skills!)

The morning of the party, my phone rang and Kristi (the host of the party) called with the news that her little son had croup and that she would need to cancel the party. I turned to Steve and asked "want to host a halloween party?" So we rushed home, put Addie down for a nap (she slept for an hour and 45 minutes--how did she know we needed that time to clean? Smart girl) and cleaned our hearts out. Another mom stopped at Kristi's and brought all the wonderful food Kristi prepared over and ta-da---the party was still alive. It was SO much fun. The kids were adorable and all the adults were dressed up--wait, no scratch that. Besides Jolyn who wore cat ears, Steve and I were the only adults dressed up (shocker) :)

Here are some of the pics from the festivities! Our camera has been acting up again (The only time it works perfectly is when I bring it in to the camera shop and show the person working there) so I'm giving photo credits to the wonderful mom's and dad's who also snapped away these photos (M. Yanagi, T. Monfet, and A. Durham)


Presenting....Princess Leia, Yoda, and Han Solo :)

Addie working the room

Princess Kailey, Fish Eleni, Pirate Chase, and Turkey Reese

Helena the Dragon, Wyatt the Ninja, Mason as Tigger, Ellie the Pumpkin, and Mateo as Elmo

Reese decided to bring two outfits--here she is as a Redskins Cheerleader.

And here she is as a Turkey. Peekaboo!

Addie and Reese

In attempts to get all the babies together, we had a bit of a meltdown. Lion Emma began to "roar" and Addie got a little scared

(There are actually some really hilarious ones of Addie crying, but I'm having a hard time downloading them as they were from other's photos--if I can do it, I'll update the post)

Oooh, am I not supposed to have candy yet?

The daddy's (and Kate) with some of the babies

Happy Halloween!!

First steps!

This morning Addie decided to take her first unassisted steps! She was holding onto a laundry basket, I was playing the "I'm gonna get you" game with her and she happily looked at me, let go, took three steps towards me, then whoopsboom, she was down. I caught her a few more times today on video. She still prefers crawling (er....her style of scooting) and doesn't go more than a few steps without falling, but...yay!!

Despite the temperature being a high of 80 degrees today...

....they tell us it's officially fall. So what better way to celebrate the season than hitting a fall festival? We headed to Cox Farms this weekend. I had visions of a happy Addie petting baby farm animals, dancing to a banjo player on a hay ride, swinging on rope swings (okay...maybe in a few years). We had a lot of fun. It was a gorgeous day, but not all went as idealized in my mind :)

After a long car ride and standing in line for tickets, the last thing Addie wanted to do was pose in front of this autumnal scene--I'm cracking up because she's trying SO hard to get out of my lap.


Once she was down and standing, she was much happier. Mmm....so THIS is what hay tastes like.

We headed towards Goat Village....

Addie was a bit nervous around them and decided to stay safely in the arms of her daddy.
Here they are off to ride the big slide. Woohoo! Addie will love this, right? Well..she didn't HATE it, but she was more confused than anything :)

Me trying to pose for a cute momma/daughter picture but all Addie is interested in is stealing my kettle corn.

So we had some crackers for a snack, did some people watching, decided against standing in the long line for the hay ride....

...and headed home. This is what we found the minute we pulled out of the farm....

Happy fall, everyone!