13 months, a visit from Erin, and signing

Guilty mom here...Adeline's 13 month birthday came and went and we didn't do an official photoshoot! It's partially because we've been busy, and partially because this girl just isn't a sit-around-and-smile-at-the-camera kind of kid anymore. Luckily, Erin came for a visit and there were tons of smiles to go around and to rec.

Erin, take me for a ride on the nemo mobile!
Momma, that tickles!

Between the weather being cold and Addie's nap schedule still all over the place, it was hard to get out and about, but we managed to hit the mall for some holiday shopping and we went to Old Town Alexandria where Erin and I spent many a day hanging out back in high school.

It was sunny out but the temperature dropped right when we got there, and Addie wasn't adjusting well.

But Aunt Erin showed her some of the planes coming in to nearby National Airport...

...and took her on a walking tour of the Torpedo Factory to warm her up.

And she was back to her adventurous self.

Some more recent cuteness. Addie's friend Reese is such a hugger! Aren't they adorable?


Psst. Wanna go empty out the pots and pans cabinet?

Addie's hair is finally growing a bit, but....not quite enough for a ribbon.

Being goofy with Daddy...as usual :)

And finally, my friend and loyal-blog-follower Steph requested a video of Addie doing sign language. We've been teaching her sign language since she was about 7 months old and while it took her awhile to pick it up, she's now doing a lot of signs. For someone who gets as frustrated as Addie does (yeah, it's hard to see it on the blog because we usually post cute and happy pictures, but Addie's kind of fiesty) it's been a lifesaver to know a few things that she can communicate without words and tears.

A common concern people have around teaching sign language to babies is whether or not having signs will mean they won't need the words and will therefore be delayed verbally. Studies show this isn't true, and in fact many babies who do sign language actually have advanced verbal skills. Who knows?

In any case...the signs that we are teaching Addie are based on American Sign Language (ASL). She has adapted some of them from the original state, but as long as we know what they are, we're not working to correct her to the exact sign. For example, the sign for "bird" is touching your pointer finger to your thumb right in front of your chin--like you have a beak...Addie does a similar motion but just in the air. And Addie's sign for "all done" has evolved from a "get me out of this high chair" desperation more so than the actual sign, but again--we know what she means :).

If you are curious to see what the signs look like, this is a great website: http://www.aslpro.com/cgi-bin/aslpro/aslpro.cgi Just click on "ASL for babies" and choose the word and you'll see a video clip of each sign.

Steve and I have no hesitation of telling anyone who is interested in teaching their baby sign language---DO IT! You will not regret it! At first it seems like you're doing the sign for no reason, there's no semblance of comprehension, then suddenly...boom, they're picking it up left and right. We taught her from a few books and some videos we've checked out from the library. It's great!

So Steph...here you go, a sampling of Addie's signing prowess (both the same video, just different formats)

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Thanksgiving Recap

Here is Addie last year, a mere 12 days old on Thanksgiving...
And here she is this year. What a difference a year makes, huh?


Gramma-san and Poppy Silvestro came down from NJ to help celebrate the day of the bird. Addie took full opportunity of having so much attention. Here she is playing ball with Poppy...


Showing Gramma-san how she can hug her pal hiccup...

And singing songs with her Daddy.


After a morning of playing, we all piled into the car and headed on over to Casa Laufer to join up with Uncle Dan and Grandma Eva. Uncle Dan took Addie for a couple of spins before dinner was ready.

This is the only shot of the table I got, sorry! Not the best, but it's clear how much we're all Addie-focused, huh?

We sat down to an AMAZING Thanksgiving dinner--the meal was cooked by Grandma Eva and the dessert was baked by Gramma-san Silvestro, we were all happily stuffed by the end.

...so Dan takes a quick nap.


...um.....are you still asleep?

A Thanksgiving Day Family Portrait. I think I can speak for all in attendance--we had so much fun, ate wonderful food, and celebrated our amazing family!

The next morning, Addie thought about walking off some of that heavy food...


...but realized that Mommy's shoes didn't fit her, so she snuggled with Gramma and Poppy instead.

And I say again....can you believe what a difference a year makes?



Here is Adeline reflecting on all the goodness and happiness in her life. Hope you all had as wonderful a holiday as we did!

Grateful

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. The day where we celebrate the coming together of the Pilgrims and the Indians of many moons ago, we stuff our faces with delicious foods, and we surround ourselves with our family and friends. In elementary school, whilst we decorated tracings of our hands to somehow resemble turkeys, we were often asked to state the things for which we were most thankful. I think that's such a lovely activity (the gratitude list, not the hand tracings, though I may dig that little project up when Addie is a bit older) that I thought I'd write out a list here.

I am grateful for:
1). My health, and the health of my family and my friends
2). My happiness, and the happiness of my family and friends.
3). The fact that I am the mother to the most delightful bundle of energy that graced the face of this earth.
4). That I am married to a man who makes me laugh, who works ridiculously long hours to support our family and to care for the health of the children in the area, and who is the most amazing father to our little girl.
5). The fact that I have a roof over my head, a car to drive, and all the material goods that I would want and need in life.
6). Nutella. Seriously...that stuff is amazing.

I could go on and on, but many of the things that I would state fall under one of those categories. I really do feel blessed to be who I am and to be surrounded by the people who love me and whom I love. Thank you to everyone who is a part of my life!!

And now...on to the baby pictures. Wait, Addie is 1 now--no more "baby," huh? Okay--on to the toddler pics!

We actually don't have that many great ones lately because Ms. Addie doesn't stand still long enough to get photographed--she's just one big blur on our memory card.

The closest thing to a normal, smiley picture that we have


Goofyness, as always. Everything is a toy, even an empty cereal box.

Where's Addie?

A common occurrence in the Silvestro household---a delighted Addie walking to yet another room to play with yet another toy--the girl never sits still!

So what's new with Ms. Adeline lately? Well...

At Addie's 12 month appointment she weighed in at 20 lbs (50%) and 30 inches (75%).

Her recent common nicknames: Bear, Ads, Addie, Goofy, Crazyfish

Addie has been doing and learning so much lately! It's amazing to see her changing every day.

Words she can say (and how it usually sounds when she says it):
-Mama, Dada (of course)
-Dog (daw)
-Duck (duh)
-Ball (bowl)
-Yuck (ayuh)
-Keys (heee)
-Baby (day)
-More (moe)
-Bird (burrr)

Animal Sounds she can make:
-Monkey (this is the cutest...video proof below)
-Dog
-Cow (sometimes)
-Three Singing Pigs (Sandra Boynton fans will know what I mean here)

Sign language signs
-More
-Water
-Eat
-Milk
-All done
-Please
-Airplane
-Bird
-Hat

Body parts she can recognize
-Toes
-Mouth
-Hands
-Mommy's belly...Steve taught her to "Zerbert" or blow raspberries on my tummy on command (when I'm lying on the floor of course). Video proof also below.
-Bellybutton.

So...when did she get so big? I think I blinked somewhere between months 6 and 12.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!!

McGee Visit Remix 2.9

This was Addie's reaction when I told her that her friend Shannon was coming to visit. Woohoo! We were excited, too! We hadn't seen the McGee family since our beach trip back in June and WOW, have our girls grown since then!


Shannon is so excited to be here, she hugs her momma Jodi with glee (pssst...Jodi's expecting Shannon's little brother or sister in March--Shannon's uncle Mike has named their little peanut "Baby McGee Remix Edition 2.0", cute huh?) Congrats, McGee's!


Addie invites Shannon to play with her toys the minute they arrive--the fun starts with a quick jaunt in Addie's new Barbie Jeep


Then we hit the playground since it was so nice out


Addie is just now starting to like the slide.

Okay, it's not terrible anymore, but please don't make me do that again today, okay? Shannon, on the other hand, is a slide MASTER!


A quick self-portrait to show much fun the moms are having, too

The girls ran from the play room to the living room with toys and necklaced clutched in their hands the whole day

They ate dinner together...
They even bathed together!

Post-bath naked baby time!

Who's going to be first to pee on the carpet? (thankfully--neither of them left us that gift, phew!)

Let's see if the girls want to sleep together.


Addie looks tired, but Shannon was still wired, so we left Addie to sleep, put Shannon down in the guest room, then the adults enjoyed tacos for dinner (not pictured...hey, you know what tacos look like)

Thanks for coming, McGee family! We had fun, as always :)

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.