Mustang

Addie and Daddy have yet another thing in common, they both like to wash and admire the Mustang! Sounds like Addie had a total bawl helping Dad wash both the Rav and the Mustang on Saturday morning, while I was at the gym (you will notice there are only pictures in front of the Mustang, so weird.......) Addie continued to scrub in the same area about 2ft off the ground for about 15 minutes, and when she got bored with that............

She proceeded to stomp in the puddles and see what kind of mess she could create. It is amazing how much toddlers love to play in the water, especially when bubbles are involved! I can't even tell you the number of times Addie has requested "bubbles!" either in her bath or when we are playing outside, or just sitting on the porch - and each time her face lights up like it is the first time she is seeing them!

Cow Girl

Again with the $.25 cent garage sale cowboy hat - she just loves it! Besides being outside, Addie's next favorite thing is to be nakie! She is all set with her juice, pop-up toy, and awesome looking hat!

Fun New Swing

Nana came for the day to celebrate my birthday and somehow it was Addie who ended up with all the presents! Here she is sitting on her new swing, apparently called "the gator." Which is somewhat ironic as one of Addie's favorite sign language signs is Alligator (sometime she will just do the sign completely out of context of what we are talking about. ) Anyway, she still hasn't quite mastered the concept of needing to pull on the handles and push with her feet to get momentum going, but she seems to entertain herself just fine by sitting on it and playing with "baby." In this picture she is looking quite crabby, and I think she was once again telling me "No Mommy, " one of her very favorite phrases, and one I thoroughly enjoy hearing several times a day........

You will also notice the lovely purple beads that she is wearing - another gift from Nan. Well, they were actually wrapped around the bottle of wine she gave me, but Addie thought they were quite fun and wore them around the house for days. I now have them hidden in my purse, so when we are shopping and she starts to throw a fit, I can pull them out and use for a distraction!

This is also a great shot of how scary and rather disturbing "baby" looks. She always has one eye shut and the open mouth for the pacifier really adds to the look - but Addie doesn't seem to mind at all!

Artist

The one day that I get to sleep in (Addie was at Grandma and Grandpa's house), Mike wakes me up to say, the neighbors are having a garage sale and they have an easel for $5 - should I get it? Of course! That is a good deal, and it ended up being in really good shape - just a few permanent marker lines on the chalk board - but give Addie some time and I am sure she will add to that! Addie was so excited and into her new "marks" (which are her markers) that she was not willing to even look at me when I was trying to capture this fun new toy. She actually was getting very frustrated with me and saying "Mommy no" which I think means she wanted me to go away and leave her to her exploration!

Thanks to the Lacek's for the awesome Elmo smock - which covers her whole outfit, so the only damage was on her hands, arms, and of course her mouth. It wouldn't be a fun day if Addie didn't put something she wasn't supposed to into her mouth! All very washable, but still a good project for outside on a nice sunny day.

Independence

Addie is wanting more and more independence each day and one of her favorite ways of demonstrating this is to buckle herself in and out of her highchair. She likes to practice by hanging on the front of the chair. It is absolutely hilarious to listen to this process, sometimes it takes her several minutes and the whole time she is grunting and groaning because she is in such an awkward and uncomfortable position, but that doesn't seem to stop her, she is a very determined little girl! A look of pure glee and such a sense of accomplishment when she hears the snap of the buckles come together. It is fun to see how excited she gets each and every time she does this. She is so proud of herself and looks up at us with this look of satisfaction just waiting for the compliment she knows is coming!

This picture was taken just a few minutes later, it is amazing how she can go from total happiness to a mild temper tantrum in a matter of seconds. This shot did not capture the flailing feet, high pitched whiny voice, and the very adamant statement "I want down" which of course means that she wants to go downstairs right this instant, even if Mommy is in the middle of trying to clean up the kitchen.

Addie proceeding to go downstairs by herself - which would be fine if she didn't persistently stand at the bottom of the stairs and yell for us to come down and join her!

Grandma's Marathon

I absolutley love this picture of Addie. She looks like she just got done running a 10k race - spiked, sweaty hair, a look of extreme concentration and determination on her face, and a big gulp of water!

In reality she had just stood under the hanging flower pots at Grandma's which had just been watered and were streaming water. She thought it was great fun to take a little "shower" and stomp in the puddles that formed underneath.

The other picture is of Addie and Bailey preparing for their ride to Grandma's house. For some reason Bailey loves to sit in Addie's car seat - even to the point that she will actually crawl in on top of Addie and try to sit in her lap while she is in the seat. That is really fun - trying to get the dog out of the lap of your child, who is buckled in the car seat - screaming her head off because "B" is in her lap, all while going 75 mph down the interstate!

Addie LOVES to get in the front seat of any vehicle and press as many buttons as possible - unexplored territory that is SO exciting!

Watering

Addie is fascinated with using the hose to "help" with watering the plants and flowers. Since the hose and sprayer are just about as heavy as she is, she has somewhat of a difficult time holding it and keeping it aimed at an actual living thing, rather than the door or windows (which were just cleaned) - but that doesn't stop her! She is very determined to spend as much time as possible playing in the water and making a big mess. She usually soaks the front of her outfit and then gets annoyed that she is "wet" and will hold up her shirt with a look of extreme distaste on her face and repeat "wet" over and over again. Yes, I know you are wet, that is what happens when you point the hose at yourself and let it spray for 20 seconds!