Summer Fun

This summer has been such a blast for us. I thought with a new baby I'd be bound to the house, but we're out and about more than ever, especially if the weather is cooperating. I think we're just much more relaxed with Isla, which turns out to be a benefit to Addison, as we don't let the fact that we have an infant stop us from doing too much....within reason of course. :)

We've been spending a ton of time in the water and can literally watch Addison grow more and more comfortable in it. Just in time for our trip to the beach house in September! We frequent Cedar Lake Beach and an aquatic center (read water park!), both about 5 minutes from our house. I've been able to hang out with Addison and her babysitter during the week at these locales also. We hit Como Zoo last week as well, where Addison rode the train and even the teacups in the little kiddie-ride land. Fun times!

DJ with Addison AND Isla - see that huge waterslide in the background? Addison went down that twice! In DJ's lap

Another fun pastime lately has been playing dress-up. Addison's got a whole toy chest full of fun dress-up clothes, thanks to Grandma Pam and her Grandpas. She prefers that we join in the fun and even tries to get Isla into the mix. Addison's becoming a VERY doting big sister, wanting to "cuddle" with Isla any chance she gets. We have to keep a close watch on her since her cuddling is more like smothering. Isla doesn't seem to mind....yet.

The binky twins. Even though Addison only gets it at nap and bedtime, the plan is that her beloved binky will be making it's exit within the next few months.

Addison's room

The cutest initials that Grandma Pam made for Addison! The pictures don't do them justice, they're adorable. Isla's initials are on the way.

Isla's 9 weeks old on Tuesday and growing by the minute! She's becoming a little butterball and I can't wait to see how much she weighs at her 2 month appointment next week. The cooing and smiling continue to increase, and she's about to laugh any day now.

This week at the Barat's...

Addison has been really into dressing up lately, especially since she received so many cool dress-up items for her birthday. She loves mixing it up like in the picture below. Who says you can't wear a lei and a tiara? This morning she walked out of her room in a lei, sunglasses and high-heeled cinderella heels pushing her little baby in the baby stroller. Sweet!

A couple of my co-workers came over for dinner last night and brought both the girls gifts. Addison got a really cool cape with her name and a princess crown with rhinestones on it. She was so excited she started running around (and showing off) singing twinkle twinkle little star. She wouldn't even hold still for a picture, but here's a video clip. She refuses to wear the cape as a cape, but insists on wearing it forward, like a huge bib.

Isla's been full of smiles lately, and sleeping like a champ! Last night she went from 10pm to 5:45am. DJ and I woke up feeling like new people, what a treat! She's 7 weeks today and the time keeps flying by. She's starting to coo, make cute noises and track us as we move around the room. She loves to be held and cuddled, and Addison is a doting big sister. She never fails to yell out "Isla crying!" when the baby is upset. She always wants to place blankets on her to make her feel better, but we are working on teaching her that the blanket goes over the body only, not the head!

New shelf in Isla's room

Smiles!

The lillies are in bloom

Two renditions of the ABCs

Isla at 6 Weeks

Wow, 6 weeks old already! I had to throw a shout out to the newest Barat up here today with a few pictures that reminded me of Addison at exactly this age. One of the nice things about having babies so close together is the ability to re-use our toys, clothes and baby accoutrements, one of which is the Baby Einstein playmat. Addison loved it, so does Isla. It's the spot she has tummy time each day and where she enjoys staring and cooing at the blinking, singing star...just like Addison! Take a trip down memory lane by clicking on the link. They definitely look similar at this stage, although DJ thinks Isla looks like Turtle from Entourage in these pictures - real nice! For those unfamiliar with Turtle, this is not a compliment. See below. http://addisonandisla.blogspot.com/2008/08/more-smiles.html.

Yikes!

Addison is a trip. She's currently obsessed with an Elmo Plays Music DVD, compliments of the Grandpas. She insists on watching this every night after her bath and before she hits the sack, then proceeds to babble on about the violin and bow. Mostly about the bow. We ask her if she wants to play the violin and she says yes. How cute would that be? How old does a kid need to be for violin lessons? I'm going to check that out.

Birthday and 4th of July Weekend

What a weekend for a kid's birthday! Non-stop attention and celebration = one entertained little girl.

Addison kicked off her birthday weekend with a play-date at the park with her Nana, Nana's friend Melissa, and Melissa's grandaughter Claire. Claire and Addison attend music class together and have become buddies. Claire is a couple of months younger than Addison, but couldn't be more different. Where Addison is cautious, Claire is fearless. Where Addison is more verbal, Claire is more physical. Despite their differences they have lots of fun together and celebrated on Friday at the park with a picnic, presents and a cupcake. Later that evening we had a little party for the birthday girl with Nana and Ba, some of our great neighbors and our friends Natalie and Jeff and their baby Gus. We had pizza, opened lots of presents and ate cake while Addison was surrounded by doting neighbor girls and badminton accessories. She got lots of cool gifts, the favorite of which seems to be a little Home Depot toolkit! She was spent by 9:30pm (her typical bedtime is 7:30) and fell asleep as soon as her blonde little head hit the pillow.

Saturday was spent at Cedar Lake Beach with Mom, Dad, Isla, Ba and Nana, a picnic and lots of sand toys. Addison spent HOURS upon hours throwing little stones into the lake. "I throw rocks" was the saying of the day. She talked about going to the beach ("Mama, mama, mama?! I go beach!") before, during and after the excursion, and calls the lake "ocean". We can't wait until our week on Faria Beach in September - she will go nuts! Isla is a dream baby who really enjoyed being outside in the shade all day. We all took turns holding her while she snoozed, I nursed her a couple of times and when she was awake she just layed on the quilt looking up at the leaves above her. Great weather, great day!

Sunday we headed over to some friends' house for a 4th of July BBQ and fireworks. Addison and her friend Eliana were connected at the hip as they played in the sandbox, watched the little fireworks show that Eliana's dad put on and then wound down with a Dora the Explorer movie. They both love Dora and have matching Crocs with Dora decorations on them - too cute.

DJ had the day off on Monday so we headed back to Cedar Lake beach. By this point in the weekend Addison was nice and worn out, so after playing for a few hours and eating lunch, we headed home where she took a long nap and we caught up on Entourage Season 6 on DVD. All in all a fabulous 2nd birthday/4th of July weekend for the girl!

The birthday girl on her birthday morning - she knew it was a special day for her

Park time with Claire

DJ trying to hoola hoop with Addison's new toy
Present time!

Uncle Grant and Aunt Stacy sent the coolest card - Addison holding Isla with me holding Grant spliced on the other side - thanks Stacy!

Our neighbor's baby Alex, born one day after Isla, but MUCH larger!

Cake!

Neighbor Delaney holding Isla. She told me she thinks Isla looks like Elvis - ha! Kids. :)

Cedar Lake Beach
"I throw rocks"

Lunch time!

Ahhhh...a much needed rest

4th of July

Happy 2nd Birthday to Addison!!!!

Where did the last 2 years go? We cannot believe that our baby Addison is 2! We marvel every day at what a cute, smart, spunky little girl that Addison has grown into, with a larger than life personality. She melts our hearts each day with her hilarious bantering, adorable facial expressions and even the way she walks - so in command! We went for her 2 year check-up yesterday and the pediatrician had her jaw on the floor the whole time, shooting me looks like "Are you kidding me?" She said she has not seen many barely 2 year olds who are as verbal and/or "mature"..she actually called Addison mature - ha! The dr. walked in and the first thing Addison said was "Hi doctor!" She then proceeded to talk the doctor's ear off, answer every question the doctor asked her in 3-4 word sentences and fully cooperate with the ENTIRE exam, on the exam table, which apparently never happens with 2 year olds. Addison is doing great. She's smack dab in the middle of the range for height/weight percentiles (which, thankfully, correlate with each other) and her head is up there at the top of the charts. Hey, big head for all those brains! She's way ahead of the norm for speech and comprehension and the basics of numbers and ABC's - she knows the entire alphabet, can pick out any letter you ask her to and she can count to about 16 and identifies all the numbers as well. Not bragging, but just sayin'! The one thing she CAN'T do that she was asked to do is jump. It's the funniest thing you've ever seen. She thinks she can jump, and definitely tries when asked to, but her feet don't actually come off the ground. So she's not the most coordinated little thing, oh well. :) But she did try, and then told the doctor to "follow me, your turn!" So the doctor was jumping around following Addison's commands. It was probably the best visit we've ever had, with only one shot and minimal tears.

We haven't started potty training, but have got her thinking about it. She has a little potty, sits on it now and again and tells us when she has a poopy diaper, so it's a step in the right direction. We've also got the binky thing to deal with over the next few months which we're dreading, since she's addicted to the thing. She only gets it at nap and nightime, but she LOVES it, and any old binky will do. I even caught her with a doll's binky in her mouth the other day. We figured she's gone through enough change over the past few weeks, so we're giving it a bit more time before the binky fairy comes and takes them all away for the other little babies.

Something new and oh so exciting that we've introduced to Addison over the past several weeks is time out. It's actually a program called 1-2-3 Magic that several of my friends with toddlers use and say that it truly is magic. All I can tell you is that when we even say "Addison, I'm going to start counting", she shapes RIGHT up. Basically she gets 3 chances to stop a bad behavior, and if she continues and we get to 3, she gets a time out. She's only had 2 time outs, and its just a simple 2 minutes in her room, but she knows she doesn't want to go there. The tantrums, drama, hysterics, the not listening to us and misbehaving have definitely started to wane...it really is magic! And don't get me wrong, it's not as if the counting and time outs are doled out regularly, it's only for lovely little acts such as hitting mom in the face when she doesn't get her way. THAT has stopped.

Our little Addison is turning into such an amazing child, and although it literally brings us to tears that she is already 2 years old, we can't wait for the fun and adventures that surely lie ahead. Happy birthday sweet Addison, we love you so much honey bear! :)

We're having a small family/neighbor party outside in the backyard tonight with pizza, cake and presents, then hitting Cedar Lake Beach tomorrow for some fun in the sun. Pictures to follow!

Some of Addison's recent sayings:

"You're my favorite" - said in conjunction with a big hug, and she says it to both of us; melts the heart!

"Love you mama, love you daddy"

"Bless you baby Isla" (pronouced eye-ya)

"Baby Isla crying, she sad"

"Baby Isla hands, so cute" - comparing her hands to Isla's

"Come on mama (or whoever happens to be near), follow me" - this girl is a leader!

"Delicious!"

"So funny!"

"Wow"

"Careful daddy, careful" - this is in the morning when DJ puts his foot up on the barstool at the kitchen table to tie his shoe, as if he's going to fall off :)

The birthday girl on her birthday morning

Oh, and I have to throw this in...Isla's smiling!!!

Isla Newborn Pictures

Our friend and neighbor, Erika McCauley, is a talented photographer who has photographed our family several times now and we just love her. We actually met by chance when a friend from work recommended her (she had photographed my friend's wedding) to take pictures of Addison when she was born...turns out Erika and her husband live exactly ONE block away from us! Small world. Well, two years and another baby later, she's taken some great shots of Isla and our family, several of which are posted below. In many ways Isla resembles Addison, especially from certain angles. But at the same time, from other angles, she looks SO different. She's beautiful any way you look at her. :) Erika actually had her first baby, Alex, a day after Isla was born. We're really excited for our kids to grow up together. Can't believe baby Isla is 4 weeks old today - we love you Isla!!! You are a true gift and wonderful addition to our family.

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