Christer & Cat

Addison has been changing and growing so much just this past month! On March 19th she officially started walking by herself! We were sitting on the living room floor playing when she used me to pull herself up to her feet. She had been doing that for awhile now so I didn’t think much of it. Then she saw something she wanted on the coffee table and just took off- I don’t think she even really noticed until I started cheering her on- then she got a HUGE grin on her face It was just a few feet in distance, but this was the first time that she wasn’t being coached or walking between me and Christer. The next day we practiced again and again until Christer got home from work. I told him that we had something to show him. Addison took off walking towards him and he stayed pretty close until I told him to back up (over and over again) and then he realized what was really going on and had her walking a through a couple rooms to get him. Now she’s cruising faster than ever and follows anything that moves (as I’ll describe here in a bit). Here is a movie of her a couple days after those first steps. I think she was tired and smoothly transition from walking to crawling.

She also loves to help me with the dishes, laundry- really anything that takes my attention. Here she pulled a load of laundry off the chair one piece at a time, tried to pull them over her feet (that’s her way of trying to dress herself) She then laid down on top of them and continued watching Curious George. She cracks me up.

She also LOVES bananas sliced with peanut butter on them- this time I let her feed herself. I realized I should probably only do that when she and the food is restrained- aka in a high chair.

The day she was helping with laundry she was also trying to discover new areas to explore. She got stuck under the chair- which wasn’t very funny for her, but I was trying to muffle my laugh

I’m really excited for the weather to start warming up. Addison is going to LOVE the summer and hopefully we’ll get a lot of swimming in

Today we took Addison to Petco to see the animals and see how she would react to them. I knew that she LOVES cats and dogs. We also watch the birds out our window most mornings. She really liked watching the mice run in their exercise wheels. They looked really cute… but I can’t bring myself to have pet mice. Then I saw a rat- yes, pet rat and that just grossed me out (mostly the tail and claws- ewww). We walked around to the birds and she really liked the little one that flew all over the place. The fish were fun too- except that she kept trying to pet them and take them out of their tanks.

Christer anad I realized that we hadn’t fallen in love with anything so we were just going to leave. On our way out we saw two dogs that were playing with each other. They just crossed paths and the owners thought it was so cute that they just let them play. The dogs were small and very cute. I had Addison sit with me and pet them. The smallest one was the cutest- so friendly, energetic (but not wild). I asked the owner about her and apparently she is a Yorkie Shitzu mix- which is a really fun mix. Great with kids, even small ones, they stay small. They are social yet mellow when they need to be. I have to be honest- the thing was so cute I wouldn’t mind picking up the poop! Someday I’ll get one…. someday

So I’ve been looking at lists and lists of baby names for what seems like forever. With Addison it only took us a couple days and we knew instantly what her name would be. Right now I think we’ve come to the same conclusion with our lil’ sis coming. What do you think about the name Elizabeth- Liz for short? It has a funny story that goes along with it… ok it may only be funny to me. I have no idea why, but when Christer would tease me and pretend that I was in “trouble” he would call me “Catherine Elizabeth” – as if he was saying my full name. Thing is…. that’s not my name, not even close. So it just made me giggle everytime he did it. We still don’t have a middle name yet. I’ve been thinking about Lee, Ann (after my grandma), and a few others.

By the way, Addison is pretty much walking- when she thinks you’re not looking LOL! She is being really funny about it. She’ll stand on her own now, which she’s been doing for a while, but now she actually wants you to see her do it and praise her. Today she has taken a few (as in 3) steps toward something from her own starting place. No hanging onto mom or dad and no coaching required. Of course if you let her know that you are watching, she’ll drop to the floor in an instant. It’s pretty funny and exciting since she did it a couple times just today

We went with our friends Keri and Jackie to the Treehouse in Ogden. We got there a little late and just got to really sample everything before it closed. It was a ton of fun and Addison loved the toys and musical instruments. Here are some photos- We enjoyed it so much that we’ll be going back next Monday!

Jackie and Addison

Future President of the United States

Today we went to the doctor and he did the big ultrasound to check the heart, mouth, organs etc. The baby is perfect and growing at a perfect rate! She (yes I said she..) is really positioned cute- but not very conveniently Her legs are together and feet are crossed. She is already very different from her sister. I have a feeling she’s going to be a girly-girl. I’m really excited to have have another girl join us! We don’t have a name yet and we are welcoming any suggestions.