Girl Bonding

Addie thinks Collins is AWESOME. Collins thinks Addie is a baby. Most days she could take her or leave her. But she is starting to find things she does funny (making messes, throwing things on the floor, squash in her hair, etc.), and I can see her opinion of her little sister rising. My hope is that one day they are not only sisters but close friends.

We have become a true three-some over the summer, spending all of our days together. This dynamic will change a bit in the Fall as Collins goes to school three mornings a week, but for now, we are taking baby steps towards friendship.

Bath tub is pretty full and pretty funny these days...

Collins invited Addie to join her "overnight camp-out"....

The hair-pulling is becoming an issue...

The pushing was not so gentle, but Addie loved it!

 

I made Addie's day by putting her up front in the cart with Collins at Costco...she was literally squealing. Then she'd throw her leg up on the side of the cart, and Collins would start squealing that Addie was not riding the cart properly. We were all cackling- one of the more fun trips I've had to Costco. :)

How thankful I am to spend my days with these fun girls!

Addie at 7 Months

Addie came alive during her seventh month! She became a grabbing, wiggling, rolling little thing who couldn't sit still if she tried. For example...

She rolls over and changes directions so quickly she'll get herself tangled up in her activity mat. And forget about changing a diaper easily anymore.

She can't sit still in her Bumbo and eat her meals. She stretches herself as far as she can go to reach a desired object, grabs it, and then usually throws it on the ground. Your cup is not safe around her- trust me!

She smiles ALL the time.

She thinks Collins is super funny and laughs at her the most- especially when she gets right in her face and talks nonsense.

She has become an expert sitter and has to practice all the time- including while taking her bottle. If she is laying down to take her bottle she doesn't lay still- she'll throw her leg up in the air and play with her toes or grab at my hair or jewelry.

She really likes solid food- especially sweet potatoes, yogurt and squash.

Also during her seventh month she slept through the night for the FIRST time. Sigh...and then didn't do it again. :) Addie and her sleep issues...we're currently going through sleep training and it's going a little better, but we're still waiting for that wonderful night of perfect sleep!

Addie had another big milestone this month- she got baptized! More photos to come.

Official 7 month photo...

The "7" sticker never even made it to her tummy. She snatched it from my hand and put it in her mouth immediately.

And my favorites from the month...

Little Reader

Collins is obsessed with reading books. She asks to read books throughout the day, gets super focused as you read to her, quotes lines from books, asks lots of questions as you read a book, and doesn't want to stop once you start. I feel bad, but we literally have to cut her off sometimes because if you read her one book, you have to read her twenty. And my voice eventually gives out! Her absolute favorite books are the Berenstein Bears series (we are trying to collect them all!), but she also loves Pinkalicious, Fancy Nancy, Dr. Seuss, anything really.

When she doesn't fall asleep during nap time, I let her take books into her bed and look through them.

I am all for this obsession! She learns so much this way, and I love reading to her. Hope she always loves books this much.

Meet the Pack Day

Brian and Collins were both in hog heaven spending an afternoon at Carter Finley stadium during Meet the Pack Day. We're gearing up for football season!

A Weekend Away

Brian and I went to Charlotte a few weekends ago for a fun wedding weekend- leaving little Addie overnight for the first time ever. I was a bit nervous to leave her for two whole nights, but of course she and Collins did great in Gigi and Pop Pop's loving care.

We had a great time celebrating Will (Ptrags) and Lauren's wedding and being kid-free for a short time. The Davidson weddings are always a good time. Their rehearsal dinner was at the new Knights stadium uptown...

Stevo came in for the wedding which always makes things interesting- especially on the dance floor. :)

What a treat it was to have time to myself, time visiting Rach and Jen in Davidson, and time alone with Brian.  And what a treat it was to get back to my girls!

Being Brave

We have recently dealt with a huge mess. A batty mess. Yes, we came back from our weekend in Hickory to find a bat in Collins's bedroom. I still can't believe it. I saw something in the curtains and was like, "what is THAT?!?". It was alive and asleep and Brian took care of it so it wouldn't terrorize us flying around the house. The good news is that he got it quickly, the bad news is that he hit it too hard and it couldn't be tested for rabies. Ugh...the fallout was not pretty.

It was many phone calls to animal control, the health department, the insurance company, wildlife removal service, the pediatrician and then finally a visit to the ER to get Rabies vaccinations...for both girls. Awful. We made the hard decision to give them the series of four shots because they recommend it for any child that is left alone in the room with a bat. Collins was in her room getting something when the bat was in there (unknowingly). We think there was no chance she or Addie was bitten (even if the bat did have Rabies and chances are good that it did not), but in the end we couldn't risk even a chance. Once you have Rabies, there is nothing they can do. So we spent four hours in the ER that first day and just finished our fourth trip there, and it was pretty traumatic on Collins. I honestly don't think the shots were that painful for her, it was just dealing with a new fear. I sure hope we haven't scarred her for life.

Here they are the first day at the hospital. Collins looks scared in the picture, but she did fine until it was the actual shot time. We brought princess band-aids and the iPad to help!

They both rebounded quickly after that first round of shots...

Whew! It's all over now, and we've determined it was an isolated incident. But I will tell you- hope we never have to go through that again!

A Wet Trip West

Last weekend we all headed West with the girls and I stopping in Hickory and Brian continuing on to the mountains.

Call it a challenge (call it crazy!) but he endured 26 hours navigating the Brevard mountains with a Go Ruck event. He learned survival skills and how to use a compass and traverse 27 miles overnight- in the rain- with no food!!! Amazing.

The girls and I took it a bit easier in Hickory. We ate, shopped, hung out with our family and had a great time!

Nana always plays her role perfectly...

Entertaining ourselves on a rainy day...

Addie's first mess was adorable...

Collins dressed up for Mimi's birthday cookout. :)

A fun weekend for us all!

Swim Lessons

I'm so glad we took swim lessons at Ridge Road pool this summer. It was fun getting outside for lessons, and Collins was really comfortable in the water. She learned how to bob, glide, float, and tread water with the help of the instructor. It went so well we are advancing to level 2 next week!

Bath Fun

I'm now bathing the girls at the same time for convenience and entertainment's sake. Adorable.

Feeling the Dance

Collins is really excited about dance right now. I'm pretty sure the main reason is because it requires her to wear a tutu and lots of pink. It also doesn't hurt that they blast "Frozen" music and her best friend Reeves is taking the class. I'd like to think she's actually interested in learning how to dance too!

They are both signed up to take a class in the Fall, but over the Summer took a couple of demo classes and participated in a dance camp. Here are some dance shots!

Looking the part...

Mimi and Baba helped Collins expand her dance wardrobe while in Hickory. Her first tap shoes!

A "tutu" dance camp ended with Collins's first dance recital. She nailed it. :)

We're looking forward to a lot of fun with dance this year!