A 6 month old update!

6 months, 6 months, 6 months!!!



Half a year already! Say what?!

Time is flying by!

This month has definitely seen the most changes! and actually I'm not sure this mommy can quite handle just how many things are changing and how fast Addison Mae is growing up! 

In just the 1st week alone there was...

Her two first teeth! That we can't actually take a photo out because her tongue is always poking out, blocking the view of the teeth!! She has really struggled cutting these two, but I'm hopeful now they're here we will get a break from teething for a short while!

She rolled over for the first time! and then rolled back straight away, and then rolled over about 10 more times! and likes to do it at every opportunity now.  Can you tell big sis was a bit excited about it?!



She is also getting much stronger at sitting semi independently...and I feel like sitting up by herself will be right around the corner too!

She has switched from the bassinet part of her pram to her sitting up 'big girl' part!

She moved out of her Moses basket into her big girl cot (this was her last ever sleep in her basket - remember how up until just last month I had to roll up a blanket to stuff next to her and here she was completely filling it!)

She started off just having her daytime naps in the cot...

and now sleeps at night there too!

So she moved out of our room and into her own room!! It hasn't been the smoothest of transitions.

 Most people are all like 'yeah once we moved our baby into their own room they slept so much better as we weren't disturbing them anymore' - we have found the opposite! These past few weeks have been her worst sleep yet with one night where she woke up 8 different times! (she never even did that as a newborn!) I'm hopeful teething has some of that to answer for and it's not just an aversion to her cot!

She had her first taste of food! Mashed banana, just like Ella tried for her first food too...and she loved it! She was really going for it, gobbling it up! she spit a little bit out but mostly she seemed very keen which was surprising for the first try!

At the end of last month, we had Halloween - and Addi dressed up as a little pumpkin along with her zombie bride big sis.

We headed out trick and treating around our neighbourhood - sometime after 6pm, on a day when Addison hadn't had an afternoon nap!

She was wrapped up all snug in the sling, and I was convinced she was going to fall asleep...but she stayed awake the whole time!

I guess it was just all too exciting and she was enjoying being in on all the action too much!

She also went to her first halloween party!

and aren't these babies just the cutest little pumpkins in the patch! Lana, Cohen & Addi - her little buddies from toddler group.

We also took her to her first Fireworks display - not really knowing what to expect.  I anticipated some crying or uncertainty but there were no tears at all!



Addi just seemed mesmerised by all the lights and colours, and again stayed awake for the whole display despite it being late...and then did fall asleep just as we were leaving the showground.

She decided, hallelujah, that she doesn't hate the sling anymore! So we have been able to do plenty of forest walks this month now that we're not confined to the pram!

This little pair of sisters are still the cutest around,

 and I just can't get enough of how much they love each other! 

Addi really does light up when she sees Ella for the first time at the end of the school day when we go to pick her up, or first thing in the morning when she wakes.  

Also, at night sometimes when I am feeding her in her room - Ella is in the bedroom next door and will call something through to me and Addi seems to think she's talking to her and she'll coo back and they do this cute back and forth chatter like a little conversation! 

It makes me excited for the day when I can imagine they will really be chit chatting back and forth at bedtime! (and then we'll probably be cursing it, and wishing they would just go to sleep already! but right now it seems like a cute thought!)

This pic sums up her feelings on sisterhood well!

and always with the kisses! 

Addison's hair is still growing like a maniac, and we often get stopped in shops and when out and about with people commenting about just how much hair she has!

She still sucks her fingers 80% of the day! It used to be her two middle fingers but in the past few weeks it's progressed to the end two (beside her thumb) which funnily enough is the two fingers Auntie Mel was attached to all through her childhood so maybe it's in her genes!

She is still a big fan of the Jumperoo, and she is very enthusiastic with her bouncing these days! Her other favourite things to play with seems to be plastic spoons at the moment, and when I say play I mean she stuffs them into her mouth as far as they will go! (sometimes gagging on them even!) and then once she's tired of one spoon she'll throw it down and I'll hand her a different size or shape new plastic spoon and away she goes again! I'm pretty sure you could sit her somewhere for an hour with a lap full of spoons and she'd be more than happy! who needs fancy Christmas presents hey?!

She brings so much joy to our family with her sweet little personality.  It is starting to shine through more and more.  The things that make her giggle the most are - big sister, obvs! (especially watching her crazy dancing) being thrown high in the air (by Daddy of course!) king of the castle nursery rhyme and 'this is the way the lady rides', when you shout her name really fast and loud repeatedly (for some strange reason! Auntie Alli discovered this in the car one day and it still produces giggles every time!) and she has finally developed two little tickle spots just under her ribs - aside from the bit of her neck where Daddy blows raspberries on.

She really is the happiest baby.  She is finally back into a pretty good nap routine now - usually an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon.  Unfortunately both of those naps co-incide with Ella's school run which is the bain of my life!!! If I had a £1 for every time Addi has fallen asleep in the car 2 mins after we leave the house I'd be a very rich person! 

I can't believe we're at 6 months! So very excited for what the next 6 will bring!

A 5 month old update!

 

5 months! I've got to stop sounding so surprised at each month rolling around...because obviously Addison is getting older and growing up, but I'm still not totally over that news and it still takes my breath away that not so long ago she was this tiny helpless newborn whose day revolved around sleep and never being too far from some milk! and now she's this proper little human with a personality who giggles and enjoys things!

This age is so fun right now - I feel like I'll probably keep saying that as the future months roll around to, and I'll start to sound like a broken down record - but can you ever truly pick a favourite stage? 

I don't think so! You think every stage is better than the last, but then the next stage rolls around and that takes the cake again! but I really do love the banter we can have with her these days and how much more aware and into things she is.

She still continues to be one of the happiest babies around! When she's not giggling then she's smiling, when she's not smiling then she's squealing, when she's not squealing then she's cooing and chattering away. 

I wanted to add a few videos of Daddy and Ella making her giggle,

and this is just her happy little temperament, and how almost anytime you talk to her she will break into a smile! 

and how if you squeal at her she will squeal back, almost like a little conversation! 

 She always seems pretty happy with life...

unless you catch her during a teething moment, and then she is pretty grumpy indeed - but who can blame her! It has been matchstick monkey to the rescue (who is apparently the new Sophie giraffe)

and this frozen watermelon has also been helping hit the spot to soothe those sore toothypegs! She seems to be right on the cusp of her first upper tooth breaking through - we can see it and are just waiting for it to fully appear.

She still loves to suck her two middle fingers, and I just adore how she does this! Even when she was in her door bouncer the one day, she suddenly started sucking them like she was just chilling, hanging out in there! It was too cute.

Speaking of her door bouncer, we put it up for the first time and were excited to see how she would like it.  

I think she's still a bit young for it, as there wasn't a whole lot of bouncing going on but she seemed to just enjoy seeing the world from a different angle! and likes to just hang out in there sometimes.

She was also gifted a jumperoo from one the mum's at a our baby group, and I have wanted one of these for so long! so I think I'm probably more excited about it than she is at the moment! 

but she tried it out for the first time and seemed pretty taken with her new toy! I envision in the future this will be a great way for me to get some baking done! 

She is getting better at tummy time for longer periods - she loves to look at all of big sister's fun toys while she does some! I've also noticed that she now can sit upright for a short while if she is balanced on you so I'd imagine at some point soon she will start sitting independently, which is pretty exciting and also tear inducing! 

I have several (okay dozens) of pictures in my phone of Addison sleeping! So I don't really have a breaking announcement to do with any of them, other than the fact I just think she is a really adorable sleeper. That bottom lip in particular gets me every time! so I wanted to document some of them here in her little round up! 

She still really loves the bath, and even when the water starts to get run and we lay her down beside the bath and strip her off her little legs kick like crazy and she gets so excited! She also gets to have fun with big sis in the bath - Daddy captured this cute moment between the two of them the other day! 

She got gifted this adorable hooded towel by our lovely ex-neighbour Pippa, from when we lived in Wales.  It is the softest loveliest material, and I just love wrapping her up in it after bathtime! 

I really need to see this month about taking her to some little swimming classes because I just know she would love it! 

We also try and have a little massage before bed on the days when she isn't desperately hungry already...

which brings me on to our last baby massage class which happened this month.  We were attending a block of 6 weekly sessions which we both just loved! Addison really enjoyed being massaged (can you tell from that pic up there?! I mean if that isn't the poster image for promoting baby massage right there than I don't know what is!)

I also learnt so much about the amazing powers massage can have for babies, and I got to meet lots of lovely other mums and our teacher even baked cake for us at the end of each session! So we are super sad it is over, but we had a great mummy meet up for lunch after our last session and I just loved that view behind our table of all the prams lined up! 

By some miracle, Addison fell asleep on the walk from where our class was around to the garden centre where we lunched. This never happens, but I celebrated a little too soon because of course as soon as my food was put down in front of me she awoke! 

We will miss our Tuesday morning sessions, but have been busy meeting up with our new baby pals since it finished.  

Just chilling with baby Lana,

and baby Cohen (Addi's future boyfriend - every time they get together they somehow end up holding hands!!),

who we also discovered live just round the corner in our neighbourhood so we've been starting little baby playdates for the three of them too which is really sweet.

We took a trip to the coast one super sunny Saturday afternoon.  It was Addison's first time at the beach, and she seemed to love it! 

She was really mesmerised by the waves running back and forth, so much so that she managed a whole trip in the sling with no tears!! 

I thought it was a fluke, but then last week it happened again at Bowmont one sunny Sunday evening...so I'm beginning to think she might have changed her mind on the sling which is good news  for adventuring some more!

She also had her first trip to a pumpkin patch, which was so epic that it needed a blog post all of its own!

We are so excited for Halloween around these parts!

Ella asked for this little photo shoot all on her own!

Their sibling bond just grows stronger with each passing day!

and Ella is forever asking me to take photos of the two of them together, which I am obviously only too willing to do!

I bought them these matching mustard pinafore dresses, and it was almost too much cuteness to handle!

I love Addi's little belly poking out in this one!

and her little smile - always so excited to be involved!

I fear she is going to grow to be a TV addict just like Ella! she loves the screen! 

but I think she loves cosying up to big sis even more!

They even like to watch baby Einstein together! (despite it being just for babies - Ella is also a fan and gets excited when Addison gets animated about her favourite parts!)

Reading books together is still a firm favourite,

 especially in front of the fire now the chillier days are here!

This girl has the best smiles! (and check out that quiff she was rocking that day!)

She brightens all my days!

 Addison also found her toes this month! She thinks they're pretty fun, and likes to try and eat them! 

and a final picture of the 4 of us! It is super grainy since it was still dark when I took it, but one Sunday morning as we were sharing some family snuggles I wanted to capture the moment.  After I took it I realised just how much Ella is my mini me, and how much Addison is a mini Byron! 

My heart explodes when I look at these 3 and realise they are mine for life! I hope all of our days are filled with as much joy as this Sunday morning snuggle was.