Addison's shoe collection continues to grow

Addison's Nana Di got her a pair of Mary Jane Squeekies. For those who don't know these are shoes with a squeeker in the heel which is said to encourage them to walk heel to toe. Regardless of what it encourages, the pure entertainment factor of watching her squeek away is enough for us! :-)
She is beginning to develop quite the shoe collection these days with another pair of squeekie sandals on the way! At this rate, she'll surely prove that there is a strand of DNA that explains shoe obsessions like her Uncle Ben and Nana Di have.

Cheers,
Mic, Deb and Addison

Squeeky Mcsqueeker

Addison's new laptop

Addison has her very own laptop for updating her blog and sharing pictures as she grows. She's sleeping now or she would be writing this and expressing her excitement! :-)

Goodnight,
Mic, Deb and Addison

Deb & Addison's Adoption Day

July 22nd, 2009 marks another memorable day for our family. This morning, Deb, myself, Addison and our lawyer, Doug Henry, met at the Dubuque County Courthouse for Addison's adoption hearing. Because we are legally married in Iowa, Deb was able to adopt Addison as a stepparent which protects their relationship in many, many ways.

The experience itself felt very Law and Orderish. We arrived at the courthouse at 8:45am and met our lawyer. We waited about 20 minutes outside of the courtroom with a variety of individuals awaiting their opportunity in court. One family for an adoption also and others who appeared to be addressing other legal matters. We were called into the courtroom, where the other family requesting an adoption was also sitting (all 20 of them!). They seemed to have brought everyone including their next door neighbors. They had us go first because we had a 10 month old who was clearly overdue for her nap. They asked us to rise for the entrance of Judge Shubatt (I kept thinking of Judge Judy) and the hearing started. The judge read the details of the petition and then our lawyer asked Deb questions about her intentions (to adopt Addison) and her means to provide for her and then asked me questions (did I grant this adoption, do I feel that it's in the best interest of Addison) and then the Judge made some closing statements (including that he granted the adoption and Addison's legal name would be changed to Addison Marie Sazama-Nauman). The funniest part of the experience is that when the judge asked Deb to raise her right hand, Addison who was sitting on her lap, also raised her right hand. Everyone in the court room cracked up. Each time the judge asked me a question, Addison responded with some sort of grunt or laugh. She was as usual clearly entertaining everyone.

Cheers,

Mic, Deb and Addison

Puppy Love at 10 months

Addison is in love with Lucy. She follows her around the house in her walker and loves to grab onto her collar and pull herself up. What she hasn't quite learned yet is that Lucy is not as solid or stable as furniture. Lucy is awesome with her only licking her face and hands when she's eating. We are off on Thursday for another up north trip to Wilderness Way in Wascott, WI with our best buds, Kelly and Teena. We are excited for another trip up north and hoping the weather will warm up enough to get in the lake. As we pack tonight we are always reminded that children require a lot of equipment! Thank heavens we've got the mom van!

Here are a few pics of Addison & Lucy!

Cheers,

Mic, Deb and Addison

One little mokey tumbling down the stairs

At 9 3/4 months, our first incident has occured and Addison's mommies learned a valuable lesson, always keep the gate closed at the top of the stairs. Earlier in the week Deb was getting ready for work and I was in the kitchen getting a bottle ready. Addison was playing on the bathroom floor with Deb and I had turned the water on for the bottle at the same time that Deb yelled, "She's coming your way". Because of the running water, I didn't hear her say this and continued prepping the bottle. I turned the water off just in time to hear 2 small thumps and 1 big thud followed by high pitched crying. Immediately I knew what had happened and ran for the stairs. I found the little monkey laying down on the landing after what looked like a belly slide down the carpeted stairs. After about 30 seconds of consoling, we put her on the changing table to check for broken bones and only found a few red marks on her forehead and cheek. Thankfully, she was not seriously injured but we were fairly shaken up. Being first time mom's we made sure that we told the daycare about the fall when Deb dropped her off for the afternoon and I called her pediatrician to double check if there was anything to watch for since we weren't sure about whether or not she actually bumped her head or just had rug burns from sliding down the steps. The nurse reassured us that this happens often and that Addison will remember it for 3-4 minutes and we will remember it for a lifetime! As a result of this little incident, there is a sign on the gate that reads..."please keep the gate closed at all times".
Other highlights for the little monkey are that she is indeed a little monkey. She is crawling on everything, pulling herself up on everything including the dog and has started to dance to music. She has a top tooth coming in and is loving the art of eating table foods, especially peas. Her hair gets curlier each day and depending on the sunlight, she appears to have a shade of red as well.
She moved to the next room at daycare last week and as a result, waves to everything and has started babbling quite a bit. She's perfected the ma-ma syllables which she uses to her advantage when she is put in her crib for naps and bedtime.
She's been off of antibiotics since June 10th and has had no fevers or issues with her ears. Yay, the tubes seem to be doing their job! She stopped taking zantac and started prevacid for reflux 3 weeks ago and has been taking bottles with no problem at just the time when we should start switching her to a sippy cup. We've decided it's more important for her to get the fluids right now regardless of whether it's a bottle or sippy cup.
We are heading up north on thursday morning for a weekend at the cottage which should be a blast. We are hoping for warm weather so the lake is warm enough to take her in and I'm hoping we can avoid any encounters with bears! :-)

Cheers,
Mic, Deb and Addison