Addison enjoyed her second Christmas much more than her first. It's funny to think that at this time last year her schedule was: sleep, eat, poop, repeat. This year she thoroughly enjoyed the Christmas tree, the lights, the wrapping paper and playing with her cousins.
Matt and Ethan had fun with Addison in Abilene.
Owen and Grant with Addison in Waco.
We are so excited Addison has such great cousins to play with and look up to! 
Wow! It's hard to believe, but Addison is one year old! What an incredible year it's been! We've learned so much about ourselves, our families, friends, and, of course, Addison. She had a blast on Saturday opening presents and squishing cake between her fingers and in her hair. However, she also had her first sinus infection, so I don't know that she could even taste it. Is there some kind of rule out there that kids have to be sick on their first birthdays? In true Addison form, she had fun in spite of it.
It's amazing to look at how much she's grown over the year. The pictures above are her 12 month and 1 month pictures with the bear.
On Saturday, we went out into the wilderness and found a great tree and Rach cut it down with her bare hands. Or, we went to 41st and Harvard and bought one from Isaiah who hooked us up with a $25 tree stand too. Either way, Addison loved the experience of getting her first Christmas tree and we all had a great time.
I hesitated to post this, because I don’t want sympathy or pity. But I want to be completely honest, so here it is:
Aunt Brittan and Uncle Russ (and Berk-dog) had a long weekend last week, so they decided to get in some Tulsa time. We had a great time tossing pizza crusts, making s'mores and solving all the world's problems. Addison was a bit shy at first, but warmed up quickly and loved spending time with them. We also got to celebrate Russ passing the bar exam! Way to go, Esquire Jumper.
Addison turned 11 months old yesterday! So, of course, it was time for her obligatory bear picture. She is growing up so quickly. It's hard to believe she'll be a year old soon.
Addison's latest development is that she started to babble last week. If I may say, it is the cutest thing ever. Sometimes she seems like she really knows what she's saying, it just comes out, "bablaba, pthhh."
She's also enjoying books lately. Mostly she likes to flip the pages, hit me in the face with it, or try to put it in her mouth, but it's a start. We got her a few new ones today. We thought since she spends her days at face-level with Bear, we'd get something that relates to her world.
Yabba Dabba Doo! As some of you know, Addison decided to be Pebbles Flinstone for Halloween. So, in an effort to support her decision, Wes and I dressed- you guessed it- as Fred & Wilma. We actually had a great time. It’s been a long time since I’ve dressed up for Halloween. I’d forgotten how much fun it is to have an excuse to be goofy in public for a night. Plus, it’s way more fun to dress up with someone. It’s also a lot more fun to wear an actual costume instead of whatever we could find around the house an hour before time to go trick-or-treating. I’ll let you in on a little secret- my parents made me a bag-lady like four years in a row. No wonder I haven’t dressed up in a while. (It’s also no wonder I wasn’t the most popular kid around.)
We also had another swimming lesson this weekend, and, while I may be a tad biased, I think Addison is the best student in the class. She loves every minute of it and is not the least bit scared. Next week they’re going to have us put our children’s heads under water. The other parents in the class are a bit nervous. I, on the other hand, have been struggling to keep her head out of the water this whole time.
This, I think, is the best picture we have yet. Addison figured out today how to get from her tummy to sitting, which has made naptime quite challenging. The first two times she sat up in her crib, I went in and laid her back down. When I walked in the second time, Addison looked up at me with the biggest smile on her face and started clapping. It was at that moment that I realized this was becoming a rather entertaining game for her. So, the next time I decided to leave her and see what happened. And this is it. She fell asleep sitting up.
Addison has been pretty intent lately on really exploring the world around her. Anytime she’s in the water (i.e., bath and swimming lessons), she splashes like crazy, but then she’ll stop and lean forward slowly and put her face in the water. A couple of times she’s tried to breathe with face in water, and comes up coughing. At this point, you’d think most kids would not want to do that again, but she looks over at me, smiles, and then puts her face right back in. Tonight I was filling up her bath, and she leaned over and stuck her face right in the waterfall. I swear she should have been born with fins and a tail. 
She also had her first experience this weekend of carving a pumpkin. Well, okay, so not really carving- we’re better parents than that. But she did get to pull out the seeds and goop and play with it between her fingers and toes. At first she wasn’t so sure about it, but once she got into it, she really got into it.
Today was the Buddy Walk for the Down Syndrome Assoc. of Tulsa. We had a wonderful time today, so to all who contributed, thanks for your support. We were able to raise $2200 because of your generosity. 
Addison certainly contributed. She walked, well more like rolled, one lap around the track and then won a nice gold medal for coming in 236th place out of 1,240. Finishing in the top 20% as a ten-month-old makes me think she might have a future as an Olympian. She didn’t spend much time celebrating though because she quickly re-discovered the toy attached to her safety harness in the stroller, and immediately started playing again. Now this gal has her priorities straight. 
Thanks to Peggy, we were able to get a nice family picture with the Team Addison flag that we made for the event. 
For the next picture, I'm not sure if we caught her by surprise, or if she was trying to tell me something. Either way, I thought this was classic.
Wow. Addison is 10 months old. Our little baby is becoming such a little girl! I was at the mall yesterday and saw a few moms with new babies, then I’d look down at Addison, and she looked so big with her arms and legs overflowing from her stroller.
Addison has always loved bathtime, but her excitement lately has reached a new level. Wes will put her sitting in her tub facing the faucet and then let the water run into it, and she goes nuts! She’ll literally lunge forward onto her knees to get her hand into the waterfall. So she’s basically standing on her knees leaning on the tail of her duck tub so that the water can splash on her hands and face. We didn’t even know she could do that!
One last note- THANK YOU! You guys are amazing. I sent an email out this morning about donating to Addison’s team for the Buddy Walk this weekend (see link to the right if you’re interested in seeing her fundraising page), and already we’ve raised $600! I’m blown away by your generosity. Thank you a thousand times over. Addison is blessed to have such a support network from such an early age.
She is also very interested in Bearfoot, our chocolate lab. He is so sweet with her, and she LOVES to grab anything she can as he passes by. She’ll pull his ears and his lip and climb all over his face, and when he’s had enough, he just gets up and moves.
It’s been a little cooler lately, so I’ve had to kind of bundle Addison up when I go running in the mornings. I found these little bunny slippers in our stash of baby gifts to grow into, and they’re perfect! She loves playing with the little bunny ears, and has actually done well at keeping them on her feet. I keep them on her as long as I can in the mornings because they’re just so cute. Gotta keep the little piggies warm!
I’m not sure how, but Addison gets to be more fun every day. She loves playing with her house lately. She sits in front of the door and pushes it open, then closed, open, then closed, open, then closed. This is very enjoyable for Wes and me as well, because it, of course, makes noises every time the door moves. Imagine that lady (you know, the electronic one on all the toys) saying “hellogoodbyelet’splayseeyalaterhellogoodbletsplseeyalatehelgoodhellogoodbylet’splay” She’s gotta be exhausted.
This picture illustrates a few things. #1-This is why Mommy usually picks out the clothes. Wes kept Addison the other day while I was working, so he was the one who put her to bed. When I got her out of her crib the next morning, this is what she was wearing. Okay-Wes deserves a little credit- so she was just going to bed. I just thought it was funny. #2- She really does look cute no matter what she’s wearing! (Can you imagine waking up this happy every morning?)
Addison and I have gotten to spend a little more time together lately, and it’s been a blast. (Doesn't she look like she's winking?) She’s been working on getting up on her hands and knees, but those darn knees keep sliding out from under her. She’s also started imitating motor movements (like banging the rattle on a ball). This is an important step for developing speech later on. Today she was holding my hands and clapping them together, so I was trying to get her to clap hers. When I’d say, “Addison’s turn,” she’d put her hands straight out in front of her with her fingers stretched out and palms together, and would wait for me to clap them together. Too cute!
I know some of you are anxious to see beach pictures- Mom- so I didn’t want to delay in getting these pictures posted. Addison absolutely LOVED the beach! Everytime a wave would come up over her feet she’d get so excited and start kicking and laughing.
She had a great time playing with her cousins, Matt and Ethan, and the rest of the family. We decided this week that Addison needs to spend more time around older kids. She was so enthralled by them and everything they did. They were good buddies by the end of the week.
Addison also turned 9 months old last week, which means it's time for another picture with the bear. She knows now that when the camera is pointed at her, she’s supposed to smile. It’s pretty funny. She had her 9 month check-up today, and was off the DS growth chart on her weight (but off the high end this time). The doctor mentioned that so far her Down’s seems pretty mild, and this may just be an indicator that her physical features are mild as well. All encouraging things to hear. Down’s or not, we know that she is on the severe end of cute and lovable!
