Expressions of Addie B.

As I waited for Addie to wake up from her nap, I decided to fiddle around with Google's Picasa and made this collage. Picasa is a pretty cool tool and easy to use for organizing and blogging about your photos, creating collages and sending your photos straight from Picasa or making an album and sending it.

Merry Christmas

Hide

Give Addie a couch and a blanket and it's the cue to hide.

This new activity also involves one or both of us as we hide with Addie. And then acting as her voice, Courtney or I ask the other, "Where's Addie?" Her body squirms with delight beneath the blanket as she sense one of us approach. Seconds after finding her, you hear her sweet little voice say, "Hide. Hide." --which sounds much more like "hi" but you got to give the runt credit -- and quickly hides herself again. This little activity usually last a few minutes, but is a riot to see and hear.

Skills

Addie's new skills aren't like Napoleon Dynamite's, but for one-year old, they're not too bad.

As she strives to become completely independent, Addie is doing her best to feed herself. She no longer wants us to feed, but insists on using a spoon to feed herself which she is doing it with GREAT SUCCESS (Borat reference).

If that's not enough, she's now become quite the artist and her medium of choice is Crayons and paper. Sources close to us tell us that after she is potty trained she'll move out on her own, selling her art to support herself.

More Snowflakes

Today we had a pretty good snowstorm, getting a bit more than six inches. As I went out to shovel the driveway, Court got Addie in her snow gear to play a bit. As the snowflakes came down, Addie repeated her snowflake-catching skills; tilted her head back, opened her mouth and stuck her tongue out.

Below are pictures showing Addie catching snowflakes.

Addie has the Christmas Spirit

With Christmas quickly approaching, Addie's got the Christmas spirit. We just put up the tree (I know, we're a few weeks late) and Addie came downstairs the morning after and started "oohing and awing."

If that's not enough, we've started asking her what Santa says and she'll then say, "ho, ho, ho." She grabbed a Santa that we had on display and walked around saying, "ho, ho, ho" as she shows it off. Addie is even enjoying it when we read "The Night Before Christmas" at night.

The other night we went to Gardiner Village with some friends, and as we walked around seeing the lights Addie almost came out of her stroller and would say in her little voice, "La. La. La."

With all the decorations out, she's been admiring them to point of picking them up and carrying them around the house. If she gets excited, she'll say, "Ho, ho, ho" as she carts them around. She's become so festive that her "piggy" imitation even sounds a bit like her Santa.

Needless to say it's been a fun Christmas season with Addie.

Snowflakes

Here's a quick story.

It became apparent to me today that it is instinctual for a person to open his or her mouth to try and catch snowflakes as they fall. Why do I believe this?

Tonight as we were taking Addie out to the car, huge snowflakes were falling. Addie has seen snow before, but this was the first time she actually was in the snow uncovered. So, as Court carried her to the car, Addie leaned back in her arms, opened her mouth and began catching snowflakes.

Adventures in Picture Taking

The following is an e-mail sent by Courtney about her recent visit to Kiddie Kandids. A few weeks ago she took Addie to get her picture taken, but since the lady at Kiddie was a dork, they offered to retake them. The following is the experience seen through Court's eyes.

Well, we're back.

I don't even know what to say. Addie was so happy, well rested, playing fine until picture time. The lady tried her hardest -- she was being very nice and trying to please -- while Addie was totally uncooperative. I should have gone with my gut and waited till my mom or someone could go with me. It just doesn't work to only have me because I have to sit next to her and make sure she doesn't fall off.

She wanted to do everything but sit still for a picture. So we kept trying to get a smile but she just wouldn't smile. She'd do a little half smile, but mostly she'd just stare at her or watch her or try to grab whatever she was using to get her to smile. Finally, we decided to change her outfit and try for another pic in her christmas dress.

We got her changed; she was happy but then I went to set her down and she was done. She'd cry and reach for me so I gave up. I'd had enough. It had been over an hour and things weren't going to get better.

Needless to say I'm exhausted. This first picture appears as if Addie is just toying with us.

Little stinker!

Vocabulary

Over the past month or so, Addie has been expanding her vocabulary. It is evident that Addie is anxious to communicate on a greater scale than her one-syllable words allow as this past Friday night she carried on a five-minute conversation with her "Maga" -- or as Addie would say, "Gaga" -- but none of the words were understandable, though Addie seemed to think she understood because Maga would respond to her.

Here is a list of her new words with the appropriate translation:

• Gaga -- Maga (This is what my nieces and nephews call my mom, minus Amelia who calls her "Hammy")
• Bampa -- Grandpa (She'll often wander around calling "Bampa" at random times)
• Hi -- Hi (No need to explain)
• Hello -- Hello
• Noona -- Noodles (One of Addie's favorite foods)
• Na, na, na -- No, no, no (She mocks us)
• Baby -- Baby
• Ba Ba -- Bottle
• La -- Light
• Nana -- Banana
• Mmmm -- no need to explain
• uh oh -- no need to explain
• Ca -- Cracker/Cookie
• Bebe -- Binkie & Blankie
• Pooba -- Pooh Bear
• Ba -- Ball
• Buh -- Book
  
• Mama -- Mom
• Dada -- Dad

A Day at the Salon!

On Saturday, Court and I took Addie to Cookie Cutters to trim up her mop. Though it wasn't terribly long, it was a little unruly,our house requires that its members are presentable, especially before her 1-year pictures and the holiday season.

Initially, we were worried that Addie would put up a fight and resist any attends to mess with her locks. But surprisingly she behaved and now sports a new do.

Party

I'm using the text from Court's e-mail that she sent out today for this post, though slightly modified.

Last night we had her first birthday party! She loves attention so she was having a great time with so many people paying attention only to her! She loved the balloons, but was very excited to get some new toys as well.

The cake didn't go over as we had hoped. She started crying as soon as we put her in the high chair! Not a good sign! Also, she wouldn't put one of her new books down and it smeared it in the cake. Luckily it was a washable book so we didn't worry too much about it. She cheered up when we started singing to her, but she didn't want anything to do with the cake. Daddy and Mommy tried to get her to taste it, but she resisted. When she finally started playing with it, Daddy started doing five little monkeys and when it came time for a monkey to fall off and break its head, Addie put her hands on her head.

We've got a little leftover cake tonight so we're going to see what she does this time!
Below are pics documenting Addie's first birthday.

Addie admiring her gifts.

Addie with her new "baby" from Maga

The calm before the storm

Poor baby

Vogue!

Addie with Froggy.

Halloween

What do me and Addie have in common? Addie dressed as a monkey for Halloween and I once biffed it at a Monkees concert and ended up in the ER. I bet that you didn't know that.

Below are some pictures of Addie on Halloween. You might ask yourself, "Why aren't Court and Clay in the pictures?" but that is because we were in Brazil and missed her very first Halloween.

Doesn't Addie look cute?

First Tooth

Yes, that's right, after 11 months, Addie has her first tooth. Court and I were sure that she would follow in her mother's footsteps and not get a tooth until she was 15-months-old, but a week or so ago it appeared. Addie has had some troubles getting used to the tooth, having bitten her fingers multiple times as she feeds herself and then crying, not knowing how it happened and why it hurt.

The picture isn't very flattering, but it shows the beginnings of the tooth coming through.

Addie at the Pumpkin Patch

This past Saturday, Court and I took Addie to the pumpkin patch near our house. The photos below document the historic event. The pumpkin in her hands in the fourth pictures is Addie's pumpkin, which she loves to pick up and carry throughout the house.

Sweaty

Over the past year, Court and I have been able to distinguish what traits Addie has genetically inherited from us. For example, Addie has Court's poor circulation in her feet and hands which cause them to be cold. She is loud, which she gets from her dad. She loves crackers, another Court trait. But one thing that we've noticed is that she has the Blackham "sweaty" gene.

In some homes across the country, the Blackham Family is known for its sweaty gene like the Kennedy's are known for their politics. Us Blackhams have a tendency to sweat in any climate, and Court is a witness to me throwing off the covers in the dead of winter because, by my standards, it is too hot. This gene has been passed down from generation to generation, and I thought that maybe because Addie was a girl, it might skip her. I was wrong.

This became evident within the first week of Addie being born. If you were feeding her, which seemed to take forever, she would leave a wet spot on your arm. I thought that it was because we were overdressing her, but recently when Court went in to wake her from her nap, the back of Addie's head was soaked. It looked like she had just gotten out of the bath. At that moment it became evident that Addie really did inherit the Blackham sweaty gene.

To prove that this was no fluke, Addie awoke from a nap only a few days later with her hair messy and sweaty again (see picture). Thankfully Addie inherited Courtney's beauty.

Melmo and Meow

I can't believe that it was been two weeks since the last update. Some may blame it on my jealousy of Addie's blog receiving more attention than my own. The truth is that I've just been busy at home and work.

I mentioned in my blog about sounds that Addie had recently become a fan of cats and that she started saying "meow" when she saw our neighbor's cat. That was the case a few weeks back, and it has continued through today. One of our nighttime rituals is reading Addie a few stories before we give her her last bottle and put her down for the night. Nightly we read "Goodnight Moon" to her, and lately as we read "goodnight" to the kittens, Addie will take her binky out of her month and say, "meow." If she's exceptionally tired, she just leave the binky in her mouth and let out a muffled, "meow." It' really quite cute, and I find myself rereading that part until I exhaust it.

Elmo's popularity hasn't seemed to increase as much as I thought it would. I even won a stuffed Elmo at Boondocks because I thought she would like continue her obsession, but isn't quite as excited as I anticipated. Despite this lack of enthusiasm, however, Addie's has begun to say Elmo, but it actually sounds a bit more like "Melmo." She'll walk around the coffee table and say, "Melmo" over and over again.

Wouldn't it be something if we could buy a cat that looked like "Melmo"?

A Message from Addie

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Translation: My blog is better than my dad's. It makes him jealous that mine gets more traffic.

Head, Shoulders, Knees and TOES!

I've noticed that Addie has become increasingly more infatuated with toes. Not hers, but the toes of others. Her infatuation is a bit odd, however.

This first started a few weeks ago as I was sitting on the couch and with my feet on the coffee table. Addie was busy playing with a variety of toys and began walking around the coffee table when all of the sudden she spotted my toes and subtly crept up to them and opened her to suck on them.

Being the responsible parent that I am, I told her not to and pulled my toes away. For weeks she occasionally tried to put my toes in her mouth, but over the last week I hadn't seen her do this and I thought that it was just a phase and we were now in the clear. But this past Sunday as we visited Court's aunt and uncle, it became evident that this is not a phase, but an obsession.

As we sat around chatting, Court's uncle, Waggy, -- as I refer to him in my blog -- was sitting on the couch with his feet on the coffee table. Addie was busy circling the table when she spotted Waggy's toes, and like she did to me, subtly approached his toes and opened her mouth to get a taste. I stopped her before she could slime his toes.

If that wasn't enough to convince me of this infatuation, yesterday as I was in the kitchen preparing dinner, Addie, wanting to be close to her mom and dad, was playing with the dishwasher. Suddenly Addie started crawling my way. I thought nothing of this and continued on with my business, then, with her at my feet, I looked down and saw Addie leaning over and moving her mouth to my toes. She didn't do this once, but twice before I had to distract her with some toys.

I sort of hope she keeps it up for a while so when she starts dating I can tell her dates of this nasty habit. That should keep the boys away.

First Game

Today Addie got a taste of one of fall's great tradition: BYU football. Donning her BYU cheerleader outfit that she got from her aunt Livi for Christmas, Addie accompanied her mom, dad and grandparents to her first game at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

Initially, Court and I were a bit apprehensive taking her to the game because it would mean that she would possibly miss two naps, be in the sun all day, and unable to meander and play at will. But as Addie always does, she shocked us by never fussing despite no naps. Addie seemed to enjoy being amongst all the people and commotion.

She was completely mesmerized at the halftime show when the dancers waved flags around. And while the Cougars beat Tulsa, she had ample opportunities to sing the fight song with the four of us and thought it was extremely fun as she was bounced around as we sang.

Addie also practiced her social skills with older people since she's not yet ready to deal with kids her own age. She befriended everyone around us including golf great, Johnny Miller, who ended up giving her a peanut to eat -- I wish I would have saved it so I could put on eBay.

When all was said and done and lightning had suspended play, we headed home to get her to bed. Within five minutes of putting her in the carseat, she was OUT.

With another game not far away, it looks like we'll be taking her to the game again. Maybe this time she'll get another peanut from Johnny Miller.

Social Skills

As Addie grows up, we are quickly realizing that her social skills aren't progressing quite as quick as the rest of her. This became evident in our latest trip to Cafe Rio with our friends the Pratt's.

The Pratt's have a daughter that is three months younger than Addie. While we ate, Addie must have been overcome with excitement to see and interact with someone her own age. With Addie and Lily sitting close to each other, Addie began yelling. She wasn't yelling because she was angry or upset, but yelling to interact with her. Apparently Lily didn't take it as Addie intended and soon began crying. With a look of disbelief on her face, Addie, instead of keeping quiet, began to yell again and Lily subsequently began crying.

After separating the two, things began to return to normal -- Lily was comforted and Addie became entertained with talking to herself. Ten minutes passed and it appear as if we were going to get through the night without further incident. We were wrong. As I fed Addie her green beans, she soon started yelling again. However, this time it looked like Addie was just being mean. Her mouth was covered with green beans as she yelled, and I think that Lily became exponentially more scared of her and continued to cry. It seemed that the more Lily cried, the more Addie yelled. I think she found it funny. I know all four adults did.

After this incident we fear that Addie will be the girl that all her friends will complain to their mothers saying, "Mom, do I really have to play with Addie?"

What is a "Baw"?

What is a "baw" you ask? According to dictionary.com, a "baw" is actually an acronym for such things as bells and whistles, brain awareness week, and bulk acoustic wave to name a few. But to Addie it means "ball."

Within the past week or so Addie's become enamoured with her beach ball and another rubber ball at her grandma's house. We're not sure why this is, but we suspect that it stems from her recently-developed ability to pick them up and toss them about. Mind you, she is 10-months-old, and her tosses don't go much farther than a foot.

I wasn't aware how much she actually loved her beach ball until this morning. As I prepared the diaper bag for church, Addie was walking along the cupboards in the kitchen when suddenly she lost her balance and fell head first into the cupboard, making such a loud sound that Court could hear it all the way upstairs. I quickly picked her up to comfort her and made sure she didn't draw blood. As I hugged her and tried to make it better it was apparent that it wasn't helping. Then, through her tears and over my shoulders she saw her "baw" and called for it.

Immediately I grabbed the ball and gave it to her. She was quickly comforted. The crying was replaced with an occasional whimper and Addie saying, "baw." The ball had made all the difference in the world.

I guess the "baw" is her new source of comfort. I get the feeling that the ball won't be buying her a car when she turns 16, though.

Sounds

Babies can make the strangest noises. I remember when Addie was just a wee little lass, some of the sounds that she made would puzzle me. From her incessant grunting was a newborn to her not so femine noise, she never ceased to amaze me with something new.

Now, as she is getting older, it's fun to see that her sounds are starting to actually make sense. She currently is starting to imitate animals. For Christmas, Court and I, the ever anxious parents, bought her a monkey from Build-a-Bear. I can't even begin to imagine how we must have looked to the store employees and other customers as we ask our six-week-old baby which "animal" she likes best. But now, almost nine months later, the monkey is one of Addie's best friends. When she sees it, she starts to make monkey legitimate sounds.

We recently took her to the zoo -- one of her favorite places -- and when she saw the bears, she actually growled a few times. And just today as we were sitting on the front porch, a cat came up and started meowing. Addie, having never being that close to a cat before, started giggling and meowing a bit herself. Mind you that this is the first time, so it wasn't perfect, but still, she's nine months old.

Her other sound consists of a pig. She'll imitate the pig each time Court reads her a specific book with a pig.

I'm just hoping the the sound, "Dad, I'm getting married" never leaves her mouth.

Addie + Elmo

It's a sad day in a father's life when he is replaced by someone else. To many, that replacement is a handsome young man -- at least that is hoped for -- who comes in and rips your heart out of your chest. Wow, sorry for the graphic nature, after all, this is a family blog. But my replacement is a furry red puppet that some call Elmo.

Addie's recent fascination with Elmo caught Courtney and I completely off guard. We've seen parents incent their kids to like certain things, be it movies, characters, etc. I admit that I am guilty of this. I am currently encouraging Addie to become an avid Red Sox fan, my heart would break if she wasn't. But neither Courtney or I have tried to make her watch Elmo or any other Seasame Street character.

However, one day, as Court was flipping through channels, she noticed Seasame Street and stopped to see what has change and what it was like. To Court's surprise she discovered that Bert still has a unibrow, Ernie plays with ducks, and Gordon is still bald. But what blew her away was how Addie stopped everything that she was doing when Elmo came on the T.V. Addie never stops to watch T.V. for more than 10 seconds. But here she was, entranced by Elmo. She got so excited that she climbed up and tried to touch him on the screen.

To prove that this was no fluke we Tivoed Seasame Street and showed it to her again. Once again she stopped dead in her tracks to watch Elmo. The picture above was taken a few days ago and it is Addie mesmerized by Elmo. All I can say is that at least I wasn't replaced by Barney or the Wiggles.

Walking

That's right, Addie's walking. I know that we saw some of you this weekend and you were able to see her strut her stuff, but this will be news to others that don't get to see her as often. Actually, her walk, though cute, resembles Darth Vader's first steps in his new "outfit" at the end of Star Wars Episode III.

Over the past week she seems to be improving daily and seems to be awfully proud of herself. Just the other day, as Court and I ate, Addie let go of her her walking toy and waddled halfway across the room without falling. Granted the room isn't huge, but nonetheless with her short legs it must have felt like that way.

With Addie's new found mobility, and having made her parents extremely proud, she feels that gives her the liberty to get into every cupboard in the kitchen. Her coordination has enabled her to open the cupboard that contains her much beloved Pepperidge Farms Goldfish as well as treats the toothless wonder can't have yet. Yes, that is correct, Addie, even though she is 9.5 months, has no teeth -- something she inherited from her mom.

Court and I get the feeling that we are going to have our hands full because of how busy she is and her fearless behavior.

Welcome to The Addie Update

I've decided to set up this blog to share stories about Addie as she grows up. From time to time, I'll post pictures, along with updates about Addie. This way grandparents and other friends and family can log on to see what's happening in her life.

Stay tuned!