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!