Happy Holiday Season!!!!!

Our Christmas season began the week before Christmas when we celebrated with our good friends Mo and Scott, and Mimi and Al. They cooked us a wonderful dinner and Addison had her first taste of duck from the barebecue!!! She loved it and mom even tried it and liked it too!!!! We had a wonderful time and so enjoy spending time with them. Thanks for the wonderful gifts and always being so endearing with our baby girl!!!! She truly loves you all, as do we!! 


The next stop was the 24th in Sarnia, ON for the arrival of the Olympic Torch. What an exciting event and well put together. Great planning on behalf of the Olympic Committee to take the torch across Ontario to 1000 or so communities to let the public be part of the excitement. We thought it was a great time to introduce Addison to the spirit of the Olympic Games in hopes that in the future she can look back on it and say "hey I once held the torch" and who knows will maybe carry it herself someday!!

Later that night we packed up Addy and the boys and headed off to Chatham for the holidays. We stayed over at mom's for the night so that she could be part of Addy's first Christmas at home. We got up early, but sleepy head Addison held us off from opening gifts till about 10:00 am!!! Yeah we will change that one for next year. Addy did great at opening her Christmas gifts and of course was completely spoiled. Thanks to Mim and a wonderful package from Nan Nan, Addy will be well entertained and well dressed in the coming months. The rest of the day was nice and relaxing and full of good cheer, good eats and visiting with great family and friends. We celebrated the next full day with friends at mom's annual Boxing Day Open House. Danielle and Todd and the boys made it down and we exchanged our gifts and celebrated it all over once again. It was geat to be with everyone there, but we did miss our other half of the family off to the East. Thanks for some great phonecalls to bring us all closer to you and looking forward to getting together with everyone in January for our second half of the Christmas season.

TIS THE SEASON

Well the holiday season is fully upon us. We had the house all decorated a few weeks ago as I had my annual cookie exchange and we normally have the house in full Christmas gear for that. It took us a few weeks to get our tree up, as we were originally waiting to set it up in the den once we had it drywalled, but alas we are still waiting. So after moving a few pieces of furniture, the tree is standing tall in our living room fully decorated. After all Greg said; "we can not not have our tree up for Addison's first Christmas". He really is a big teddy bear under that stoic exterior.


Thanks to our local children's center, a breakfast with Santa was held for all the kids at the Legion earlier this month. We got up bright and early and headed over for Addison to meet the big man in red. After a long line up she had her chance to sit on the big man's lap and I was able to snap off this quick pic before the tears set in. What is it about Santa that makes all the young ones' cry and then love and giggle with laughter years later as they grow into childhood??? If only they knew all the goodies he brings, the dreams he makes come true, and the spirit of giving he spreads around the world every year!!!

So as the anticipation draws near for Addison's first Christmas at home, we are finishing up the year with her usual physio, occupational and speech appointments. Addison continues to do well in her developmental exercises and is showing great progress. Although she still lags behind even her corrected birth date, she manages to meet the milestones and head in the right direction. You can see the determination on her face as she reaches tirelessly for that toy that is just out of reach, well at the same time trying to figure out how to tuck that leg in and lean over to get a better distance and more leverage to grab it. A few face plants later she settles in for the roll and will manage to grab it. You will get there soon little one and will be crawling in the New Year I predict. With the exposure to the other kids at her daycare, Addison's speech epands daily. Not actual words mind you, but a definite increase in babbling and sounds being made. It is funny however, each time we attend our speech appointmen it is like Addison knows what she is there for and waits until the last 5-10 minutes to let any sounds out. I find myself constantly trying to sell to the therapists all that Addy does at home, she is honestly more active and chattering at home. I just want them to know all that she does, so that she can have a full assessment other than just the hour they get to spend with her once every other week. Not that I don't value their opinions and think that all the work they do is beneficial, I just don't want Addison to be "labelled" for lack of a better word because she does not show her full potential during her appointments.

Just being the over protective mother I guess. I feel I have to be her advocate though till she is able to tell us all what she is thinking, believing and capable of doing! This month also brought a followup hearing assessment for Addison. We have had a few over the last year, but unfortunately she continued to either have a cold or a bit of fluid in her ears so the tests could not be completed. Finally some success. She passed fully on her left ear, but continued to show signs of fluid on her right ear and was unable to complete the test for this side. So back we will go in the New Year.

So although she is not crawling, she has made herself quite mobile by rolling all over. Even in her small playpen she manages to roll herself end to end and side to side, often tucking herself up underneath the change table portion playing a game of hide and seek. She continues to try and pull herself up out of her playpen, but still needs a little help and boost from mom or dad. When once she could not even lift her legs without help, she is now pulling them up with ease and putting those little toes in her mouth!!! She has become quite the independant eater and has told us that she no longer wants to be fed by mommy or daddy, but merely by her own hand. Her dexterity is amazing and is able to put hand to mouth with ease and 90% of the time she is getting the bits inside her mouth. Back in October while doing some online garage sales I picked up this great little sit on push along car for $5.00, Addison loves it, especially when daddy spends countless hours pushing her around the house on a little joyride. Her personality shines through everyday, she really is such a happy little girl, but every once in a while we see a touch of her temper and some frustration creep through. Wonder how she got that, with two parents that are both very strong "A" type personalities???

Back to the Grind

Well my last week at home with Addy was a great one. We kept ourselves busy with some shopping in the US and then just hanging at home and with friends. To prepare both of us for the transition I had Addy go to the babysitter's for a trial run, and as I expected she faired very well.

It was hard to get myself in the mindset to return back to work, I hated thinking about the fact that I would not be home with her and enjoying every little thing she does. I (like probably every other parent in the world) dread the fact that I will miss the little things; her smiles, her talking and her cute little expressions. But it will be the hardest to miss the milestones she will accomplish while we are not there with her. It is so hard to believe that the time has finally come, and that a full year and a bit has gone by so fast. To think back (which I find myself doing a lot these days) and reflect about where we were a year ago today just blows my mind.

So sadly, I returned to work last Monday, and it was a very long and hard day. Mentally it was like being on vacation (just a really long one) and trying to re-adjust to being back, after being away or and extended length of time. Your mind is all foggy and still back at the resort where you were enjoying the sun and relaxation; except my resort was home with Addy. I found myself sitting in front of my computer, mind drifting quite often, but at least on this day I knew she was home with daddy, which was a bit more comforting for my first day away from her. The rest of the week proved interesting as I tried to balance getting both myself and Addy ready for the day, and off to work on time. Addy is still quite the night owl and still staying up late, which means mommy is up late too. So far the mornings have not been too bad, but I am sure it will catch up if this pattern stays. For the most part we faired okay. As most of you who know me I am late for everything so add a baby to the mix and I am done. I suppose it will get easier with time.

I know it is only the first week and we still have a long way to go, but our babysitter seems wonderful. Very kind and sweet person and you can tell that she genuinely loves kids. Addy seems to be enjoying it alot. She has smiles everyday as we walk in the door as Jana says good morning. The other kids our keeping Addy extremely entertained and I believe she will be learning alot from them. She is the youngest one there, but she is fitting into the mold of everday routine quite well. So with one week under our belt, we trudge on to begin what our new life routine will be.

Addy is still doing new things everyday, I guess that is what it will be like from now on as we watch her grow. She is eating like a big girl now, just some things have to be pureed for her now and again. She has really caught on to the finger feeding method and tries this everyday. She is not always successful at getting it in, but she is pretty determined to try. Fergus and Tal love this of course, and have taken up shop under Addy's high chair at each meal. Addy thinks this is wonderful too and I have even caught her feeding the boys on the sly as my back is turned. Our therapists are pleased with Addy's progress and say that she is definitely an analytical thinker and processes everything in front of her. She has shown signs of problem solving, as she continues to learn this whole transition from sitting to crawling. We actually place her in a crawling stance and she seems to tolerate this well, but then her little arms and shoulders get tired and down she goes. She wants to go quite bad but just can't get her body to do that quite yet. She is rolling with such ease that she now manages to get herself to the sides of her bed and playpen and is attempting to pull herself up. It is quite hilarious to see her in there at night when she is refusing to sleep, she piles her blankets up to push herself up higher and she peeks out over the top and smiles and laughs. I have yet to get this on video but it is priceless.