Day four hundred thirty one.

I know it is not the greatest picture in the world, but we thought it was hilarious to watch Addie trying to put her sandals on. These are the first shoes that she tries to put on rather than trying to take them off.

This is also the extent of her patriotic wardrobe. Sorry if anyone was expecting a patriotic or inspiring post. The 116° heat seems to be throwing off her Independence Day enthusiasm.

Day four hundred twenty five.

Adeline has been reading to herself lately. She will pause, laugh, point, and even use voice inflection. The stories seam to be much more entertaining when she reads them.

Day four hundred five.

Adeline likes to make a mess. She told me one day that she looks at it like a piece of art or a recipe. I guess this recipe calls for a lot of books, a few DVDs, some shoes, and a pinch of sock.

Day three hundred thirty-seven.

We flew in from Boston last night. The whole trip was really fun, and we had a great time. Although it was hard to leave Adeline in Arizona, she probably wouldn't have enjoyed the week of public transportation and sightseeing nearly as much as we did.

I will let Aubrey fill you in on most of the details. She surprised me by setting up a meeting with Greg Allen at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. For those of you who don't know, Greg writes the Daddy Types blog. He showed us some really cool stuff including a secret entrance to the museum, and shared some behind the scenes NYC information. He also presented me with a limited edition Daddy Type T-shirt. Thanks again, Greg.

We brought back a few souvenirs for Addie to play with. Her favorite so far is the little pocket image viewer that the Metropolitan gift shop sells. I think she likes it because it is red.

We also brought her the book Make Way for Ducklings that we found at the Old North Church in Boston where the lanterns were hung (one if by land, two if by sea). I remember reading this book as a kid. It is about a family of ducks in Boston. Maybe she will appreciate it more in a few years.

Adeline was excited to see us last night. We spoke to her on the phone a few times while we were gone. When she heard our voices she would look around the room to find us and then try to eat the phone.

She is officially crawling all over the place. No more army crawl.

While she is very glad to have us back and to be home playing with her toys, Addie would like to thank all of her grandparents for playing with her this week and for making this trip for mom and dad possible.

Day two hundred sixteen.

It's the first of December and Adeline is officially ready to begin the celebration of her first Christmas season. She loves to look at our Christmas tree dancing to Christmas tunes. Her favorite is the Sufjan Stevens box set. I tried playing her some music from 99.9 but she got sick of hearing John Lennon's "Happy Christmas", Jose Feliciano's "Feliz Navidad", and Burl Ives songs over and over.

She has become quite mobile in the last few days. We are going to have to childproof some of the gifts under the tree. I am not too worried about her opening them; it's the drool I fear.