Day four hundred thirty four.

A few simple observations that may or may not be noticed in this photograph:

1. Adeline just got out of the bath.
2. Music is playing.
3. Adeline is dancing.
4. She is also attempting to strangle the annoying monkey that spins in circles and screams.

*At times she can get a bit aggressive with her toys.

Day four hundred sixteen.

She told me to tell you all they are ducks.


She doesn't like chickens very much.

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 ninety one.

Addie loves late birthday gifts. This one happened to be a new swimsuit and matching sunglasses. She thinks she looks really cool in the sunglasses. Here she is trying to see how they look in the dark.

Day three hundred fifty-nine.

The one year birthday is creeping upon us. Only one week to go. Adeline is going to have a pretty simple birthday. She will be saving her strength for the Cinco de Mayo party later that week.

This girl loves to play. Lately she has been seen with two little stuffed puppies (one of which you can see in the foreground of this photo). She carries these puppies or similar stuffed animals everywhere she goes, one in each hand. I call it her death grip. There are times when she refuses to release those poor stuffed animals.


*This post in no way implies that Adeline would like a live animal for her birthday.

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 forty.

Adeline loved Christmas. She was interested in all her gifts (when they were attached to paper tags that she could chew on).

She often crawls on the floor in search of the smallest piece of lint, tries to pick it up and put it in her mouth for a few minutes, then searches for something new. If we give her a box she will be more entertained with an attempt to scratch off the writing with her fingertips than the actual box.

This picture is a prime example of her determination. Here she is on Christmas day obviously distracted by a tiny shred of wrapping paper that just fell on the floor. Next she will surrender any prior thought of playing with the ribbon in front of her in hopes that she will get to the paper before we notice what she is doing. She is always scheming.

Day two hundred six.

This morning Aubrey and I had a conversation about Adeline's hair. We decided to put her hair in pigtails every day. Unfortunately this means that I will have to learn how to put her hair into a ponytail.

I had this big plan. I was going to put her hair in pigtails today. Then I was going to take a picture to show everyone how well I did. The plan didn't work out as I had hoped. I put her hair into one ponytail. It was horrible. I couldn't even bring myself to take a picture of it.

By the looks of this photo, Adeline was pretty upset that her hair wasn't in pigtails today. Sorry Addie, I will have to practice a bit more on my own hair.

Day one hundred ninety-two.

Adeline had her six month check-up last week. Here are the latest stats:

Weight: 15 lbs, 1 oz (30-31st percentile)
Length: 26.25 in (68th percentile)
Head: 42.5 cm (51st percentile)
Favorite Food: applesauce (43rd percentile)

At times it is difficult to determine whether she is laughing or crying. I am pretty sure she was crying in this picture. It may look as though she is about to fall over. Don't worry, she just leans to her left. Scratch that... she just fell over.

Day one hundred.

We have a winner. It was a close match but the toys were able to pull it off.

I picked her up from her morning nap and I swear she burped for 10 seconds. I was shocked. Aubrey must have taught her that over the weekend.

Day ninety-nine.

Adeline is very excited to wear a new dress to church. So excited that she decided to ignore her hands and her toys. I'm sorry if anyone expected a winner today.

Day ninety-eight.

Today is the second day of the battle of the hands. Adeline did really well all day until she had a nasty bout of cherry fever. The toy made some ground today as seen by this picture. Tomorrow we will start on a new toy since this one fell on the floor at Flo's and is now in the dirty laundry.

Hands: 1
Toy: 1

Looks like a tie for now... Next point wins.

Day eighty-five.

Adeline was mesmerized by the rain as we sat on the front porch of the cabin this afternoon. Then she was mesmerized by how efficiently her dad packed and loaded the vehicle.

The drive home went really well. She sat in her car seat and smiled at her play toy nearly the whole time. The rest of the time she punched herself in the face.

Day eighty-one.

Adeline is a copycat. She just wants to fit in with her peers.

Day fifty-two.

She really likes to play hide and seek. We only let her play indoors for now. So far she has come up with some really good hiding spots.

Day twenty-six.

Today Adeline has been very pleasant. I think she is happy that the Suns won last night. She really got into the game. It seemed that her dirty diapers were always during a time out. Maybe I only noticed them during the time outs. Either way, go Suns!

Day nineteen.

Chillin' on the playmat. We sometimes set her on her playmat while we do other things (update our blogs). Today she is starting to figure out how to hit one of the toys. She doesn't hit it every time, but she tries a lot. Who knows, she may just be swinging her arms around and hitting the toy because it happens to be in the way. After her bath, I placed her in her bouncer, then on the playmat to get her a little closer to the toys.
(note the strategic placement of the toy in question in her right hand)

Day thirteen.

Gone fishin'

Adeline's daddy is fishing in Payson today, so I am the substitute daily picture poster. I captured her exhibiting her Tonic Neck Reflex, also called the fencing reflex because... well, it looks like she's fencing.

"I hear you guys don't have a fencing team here. Well, I'm going to try my best to get one started for you." - Max Fischer