Addison - the TWO YEAR OLD!

Addison, Addie, Silly Baby, Addie Grace, Little Lady. However you've grown to know her - that little girl is now two years old.

I'm not so much in shock that SHE is 2, because she is such a two-year old! Learning dozens of words a week, being so curious, having so much happy energy, etc. It's the fact that it's been two whole years since I was pregnant. Since I was in labor and giving birth to her!

But enough about me and my mothery lamenting...Onto the good stuff!

2 Year Check-Up
Height

36" - 95th percentile
Weight

28 lbs. 4oz. - 75th percentile
Head size
18 1/2" - 40 percentile

Addison was very good at this check-up. When the doctor came in, he warned that kids her age typically don't like the doctor. But Addison was very interested in everything the doctor was doing, especially when he listened to her heartbeat with the stethoscope! Dr. Michael was very impressed and said all looks good! She's had a mild rash on her neck the past couple weeks that we can put lotion on and it should clear up.

Potty Training

We briefly discussed potty training at the Dr. appointment and he said at this point to not force it too much on her. Which is very true because she was gradually making progress on her own in those first few months when we left it entirely up to her. But as we got closer to the 2-year mark, I wanted to kick it up a notch and start making visits to the potty a routine thing. Well, that soon was met with resistance from Addison. She still goes a few times a week, but now when it's bath time she'll say "no potty!" right away, since I started telling her to go on the potty everytime she had a bath. So I backed off a little, and now she does always at least sit on the potty as the bath is getting ready  - most of the time she does go!
So for now, we'll take it easy, but always keep it part of the conversation at least.

Toddler Bed

The week of Addison's 2nd birthday, we converted her crib into a toddler bed. She loves it! She goes running into her room and jumps on her bed all the time. At bedtime, she loves that now Tim and/or I can cuddle with her when we say good night. She rotates who she wants to "cuddle me." The other parent will give her kisses, and then she will tell us to give the cuddling parent a kiss too. Then we'll lay with our head on the pillow next to her for a few minutes. She even puts her arm around our neck and nuzzles her nose against our face. I LOVE that :)

The first couple nights, she would get out of her bed on her own, and come sneaking downstairs by us. Somehow she just knew she had to "sneak." We'd hear the door open and the hallway floor creep, but it would take her several minutes to come down the stairs - and when she did, she'd be peeking around the corner all smiley like she knew she was being sneaky! What a goof!
She did fall out of the bed once, it's only about a foot off the floor. She cried but when we went in there, she was still sleeping - so we just put her back in the bed and she was fast asleep and no more crying. We're getting a toddler rail to protect her from that!

Birthday Weekend!
Thursday, May 26
Mommy had a 1/2 day on Thursday so Addison was only at Auntie Lorie's til about 1:30. From there we went to the Dr. for her 2-year check-up. Then the rest of the evening we just played at home, some good Mommy & Addie time since Daddy was running a race in downtown Chicago!
Friday, May 27

On Addison's actual birthday on Friday, Mommy had the day off of work and made her blueberry pancakes and bacon when she woke up. I gave her a pretty sweet set-up in the living room with a breakfast tray right in front of her Addison chair so she could eat like a princess while watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse of course!
At 10am we went to Sears for her 2-year portraits, which I think turned out REALLY well. The portraits were of course Mickey Mouse themed! After the pictures, we spent about 45-minutes playing in the toy department at Sears. They have a little play "ship" that kids can play with a steering wheel and look out a telescope. Nothing fancy, but Addison loved it! She even attracted a nearby 4-year old to come over and play with her too!
After the pictures we headed home for lunch and a nice long nap!

When Daddy got home from work, we ordered pizza for dinner and opened our presents for her. She LOVED the Melissa & Doug cupcakes - they come with wet erase markers she can decorate with! After dinner we went to Oberweis for ice cream, which is now a Addison birthday tradition! The weather was chilly and rainy so we sat inside, but still enjoyed the fountain outside for a little bit. After ice cream, Addison opened some more gifts she received in the mail, then it was bedtime!

Saturday, May 28th

On Saturday we set up her slide and sand & water table. At first we left them in the kitchen since it was so rainy, but Addison enjoyed playing with them even inside! At night, we were blowing up balloons for decorating her birthday party - and that turned into a whole evening of fun! We blew up balloons then let Addison hold/let go of them so they'd fly around the room. We also played volleyball and baseball with all the different balloons. It was quite the party!

Sunday, May 29th

Addison's 2nd Birthday Party was on Sunday, May 29th. All her grandparents were there as well as her aunts, uncles and cousins. Daddy made burgers, brats, chicken and hot dogs on the grill and we had fruit and snacks set out. Cake was marble with chocolate fudge filling from Deerfields Bakery, served a la mode!

Our house was decked out with balloons and lots of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse decor. Addison herself wore a pink polka dot w/sequins Minnie Mouse party dress, complete with pink polka dot shoes!
The Birthday Girl was a little overwhelmed as everyone filled our house, but soon was very excited to have everyone there. Due to the monsoon-like storm we got just a couple hours before the party started, we were confined indoors until towards the end of the party when all the kids got out for some bubble time on the front porch.

Addie made out very well with TONS of new clothes and toys at her party and had lots of fun!

Monday, May 30th

The weather was finally nice on Monday (Memorial Day) so we were able to take Addison to Turner Park - a large community park down the road in Roselle. There's a fishing pond and a huge playground with fountains, etc. Addison had a lot of fun climbing around and trying the "rides" that were new to her. Plus, we took a nice walk around the pond and saw a bunch of geese and ducks that of course Addie loved to point out to us!

We took full advantage of the nice weather and officially broke in her sand & water table in the backyard. She was soaked! She went on her slide a few times and we even took a walk in her new wagon.

Addison truly had a "birthday week" and it was so much fun sharing in the excitement with her! She certainly understands what a Birthday means now and I'm sure next year will be giddy for weeks ahead of time in anticipation!
We are excited to see what adventures and memories Addison's 3rd year will bring!