But enough of the melodrama from this mama - let's take a look at how Addison is enjoying the summer and life as a 2-year old!
June was a busy month full of celebrations. Coming off of Addison's big birthday bash, just 3 weeks later was Mommy's birthday followed by Father's Day, plus Auntie Taylor's 8th grade graduation party was mixed in there too! Addison was very sweet on my birthday as well as Father's Day, helping to bring each of us breakfast in bed and saying "happy birthday" and "happy father's day" very well.
Backyard!
We are certainly getting out money's worth in our "new" backyard as well as all the outdoor toys! We spend time in the backyard almost every evening, mostly playing bubbles and hide 'n seek. The yard is full of entertainment for Addison. We've got a sand and water table, basketball hoop, slide, blow-up pool and tons of bubbles of course.
Plane!
We live about 10 miles from O'Hare and just a few miles from the regional airport in Schaumburg, so we get a lot of air traffic over our house, and Addison will stop what she's doing/saying everytime she hears a plane to locate it in the sky and point it out to us: "Hear plane?" or "See plane?" or "See plane! In the sky! Way up high!" Quite adorable.
Last week, she even started jumping when the planes flew over and then saying "(grunt) Can't reach it!" After a few times, then she started saying "Need bouncy shoes" or "Need Mousketool" and then calling for Toodles (for those of you not in the know, that is from the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show that Addison watches almost every morning). That may mean she watches it a bit too often ;)
Hide 'N Seek
Addison's current favorite past time is a good old fashioned game of Hide N Seek. If you've never seen/heard of Lucky Louie/Louis C.K. - watch this and it is exactly Addison's version of Hide N Seek. Hilarious!
But yes, in our world, we play Hide N Seek in the backyard and Addison will tell us to hide by the bushes, counts (1, 2, 11, 14 is her usual cadence) and then will come find us. She plays along quite well, even though we are standing in plain sight, and think aloud: "Where's Mommy? Hmmm..." complete with the finger on the lip and everything! She'll look under the slide and a few other places, narrating the whole time: "Is Mommy under the slide??? Nooooooo....." It can be tiring, but it really is fun and thankfully we've caught it on video a few times. The funniest took place during a short drive home, when Addison decided to strike up a game of hide and seek in the car! If you haven't seen it yet, check it out here (hopefully that link works!)
Other Fun Stuff We Did - Rose Fest, pool
June was a very fun month and we enjoyed the start of summer to the fullest. We are regulars at Green Park and Little Park (Addie's names for the two playgrounds down the path from us). We've gone swimming several times and have spent nearly every evening in the backyard playing with all the aforementioned toys! July is shaping up to be even busier and I can't wait to share all the fun everyone!
Zoie
I hate to end a blog entry this way, but it felt wrong to post this first, and follow it with all our fun little updates.
As many of you may have already heard, our good friends Garry & Jacqui lost their little girl this month in a tragic pool accident. The thought of it still sends chills down my spine. Each day that I look at Addison and see her grow up by the minute, I am more and more thankful for all these precious moments, as routine and normal as they seem.
Zoie was just 9 months younger than Addison, and they played together several times. It's crazy to look at the pictures we have of Addie & Zoie playing together, and think that we'll only see one of those little girls grow up.It goes against nature for a parent to lose a child, it's just not supposed to happen that way. We pray for little Zoie as well as Garry & Jacqui everyday to be strong and get through this tragedy together. I often times try and put myself in their shoes - how I would feel if this happened to Addison. My thoughts don't get too far before I simply shudder because I can't comprehend the pain and sorrow that surrounds them.
I don't have a message that I'm trying to get across with this blog post, I am simply using it as an outlet to express my thoughts about this heartbreaking situation that I still can't believe is real. I've read articles about tragedies like this, and while they conjured up sadness and fear - I assumed the instances were so rare and that's why it made news! But here it happened in our very own circle of friends.
Life will go on for all of us. I'll stop seeing Addison through these tragedy-filled goggles soon and go back to seeing her as just my daughter. But I think anyone who knows this story, especially any parent, will file this away in the back of their mind - to always remember that a child is a blessing their entire life. No matter how long the life or if you are there when the life ends. Your child will always be your baby, in Heaven as they were on Earth.
Rest in Peace, Zoie.
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