Addison - the 3-Year Old!

Catching Up!

Wow, it's been quite some time since my last entry. I've now been back to work for over a month and Tim has been a stay-at-home daddy for a month already! We're all settled in our new life with Eden and well adjusted.

Since my entry in April, I finished out my several weeks of maternity leave. We continued to have several Eden visitors in this time and all of our weekends were packed. Here's some of the events of the last couple months...

Dr.'s Appointments:
3-Year Doctor Appointment
Height: 38 1/2" - 80th percentile
Weight: 34 lbs. - 80th percentile
Blood pressure: 82/40


Addison got really into playing Doctor this spring so going into her 3 yr appt and Eden's 1mos and 2mos appointments, she was very excited to go along. She was very enthusiastic with getting her blood pressure taken. Eden had shots and Addison was extremely interested in that as well and it was a talking point for days to come after the appointments. Addison as usual is very healthy and developing wonderfully, as we all know, with talking and activity.


Addison had her 2nd dentist appointment in April. Her first one was a year ago so she didn't remember it at all. This one, she was much more interested and interactive with the dentist during the whole appointment. She does have a bit of an under bite, meaning we'll probably have to invest in braces in 8 years or so - boooooo :(

Ever since the Dentist appointment, Addison's been much more excited about brushing her teeth and flossing, so that makes it easy on us.

Haircut: Addison got her first haircut in May. It's been SO much easier to manage and of course Addison loved the experience. She got to sit in a race car and play with a toy on her lap. The haircut only took a few minutes and then she got a balloon! She was so excited. But then we stopped at Jewel for a few things, and even though I did everything I could, the stinkin' balloon went flying out the door. Addie was so  upset so of course I had to buy her a new balloon in Jewel. Anything for my little girl ;)

Zoo: We visited Grandma Simon in early May for Mother's Day and of course had to take advantage of the free Zoo in Madison. Addison was all about it and got to meet the "mascot" Henry the Lion. Addie really knows her animals and it's so fun to be with her at the Zoo, running around so excited to see the animals live!

For Mother's Day, Grandma G got us a Zoo pass for Brookfield Zoo. This will be great for the summer/fall. I only went once during my maternity leave, but it was awesome. I think Tim will take advantage several times this summer while he is home.

Dunkin' Donuts: This became a regular thing while I was on maternity and has continued to be a usual outing with Daddy too. And, it all started on a whim! One day we happened to be driving by the Dunkin Donuts near us and Addison out of the blue says, "Hey! It's Dunkin Donuts!!" So I asked if she wanted to go there some time and she was all excited. So the next morning we went. Addie ate two donuts (or mostly mangled them!) and I enjoyed some coffee and donuts. It was really cozy and it's one of the things I missed the most now that I'm back at work. I equate this little tradition to the one I had with my mom and Grandma Krause when I was in kindergarten. They would pick me up from school and we'd go to McDonald's. It was nothing fancy, but as a 4-yr old I was all about it and made it in a big deal and to this day it's one of my fondest childhood memories. Now, I doubt Addison will remember these Dunkin Donuts mornings, especially b/c now they won't happen anymore with Mommy. But, if Tim can keep it up for the next several months - and while she may not remember going with Mommy, I'll remember that the memory at least started with me.

Pre-School: As soon as Eden was born, one of my main concerns was Addison's fulfillment of stimuli. When she spent the days with her cousins, I knew there was so much going on to keep her entertained and, of course, 3 kids to play with. I was worried she would become bored at home with Mommy then Daddy all day and especially because we cannot play with her constantly as we are tending to Eden. So we started looking into pre-schools. We've enjoyed the classes Addison has attended at the Schaumburg Park District, and one of the pre-school locations is only a few minutes away. So, in April, I took Addison on a tour of the pre-school and to sign her up. We got to drop-in on a 3yr old class and immediately Addison immersed herself with all the other kids. At one point, I was leaving the room for a minute to see another room of the facility and I went over to tell Addison and she could not have cared less. Then, when we were done and it was time to go I went to get Addison and she did not want to leave one bit! It was so great to see her playing with kids she didn't even know. I can't wait to hear about and meet all the friends she will meet in the fall!


Birthday Party!
Addison's 3rd birthday party was on her actual birthday, Sunday May 27 of Memorial Day weekend. We had it at Turner Park in Roselle. It's a great facility and close to home - it's actually where Tim and I go running! We rented out the pavilion, so we had shelter from the blistering 95 degree sun. There was at least a breeze and the splash pad was open for the day (they actually opened it a week earlier than scheduled because of the excessive heat!)
ordered Jimmy John's and had DQ M&M ice cream blizzard cake.
It was a ton of fun and Addison loved every minute of it. We told her the birthday party plan weeks in advance and she would talk about it constantly. She had a great time playing with the whole family and I think everyone had fun too!


In some ways, I can't believe Addison is already a 3-yr old. But when I listen to her talk - how she has a sense of humor and picks up on jokes, etc. She knows reason and how to explain her feelings. She responds to routine and traditions and overall is just so intelligent - of course she seems like a 3yr old. And when I look back at her pictures as a baby - I remember her as a baby, when I'm comparing her to Eden. But I can't believe it's the same child. 
While Addison can be tiring most days, she's everything I could have ever dreamed of in a precious little daughter. She's still my silly baby and watching her become a toddler and now a pre-school kid and big sister I'm really understanding why parents cry on the first day of school and any achievement their child makes in life as they grow and grow into the next phase of their lives. And I can't believe Addison is already in the next phase of her life.

Addison O'Neill, Big Sister!

Baby Punkin Arrived
After months of waiting and preparing Addison for Baby Punkin's arrival, we still wondered how she would react when the day finally arrived. In conversations with her throughout my pregnancy, it seemed like she understood that it was more than her getting to say she was a Big Sister. 
When we or others would talk to her about Baby Punkin's arrival, she didn't just repeat things we had told her. She would come up with her own explanations of what she's going to do as a Big Sister, etc so we were confident she was understanding the arrival of her younger sibling on a real level.


Mommy & Daddy are Going to the Hospital!
The hardest part about "planning" that unplanned moment of going into labor was considering how we would handle Addison. Months ago we made arrangements with Auntie Lorie to watch Addison when we went to the hospital. We had Grandma G as a backup too. But logistically, Addison was the most important aspect to consider. Luckily the timing of my labor worked out pretty well, since it started during the day and we headed to the hospital in the evening. We had Addison's overnight bag packed for weeks, so we just had to add a few last minute items and waited for Lorie to drop Addie off. When they arrived, I told her we were heading to the hospital. We gave Addie a big hug and told her she was gonna have a fun sleepover with her cousins and we were going to the hospital to meet Baby Punkin, so she'd get to come see us soon.
She wasn't at all sad or anxious, just excited so that made it much easier on us too. For much of my pregnancy, I was constantly worried about how Addison would handle this big life change and what it meant for her - even more than how it would affect Tim and me. There was not anything in the months leading up  to Baby Punkin's arrival that made us think she wouldn't take it well, but ya never know!


Silly Baby Meets Baby Punkin

The moment when Addison walked into the room to meet Eden for the first time will forever be one of my favorite moments of my life. It was Silly Baby meeting Baby Punkin. My current life meeting my new life. Two sisters meeting for the first time. Our Addison meeting our Eden.
It went perfectly. I always wondered how Addison would react the first time actually seeing our baby, if she'd "get it." But she absolutely did get it. She came in and came up by me to see Baby Punkin right away. She was so happy and gentle and cute with her new little sister, it was awesome. The next morning when she came back with Tim was great too. She sang to Eden and wanted to come up and snuggle with us right away. That was just the first of many snuggly moments with my girls in the past month.
Addison loves to talk about "when I was a baby..." and compare it to whatever Eden is doing at the time. She did that while I was pregnant too, but it's a lot more now. It did take her some adjusting to always call Eden a girl, since while I was pregnant she'd usually say she was having a brother and Baby Punkin would be a boy, but then she'd refer to Punkin as "she" and "her." In the time since we've been home, Addison has also settled into calling Eden "my baby." Adorable!


Big Sister Job!
Of course, a very important concern for us in this transition is to not foster any jealousy or feelings of abandonment in Addison. While I was pregnant, we had Addison make Baby Punkin a Build-A-Bear and would talk to her about what it would be like once Baby Punkin arrived, as did her cousins and Auntie Lorie. 
At the hospital, most visitors also brought Addison a Big Sister present which I think helped tremendously, because then she was proud to announce she was a Big Sister and got much of the attention for it.
Tim had 2 weeks of Paternity Leave which was extremely helpful in getting Addison used to Eden being around and, especially since I'm nursing, used to Mommy being indisposed several times throughout the day. So Tim was sorta on "Addison duty" in that time, but we also made sure she was forced to wait for attention or have to play on her own sometimes so she wouldn't be shocked when Tim went back to work.
We've gotten Addison involved with "big sister jobs" like throwing out diapers, getting us new ones, getting Mommy a water bottle while I'm nursing and singing to Eden when she's crying. Funnily enough, Addison singing her ABC's is quite soothing to Eden and she often times does stop crying when she hears Addison's voice!

When people would ask me how I thought Addison would react to a new sibling, I would say if anything, she'll just get annoying. And we were right! So far, she has not had any temper tantrums or been angry at Eden in any way. She's only become a little more whiny when asking for something and when she does get our undivided attention to play with her, she soaks it up and really takes advantage of the playtime. So, of course I mean nothing bad by saying she's annoying - she's just a 2yr old! I'd much rather have her be annoying than acting out or regressing.
Of course we're only a few weeks in, so she may take a turn, but for the most part we are off to a great start and I can't wait to witness this relationship blossom in the coming years with my little girls!

Addison O'Neill - Almost a Big Sister!

Big Sister Room
As mentioned in the last post, Addison transitioned into her "Big Sister Room" shortly after Christmas. She moved out of the crib/toddler bed and into a twin bed. The transition was very easy and she never looked back. A couple weeks later, Tim converted the toddler bed back into the crib, and it didn't phase Addison at all. 
We told her that Baby Punkin is going to sleep in the crib, and she connected the dots and started talking about how when she was a little baby, she slept in the crib too. But there was no jealousy or hostility from her. Even as we've been setting up Baby Punkin's room, she has adapted easily to referring to it as "Baby Punkin's" room. No confusion that it used to be hers or anything. I think because there was a lot of excitement going into preparing her room first - we painted, she got a new bed, sheets/comforter and dresser so in comparison, her old room was way boring. Plus, her room has a lot of green (her favorite color) whereas Baby Punkin's is mostly brown.
A lot of what this whole "Big Sister" experience has been for Addison so far - aside learning about what is to come once Baby Punkin is here, is Addison is learning about what she did as a baby. That she was once in my belly just like Baby Punkin is now, that she used to wear diapers (even though that wasn't that long ago) and that she was tiny.


2 Week Stay-cation
Pre-Christmas, I had a handful of days off so Addison was spoiled with some extra Mommy time. Then, right after New Year's, Addison and Tim were both hit with a bad cold. Addison was over at Auntie Lorie's for one day but got progressively sick so Tim took off two days to stay home with her. This was the worst cold she's had thus far, burning up and coughing to the point of throwing up. She looked miserable and just wasn't herself. The first day Tim was home with her, all they did was lay in bed and sleep on and off. Broke our hearts! After Tim returned to work, I stayed home with her for two more days because she still had quite the cough. Her fever never got so high that we had to take her to the doctor, but just kept her on a steady flow of fluids and Tylenol. By Friday she was finally feeling better.
The following week, Auntie Lorie, Uncle Pat and the kids took a week long trip to Disney World. So to cover for Auntie Lorie that week, Tim stayed home for two days, I took off on the Wednesday and then Grandma Simon came to visit for the rest of the week. We each had a lot of fun playing with her at home. This was at the height of her puzzles obsession so it was fun to share that time with her, seeing her learn and progress at a new activity and I think she really liked being at home for so long. I know she will miss Auntie Lorie and her cousins once she is home with me and Baby Punkin, but I think she will also really enjoy being home everyday. Over the course of these two weeks, in the morning she would be so excited when I would tell her that one of us were staying home with her instead of having to go to work.


Big Sister Photo Shoot
In mid-January, our good friends Katie and Chris (photographers) came down for a Baby Punkin/Big Sister photo shoot in our home. I had tons of cute ideas of poses for Addison, but understood we'd have to be patient and not get our hopes up too high. But, Addison was a perfect little doll the whole time. It didn't take much prompting for us to get her to kiss and hug my belly and a lot of times she struck a cute pose on her own!


To Grandmother's House We Go
Another thing on our to-do list before Baby Punkin arrives was to visit Grandma Simon  up in Madison while it was still relatively easy to do so with just Addison. We went up at the end of January for an overnight visit.
Addison is pretty good in the car, except that she basically talks - the entire time! All of those who know me well, laugh and think it's karma given that I am quite the chatterbox myself. I get it :) 
Her questions are your typical toddler stuff, asking a million questions about this and that. Even though we had her set up with our portable DVD player to watch "Lion King" - she would keep asking questions about the movie, etc which was hard since we couldn't see it! Thankfully it's a movie we've both seen a ton so we knew what was going on based on sound.
So really, she doesn't mind the car trips - but it can be a little annoying for Mommy & Daddy. Especially when we are trying to have our own conversation and she repeatedly interrupts us. Ah, well - I know it could be worse! We do wish she would nap though - take advantage of being stuck in a car to get her nap in, but typically she doesn't fall asleep until the last 20-minutes of the drive.
Addison has been great at keeping with the potty on the road trips. She always tells us she has to go and sometimes that has meant she has to wait a little while before we can get off at the next exit for a rest stop. So far, there have been no accidents so we are VERY happy about that!
The main event of our visit was to take Addison to the Madison Children's Museum. We were there for a few hours and Addison loved every minute of it. She didn't tire out even though we could tell she was feeling the effects of no nap that day. This is such a perfect age to enjoy children's museums as Addison is learning so much so fast and is inquisitive and excited about all of it.
Afterward, we went to my childhood favorite - Ella's Deli! for some ice cream. We first took Addison there last summer and she actually remembered some of the stuff this time! We spent awhile walking her around the restaurant so she could check everything out. When we were done, we headed back to Grandma's for dinner and playing. Grandma has a stack of old kid's toys, most of them mine that she drags out every time we are there. What cracks me up is that Addison's favorite thing to play with are these random toy plastic stacking bins. They were first my brother and sister's but I totally remember playing with them too as a kid - AND I even scribbled my name on them along with other little drawings. So it really is the circle of life :)
The next morning we had breakfast and hit the road! 


Mommy, Daddy and Addie Last Outing 
I am a huge fan of the local park districts. We are close to Schaumburg, Roselle and Elk Grove Village park district activities. Roselle is a relatively small community so they don't have a ton going on - but Schaumburg is huge with several locations, PLUS because we live practically on the border of Schaumburg, we are eligible for the resident rates! I love these activities, because they are minutes away and are either completely free or cost between $4-10. The events are only a couple hours long at the most, but there's a lot to choose from so it gives us some great variety.
In the past we've gone to Sports Night and Family Fun Nights and of course many holiday activities. Last Friday evening, there was a "Friendly Friday" event they have monthly for 2-4yr olds at the Rec Center (the same room where Addison's 1st birthday was). It's a loosely structured event with two teachers, very much a pre-school set-up. The kids (about 10 or so) all do an activity together, then are left alone to play for 10-15min, then another activity.
I jumped on signing us up for this, because even though it's not some big event, it could be one of the last events to take Addison to before Baby Punkin comes, so I had to take advantage. Once Baby Punkin arrives, I still plan on signing her up for these activities, but most likely only one of us will take her while the other parent stays home with Punkin. These are the simple times I'll miss when we're a family of four - all the cozy little activities we go that are all about Addison and it's just the 3 of us there.


Big Sister Class
Last weekend, I signed up for a tour of the hospital where I will deliver, but children 10 and under are not allowed the tour. I saw that at the same time as the tour, there was a "Super Big Sister/Brother" class for new siblings. Well, I just couldn't resist that! So I went on the tour by myself and Tim took Addison to the class.
We built her up before the class telling her she was going to a class for BIG SISTERS! and learn how to take care of Baby Punkin, so she was all excited. Tim said she was very good during the class and followed along pretty well when they were teaching the kids how to change a diaper and feed the baby a bottle. She even got a bottle and diaper to bring home! When we met up after the class/tour, she came running up to me very excited telling me all about the class!
As part of the class, she even got to see the nursery with a brand-new baby in there, so I think that will really help when the big day comes - that she has already been to the hospital and may recognize the nursery area. 


A Gift for Baby Punkin
Last week when all about Addison and our preparations for her to become a Big Sister! On Sunday we had some errands to run, so we headed to the mall as a family. First we went to JC Penney to buy "home coming" outfits for boy and girl Baby Punkin, but mostly I did the shopping and Tim chased Addison around. From there, we went to the play area in the middle of the mall - a must stop every time we are there. After that, another common stop is Wetzel's Pretzels and then a walk over to Rainforest Cafe so Addison can see the [fake] crocodile in the swamp outside the entrance and all the fishies.
But our main stop at the mall that day was Build-A-Bear, so Addison could make a bear to give to Baby Punkin at the hospital. We took her there in December to make her own bear, so she remembered it all pretty well. She picked out a black bear for Baby Punkin and we had her record her voice for the bear to play. Addison says, "I love you Baby Punkin!" when the foot is squeezed. Awwwwww :) 


So far she is definitely loving this Big Sister status and the excitement that is to come. The challenge I think for her will be when the attention and focus shifts from her being a Big Sister to when Baby Punkin is here and gets more of the attention. That is something we will have to keep in mind - that this entire time Baby Punkin has been an exciting event for Addison that has garnered her a lot of attention. But, in reality, when Baby Punkin arrives, a lot of attention will be shifted away from Addison. I know it will be hard for her and part of me almost feels guilty that it is about to happen. 
However, between Tim & I, I think we will continue to keep the balance at home so Addison continues to receive the attention she craves from us and keep her involved with Baby Punkin and encourage the bonding there too.

Addison the 2-Year Old, Christmas Edition!

This was certainly the best Christmas thus far with Addison. Last year she was just learning what everything was, but didn't understand enough to build up the anticipation. This year, there was so much excitement for her. She knew to ask for toys for Christmas/from Santa, learned about Baby Jesus and recognized and fell in love with all the classic Christmas characters. Plus, this year, she's at the great age of toys - so it was so hard limiting what we got her. I definitely went overboard anyway, but there's a lot more damage I could have done, that's for sure!
My favorite memories with Addison this Christmas are all the activities/events we were able to take her to. She's at such a fun age to take her out and show her all the fun Christmas has to offer - and makes for some great photo opportunities, too!

So, here's a recap of all the fun the O'Neills had in our last Christmas as a Party of 3 :)

Grandma Weekend
The first weekend of December was VERY busy. Both Tim's and my company holiday parties were that weekend (Friday and Saturday, respectively) - so that meant lots of Grandma time for Addison! I took the whole day off on Friday to play with Addison and Grandma Simon came down in the late morning to go bed shopping for Addison. Then I headed downtown to meet Tim for his holiday party at the Museum of Science & Industry and Addie got to stay up late watching movies and reading books with Grandma.
The next morning Addison, Grandma & I got up early to go see Santa at the mall. Stratford Square had a free Breakfast w/Santa event in the food court that I thought would be fun - and hey, it was free! Addison was excited to see Santa, although she was a little timid when he came by our table for pictures.

Right next to the food court, was the mall carousel, so of course Addison was dying to go on that. Grandma took her on there a few times and she loved it. There was also a radio station set up nearby doing a promo contest and they had a Rudolph and Snowman dressed up so Addison got a kick out of dancing and getting her picture taken with them.
Later that night was my company's work party, so we took Addison over to Grandma G's for the evening. She got to help them decorate their Christmas tree and had fun running around as usual.
 

Picture with Santa
The next day, I was determined to get Addison's picture with Santa taken as I needed to get our Christmas cards completed and out in the mail. I was dumb enough to think we had a chance to accomplish this feat at Woodfield Mall on a Sunday morning. The line in the Winter Wonderland set-up winds around and the starting point is at least an hour wait. Well, that line was full and then started again across the walkway and spanned all the way down and around the entire Woodfield play area (which is about the length of 5 mall stores). We got some muffins, let Addison run around in the play area and killed a good 45 min til we realized we had barely moved. So we gave up, since we guessed that the total we would have waited would have been like 4 hours.
On that, we left and vowed to come back on Monday evening straight from work. That worked much better. It was a little hectic since we met there after work, so Tim had to get Addison all ready to go and then meet me at the mall. The line was only the windy 1-hr wait time so we were hopeful. We grabbed some Jimmy John's to eat for dinner in line and Addison enjoyed running around with some other kids in the Winter Wonderland set-up. She was very hyper and in good spirits, but even so, it was difficult to keep the anticipation up to see Santa. When we were the next ones up, she was having so much fun playing in the fake snow she didn't care all that much about seeing Santa. But we riled her up just in time as we were walking out to see him. She was so excited to see him, but only from 10ft away. As soon as we walked up to put her on his lap, she shrunk up and clung to me.
Since we got a classic crying baby with Santa picture last year, I didn't want to do it again by forcing her on him. So instead, I sat on a little stool next to Santa and Addison sat on my knee, and they just cropped me out. What we got out of it was a truly precious little picture. The uneasiness around Santa up-close was a trend all through the Christmas season with Addison. While she was excited to see Santa anywhere, she was always a little timid when getting close to him and always wanted us to hold on to her.

Pre-School Sports Night
I love finding local, cheap/free events to take Addison too. She's at the perfect age for these events to introduce her to all new things, and she loves going to all these parties and classes.

The Schaumburg Park District has a ton of events like these also friendly for working parents, on evenings and weekends. With her Tot class ending before Thanksgiving, and Baby Punkin arriving in March, I want to maximize taking Addison to these events while it's still easy to do so with just her.
This specific event was a free event on a Thursday night. Set up in a gymnasium at the rec center, there were a bunch of little sports stations set up throughout the gym. There was baseball, badmitton, basketball, jump rope, hula hoops, etc. Addison had a great time running around and playing with all the various balls. That does seem to be her sport of choice - catchy ball or kicky ball or basketball. And, I must say - she's got a pretty good arm!

The Nutcracker

Taking Addison to see the Nutcracker for the first time was probably my favorite event/activity of the entire holiday season. I took her to the Schaumburg production which is a smaller auditorium, about the size of a high school auditorium. I thought this would be the easiest and best set-up for us to not have to deal with a huge crowd.
I was a little worried about how she would do sitting quietly in a dark auditorium, but she was really great until the last 15min or so when she got restless and wanted to go home. But even then, she didn't have a meltdown, I was just trying to make it to the end of the show so it was hard to contain her.
Our seats were all the way over to one side, but in the 3rd row so we could really see the characters up close. Addison's favorite part was the fight between the Nutcracker and King Mouse. She was really excited throughout the whole show, pointing things out and clapping. It was really a special memory I will always have and I'm looking forward to this being an annual tradition for Mommy & Addie :)


Storytime with Mrs. Claus
This event was another working parent friendly one in Elk Grove on a weeknight. It was very crowded, but there was a little spot for making crafts - picture frames and ornaments and a hot cocoa station. There was a little dance floor set up where some youth dance groups were putting on performances. Super cute! During all that, Santa and Mrs. Claus were available for pictures. Addison was excited to see him, but again a little timid to go up to him. This time, Daddy had to hold her. However, she was enthralled with Santa the whole time she was up there, while holding on tight to Daddy.
After the pictures, Mrs. Claus read all the kids a few Christmas stories. At first Addison was just precious and sat right up in front of the group and listened to the story. But then she got the nighttime rips and kept standing up and running around. She wasn't the only kid to do so, but it was still hectic trying to not cause a scene chasing her around when everyone was supposed to be quietly listening to Mrs. Claus story. But, how much more can you ask from a 2-yr old. She had a great time and in the end, that's what matters!


Breakfast with Santa
This year, our Breakfast with Santa was at Rainforest Cafe in Woodfield Mall. It was a ton of fun and even though Addison was still a little timid around Santa - she adored Cha-Cha the Frog who also walked around from table to table. She was much more about the frog than Santa at all. Her favorite part about the breakfast was walking around to see all the big aquariums throughout the restaurant. When we first arrived for breakfast, Santa was actually swimming in one of the tanks!!! Funny! There was also a balloon artist, story time with Mrs. Claus and a craft table. We hit up all of those but by far we spent the most time looking at all the aquariums.


Cookie Exchange Party
Every year a friend of ours hosts a Cookie Exchange Party. This year, I brought Addison for the first time. There were a couple other babies/little kids there and Addison was very well behaved. She even "showed off" for Mommy and ate more broccoli than cookies!
I love taking Addison to events like this even if she's not a perfect angel, she's learning how to act in social events and that's very important for us.


Simon Family Christmas Eve
After weeks of anticipation and events leading up to it, the big event finally arrived. Christmas was here! We started our celebrations up in Wisconsin at Simon family Christmas Eve at cousin Paula & Dale's house. Addison had so much fun playing with her cousins and the other Simon cousins. In total there were 8 kids ranging from 2 to 12 years old. This was one of the first gatherings where we didn't see Addison for most of the night. She was happily running around with all the cousins, and upstairs playing in their rooms. We'd go check on her regularly and she'd just tell us she was fine and we could leave her alone ;) Funny how so many times we've urged her to play independently and not need us at her side at all times, and we get it for an evening and it's weird!
Addison as usual was spoiled with tons of great presents from the whole family, and this year was much more involved in opening them herself than last year. She lasted pretty late into the night. We headed home, a good 90min drive back to Chicagoland, and Addison passed out within the first few minutes of the drive.


Christmas Morning
Around 4am on Christmas morning, Addison came into our room. But not for the reason most kids come wake up their parents on Christmas morning - she simply wanted to sleep with us, as she does many other regular nights.
Around 8am she woke up but was still a little groggy from the night before. I actually had to coax her into going downstairs! I told her how I think I heard Santa moving around in our living room the night before, and reindeer walking around in our backyard. She was interested in my story, but still content to just snuggle in bed. Finally after several minutes of Santa and presents hints and stories, we all went downstairs.
Santa had left all of her toys out on the ottoman in front of the couch, we saw everything right when we got to the bottom of the stairs. All her presents were smaller so they were all scattered across the ottoman. There was no burst of excitement, she just walked right up to the Pop the Pig game and started feeding him. We came to look at all the toys with her and then she started playing with everything and was really excited and kept yelling, "Look what Santa got me! Santa got me this!!!" Very fun!
After the dust settled on those gifts, we opened the wrapped presents under the tree to each other. She was ripping open the presents and continued to get more and more excited and she opened more and more presents. It was probably becoming overwhelming with how many toys and gifts she got!
Once all the gifts were open we continued to play with several different ones, then tidied up, got dressed and headed to church! Addison was very good at church, pointing out Baby Jesus and really liked hearing/singing all the Christmas carols during the pre-mass portion. She sat quietly for most of mass, but hit her limit right around Communion, so we had to slip out - but all in all, not a bad trip to church. Definitely have to get her to church more often though!


Christmas with Grandma G et all
The next celebration was Christmas afternoon/evening with Grandma G, John, Bob, Nick and Uncle Ed. We sat and visited for awhile while dinner was cooking and Addison showed them all her new gifts. We ate a nice big dinner and then continued to open all our gifts. Addison was of course the center of attention and played lots of games with Uncle Ed and Grandma G.


O'Neill Christmas
Since we missed the traditional O'Neill Christmas on Christmas Day, we headed up to Grandpa O'Neill's the day after for a nice dinner and to exchange gifts. As usual Addison fell asleep for the last 15min of the 45 min drive, so was a little shy when we first got there.
It was fun for her to see Baby/Uncle Sean again. I like watching her interact with babies as a little preview of what's to come with Baby Punkin. 


Isabella's Birthday
The family gatherings just kept on rolling the very next day with cousin Isabella's 8th birthday party. I had the day off so Grandma Simon and Rick came down a couple hours beforehand to hang out. Addison showed them all her new toys and her new big sister room which was just about finished.
Then we headed over to the party and Addison was so excited and just started running around with her cousins - as this is basically her home away from home. I love being able to see Addison play with her cousins at these gatherings because normally I only get to hear about it in stories from Auntie Lorie. But it's great to see how much they all really have fun together and love each other. I know she will miss them when she no longer is over there everyday!


Big Sister Room
In early December John came over to paint what was our spare room a green and brown (similar to how Addison's room at the condo was). Grandma Simon's big Christmas gift to Addison was a big sister bed (twin bed) and that was delivered shortly after the painting was done. So that's when we started telling Addison that this would be her big sister room. She was just fine with that - which was our goal to have the transition of her room becoming Baby Punkin's. So that's one less thing to worry about with the introduction of a new sibling into her life.
By the day after Christmas, we had her room set up and she spent her first night in there easily and willingly. It was a little weird for us to walk out of that room after putting her into a twin bed. But just like when we originally set up Silly Baby's room three years ago, it has become our favorite room of the house. She's been loving it too and for the first few nights she slept all the way through 'til morning without coming in by us (a trend that had become all too regular of an occurrence for the couple weeks before). 


Itsy Bitsy New Year's Eve Countdown



We rounded out the holiday season celebration with yet another park district event in Schaumburg. From 10am-Noon at the rec center, Addison got to go in a bouncy house, ride on various bikes, play all sorts of sports, play with a parachute and just run all around like a crazy little kid. It was a ton of fun and enjoyable for us too! At noon they gave out noisemakers and had a big countdown and balloon drop which all the kids went bonkers for!
Afterwards we went out to lunch and Addison was such a little grown-up and even ordered her own drink and meal unprompted! 


This holiday season was crazy busy but we have a lifetime of memories (and pictures) to show for it. It was very important for us to spoil her and take advantage of all these fun activities this last time of it just being the 3 of us. Addison certainly got her fill of Mommy & Daddy time - and now it's just a couple months until she'll be getting a ton of Addie & Baby Punkin time. Can't wait for next year to do all the events again with my Silly Baby and Baby Punkin in tow!

Addison the 2-Year Old, November Edition!

Halloween
Back in September, we began asking Addison what she wanted to be for Halloween. She said "Tangled" (Rapunzel) right off the bat, and only a couple times said Cinderella. So come October I went out shopping for Addison's Rapunzel costume. I got it a week or so before Halloween and Addison was so excited she wore it right away.
A few days before Halloween we finally got around to carving our pumpkins. We didn't get very fancy at all, just the basic jack-o-lantern, but it was enough to entertain Addison and she had fun helping us scoop out the goo.
Halloween was on a Monday so I took the day off of work to be able to take Addison trick-or-treating right away at 4pm. Grandma Simon came down to visit for the day too! We played in the backyard and walked to Green Park. My plan was to get her dressed in her costume around 3:30....but of course, around 3pm, Addison fell asleep on the couch while watching a movie. I woke her up just before 4 and she was very crabby. It was a struggle to get her into her costume, but once it was one she was very excited and ready to go trick-or-treating.
We hit up our block right away and Addison loved every minute of it. She got very good at saying "trick-or-treat" and thank you for the candy she received. We took a break for dinner and then headed back out around 7pm to hit up another few houses.
Addison had a great time and was very excited about all the candy she got - for many days she asked us for candy repeatedly :)

Let's Go to the Mall!
As the shorter days and colder weather of fall and winter have rolled in, our time spent at Green, Little and Big Parks in our neighborhood have been few and far between. Filling that void is the play area at Woodfield Mall. On weekends and on days off of work, we've been frequent visitors to Woodfield - doing some early Christmas shopping and other errands. It's been very easy to take Addison along with us as she perks up as soon as we mention the mall. "Can I go to the play area?" - and of course that is a part of every trip to the mall.
It can be pretty crazy in there on days when it is crowded. Sometimes there have been mean kids or push or shove or are bossy that have upset Addison, other times it can be so crowded in there it is nerve-wracking for us to keep an eye on her the whole time. But all in all she has a great time. She has her couple favorite spots she likes to play on, and frequently runs over to "check in" with us - which I like :)
Addison also loves to go on the escalators and elevators. We usually go in the JC Penney's entrance and she now knows exactly where to go to get to the elevator when we walk in the door.

Potty Time!
In October, we could say that Addison was potty trained at home. However, when we'd be out and about in the world we still used pull-ups most of the time. In November, we kicked it up a notch. We prepared ourselves for accidents, but began to take Addison out w/o pull-ups. Thus far, we have never experienced an accident (knock on wood!). Every time we are at the mall, aside from us asking her every once in awhile if she has to go - she tells us that she has to go on the potty AND holds it as we make our way to the bathroom - which at shopping malls aren't always the most convenient!
So when we are with Addison, we could say she was 100% potty trained (except over night we still use pull-ups). She would wake up from naps on her own and go sit on the potty by herself (and just call for us when she was done!) Even sometimes when we'd be running around the house playing and she would just stop and run into the bathroom to go all on her own. It was really awesome and we were so proud.
However,  the biggest frustration was that we could NOT get her to go at Auntie Lorie's during the day. Auntie Lorie's was the final frontier as she would get VERY upset anytime Lorie would ask her to go on the potty. In November, I started taking her over there in undies to see if that would help her break the seal - but she still fought it and had several accidents with Auntie Lorie.
So, then I started bringing her "Toodles Potty" to see if that would help the transition. There was still resistance from Addison and it was so frustrating trying to figure out what was going on in her head. We'd ask her why she doesn't want to go potty at Auntie Lorie's and she'd just say "cuz I don't want to!"
After a few days of taking Toodles Potty over there, she did finally go a couple times on her own potty at Auntie Lorie's but still had accidents. Then around Thanksgiving, Addison started transitioning to wanting to go on the big potty more and more often. This was what finally broke Addison's resistance over at Auntie Lorie's and she finally began going on the potty over there. In the morning, she would tell me "I don't want to bring Toodles Potty. I'll just go on Auntie Lorie's big potty!"
Our hope was that she would be fully trained before Baby Punkin arrives, and I have no doubt that she will be. Just yesterday, she was watching a movie in  our room by herself, got out of our bed, went into her bathroom, tuned on the light, closed the door and pulled down her pants to go #1 & #2 all on her own. She called us when she was all done - and we were SO proud of her! She certainly enjoys the attention and praise she gets for going - so I think the battle has been won!


Our Little Pop Star
In November, Addison got on a big kick of singing "Hakuna Matata" from The Lion King. There's really no way to describe it that does her performance justice, so I'll just say it is hilarious. She sings it in a funny voice and shakes her little hips around. She doesn't sing it quite right, but she's consistent in the melody that she has come up with so that adds to the hilarity!
Addison likes singing a lot of songs. Some of her other favorites are "Moves Like Jaggar" and LMFAO's "I'm Sexy and I Know It." The first time she sang that song, it totally caught us off guard and we were dying! The best part is that at first when we'd sing it, she'd say, "No! I'M sexy and YOU know it!" Oh, she's so funny!
And in just the last couple weeks she's started saying "buttock" instead of "butt." We have no idea where that came from, other than perhaps in 'Shrek' he says that once. That has expanded into Addison turning around and shaking her butt and singing, "Shake your booty-tock!" Seriously hilarious. We really need to make sure to catch all of this on video for when she is in high school ;)

Now we are into the Christmas season - I'm sure this year is going to be even more fun than last year because now she knows it's coming. Last year, it was all about teaching her about Christmas and showing her everything. This year, she's got it down and already knows to say "I want that for Christmas!" Ohhh, boy!
Merry Christmas, everyone! Stay tuned for the Addison - Christmas entry in a month or so!  

Addison - the 2yr. old - Fall edition

My oh my! I have fallen a bit behind on updating Addison's blog. Bad Mommy! Our busy summer has continued on into a busy Fall so I've been playing catch-up on everything from cleaning to updating photos. So, at long last, here's an update on how Addison has been spending the Fall months!


Nappy Nap
Addison's naps have been somewhat inconsistent in recent weeks. However, instead of depending on them, we have started to move forward with whatever plans we had for the day and she'll nap when she decides to nap! If she happens to nap in the morning, so be it, but more often her naps have been in late afternoon.
It has also worked to our advantage because our weekend plans have all been very fun-filled activities for Addison. So even when we can tell she is tiring and ready for a nap, she is still in good spirits until we leave and then typically naps in the car!
This fall, on the weekends at home, she has also napped more in our bed or on her floor than in her own bed! She has long loved to sleep in our bed at night and cuddle there to watch TV in the morning while I'm getting ready for work. But this fall, when we would be trying to get her to nap, we would ask if she wanted to go "nigh-nigh here" (her name for our bed) and watch a movie. That worked many times where half hour or hour into the movie, we'd go in to check on her and she'd be passed out in our bed.
The sleeping on the floor is new this Fall. It started at bedtime, when she asked to lay on the floor with me. She pulls everything off of her bed and sets up on the floor. At first she would stay there and make me stay with her for a good 20min. But we were able to dial that back to now it's just a few minutes. Which is good because as Baby Punkin belly gets bigger, I'm not going to be able to lay on the floor very well!
Because we've been so busy and out & about this fall, many of her naps have also had to occur in the car - with drives home from Milwaukee, etc. 


Go Packers/Go Bears
The football season is in full swing, and once again the O'Neill household is divided. Mommy's a bit more influential in nudging Addison towards the Packers, but she easily recognizes either team when they are on. She is also quickly learning that Sundays are football days, so that means Mommy or Daddy are glued to the couch watching  a game, so she doesn't get to watch her cartoons or a movie. That's how I grew up, so I'm keeping the tradition alive!
 
Pumpkins and Animals
We have been taking full advantage of Fall and have enjoyed several Fall events/attractions. One weekend when Tim was on a fishing trip, I took Addison to a Pumpkin Festival down the road. It was at a little church, but the perfect sized event to take Addison to - not too crowded and most things were free! We spent a ton of time in the fenced in petting zoo area - I think we went in there 4 separate times. She loved getting the cup of feed and feeding all the little goats and sheep. After we had been in there awhile, she started to assign "mommy" goats to the baby goats. It was adorable to watch her run between all the little goats saying "this is her mommy!"
In the beginning of October I went on a business trip to Las Vegas, so Grandma Simon was in town to babysit. One of the days, Grandma took Addie to Goebbert's Farm pumpkin patch in Hoffman Estates. Addie got to ride a pony and had a ton of fun in the Animal Land barn - feeding the animals again and getting to see giraffes and camels, etc. She even went on a pony ride - and did it all by herself!
The very next weekend, we were up in Milwaukee for a family wedding. On our way back to Chicago the next day, we went to Apple Holler with our friends Chelsea, Nick and their little 4-mos old Afton! It was unseasonably hot, but again a great outing with Addison. She ran all around the play area, including two mazes and slides. She was even the sole passenger on the train!
After all that running around, we took a hayride out to the orchard for some apple picking. Addie had a ton of fun running through the trees and eating little apples right off the trees. Once we were done with all that, it was time for Afton's photo op time with a pumpkin, but Addie wanted a piece of that action, so we got several pictures of her up doing "pudgy bunny" to Afton and giving him kisses, etc. I love watching her interact with him, it's just a little preview for when her baby brother or sister arrives. By then, she'll be even better and more excited about little babies!

The following weekend, I took Addison out to Sonny Acres farm pumpkin patch with Grandma G and the gang. Addie had a great time as always and got to go on her very first roller coaster by herself (that little dragon one that's at most festivals). She looked a tad concerned most of the ride, but had a smile on her face too. When it was over, she was jumping up and down wanting to go on again! After a few other rides and another pony ride, we tried going into a little haunted house (appropriate for toddlers). But Addie got in about 5 steps and wanted to turn around. It was a dark hallway with a lot of glow-in-the-dark decorations. Nothing too scary, but a little too much for Addison. Maybe we'll try again next year!
There were more little goats to feed, so of course Addison was all over that. Towards the end, she was overdue for a nap, but we managed to pick out a few pumpkins on our way out. Addison chose a white pumpkin! How unique!
Then, just this past weekend, I took Addison up to Green Meadows farm in Waterford, WI for cousin Madalyn's 2nd birthday. Again, Addison got to pet and feed many animals which she really loved. She also got to go on her 3rd pony ride this month - she'll be a jockey before we know it :) As the party ended, we got to go out into the field and pick our own pumpkins! The big ones were quite a ways in, but we passed many little ones - perfect size for Addie, but she didn't want any of those. Then she saw a green "birdhouse" gourd that she was very excited about - even carried it herself most of the walk back! Now, the past two mornings when we leave, she excitedly points out her green pumpkin proudly displayed on our porch!
If the weather is decent this weekend, we may try and hit up a pumpkin patch one last time as Addison has really been enjoying these little outings.


Tot Explosion
We enrolled Addison in another class this fall. Last Fall she did the "Toddler Time" on Saturday mornings through the Schaumburg Park District. This year, we go on Wednesday nights 6:45-8pm, again through the Schaumburg Park District. The class is called "Tot Explosion" which just makes me laugh. Toddler Time was for tots up to 24 mos, but this one is for 2yrs-4yrs so has a pre-school set up to it. 
The class is about 8 kids and parents attend too. It starts with all of us sitting on the circle rug in the middle of the room and the teacher, "Miss Dana", takes attendance. This is the cutest part of the class - when she calls off each kid's name, they get to stand up and go to the center of the rug while we all sing & clap "Addison, Addison - jump up and down! jump up and down, jump up and down!...And sit - back - down!" The first week a lot of the kids were very timid, but now they all get SO excited when it's their turn. The next morning, Addison always sings it to herself and jumps up and down. It KILLS me!!!!
After attendance, there's always a theme to the class, so Miss Dana talks about whatever topic - sometimes she has a book or sometimes props. Then shortly after it's free time with different stations set up. There's always an art project table with something different every week - one time was painting a cut out pumpkin, last week was painting a spider web with yarn/string. There's also some play-doh, puzzles and a kitchen area. Addison always makes her rounds and has always played very well with the other kids. She's not totally interacting a lot yet, more just side-by-side play or doing her own thing, but when prompted the kids do interact pretty well.
I've loved watching Addison learn and get into the routine of the class. She knows when attendance is going to happen, there's also a "Hello" song that Addie was singing by herself all weekend and at the end Miss Dana does a "goodnight" song where the kids pretend they are sleeping and then wake up and act like whatever animal Miss Dana says. Addie loves that one!
I love taking her to these classes. I learn some tips from the teacher and it's good to see Addison compared to other kids. Some things she's better than others, some things she could improve. It's also nice to get some tips from other parents and to hear of them going through some of the same day-to-day things that we do with Addison.  


"Ma-Moo"
Sometimes Addison is just hilarious. Actually, most of the time. She's always been talkative, but as her vocabulary and ability to express herself in full sentences, the things she says cracks us up.
In the past few weeks she's started to have nicknames for things. At first for a couple weeks, she started calling me "MOP-MOP!" and always in a yelling way. But I couldn't say "you're a Mop-mop" back to her cuz she'd get mad and say "No, you're MOP MOP!" I don't really know what that was all about, but it was funny.
From there, she started calling me "Ma-Moo." And shortly thereafter Dada/Daddy became Dad-Doo. Auntie Lorie has long given Addison the nickname of Addie Lou - so now Addison has come up with a nickname for Auntie Lorie! She is now Auntie Lo-Lo or Auntie Ro-Ro (depending on how well she wants to pronounce her L's!).
Just this week, she's been calling her milk cup "Milky" and when we kick a ball or play catch, it's now Kicky Ball or Throwy Ball.
On top of that she is learning to express herself, even if not entirely the correct way. Sometimes if there's something on TV she doesn't want to watch, or food she doesn't want to eat she'll say, "I don't want that. It hurts my feelings." Or - "That makes me sad!"
She has also shown flashes of teenage-dom by saying, "Mommy leave me alone, i'm watching TV" when cuddled in our bed on weekends. Or, I've asked her many times what she wants to be for Halloween, just to make sure I'm getting a consistent answer and she'll say, "Mommy why do you keep asking me that?" or "Stop asking me that!"
She is learning her manners well, and has learned to at least say "excuse me" when she interrupts Tim and I. She says please most of the time when she is supposed to - and has even started to call us out on saying "Please"' or "Bless You" when we should!
It's really difficult to sum up all of Addison's speaking abilities since it's so much more than just the words she can say now. It's all personality. She has an attitude, a sense of humor, imagination and sweet manner of speaking. Every week is different from the last. This is really such a fun time to be getting to know our little girl! 


Way Up High In the Sky

The Fall began with a big life lesson for Addison. Tim's Grandma O'Neill, who helped raise him, passed away. She had been sick for awhile, and in the hospital for 6 weeks before she passed. During her time in the hospital, Tim would go visit her once a week, usually right when I got home from work at night. Since Grandma was in the ICU, we weren't able to bring her, so I would stay home with her. When Tim would leave, she'd ask where he was going and he'd say he was going to see Nana in the hospital because she's sick and the hospital will make her feel better. She began to understand it enough to repeat it and she would talk about it on her own too.
So when the time came to go to Grandma's wake and funeral, we at least had a reference point to start from. The night she passed away, at bedtime I told Addison that Nana went up to Heaven. I explained that Heaven is way up high in the sky and that she was with God. She asked why and I explained that Nana was sick and in the hospital, but now God came to get her and keep her safe so she feels better now. We went over it several times in those few days and for weeks afterward too. I don't think she completely understands it, but if we have this explanation down pat for her, she will grow to understand it. She already retained enough of the explanation that if we ask her where Heaven or Grandpa Simon or Nana are, she says "way up high in the sky!"
I also used this opportunity to tell her that Heaven is where Grandpa Simon is too! There have been many nights since then that I've laid on the floor with her and told her about Grandpa Simon and Nana going up to Heaven. Having these conversations have been comforting for us too. For Tim, instead of having to just make up some sort of response, being able to explain Grandma's passing in these simple, sweet terms helps him cope and brings peace as well. And for me, to explain the deaths in my family that happened so long ago, it's comforting to introduce these relatives to Addison. Through these conversations, my dad, grandmas and grandpas are still present in our lives, even though she never met them.
Death is not an easy thing for anyone to understand. We are hoping to build the basics for her - as well as the basics for religion in general so it feels natural to believe. I know it will be years before she truly understands, and I pray that she does not have to deal with any death anytime soon, but the next time she does, I hope there's a little less confusion, more understanding and peace.


I will hope to be much better and more timely with updating this blog. I know I fell off the radar in the last couple months. And I will also be updating Baby Punkin's blog shortly! Stay tuned and thank you for reading this lengthy post!

Addison - the BIG Sister!

Addison's going to be a Big Sister somewhere around March 14, 2012. Although, if you ask her, there's no "going to be" involved - she already IS a Big Sister in her mind!


I'm Addison O'Neill. I'm a Big Sister!
Addison has been introducing herself (as her full name) for the past several months. However, once we introduced the concept that she is going to be a Big Sister to her back in late July, she has been introducing herself to EVERYONE as Addison O'Neill, the Big Sister. And I do mean everyone - the checkout lady at Food 4 Less, kids on the playground, friends, etc. It's just a part of her name now!


Introducing Silly Baby to Baby Punky
We found out about O'Neill baby #2 in mid-July. A few days later, I said a couple things to Addison about Mommy having a baby in my belly. She didn't seem that interested or really understanding of it, so we waited until our first prenatal appointment on July 19 to really tell her the news. Tim and Addie met me at the Dr's office after work, and on the way there, Tim was telling her we were going to see Mommy at the Dr and see the baby in my belly.
She was very excited when we went in for the ultrasound. Now, keep in mind I was not even 6 weeks along at this ultrasound, so there wasn't much to look at. But we still pointed the baby out to Addison and she was excited, pointing and saying "There's baby!"


Addison's Announcement 
When it was time to tell the grandparents that a new O'Neill baby was on the way, we wanted Addison to play a big part. So, when I was about 10 weeks along, we arranged to see all 3 grandparents in one weekend. On the Friday night, I wrote a poem to put on a card that Addison decorated for each grandparent. Grandma Simon came down to babysit on Saturday and on Sunday, Grandma G and Grandpa O'Neill and co. came over to swim in the pool. Shortly after they each arrived, we  told them Addison made them something. Addison handed her the card enthusiastically - although I'm not sure she totally got what was going on. We tried to get Addie to announce it as the card was being read, but she wasn't participating. When they each got about halfway down the message on the card, they got it.


This is what the card said:
I know something you don't know!


Over the fall and through the snow
In Mommy's belly, my baby brother or sister will grow
Yes, I'm going to be a big sister, and today is the day I can let you know!


On Monday morning, Addison wore her new "Big Sister" outfit over to Auntie Lorie's. Before we even got inside she saw the shirt and was so excited. The Simon cousins were all excited to as we shared the news with them as well. Apparently for weeks before, Addison had been saying that she was gonna be a big sister and there's a baby in mommy's belly - so they weren't completely surprised!
The final act of Addison's Announcement was for the Facebook world, in this video:

Addison loves watching this video of herself - and we love watching it too. It is already putting tears and my eyes and I can only imagine what it will do to me years from now when Addison and Baby Punkin have grown up together. It will be a great keepsake, that is for sure!


Follow Baby Punkin's developments here: www.babypunky.blogspot.com