Winter Preparations

Adah "helped" Chris and I get ready for winter by "raking" leaves. This little one loves to be outside and find treasures in nature. The task took a little longer, but it was much more fun.

Happy Halloween

Pre- Halloween ... Picking Out Pumpkins

Pre- Halloween ... Playing with Pumpkins

Happy Halloween ... from the Little Ladybug

Adah Turns One Year ... Oh my Goodness!

Someone gave me some advice shortly after Adah was born ... She said that the days may go by slowly, but the years go by very quickly. Boy was she right! Seriously ... has it really been a year already! I thought we would start out this post with a little nostalgia. Here's a picture from one year ago...



As a parent, I don't think I will ever forget the first moment I saw her ... heart gushing with love for this little being whom I just met. She has completely changed my life (for the better) and I love her more and more each day. Here are some things I have learned in the last year ... patience does grow with children, love for your children (and husband) really is boundless, Moms and Dads always carry snacks, and the joy of watching someone else discovering the world for the first time is one of the best things in life.

Now, here's what Adah's been up to the last month.... Adah now has 8 teeth and is trying lots of finger food. She has days where she still prefers a bottle, but she has really been good about trying new foods. She developed her own language (Adahish, we call it), babbling away assuming that we understand her. She also has added new noises to her repertoire, adding clucking and clicking with her tongue to her lip smacking. Playtime is filled with a lot of piling and sorting things. That is, first the books come off the book shelf to a pile on the floor, then they go in the laundry hamper, then out of the laundry hamper, etc. She also has started handing toys to us, beaming with a smile when we say thank you. She is definitely proud to be a giver.

She has gotten more mobile by the day. While a month ago she was tentatively standing and holding on to nearby furniture, now she is often running around the house on her own. She can still be unstable at times, but she gets less wobbly by the day. She has an especially proud smile when she makes it across the room on her own. You can just see new worlds open up for her as she discovers that she can now get up and go where she wants, when she wants. God help us!

Days when I go to a mom's group and Adah goes to the nursery to play with other kids for an hour or two are the best days. She loves other kids, and gets very excited when she sees her playmates. Today, she kissed her friend Zach who was visiting the house for her birthday. Unfortunately, Zach was not too happy about the invasion of his space! Her daddy tried to explain to her that she should play a little hard to get, but we're not sure she understood.

Here are some pictures of the Birthday Girl on her special day...

Adah Opening Birthday Presents

The Birthday Girl in Her Birthday Dress and New Shoes

Oh the Joy of Cupcakes

Hmm, I wonder what this delightful thing is...



Oh boy this is good!

Did you say there were more of these ... was it "cupcakes" you called them?
(Adah finished at least 3/4th of it ... frosting first)

Adah Turns Eleven Months Old

Greetings from the Rozells and our new home in Atlanta!
(and from our shrubs, which need a good trimming!)

We moved the weekend after Labor Day (with some help from my Mom and Step-Dad) and are starting to feel at home. Though we still have boxes to unpack and pictures to hang, having a place of our own is helping to make Atlanta a more comfortable place for us.

Now onto what you all are really here for ....

Adah is as gregarious and playful as ever. Day by day she learns new things and interacts with us in new ways. Kisses abound right now, which is wonderful for us. She will blow kisses from across the room and occasionally come over to you to slobber all over your face. We love her laugh and can't get enough of it.

This last month, she has started to walk. She's not there yet, but will take several steps on her own, or walk across the room holding our hands. Her face lights up and she starts to giggle with pride when she ventures out on her own. Check out the video below...

Adah has also started to really enjoy and play with other kids her size. When the neighbor girl Samantha comes over to play with Adah, Adah giggles and kicks with excitement. And when we leave her in child care at church, she practically jumps out of my arms when she sees the other kids and all the new toys. She is definitely an extrovert.

This last month has also brought new teeth. Right now she is working on cutting 4 new teeth ... 2 on top and 2 on the bottom (to accompany her other 2 on the bottom). What's funny is that her 2 top teeth coming in aren't the front ones, but the ones right next to those, so she will have a bit of a front tooth gap for the meantime.

Here are just a few pictures of the month...

A Study of Bark

Adah Turns Ten Months Old

I know we say it every month ... but 10 months already!?! It's hard to believe. Our little one continues to grow up before our eyes.

The last month has had it's share of struggles (mainly with bottle feeding and sleeping), but Adah still manages to charm us (and herself, actually). She finds much joy in life ... even if it's just a Tupperware lid!

This last month, she has been exploring new sounds and will sometimes let out a big lip smack or squeal. On occasion (when she feels like it) she will repeat a sound we make to her. She has become quite expressive ... from a furrowed brow to a coy grin to a beaming smile.

Adah's curiosity of all things has made exploring new solid foods and textures an adventure. Added to the list now are chicken, fish, cheese, yogurt, watermelon, nectarine, zucchini, avocado, mashed potatoes, pasta, toast, and more.

Adah continues to explore the boundaries of her mobility. She has no fear to simply let go of whatever she is holding onto while standing, even though this mostly results in her falling down. The other day she let go and took one or two steps before falling into another supporting object. Her independence is growing each day. While this can be a struggle for us, we love to see her gaining confidence and acquiring new skills.

In other (big) news, we have just bought a house! We feel incredibly blessed to finally have a place of our own to put down some roots. The housing search has occupied much of our time since getting to Atlanta, and we are grateful to have this process almost over. We love the house and are especially excited to think about Adah remembering this as the house she grew up in. We will move in about two weeks, hopefully for the last time in a while!

Mobility is Definitely Here

Here is 1 min. 30 sec. of motion in 3 clips... She crawls, she stands, she sits, she stands again, and we enjoy. Hope you do too!

Adah Turns Nine Months Old

The Rozell household has settled down a bit ... for awhile at least. The boxes are unpacked or stored, grocery stores found, nearby parks explored, new doctors selected, and there is even rumor of a paycheck on the way. However, we still feel as though we are living in transition. We have spent much of our time looking for a house to buy. It may be a buyers market, but desirable communities are still desirable (and pricey). Regardless, we do feel blessed to finally be in a position to own a home! (Hopefully!)

Amidst the business of our lives, Adah has remained her active, mobile self. Sitting down to read books, cuddle, and kiss are not Adah's favorite activities of late. Instead, her crawling skills have been perfected as she follows me from room to room, checking out every cord, plug, and piece of lint along the way. Standing has also become quite easy for her. For awhile, my primary role as her parent was that of spotter as she teetered up and down while swaying back and forth. She has become more stable, though. She is actually squatting when she wants to get back down (rather than just letting go to fall down) and is standing without holding on more and more. I both cheer and cringe as she becomes more brave with her actions. All in all, it's a fun time in her life to be a parent and watch her grow.

Here are a few picture from the last month. Enjoy!

Adah climbing

and crawling over whatever is in her path
(with me as spotter)

Adah standing

Adah in her "southern bell" dress

Adah helping fold laundry

Uh-oh! There she goes!

Adah Turns Eight Months Old

This last month has been quite busy for us all. Since we last wrote, we have crossed the country from Berkeley, California to our new home in Atlanta, Georgia with stops along the way in Houston and Michigan. We are now at our home in Atlanta. Chris starts work at Georgia Tech on July 1 and we all will begin this next chapter in our lives.

Adah has been the busiest of all. With new surroundings to explore at each stop along the way of our journey, she found much encouragement to increase her mobility. In two weeks time, she went from only sitting up unassisted for moments at a time to pulling up to standing. She now confidently moves from laying on the floor to sitting up on her rear end, then lunges forward into a crawl to scramble across the room quickly (sometimes on her hands and knees and sometimes on her belly), to reaching for our hands so that she can stand up on her own two feet. She has also made a game out of crawling over Chris and I when we lay on the ground with her ... like climbing Mount Mama/Daddy. We've only been in our new apartment for a few days and we have already made a run to Target for plug covers and other baby-proofing supplies. This little one can move quickly and with great determination! Chris and I both wish she used a bit more caution in her movements. She has many more scrapes and bumps than before, but I guess that's just part of being a kid.

Adah also met some new best friends on the journey ... Grandma Hovey-Wright's dog Brett and Grandpa Chessman's dog Murphy. Upon entering the room, Adah would not take her eyes off those doggies! Both were tolerant of her "petting", poking, and prodding, but may be happy to have some time away from her.

Here is a brief look of our journey to Atlanta in pictures...

Chris & Adah on our last weekend in Berkeley
(standing at Sather Gate on campus)

Adah's first time in the pool
(at Jenny & Derek's in Houston)

Visiting Grandma Weiers in Ludington

Visiting Grandma Hovey-Wright in Muskegon

Visiting Grandpa Chessman in Muskegon

Here we go ... Atlanta or Bust!

Adah helping unpack

Adah Turns Seven Months Old

How can it possibly be that our daughter is 7 months old already!?!

This last month has been quite full of new activities (most of which I have already written about). Here are a few things I have not yet mentioned...

Food Exploration ... This month we have branched out to try several new "solid" foods. (I say "solid" because all are still pureed into a slightly runny state.) Luckily, there are very few foods Adah will not eat at this point. Anything orange (sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, peaches) are her favorites ... too bad for me that they also are the most likely to stain clothes. The only food she appears not to like are bananas. We will keep trying, but it's a non-starter at the moment.

Cutting Teeth ... Adah has a new tooth appearing on her bottom gum line. This is very exciting as it means more interesting foods are on the horizon, but boy is this tooth cutting process challenging! She has been on and off fussy for 2-3 weeks now!

Kisses ... I have been trying to teach Adah how to kiss as a new form of communication for her. After much trying, she is finally starting to get the hang of it. When she is in the mood (which is never as often as her parents wish), she opens her mouth sticks her tongue out a bit and then closes her lips down on your cheek. It's very sweet, albeit wet. We are still working on the closed mouth, puckered lip version.

Mobility ... I mentioned this one already, but it bears repeating. Adah can now army crawl and get herself wherever she wishes (if only her Mama would let her!). Anything up to two feet off the ground is fair game for mouthing, head bonking, or grabbing! This has quickly turned into a game for her. I am trying to teach her sign language for stop, but when I make the sign and say "stop" she simply pauses, looks at me with a big grin, and then continues on (as if to say, "come and get me Mama!"). Sadly, her joy for mobility has made cuddling in our arms less of a priority of late. Hopefully, she will be able to handle the 4 hour and 2.5 hour flights we need to get through in a few weeks (during which she is officially supposed to be on my lap).

Mobility Is Upon Us

A tower of cups is just too tantalizing. Watch and see the power of temptation.

Wine Country Day Trip

Last weekend, the Rozell family took a day trip to wine country ... Dry Creek Valley to be exact. We figured while we were living in California, we should probably enjoy as much of it as we could. A friend sent us a recommendation for some good wineries, so we made a day of it.

Mauritson Winery

Baby Grapes

From the Deck of Sbragia Winery
(our lunch spot)

Mmmm, this strap is tasty!
Can we go home now?

First Mother's Day

I have come to realize over the last 6 months what a blessing it is not just to be a mom, but to be Adah's mom. Before you have children, you know you will love them. But I don't think I was ever prepared for the intensity of that love. She didn't do a thing to cause me to love her ... I just do ... fully and forever. Mother's Day was an opportunity to reflect on the last six months and my new role as a Mama.

After a favorite breakfast at home (prepared by Chris) and before an afternoon at the nail salon with a friend, we had a picnic lunch at the park. Adah's discovery of new wonderful things never ceases to thrill me. This day it was grass and swings. Joy!

Adah Discovers Grass

Swing Time

Chillin' on the Picnic Blanket with Mama

Learning to Sit

Adah has been learning to sit up by herself lately. As mentioned in earlier posts, this hasn't been easy for her ... learning to balance and sit still is difficult when one never stops moving. Still, we try. Here are a few picture from today's trial. Enjoy.

Weeeeee

Whoa

Oooo, a new toy

Eeeehhhh (getting a little frustrated)

Waaaaa (and, we're done.)

4 hours later (and after a nap) ...
SHE CAN DO IT!