Go wild! 
Monthly Archive for July, 2008
We made it back to NC today after a fun filled week in New York visiting Mema and Pops.
We all had a good time. We got to NY on Saturday (7/19) morning around 8am after driving ALL night. The drive was good and uneventful. Addie slept the majority of the way except for about 45 minutes if chattering in the beginning and about 20 minutes of being awake at the end but she did great. Saturday afternoon we went to Aunt Krissy’s 4th of July party. It was fun to see everybody that we don’t get to see real often. Addie had a good time putting juice boxes in and out of the ice buckets and running around playing with different toys and different people.
Tuesday was a day of visiting Mema’s work and Debbie’s farm. Addie got to see cows for the first time which she thought was pretty cool! Unfortunately we couldn’t get them to moo so that she could hear them. But she had a blast playing on more different toys and having big yard to run around.
Wednesday and Thursday we went up to camp where it rained the majority of the time we were there. But rain is good for puddles and puddles are good for splashing in so it all worked out. Wednesday afternoon we walked to the resevoir and let the dogs and Addie play in the water for a while then Thursday we spent a fair amount of time walking up the road playing in the mud. Addie and her OCD are not huge fans of being dirty but we’re working on that. She also liked the couple steps up onto the deck where she could walk up one side and down the other…over and over and over and over and you get the point.  Of course the sun came out pretty much right when we were leaving but what can ya do.
Friday morning we got to go visit Great-Grandpa Tom. It was good to get down to see him so that he could finallymeet Addie. We got some 4 generation pictures which are always neat. Plus he has a big kitty named Tiger that Addie liked and he liked her too!
Friday afternoon Greg and I went canoeing at Round Lake which is about 10 minutes from there house. I’ve never actually gone real canoeing before (paddling 20 feet then swamping the canoe doesn’t really count) but its a lot of fun! We saw a Great Blue Heron nesting site which was really cool. When we first saw it we weren’t sure what kind of nests we were seeing because there were a bunch of huge nests up in these big dead trees which you don’t see every day. We’d seen some hawks in the area but didn’t figure hawks would nest so close to one another. Then Greg saw a Heron sitting in one of the nests. Once we figured out what we were looking at you could also see some baby heads sticking up out of them. Who knew Herons nested in trees! It was a good time, my arms didn’t hurt too bad and I didn’t fall out of the canoe!
Then Saturday we went to visit Uncle Bryan after his shoulder surgery and then down to see Aunt Krissy since we didn’t get to visit much during the party. Addie’s cousin Tanner was at Kristina’s house while we were there and they, well, played near each other and tried to take whatever the other one had. But towards the end Tanner was feeding Addie crackers and Addie was “feeding” Tanner her milk so they must have been having a good time.
We took off about 8:45 Saturday evening and got here around 7:45 this morning after a slight detour through Washington DC. Somehow I ended up driving North again after getting through DC. Still trying to figure that one out. We should sleep good tonight.
I’m working on getting through the few hundred pictures I have to get them posted and I’ll be returning phone calls in the next couple days so don’t think I’m ignoring you all!
Addie is an infant scientist!
Our friends Brandi and Samuel have been participating in some infant research studies at Duke University and gave us some information on how to sign up. They are conducting studies on infant perception and need volunteers.
Today was our first one and they were studing eye movement when different images were on a computer screen. When we first got there we went into a room with a bunch of toys so I could fill out the required consent forms. Then we moved to the study room where they had a high chair in front of a TV screen that is equiped with a camera underneath to monoitor the baby’s eye movement.
She wasn’t a huge fan of being strapped to the high chair but they said it was okay when she looked away and cried. Of course I was there and could console her but we stuck it out in the chair. Then when she was done we got to go back to the room with toys and she played some more with the students conducting the research while I finished up the paperwork.
At the end she got a little certificate with her name and picture on it that says she is an Infant Scientist.  Maybe when she’s older they’ll give her a scholarship!
And as a bonus, Duke is a BEAUTIFUL campus. Now I just need to find someplace to park so we can wander around a bit. They have some really nice gardens, Duke Chapel (which people stand in LONG lines and ungodly hours in the morning to be able to get married at), and other really cool buildings.
Looks like we have a little neat freak on our hands! This could come in handy some day.Â
Last weekend Adam tracked some dirt onto the carpet from outside and Addie freaked out when she saw it and stood there whining until we finally convinced her it was okay. Then a couple hours later she ran into the kitchen, grabbed a towel and came in and started wiping up the carpet where the dirt was!
Now her new thing is that any time she spills something, usually just water from her sippy cup, she runs and gets a towel to clean it up. And if you ask her to wipe her face she’ll go get a towel and do that too.
It is so stinkin’ cute!
Addie has decided to get a head start on her terrible twos. The past week has been a long rolling temper tantrum with full-force hitting, kicking, screaming, and hair pulling fun.
