I have so much to catch up on, but we're skipping that for now, so I can show my mom some cute pictures of my kids in the clothes that she made. This dress was a woman's skirt I inherited from a friend. It was an unfinished project hanging around my house. My mom took it and offered to turn it into a dress for Tessa, and this is what arrived in the mail with Trenton's birthday present. Que bonita la senorita!
Tessa LOVED having Talia around! She didn't go with them to church on Sunday, and Tessa's first words out of her mouth when she got home were, "where is SHE?" They got along quite well, most of the time.
Talia really loves her mother!
See?
And Tessa, too!
I have no idea what she is thinking, but I love this face!
And both these girls have such pretty blue eyes! I hope they grow up to be great friends!
Lots more baby stuff still to come, but I wanted to share some fun pictures of Tessa and her cousin Talia (Shanda's daughter).
Shanda came to help with the birth, and Tessa was super excited to have cousins her size to play with. We thought it was too fun, that both of them had ended up with the exact same swimsuit from Old Navy, and had to get some pictures of these bathing beauties!
Here is Tessa after her birthday party last month, with all of her fun presents. She had her one-year-old check-up today. I thought I should share the stats: weight: 24 lbs. 4 oz. (without diaper) - 90% height: 31 1/2 inches - 100%
So she is still growing strong! And strong minded! And strong willed! She is climbing on everything, tackling her siblings and dad, and flirting with old men at restaurants (I'm going to have to watch this one closely when she gets a little older) coming up with new stuff every day.
She says: Ball (all the time) Bottle (sounds a lot like Ball) Bye ("") Dad Hi Mom *barks like a dog*
She signs: nurse/milk I want more bye And she has gone from hating anything on her feet to having a major shoe fettish, fueled by these adorable purple ones given her by her aunts for her birthday. She always wants them on and proceeds to tap dance around.
Tessa is developing quite the personality and penchant for mischief. She is also a total Daddy's girl! Dad was making his world famous molasses cookies and she wanted to be by him so she found herself a special spot. She also likes to climb on the door to the dishwasher. And tumbled down the stairs last week (she's fine). So needless to say, she's keeping me busy!
Trenton had his first day of any kind of formal school ever today. We still haven't worked out a carpool, so the entire time driving and filling out the gazillion papers required, I was wondering what I was thinking when I decided to go through with this. But seeing his cute classroom and the way he jumped right in making friends and getting involved made me feel pretty sure that this is where he belongs right now. Here he is listening while his teacher gives him a lesson on rolling up his mat. While he wasn't sad to say "goodbye" to me in the morning, I was glad to see that he had missed me a bit and gave me a big hug when I came to pick him up. His teacher said that he had a good first day. I had told her that he was ready to be challenged but not to be surprised if he complained about it (lately, anytime we ask him to do a chore, he declines, saying it will hurt his back). Sure enough she told me that he complained, "I don't want to move the yellow hexagon, that's too hard for me."--all the while showing he knew exactly what to do. Silly boy! I am sorry to report, however, that Trenton was the victim in a bullying incident today, but not on the playground. Here is a picture of his attacker.. The culprit jabbed a finger up his nostril hard enough to give him a serious nose bleed. He has recovered well, but wants to warn others about the perpetrator. She may look innocent enough, but should be considered dangerous!
Tessa is now officially 11 months old! Only one more month until her big milestone celebration. We tried pigtails for the first time today, and I am happy to report, they made it all the way through church, which is more than I can say for all of the clips, and barrettes, I keep trying to use to get that hair out of her eyes. Of course, we had to include a smiley picture. She is developing her own sense of humor--playing games and even teasing us a little. She also tries to get in on the action when Daddy is wrestling with the kids. Speaking of Daddy, she really is becoming quite the Daddy’s girl. She seems to prefer to be with him, and he is the best at getting her calmed down to go to sleep.
But if we want to give you an accurate view of what Tessa is like now, I think these pictures may be more appropriate, she is BUSY, BUSY, BUSY! (I guess that means her mom is too!)
In other news...
I am planning to start Trenton at the Montessori Preschool this week. He was on the waiting list and recently got in. So that is great, except that we don’t have anyone to carpool with, and I’m not sure I can make the drive to Downtown PHX twice a day. The school is free, and I know it will be so good for him. I am just hoping we can find someone to carpool with. If anyone knows anyone with a 3-4 year old in the Laveen area who doesn’t already have preschool arrangements, that might be interested in a FREE Montessori school, please let me know, asap. We were told that there was another slot available, but we don’t know how long that will last. Or how long I will last if I have to do all of the driving!
Barry and I are helping to raise money for the Nielson Family, by participating in The Great Cookie Auction today (MONDAY). Please see my other blog (My Insanity), for all of the details! Who’s cookies do you think will raise more money? Barry’s Massive, Mouth-Watering Molasses Cookies, or my Hand-Painted Halloween Butter Cookies???
So my format is kind of shot on these, since we were at Lake Powell when Tessa turned 8 months, and I don't have my printer set up now to make the signs for her turning 9 months. But format or no, Tessa is 9 months. Her first tooth has finally cut through (just barely) and she is dangerously close to walking. Here are a few of her favorite things: Food: paper (shopping lists don't stand a chance) Place to sleep: the high chair (harder to keep moving there). (Hard floors work well in a pinch). Least favorite place to sleep: her crib Favorite new nickname: "all-terrain Tessa" (She 4-wheel crawls over anyone and anything in the way of her objective) Pasttimes: housekeeping inspections (she will find any spec of anything left on the floor), taste testing (all of those things immediately go to her mouth), bouncing, dancing, mooching for food (anything that big people are eating), flirting New tricks: waving "hi," saying "mumm, and dad." Current objective: To press the pretty blue button on Mom's computer (and ruin all of her work). She really is a happy, friendly baby, and is so much fun, when she isn't eating choking hazzards, and now that she is over her ear infection/pink eye/diahrrea/virus/teething/diaper rash/etc. that was going on during the move and Utah trip.
I took these shots of her at Lake Powell right around her 8 mo. b-day. Don't you want to squeeze her???
I beginning to think that I may have to come up with a new way to mark Tessa's growth--maybe a shirt, or something she can't wrinkle up. It was quite an adventure trying to take her picture this time! I documented it with this slide show.
I don't have official stats, since I still haven't taken her in for her 6mo. check-up (I know, shame on me!), but according to our home scale, she is still right around 20 lbs. She does outweigh most of her 1-year-old friends, and has yet to meet one who can rival those thighs! Still everyone she meets wants to love and squeeze all of that chub!
I'm not sure I would really call what she is doing crawling, but she is definitely getting around. I think her trouble is that she likes to straighten her legs. More often than not, she ends up in somersault position (I've helped her do a few somersaults). But she manages to move around a room. Lately, though, she thinks it is great fun to pull herself to standing, and has even began to cruise just a little between furniture. I wonder if she is going to skip effective crawling and head straight for walking! She has tried most all kinds of foods, but seems to want grown-up food more than her own, and wants to try and feed herself (uh, oh! Do I detect another independent, determined personality??? I might be in trouble!). She has learned what to do with Cheerios, so she is on her way.
Still no teeth, yet, but the way she is chomping on me, they can't be too far off (Ouch!). But all of this teething, digesting of new foods, and learning new tricks, has interfered with (what used to be) her fantastic sleep habits. It is hard to get her to sleep now, and she often wakes up shortly after going down. Most of all, her sleep schedule is really unpredictable, right now. And that can take a toll on her Mama, when there is so much going on. Good thing she is still so sweet and fun most of the time, so we have to forgive her for the sleep thing. I know Trenton went through a similar stage around this time. Hopefully it will pass, soon. Really, it's just hard, because she has been doing so well. It could be much worse.
As you can see, Tessa has become quite the smiler. She even laughs occasionally. She has rolled over a couple of times from tummy to back, and sure isn't lacking in the chub department! She truly is a joy!
UPDATE: For some reason, this big little girl is in a hurry to grow-up. Not only does she look huge next to her new cousin, Jackson. But as of Sunday night (Jan. 27), she has consistently been rolling over onto her tummy. This seems really early to me. And where her size was making it difficult to keep her in the bassinet any longer, her mobility is signaling that it is time for the crib. Crazy kid!
I was a day late snapping this photo of Tessa at two months. She is another Halterman overacheiver--off the charts for length and 90% for height. You can tell that she isn't starving. :-) Here is another photo...evidence of that elusive smile!
Yesterday Tessa turned 1 month old (I am going to try and remember to document each month).
I think she also gave us her first smile and real coo, yesterday morning. I haven't seen either much since, but I'm counting on Grandma to encourage her at Thanksgiving!
So my format is kind of shot on these, since we were at Lake Powell when Tessa turned 8 months, and I don't have my printer set up now to make the signs for her turning 9 months. But format or no, Tessa is 9 months. Her first tooth has finally cut through (just barely) and she is dangerously close to walking. Here are a few of her favorite things:
She really is a happy, friendly baby, and is so much fun, when she isn't eating choking hazzards, and now that she is over her ear infection/pink eye/diahrrea/virus/teething/diaper rash/etc. that was going on during the move and Utah trip.
I took these shots of her at Lake Powell right around her 8 mo. b-day. Don't you want to squeeze her???
become quite the smiler. She even laughs occasionally. She has rolled over a couple of times from tummy to back, and sure isn't lacking in the chub department! She truly is a joy!
I was a day late snapping this photo of Tessa at two months. She is another Halterman overacheiver--off the charts for length and 90% for height. You can tell that she isn't starving. :-) Here is another photo...evidence of that elusive smile!
Yesterday Tessa turned 1 month old (I am going to try and remember to document each month).
