Monday, September 29, 2008

Doctor & Police Beat

Tessie had her 9 month doctor's visit last week, and I still haven't written about it. And I'm plumb out of Tessie pics. So sorry for the extensive verbage with no visual stimulation. My next post will be all pics and no yakking. Promise.

Tess is a BIG girl. She is 29 1/2 inches long, which puts her in the 97th percentile for her height. She now weighs 18 lbs. 12 oz, which is in the 47th percentile and her head circumference is in the 75th percentile.

The appointment went well, except the doctor was concerned that she's still not sitting up on her own. I guess she should really be doing that by now. I'm not sure why she has a problem with it. I think she's capable of it with a little practice--she's very strong. But she just does not like that position. She arches back whenever I try to sit her up.

She can stand while holding onto stable objects, and the doctor said that usually comes after sitting. Anyway, if she doesn't start sitting up in the next couple months, the doctor said she may need a little baby physical therapy. Baby physical therapy?! I've never heard of such a thing!

So, we've been doing baby sitting-up boot camp the past few days. Not that it's really helping very much. She has a strong will of her own.

I also learned that I'm supposed to be feeding Tess food. Don't panic--I have been giving her baby food and formula. It's just that she's ready now for real food. That's hard to believe, considering she still doesn't have a single tooth in her gummy mouth. So lately we've been working on lots of chunky, mashed up real food. She's done pretty well with it. She has a sensitive gag reflex, so I take it as a good sign that she's only spewed once in response to a particularly unwelcome carrot chunk.

I know it's all what's best for her, but it's hard to see her growing up and doing such big girl things. That one-year mark is going to be tough for me. It's going by too fast.

In other news, I woke up a couple days ago to find Ryan laughing hysterically at the computer. Evidently, he happened on these great police reports from BYU's newspaper, the Daily Universe. I thought Maur would especially enjoy these top 10.

Which is your favorite Police Beat? Vote now!

Daily Universe: Police Beat

#10
At 7:20 a.m., March 20, police received a report of animals being found in the men’s restroom on the seventh floor of V-Hall of Deseret Towers. The responding officers found five live chickens in a cardboard box, 50 dead goldfish in the sinks and a layer of straw six to eight inches deep covering the bathroom floor. An investigation led to the identification of the truck that was used to transport the straw. Charges are pending against the owner of the truck and police are continuing an investigation to identify others involved with the incident.

#9
A naked man was reported on BYU campus on Jan. 10. Police found a man wrapped in a blanket, sitting in his truck with the heater running in lot 3 of the Harris Fine Arts Center. The man had fallen into a pond while playing Frisbee golf and had stripped out of his clothes to maintain warmth. He was waiting outside of the HFAC to pick up his girlfriend from class.

#8
June 2. A blind deer was found by a resident at the Wymount Terrace. Provo Animal Control was called and they came and took care of the animal. They knew it was blind because it was running into things.


#7
April 11. BYU police received a call that four male students were using the Helaman Halls pool even though it was not open yet. When the police officer arrived he was able to locate the students because they were the only students walking home wet.


#6
March 20: A mother was walking through the Wilkinson Student Center when she noticed a male BYU student following her. When she stopped walking, he approached her and touched her children’s legs. She called BYU police and they questioned the student who admitted to harassing mothers and their children in the past. He said he would try not to bother mothers again.


#5
March 12. A male student posted fliers in female dorm halls asking for dates to satisfy a dating requirement for his marriage preparation class. The fliers not only violate BYU policy but were disturbing female residents. Police discovered that the student was not enrolled in that class and the professor he said he had has retired.


#4
A police officer found an old laptop, three pictures and a vegetable juicer at the N. Eldon Tanner Building on March 23 at 2 p.m. Police are investigating whether the property was stolen or items from a Relief Society swap meet.

#3
April 14. A student called BYU Police when she saw a creepy looking person smoking by the Administration Building.

#2
On Jan. 22 in the WSC Memorial lounge, a suspicious male was reported. The victim was sleeping on a sofa between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. when a male student woke her up and asked to borrow her newspaper. After giving it to him, she fell back asleep. A short time later she awoke to find the same male stoking her hair. She told him to stop and again fell back asleep. The third time she awoke, the male was stoking her hair again. She quickly left and reported the incident. The man is described as being white, between 6′ and 6′2″, thin, with blonde messy hair and a stubble beard.

#1
February 8. Workers at the Cougareat called BYU police when they received a counterfeit $20 bill. Upon investigation it was determined that the bill was not counterfeit and was actual legal tender.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Halloween Come Early



Just a couple more pics from our Idaho trip. Reen got out her costume box and couldn't resist dressing up the kiddies. LK had a great time dressed like a "pup-pup." She kept strolling past the mirror to catch a glimpse of herself. Tess was less enthused about the fish costume (or "Jonah" costume, if you agree with Mer's POV). We did bring home a rabbit costume that may make an appearance this Halloween, if Tess doesn't get too much longer before then. Even now she kind of looks like Bugs Bunny wearing capris in it.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Formula for Disaster

I can't leave her alone for 2 seconds!







Yes, I'm dust-busting her butt in this picture.



The guilty culprit.


Sunday, September 21, 2008

Jet Setting

I whisked Tessie away to visit the Murdocks last week. We had such a fun time (though it's tough missing daddy)! Tess got to meet lots of new family members, including her great-grandparents. She also spent lots of time with good ol' regulars, too.







LK and Tess were more interactive this trip. They developed a sort of love/hate relationship, which would swing from being co-conspirators in tearing apart Meredith's house, to making each other giggle in the car, to LK wielding some fierce eye jabs if Tess looked at her wrong. Tess did manage to fight back by biting Lauren's big toe. Tess always goes for the element of surprise. She's not as defenseless as she looks.













We spent a good deal of this trip planning a wedding shower for the "lovebirds," my brother and his new bride-to-be, Miranda. What a fun time! We can't wait for the wedding--now that's going to be a REAL party!

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Monkey Mischief

Little Monkey Tess has been full of mischief this week. With her improved crawling and skilled use of back scoots, she can pretty much get anywhere and into anything she wants to. I'm impressed by her determination. She will see something, get this gleam in her eye and then pursue it at all costs. She doesn't get discouraged if one approach doesn't work. She just tries something else until she finds something that works. She's persistent all right.



This week Tess managed to get into her toy basket, tip the whole thing over and spread her toys all across the living room. It was amazing to watch her drag the basket from underneath the bench: reach on her belly, catch the handle and roll on to her back, dragging the basket with her. Then, tipping it over: lie on her belly, arch her back and reach way up high, finally grab the top edge of the basket and pull it down towards her. This took several attempts of course, and kept her entertained for a good hour or so.



Tess also loves to get into the wet wipes. She thinks it's fabulous how one wipe pops out after the other. Over and over again.

She also has become quite fond of sucking on the wipes. I don't know what this is about, although I read online that lots of babies like to do it for some reason. Pampers says that sucking on their wipes is not harmful for babies. I have to admit, I tasted one just to see what the fascination was. YUCK! Awful! They taste like soap.


For Maur, here are pics of Tess playing with the book you made for her. (Your other requests will have to be fulfilled by your camera when I come out!)




And some practice standing time--she has a ways to go on this one, but we're having fun practicing.