Monday, April 26, 2010

Tess bits

Some recent Tess sayings:

On Saturday, Tess spent some time digging in the flower bed with a gardening spade. She practiced picking up dirt and walking over to a flower to dump the dirt. At one point, she stood up with a spadeful of dirt, arched her body back, and loudly grunted, "I a strong guuurrrrlll!" She clomped over to a flower, dropped the dirt, and then exclaimed with an excited jump, "I digged it!" She then loudly announced: "Running time!" (It's a new expression she uses to indicate her desire to race up and down the sidewalk.)

Tess has a new favorite expression. One morning last week, Tess wanted to know where "Mommy" was. When I told Tess that Mommy was sleeping, Tess replied, "Oh, so cute." When I told Tess this weekend that a spade was similar to a baby shovel, Tess said, "Oh, so cute." She said the same thing about an ant and a small maple seed (helicopter) she spotted.

While running behind Tess on the sidewalk on Saturday, I made an "arrgghh" sound (a bear/tiger/lion sound). She stopped, turned around, and said, "No arrgghhing."

Yesterday afternoon, Tess and Miriam played with some building blocks on the deck. Miriam asked Tess what she was building, and she replied, "A monument!" (Tess is familiar with the Washington Monument.)

While I was reading the newspaper on the front porch on Saturday, Tess approached me, pointed to an image of a certain cartoon gecko character printed on the newspaper page, and said, "Geico."


Last week, I talked to Tess about the fact that she lives in Virginia. I then asked Tess, "Where does Daddy live?" Tess said, "In C.D." (her term for D.C.). (Given the fact that I spend more time working in D.C. than at home, she wasn't entirely wrong.) After I corrected her, I asked her, "Where is Tess' house?" She pointed to the ceiling, waved her finger back and forth, and said, "This is in Virginia!" (her pronunciation of Virginia is pretty rough).

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Ready, Set, BLOG!

OK--10 minutes left on the computer after it took 45 minutes to create a Relief Society sign-up list on the library's RIDICULOUSLY archaic computers.

We took our computer in to receive the comforting news that, yes, the processor is fried and it's dead, dead, dead. HP sucks. Don't buy it.

My absolute favorite brother says he has a spare Mac book lying around that he's planning to send me. Heaven bless him.

Until that happens, here's a bullet blog:
  • Tess & I had lunch with Ry in DC again. We stopped at the National Gallery of Art before meeting Ryan, and Tess quite enjoyed herself. She joined in on one of the school groups who were making sketches of one of the statues. Tess flopped herself down on the floor with the rest of the middle-schoolers and demanded, "Colors, Mom." I searched my purse for a pen and scratch paper. Pleased with her drawing, she said, "I school, Mom!"
  • 8 week ultrasound went well. Baby is now 1.67 cm long with a heart beat of 170 bpm. I'm DONE with the fertility clinic! Now on to my regular obgyn! Hooray!
  • Ry and I had a date to the opera last night. We saw a glorious production of "Porgy & Bess." Tess had fun with her sitter, Mikayla. When Tess woke up this morning she wanted to know where her "sister" was.

Time's up! Love you all!

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Fried

Well, our computer died. Our new hp laptop that we bought one year and one month ago. That had a one-year warranty. Of course.

I'm at the library and Tess is screaming, so that's the end of this post. And probably the end of the blog for a while.

So sad.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Pink or Blue?

Now that you've all gotten a good look at Baby Higginbotham, it's time for the requisite baby blog poll.

The Chinese calendar (which Laura swears by) says it will be a boy. Tess would like to prove the Chinese calendar wrong (she thinks it's a girl).

So, what do you think: boy or girl? Yes, those are the only options.


Mom & I covered our bases by picking out 2 "coming home" outfits--both in preemie sizes. It took weeks before Tess fit into newborn sizes. If this baby is anything like Tess, he/she may end up wearing both blue and pink outfits!

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Sprinkle Time

Mom flew home on the big airplane yesterday. As usual, we packed her visit full through the very last minute.



We started the day off with my first ultrasound. At 6 weeks, teeny, teeny tiny Baby Higginbotham is now 3.8 mm long--about the size of an ice cream sprinkle. The doctor magnified the ultrasound and then magnified it some more, so we were able to see the faint flicker of a heartbeat. I have one more ultrasound at 8 weeks, and then I'm discharged to my regular doctor.



I'm feeling pretty good so far--a little tired and extra hungry. The doctor saw that I have two ovarian cysts that are resolving themselves, so I'm hoping that's why I'm feeling more pregnant than I am at this point. And by "pregnant," I mean fat.

After Baby Sprinkle's photo shoot, mom & I took the other little Higginbotham for a photo shoot of her own. I bribed Tess with an egg full of jellybeans if she would give pretty Easter smiles for the camera. The result: photos of a terrified Tess with a timid, forced smile. She tried really hard, but I never get great studio pics of her. She looked heavenly in her Easter dress, though. I'll post her photo when I get them back.



Since Dipsy left, our spring temps have soared into summer range! I told Tess that we could get the sprinkler out after her nap. As soon as she woke up, the first words out of her mouth were: "Sprinkle time!"

Let the sprinkling begin!



Blossom petals swirling all around!

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Easter Egged Out

Easter was a day full of festivities that began with egg coloring on Easter Eve.




That night Ry & I went to a movie, Dipsy and Tess had a pajama party at home. When I told Tess she was going to have a party with Dipsy, she patted her head and said "Hat? A hat?"



Well of course you can't have a party without a hat, so Dipsy & Tess got busy decorating party hats. They spent the night watching "The Princess and the Frog" and eating lots of popcorn.



After the pajama party, the Easter Bunny came to Tess' house and left quite the stash.



Tess geared up for Easter Egg Hunt #2 by raiding my basket. Why hunt for eggs when all the goods are ready for the picking from mom's stash?



Once Tess found out her eggs were filled with "MM's" she was game.



The Easter Bunny also brought Tess a fun bubble toy. Oh how she loves bubbles!



Tess drew a tribute to the Easter Bunny.
I was able to snap this lousy photo before she erased it.



We had our colored eggs for breakfast, and then headed to Nana & Papa's house for General Conference.



And Easter Egg Hunt #3! Tess is getting good at this! Wendy made a delicious Easter dinner and Tess enjoyed the most delectable "chicken" she's ever eaten.




So I think Tess gets the idea that Easter is about eggs and bunnies. But she also knows its about more than that. When asked to explain her Nursery picture, she says, "Jesus alive! Jesus happy!"


Saturday, April 3, 2010

Spring Days with Dipsy



Yesterday we met Dad in D.C. for a glorious spring picnic in the Sculpture Garden.







We all soaked up the springtime sunshine. Well--almost all of us.




Then it was time for a little pre-Easter celebration.




This morning we were off to the neighborhood Easter egg hunt.





Tess was a GREAT hunter and loaded up on eggs.
She even found an egg in a tree that the other kids overlooked.






Thursday, April 1, 2010

Dippies Day One

So our Dipsy is finally here and we planned out the whole week with everything we want to do, but Tess had a different plan.



She woke up 3 times last night and when morning arrived, it was clear she had a nasty cold. Spring is in full splendor right now, so we tried some allergy medicine, to little avail.



So we stayed close to home today, but we still had a good time with our Dip. We went to the gym this morning and then to Occoquan for lunch.





After a long nap, Tess was feeling a little better and we took her for her first haircut. She was such a good girl and was excited to sit in the "boat chair" (the salon stalls have dividers that she thought look like boat sails) and wear a "coat" (the cape).





We wrapped the day up with smoothies and bubble-blowing. We're hoping she feels better tomorrow!


March 2010 Tidbits

Ry likes to test Tess' will power in a game of "Don't Feed the Doggie." He'll give her a snack and then admonish her, "You can have these crackers, but whatever you do, don't give crackers to any doggies." Then Ry will act like a begging doggie, "Arf, arf! Can I have some crackers, arf?" Tess shares her crackers every time. She also shares with cats, bears and monkeys.

Today I was showing Tess how to use a "walking stick" during a short hike in the woods. She picked up a large stick, started hobbling around with it and said, "I grandma!"

Tess is surprisingly good at finding details that are the "same" in her books. One book showed some slices of cake on a table, and she eagerly flipped back several pages to find a picture of the whole cake on a cakestand in the kitchen. "Same!" Another book showed a bathtub and she pointed out a bar of soap, then flipped back to find a sink with--what do you know?--a bar of soap. "Same!"

After church Ryan & Tess drew pictures, read books, danced to "Jesus songs," made Play-doh mustaches, shared a popsicle, blew lots of bubbles, ran up and down the sidewalk for an hour, and watched Curious George.
Me: "You didn't get a nap today, Ryan. Aren't you tired?"
Ryan: "Yes. But I don't get that much time with Tess."

A new favorite (and frequent) Tess phrase is: "No, not today!" This is said with a defiant voice, as in, "Tess, let's change your diaper." "No, not today!" OK, we'll change your diaper tomorrow.

Before Tess went to bed tonight she started yelling for her "MM's book!" After searching frantically around in her bed, she was relieved to finally find her "Humpty Dumpty" book.

We've started having two prayers for dinner every night, since Tess insists on saying her own prayer. Her prayer is a long list of things she's thankful for and often includes church, friends, "Tess, Mommy, Daddy," house, and food. Her list then unravels as she starts naming everything in sight. "Thank you for highchair, light, clock, table, Tess, forks, plates, Tess, milk, eyes, nose, Tess, mouth, hair..." Did I mention she's thankful for Tess?

Tess was not happy when Ry brought me home tulips tonight.

The other day when Tess was painting outside on the deck, I heard her say, "Hi, how are you?" Alarmed at who she might be talking to, I discovered she was conversing with a bird on the fence. Now she often summons the birds to come see her artwork.

When I broke out my sandals for the first time this season, Tess said, "Oooo, pretty shoes, Mommy! And toes!"

Tess' new favorite obsession: pointing out things that are "the same." News flash: green plants & green paint are "the same."