Happy Thanksgiving/Birthday to Drew!

We had double the reason to celebrate this holiday!  Drew turned one on Thanksgiving Day, giving us an awful lot to be grateful for.  I was happy to not be in the hospital this year and very glad to be eating Wendy's turkey instead of hospital turkey!

Nana  helped Tess make a proper Pilgrim hat for dinner.  My favorite look is the Pilgrim hat plus her Tangled princess dress.  Very fancy.

Tess at Wendy's beautiful Thanksgiving table, complete with colorful maize candles and fall crackers for Drew's birthday.

Life of the party.  He conked out in his seat during dinner.

A few things about one-year-old Drew:

• He weighs 23 lbs. 13 oz. and is 31 inches long.
• He can do a pretty fast army crawl that looks more like he's swimming than crawling.  He can stand holding on to the couch, but doesn't pull himself up yet and can't stand on his own.  He also has yet to figure out how to go from sitting to crawling and vice versa.  So if he's sitting, he's pretty much stuck, though he has started pushing himself around a little while in sitting position. Walking still seems a far way off.
• Drew still loves to hold straws, crayons, markers, pens, and balls.  He also loves buttons and anything electronic.  He loves the telephone, computer and changing channels on the TV with the remote control.  He enjoys baths.  
• He is a light sleeper.
• When he gets excited, he extends his arms and wiggles his hands like Tess does.  
• From what we can tell, we think Drew may be left handed.  He seems to favor his left hand for most things like eating, throwing a ball, and playing.
• We think Drew has some understanding of the words: Mama, Dada, Tess, num-num, ball, hug and kiss.  The only word we are certain he understands is light, because when he hears that word he looks straight up in the air in search of a light.
• Drew loves music and actually has a good sense of rhythm.  Whenever he hears music, he starts bopping along or swaying in time with the beat.
• He still thinks Tess is the funniest person ever.  
• He lets out great belly laughs when Tess pokes him in the stomach or in the foot or bops him on the head.  He also laughs hysterically when he is tickled on the hips.
• At this stage Drew is something of a picky eater.  He still loves baby food and isn't a big fan of texture in his mouth.  He eats cheese, bread, crackers and pretzels, but doesn't like vegetables and refuses to eat meat of any kind.  He won't eat rice, but has started to eat noodles.  I'm hoping that once he gets used to textures he'll eat a wider variety of foods.  He takes his bottle less and less (he tends to knock it away from his mouth), so he's going to need to start eating more.
• Drew loves going out and being outside.  He's a very easy baby to take places.
• If Drew really likes something (e.g., the cord attached to the attic door), his eyes widen and he purses his lips into a circle and says, Ooo-ooo!  Ooo-ooo!  
• Drew LOVES books and gets very animated when looking at pictures.  He uses his pointer finger to tap the page and often lets out excited shrieks.  He especially loves picture flap books and has a very long attention span when looking at them.
• Drew is a strong boy and is able to pick up or grab just about anything within reach.  It is difficult to hold him still when changing his diaper.  (If given a chance, he will quickly flip over onto his belly and crawl away--regardless of whether he is wearing a diaper.)
• Drew smiles easily and flashes a big smile at many people.  

Drew had a wonderful first birthday.  He got a walker (wishful thinking) and computer toy from us, some darling clothes from Nana and Papa, and some fun books and money from Dipsy and Papa Murdock.

Happenings

We celebrated Ryan's 28th birthday last weekend.  Tess, of course, took the opportunity to handcraft some decorations and we had a birthday dinner with Nana & Papa. 

We had a "Dad-centered" Family Home Evening.  For our lesson Tess drew pictures of things we like to do with Dad and he had to guess what they were:

1.  Playing ball with Drewie.

2.  Giving Mom a foot rub.

3.  Watching Tess ride her bike.

4.  Reading Tess a book on his lap.

5.  This is a map of Tess' favorite spot in the woods where she likes to go on a walk with Dad.  

6.  Giving Tess a hug on his lap.

We've enjoyed having some extra time together this Veteran's Day weekend.  Ry took Tess for her favorite weekend outing, golfing, and then we did a little yard work.  Kind of sad, because Tess has been talking about fall leaves and wanting to rake and jump in them, but we only have one tiny tree in the front yard.  So we raked up the leaves we had a made a huge pile (about one bag's worth).

Funny boy.  We tried Drewsie out on a little bike.  He loved it, but didn't want to hold on to the handles. Basically he just reclined back, lifted up his feet and waited to be pushed.

October 2011 Tidbits

"Mom, it'll be a short night?"  Tess asks me this every night before bed.

Tess likes to point out a very specific spot on the nape of Drew's neck as his "cutest spot."  "I like to give him kisses there cuz he's so cute."

Tess loves being helpful these days.  She loves to pick out her own clothes now and she has her own rules for matching clothes (flower prints and flower prints match; solids and solids match; jeans "go with everything").  She can get herself completely dressed in the morning and put her dirty clothes in the laundry basket on the washer, after which she announces, "I'm ready for the day!"  She enjoys setting the table for dinner and making sure everyone has proper utensils for the meal.  When she's done, she likes to carry her dish over to the sink.  She's also turned into kind of a cleanup freak.  "Mom, I think today is a cleanup day."  She likes to organize and will announce to me that she's going to "clean up" her bed, which involves lining up all her stuffed animals into a long, neat row.  She loves using the spray cleanser and wiping things down, particularly windows.  Speaking of wiping, she also likes to help with Drew's diaper.  I was changing him and she said, "I'll get the wipes.  I can do it because I'm really good at the penis." 

This evening a political campaigner stopped by to hand out some brochures and Tess wanted to know what they were doing. I explained that it had to do with voting, like when we pick a President or some other elected official. Tess replied: "I have a great idea! Maybe daddy would be a good President!"

A few nights go I (Ryan) was helping Tess change into her pajamas. Out of the blue, she said to me, "I look like a caveman." I replied, "Tessie, what does a a caveman look like?" Tess: "He has long hair, he wears a red shirt with sleeves, and he has no pants." (I don't know where she picked up that bit of knowledge.)

We had roast chicken for dinner, and I let Tess have the drumstick. She accurately assessed: "This is the chicken's leg!" Then she continued her anatomy lesson: "Here's the chicken's foot and right here is its toenail!" It was a bit unnerving when Tess stood her chicken leg up on its "foot" and started walking it around her plate.

I got (forced) Tess to the gym today with the assurance that I would stay with her in the playroom and not leave her to exercise. Not exactly the point of going to the gym, but we're taking baby steps. They've redone the kids room since we were last there (yes, it's been that long) and she loved it. She agreed to let me exercise for 15 mins and didn't want to leave when I came back. But then again tonight she's back to her old automatic thoughts: "I no want to go to the gym tomorrow, Mom! I will miss you, etc. etc. etc."

Two Tess comments during an evening walk tonight with Ryan:

She spotted some string lights hung on someone's deck and said, "It's not Christmas time! Let's put those away and get out Halloween stuff!"

Once they reached her favorite forested area, it was starting to get dark. Tess suggested, "I think the animals turned out the light."

Tess successfully went to all of Primary by herself today. Not of her own choosing and not without some tears, but she did it.

I read Tess a book tonight about a pigeon that does not want to go to sleep. At one point, the pigeon tries to stall bedtime by noting that a television show is on. The pigeon declares, "It should be highly educational." I asked Tess, "What does educational mean?" Tess: "It means kinda boring."

At Tess' request, we went for a walk today. She was frustrated because we weren't walking where she wanted to go and she ended up in meltdown mode. I finally had her climb on the stroller and she said, "Mom, I think after this is nap time."

"Mom, that dinner last night was very delicious!"

Tess rushed in to greet Drew when he woke up this morning and yelled to me the following report: "Yuck, Mom! Drew is really stinky. He smells real bad! [cough, cough] Ugh, he smells like animal poop! Hurry, Mom! My room smells like a PANDA!"

New Tess tantrum phrase: "I throw Mom in the crashcan."

Tess: "Drew cries after he blesses." Dad: "What does 'blesses' mean?" Tess: "It means 'achoo.'"

Tonight at dinner, Tess looked at Drew and said, "Dad, why is Drew's face red?" I told her I didn't know. She replied, "If he drink some water, his face'll be the same color as our face--pink."

I let Tess play with my iPod on the way home from the grocery store and I could hear her making sounds of utter frustration. When I asked what was wrong she replied, "Ugh. I trying to get on Facebook."

Tess has started asking to talk to Dad on the phone at work everyday. It's really funny to listen to her conversation and listen to the lilt and cadence of her "phone voice." A funny snippet from her conversation today: "Dad, you know if you talking on the phone and you get tired, you can just put the phone on the hard counter and lie down and keep talking. Or stand up, if you want to. Yeah, you can do that. You can."

Mom, I miss Dipsy. I need a really, big, big, big, big, big, HUGE picture of her. Not a little one cuz I can't see her.

Mom and I have spent some time couch shopping during this trip. Tess does great in furniture stores and loves to test out all the couches. When we came across one we really liked, Tess all of a sudden went into meltdown mode. "I no want a new couch! I like my red couch! It's my favorite! The red couch with the holes is my favorite!" Crying, she ran and hid under a coffee table until she calmed down. She finally came to terms with the idea of a new couch: "Mom, we can take pictures of the red couch? We get the new couch and we can sit on it and look at pictures of the old couch, OK?"

The other day I was grocery shopping in the baby food section. We had one of those "car" grocery carts, and Tess was in the car with Drew in the basket seat. I was talking with Tess and she was chattering away while I picked out our baby food selections. Then this woman came over to me with her mouth wide open in an apparent state of shock. "Oh my goodness!" she said. "Oh wow! I totally did not see your little girl down in the car! I thought it was your baby talking like that. All I could think is that my baby is SO FAR BEHIND!" I laughed so hard to think of Drew making conversation with me in the grocery store. I still laugh when I think of the look on that woman's face!

Dad: "Tess, what did you think about General Conference?"

Tess: "It was kind of boring."

Tess, describing her reaction to a song played during General Conference, "Dad, it was so funny I spitted Capri Sun out of my mouth."

Halloween 2011: We Made It!

So Halloween didn't turn out exactly as planned this year.  Things started off well.  We've been thinking about our costumes since August.  Ryan and Tess read Charlotte's Web together this year, so we decided to turn it into a family costume.

Tess and Drew debuted their costumes at the library Costume Parade.  A good place to start, since the librarians were especially appreciative of our literary disguises.  Danielle came along for the fun.

 (You will notice in ALL of these pictures that Tess now refuses to look at the camera and/or smile for any kind of posed photo.  Sigh.  And yes, I put socks on Drew solely for the purpose of having him rip them off and suck on them until they are soggy wet.) 

With that under our belts, we were ready for the real fun to begin!  Instead something else began:  SNOW!!!!  Snow?  Yes, SNOW!!!!!  Boo!  So our favorite tradition, the Occoquan Halloween Parade was cancelled.  Just as well, because I also came down with strep throat.  And so did Drew.

Our family was too contaminated to attend the ward Trunk or Treat, but we made the best of it with a little pumpkin carving.  Keep in mind that this is our THIRD pumpkin of the season.  Our last two went bad (we've had a LOT of rain this season), so I decided to wait to get our carving pumpkin.  Apparently I waited too late, because all the pumpkins everywhere were taken!  Ry found one at the the local nursery, but pickins were slim, and the pumpkin he came home with had a huge gash in the bottom!  We carved it up quickly, and it at least made it through Halloween.  It turned out pretty cute!

Tess revived Bob the Dog from last year's pumpkin.

Meet this year's pumpkin:  Daryl the Cat.  (Tess picked the name.)

 

Tess also had her first Primary Program this weekend and from all reports, she did very well.  I was too sick to go, so she agreed to perform her "part" for me.  Her Sunbeam class was assigned to recite together:  "As we read the scriptures, our testimonies will grow."  Drew sounds like he's crying, but he's really laughing at Tess in this video.

Come Halloween, Ryan took Tess out for her first real trick-or-treating experience!  We usually do so many other Halloween activities that trick-or-treating just isn't necessary.  But she was ready this year!  Tess was Wilbur the Pig and Ryan was Charlotte's Web.  Charlotte the Strep Spider stayed home with me.  I was going to be Fern,  but oh well.  

It was a chilly Halloween night, but Tess had a BLAST trick-or-treating!

At dinner that night, Tess told us she hadn't decided what to be for Halloween next year.  Guess it's time to start thinking!