Tessie Turns 4

Is it just me, or has this been a long year?  In any event, Tess has been waiting to turn 4 for a long time now!

We started things off with a birthday celebration at Nana and Papa's house.  Tess and Nana conspired against me by putting 4 candles on the cake.  I told Tess I had a really great idea to put only 3 candles on this year and then she wouldn't grow up and get any bigger.  Then every year we could use just 3 candles and she would stay my little girl.  Needless to say, Tess wasn't happy with this idea, but she got tired of arguing with me about it.  She would say, "You'll just see when I get my birthday cake," as if some cosmic forces of right and wrong in the universe would somehow balance things out and put 4 candles on her cake.  And they did.

She made fast work of the cake because she was so excited about presents!  She got such wonderful gifts!  Way fun dress up stuff and Polly pockets from Nana and Papa; a bathtub "waterpark" set from Dipsy & Papa; an interactive chipmunk toy that she named "Pet"; and a Baby Alive doll that she's only been wanting for 6 months now.

Birthday party #2 came a couple days later: a rainbow-themed party with her 3 bestest friends, Danielle James, Cade Austin and Lindsay Watson.  

I "rainbowed" the house up and scattered chocolate "gold" coins on the walk and lawn.  It was fun to watch the surprised kids spot the coins when they came to the front door!

We asked the guests to wear "colorful" clothes.  Lindsay wore a colorful striped sweater, Danielle wore rainbow ribbons in her hair, and Cade basically wore every color in his closet he could find.  I think we was wearing 3 shirts.  His mom said he took "colorful" to mean that he was supposed to wear the most unmatching outfit possible, and that at one point he was wearing a bandana on his head.

I was surprised how much they enjoyed making (and eating) rainbow fruit pops.  And adding marshmallows at the end for "clouds."  I love how silly these kids get when they're together.  They really enjoy each other.

After rainbow pops, it was time to hunt for "gold" at the end of the rainbow.  And one hunt wasn't enough!  After the kids collected all the coins, a "rainbow elf" stole all their gold when they weren't paying attention and scattered the coins all over the lawn again.  At first they all blamed Drew for taking the coins until they saw the lawn and they couldn't believe their eyes!  Danielle spent the rest of the party checking to make sure her coins were still in her bag.

We also did a simple rainbow craft, because kids love glue.  Apparently, Lindsay had never heard of a "pom-pom" and she thought that was the funniest word she'd ever heard.  Lindsay has a totally infectious laugh, so the kids kept making her laugh by saying "pom-pom" over and over again.  (FYI--it was during the craft that the sneaky rainbow elf struck!)

Finally time for cake!  The kids had big eyes when they saw all the candy and marshmallows.  Tess watched closely to make sure I didn't use the #3 candle from last year. I know in a few years, I will think I'm silly for thinking she looks so grown up.  But she looks so grown up.  (Even though I made her sit in Drew's high chair!)

I let them each pick a different color for their milk.  

And it turns out that cake and Skittles are a pretty tasty combination!

I love these little faces.  

They really are the cutest, sweetest friends ever!  They were so genuinely happy  for Tess and so excited to give her their presents.

I loved the adorable cards the kids had worked on for Tess.  She had the biggest smiles when she opened each one.

They finished off with some fun playtime.  It amazes me how well they play together.  They initiated this Candyland game all on their own--how nice of them to keep with the rainbow theme.  :)

So it's official--Tess is 4!  

My only consolation is that I've discovered that 4-year olds give really good hugs!

'Tis the Season

Christmas preparations are well underway.   A few holiday highlights:

We greeted Santa who arrived by boat in Occoquan.  Tess painted a Christmas tree picture to welcome Santa, but made it clear to us that Santa was only supposed to look at it, not keep it.

Tess was just fine keeping this distance from Santa.

It was not difficult to convince her to skip the LOOOOONG line to sit on Santa's lap and opt for the cupcake shop instead.  After sweets we stopped by the Christmas shop to pick out ornaments for the kids.  Tess picked Hello Kitty and Drew got a basketball.

I took the kids back to Occoquan for Christmas photos (not an easy feat, I tell you!).  A different pic will arrive on your Christmas card.

We welcomed a new tradition this year with an Elf on the Shelf gift from our Morley cousins.  I heard about this tradition and thought it would be fun:  A little elf doll comes to stay at your house before Christmas.  He's one of Santa's helpers and keeps an eye on kids during the day and flies back to the North Pole to report to Santa at night.  When the elf comes back, he hides in a new place in the house and the kids have to find him in the morning.  

So I told Ann about this idea before Tess started obsessing that Santa wasn't going to bring her presents because she'd done crying this year.  Hmmmm.  I decided to try it anyway--just a fun game right?  First thing you're supposed to do is name your elf.  Tess thought long and hard and came up with an appropriate tribute to our gift-givers:  "Morley."  We read the story that comes with the elf and Tess was totally not buying it.  "Mom, he can no fly.  He's a doll and dolls can't fly!"  "Mom, how can he see me?  His eyes don't go like this [shifting her wide eyes back and forth]."  I explained that Morley has a bit of Santa's magic in him that can enable him to do amazing things.  She told me, "Mom, I don't have any magic in me.  I just have bones.  That's how I go."

So the first day of having Morley around, Tess must have told me about 4 times that Santa wasn't going to bring her presents because of something she did wrong.  I finally explained to her that Morley loves her and Santa loves her and they don't expect her to be perfect, but to just try her best.  Morley likes to point out all the good things that Tess does and Tess has grown very fond of him.  She loves finding tricky Morley's new hiding spot every morning.

Here's a LOOOONG conversation I taped of Tess and her elf.  The actual conversation was probably 30 mins.  It's a pretty good window to her little mind at this age.

Drewie's first encounter with the Christmas tree.  He has a funny way of saying "O-o-o-o, W-o-w!" when he's impressed by something.  I love his little circle lips in these photos.  He likes to point to the tree if you ask him to show you the Christmas tree.

We stopped by this neat live nativity put on by a local church.  It's just off the road so those who drive by can see it, but we found a spot across the street to get out and watch for a while.  The had live animals:  donkeys, sheep, camels, goats and even a chicken.  Tess was scared the camels were going to come across the street and get her.  She spotted the chicken and after being afraid the chicken was going to fly across the street and get her, she lamented all the way home that our nativity set is lacking a Christmas chicken.

They even had a strong spot light that shot up into the sky for the star of Bethlehem.  We spotted it in the sky on the way there and it was fun to "follow the star" to the manger scene.  We could still see it sweeping the sky when we got home.

Other than her fear of the live animals, Tess really did like it.  She really wanted to go see baby Jesus' "cute little face."

My Masterpiece & November 2011 Tidbits

Making Life a Bliss Complete | Make Your Own Book

November Tidbits

Tess asked if she could give some money to the Salvation Army bellringer. I asked if she knew why people give them money. Her response: "Cuz they like their music!"

Tess asked me to conduct her music as she played the "harp" on our stair banister.

Tess used our Christmas advent box as an "apartment building" for her dolls. When I went to fill it, I found all sorts of dolls, furniture and cars parked in the slots.

While helping to decorate the Christmas tree, Tess took the liberty of categorizing the various ornaments she placed on the tree. She thought my glittered fruit ornaments and simple balls were "boring" and our more distinct, unique ornaments were "not boring." When I asked her about a swirled glass ball ornament, she reported it was "medium boring."

Ryan and Tess were playing "telephone" today. Ryan pretended to call Tess, but she just ignored his "ringing" phone. When Ryan asked why she wasn't answering, she said, "Because it just a sale person." Ryan asked how she knew who was on the phone and she said, "I just look at the phone and it a sale person. They're selling new windows and I don't want new windows." I guess she understands the concept of "caller ID."

Tess was incredulous when, on the way home from Thanksgiving dinner, we told her that Thanksgiving was over and it time to get ready for Christmas. "Wow--that a short Thanksgiving!"

Tess' explanation for Drew's first haircut: "He has to be handsome for his birthday party."

A character in one of Tess' library books was wearing a beret. She pointed it out to me: "That's a France hat!"

While playing outside, Tess asked me (Ryan) if I could help her find some yellow flowers.  After I pointed out that there were some in our yard, she picked a few and then said, "Daddy, you take off your glasses so you see what I am not doing."  After a few questions, I discovered that Tess wanted to give some flowers to a girl sitting on the sidewalk a few houses away.

Tess had identified a soft spot on the nape of Drewie's neck as his "cutest spot," where she loved to nuzzle him and give him kisses. After his first haircut, she was concerned that they'd "cut off his cutest spot." It was true; the stylist had snipped off that baby lock. I told Tess to take a look and on examination, she pronounced: "Now Drew has a NEW cutest spot!"

Tess has been talking quite a bit lately about hosting a party. She has established the dress code this way: "the girls need to have pretty dresses and high heels and the boys need to wear black shirts and ties."

Tess has picked up all the telephone skills she needs to succeed. She has all the intonations and mannerisms down pat. She will pace while speaking. It took several telephone calls, but she even waits for me to answer before saying "Hello." (Previously, I would pick up the receiver at work and hear "Hello, hello, hello" before I had a chance to speak.) When I say something that she doesn't hear or understand, she pretends to have heard or understood by responding, "Uh huh, uh huh, uh huh." (That's my clue that she didn't understand what I just said.) The other day she put down the telephone to say something to Miriam. When she picked up the telephone again to speak to me, she resumed the conversation by saying "uh huh, uh huh, uh huh."

Tess' current wish list from Santa: a purple teddy bear, a big unicorn toy, and a drum.

While in the foyer with Drew during church, I pointed out to him a picture of Jesus. He got really excited and kept pointing to the picture every time I said, "Jesus." Three times he pointed and said "Deez." I remember Tess doing the same thing about when she was about a year old. I believe that there is still a little glimmer of heavenly memory at this age.

Sometimes now if I'm frustrated about something, Tess will say, "Mom, I know what you need." She'll then proceed to lift up my shirt in the back and give me a back scratch.

Tess still needs help cleaning herself after certain bathroom duties. Today I was gone, and Tess was not happy for Dad to help her in the bathroom because she didn't want him to see her bare bum. She told Ryan, "I need Mommy. Mommy's the best wiper EVER!"

Tonight Tess taught us the Spanish word for turkey: "turk-ola."

Tess has an imaginary friend that she likes to pretend to talk to on the phone when we're in the car. Her name is Skoodle Noodle and she has two kids that were sick and in the hospital and are now better and were babies but are now all grown up and are constantly having birthday parties. She used to live in Idaho but just moved to Woodbridge and they're living in a hotel. I only get to hear Tess' side of the conversation: "Oh yeah? Really? Hmmmmm. That's good. That's good. Oh no! NO! Really?!!!! That's not good news." Then Tess will fill me in on the details: "Skoodle Noodle's baby just ate a crayon and has to go to the hospital and get a shot." It's been a gripping saga. Really.

I love it when Tess asks for a favor: "Mom, you do me a fever?"

There's a Tae Kwon Do studio near our gym. Every time we walk past, Tess says, "Looks like they doing Karate Kid in there."

Tess likes playing on a toy piano that's part of the playplace at Chick-fil-a. Last time she had a meltdown because none of the other kids wanted to play "choir practice" with her.

Papa Murdock called to talk to Tess and left a phone message. When I told Tess that he called and that we should call him back she said, "OK, that sounds good. I got time for that."

As we were playing miniature golf, Tess suddenly hugged a sign indicating the hole number. I had no idea what she was doing. A few minutes later we approached hole 11 and I said, "Hole number 11 is my favorite, Tess." She replied, "Daddy, you should give the sign a hug."

Tess: "I can smell the flu mist up my nose. It smells strange."

Tess: "Daddy, Drew cried when he got a flu shot. He cried because he doesn't know how to say 'ow' yet."

As we prepared to go miniature golfing, Tess pulled out her black patent leather shoes she wears for church. I told her, "Tess, I think you should wear your sneakers instead." She grabbed her shoes and said, "These are my fast running shoes." She then pointed to her church shoes and said, "These are my slow running shoes."

When Tess learned that I (Ryan) had Friday off, Tess became excited and said, "Daddy gets to see what I do when he's not here."

Tess: "Daddy, Drew just blessed on me." ("Blessed" means "sneezed")

Tess and I were talking about Christmas yesterday. I asked her if she wanted to see Santa this year and she thought she would be a little too scared. I told her she could write Santa a letter instead, and she thought that was the funniest thing ever.
Tess: "Mom, how we do that? How Santa get a letter?"
Mom: "We put a stamp on it and mail it to the North Pole."
Tess: "Mom, that so silly!!!! There's no mailboxes at the North Pole! I see pictures of it! There's no mailboxes there!"
Tess: "Daddy, I show Drewie how I put on girl clothes....See, Drewie?...Drewie doesn't wear girl clothes 'cause he's a boy....Daddy, do you know how I know that Drewie's a boy?"
Dad, wondering where this conversation was heading: "No."
Tess (pointing to Drew's sleeper pajamas): "He's wearing blue."

DrewDrops: The First Year

A full year of Drew's growth and development, archived for posterity:

                     

  

Drew's first haircut.  He cried the minute the stylist turned on the clippers and kept crying the whole time.  He didn't cry that hard even for his immunizations!  Poor baby. ~11-21-11~

Quickly enters the world, weighing 6 lbs, 15 oz and measuring 19 1/2 in long. ~11-24-10~

First doctor's visit. Weighs in at 6 lbs, 10 oz and measures 20 in long. ~11-27-10~

Two week doctor's appointment. 7 lbs, 8 oz (10-25th%) and 20 1/2 in long (20-50th%). ~12-08-10~

Hits the 10 lb mark! ~12-23-10~

Starts cooing and smiling. ~1-10-11~

First reaches out to hit a toy. ~1-23-11~

Two month check-up. Wow, has Drew grown! 12.1 lbs (70th%) and 24 in long (75th%). ~1-26-11~

Sleeps for 7 straight hours at night! (Usually sleeps for about 4 hours at a time.) ~1-27-11~

First blowout at church. All down his back. Awwww. ~1-30-11~

Drew now loves to stare at his fist. ~2-01-11~

Drew's blessing day. ~2-06-11~

Drewey grabs a toy ring on his bouncy chair! ~2-11-11~

Drew laughs. ~2-12-11~

Drew colors for the first time (Valentine Day's card for Mir). ~2-14-11~

14 lbs! ~2-19-11~

Drew is now 3 months old, but he's regressing in his nighttime sleeping. Lately he's been up every 3 hours--it's like having a newborn again! I'm due for some rest! ~2-28-11~

Drew's nighttime schedule now has him up every 2 hours. For real. ~3-07-11~

Drew now laughs when we play peek-a-boo with him. ~3-19-11~

Last night Drew slept from 10:30 pm to 7:30 am. I don't dare become hopeful, but the full night of sleep was wonderful! ~3-21-11~

The most frequent comments I get about Drew are that he looks just like his sister and that he looks like me. ~3-21-11~

Drew's latest sleeping permutation: He has pushed back his 4 am feeding to 5:30 am. The catch--he won't go back to sleep when he's done at 6 am. So he's sleeping longer, but I'm sleeping less. ~3-25-11~

Drew's 4-month appointment was today. He weighs 15 lbs. 13 oz. and is 25 1/2 in long. That puts him in the 75th percentile for both weight and height! ~3-30-11~

Drew eats applesauce and pears with enthusiasm. ~4-29-11~

I've been nervous to post this, but I think Drew has finally learned how to sleep through the night. Drew has been going to sleep around 9:30 and sleeping until 6 or 7 in the morning. He's been perfecting this routine over the past week or so. My fingers are crossed while I'm knocking on wood. ~5-20-11~

Scratch what I posted about Drew sleeping through the night. ~5-26-11~

Stats from Drew's 6-month check-up: 27.5 in long (almost 90th%); 18 lbs 4 oz (65th%); head circumference (70th%). ~5-26-11~

Drew is now a champion baby food eater. He has to eat 3 times a day and eats 2 containers at a time. His interest in his bottle is waning. ~6-10-11~

At the beach, Drew loved the sand but wasn't a big fan of the surf. ~6-18-11~

Drew has become a prolific pooper. He used to have a stinky only once every 3 days. Since the introduction of baby food, he's now up to 3 times in one day. ~6-20-11~

I felt the first snaggly start of a tooth on Drew's bottom gum. That's earlier than Tess, who didn't start cutting teeth well until 9 months. ~6-21-11~

Drew's ears were clear at his follow-up appointment today. My suspicions were confirmed that he has been gaining weight at an astonishing rate. He now weighs 21.5 lbs. That's up 3 lbs from his appointment last month! It's getting more and more difficult to haul him around in that carrier! ~6-22-11~

Drew rolls over (back to front)! ~6-25-11 (9:20 am)~

I spied tooth #2 coming through in Drewie's mouth today! He's going to be so cute with two bottom teeth! ~6-28-11~

Drew has entered his screeching stage. It started during church on Sunday and I wasn't able to sit through any of the meetings. Happy screeches, but loud screeches nonetheless. I remember Tess went through similar phase and mom says I was a screecher too. ~7-11-11~

Another Drewie trick: if you shake your head back and forth and make silly sounds, Drew will start to shake his head like crazy. He thinks he's very funny. ~7-11-11~

Drew has a new trick that he performs with gusto. Lying on his back, he pulls up both legs together and throws them down in a big donkey kick. When he gets going fast, he actually catches air! ~7-11-11~

Drew can sit up by himself now! ~7-16-11~

Some things that are true about Drew:

*He still has to be swaddled and held tightly to fall asleep. He also likes to have a blanket or soft toy next to his face.

*Whenever I swaddle him and feed him a bottle, he gets so warm that little beads of sweat form on his nose. He's the sweatiest baby ever.

*He fights going to sleep and usually puts up a big fuss before he finally drifts off.

*You know he's about to fall asleep when his eyes flutter and roll back in his head.

*His favorite toy is my shoe necklace. He loves fingering the shoes and little beads.

*He is very ticklish under his chin.

*He likes it when strangers say "hi" to him.

*His sister can make him laugh like no one else can.

*He does not like having his face washed.

*He loves his rubber ducky in the bathtub.

*He's kind of a mama's boy. ~7-31-11~

Drew is now at the "find-tiny-microscopic-things-on-the-carpet-and-put-them-in-your-mouth-and-choke" stage. ~8-03-11~

Drew now loves to clap his hands. He's also been eating small bits of real food. ~8-18-11~

Drew is growing into a big boy! Stats from his 9-month visit: 21 lbs 15 oz (almost 75th %); 30 inches long (90th %); head circumference 90th %. ~8-31-11~

Drew has been saying his first new word (besides "mama" and "dada") over and over again: "ball, ball, ball, ball!" ~9-10-11~

Brace yourself if you ask for "kisses" from Drew. He grabs your hair, cheeks, eyeballs (whatever is in his immediate reach), opens his toothy mouth wide, and shoves your whole cheek into his slobbery mouth. Little lover boy. ~9-12-11~

Drew has an obsession with long, cylindrical objects: straws, pens, pencils and markers are his favorites! He'll hold one in his hand and just look at it and play with it for an hour. ~10-16-11~

Drew gives you really cute pats on the back when you pick him up and give him a hug. ~10-16-11~

Drew loves playing ball. He gets so excited playing, he often squeals with delight. He can actually throw a small ball pretty well, and he can push a larger ball to you for a game of catch. ~10-16-11~

Drew can now do a half-hearted army crawl if he absolutely HAS to move somewhere else. He'll reach his arms in front and push himself forward just enough for his purposes. Usually he just gives up and finds something else to be interested in. ~10-16-11~

Drew can do a fairly fast-paced army crawl now--especially if he sees something he wants. He clasps his hands in front of his body, rests on his elbows, and pulls forward with his forearms. He mostly drags his legs, but he will use the sides of his feet to push a bit. He hasn't learned how to transfer from a sitting position to a crawling position, nor has he started to pull up on things. ~11-20-11~

Drew does not do well with the 11:00 am church schedule. He might allow Ryan to sit through Sunday School. However, he is usually fussy during the third hour (1:00-2:00 pm, his nap time), and they often walk around the halls. ~11-20-11~

Drew has a fourth tooth coming through on the top. That makes six total: 4 on top and 2 on the bottom. ~11-23-11~