Making Life a Bliss Complete

"My daddy so cute and so silly."

Tess walked in the bathroom when I was using the toilet as a step stool to put up our new shower curtain. "Be careful Mom! Potties are NOT for standing!"

Playschool at our house for the first time today. Tess was very excited and kept telling me something over and over that I couldn't understand. "Mom, you be choo choo. OK? Mom, you be choo choo." Final deciphering: "Mom, you be teacher."

We have a family of very active and acrobatic squirrels living in a tree in our backyard. Today at the height of their stunts, Tess called out, "Be careful, squirrels!"

Tess has several games she likes to play on Mommy/Daddy's bed--the latest of which is Pig and Wolf. This game derives from an all-too graphic recent reading of the 3 Little Pigs. She first decides roles: "Mom, you wolf and I pig." She then climbs under the blanket to make a pig tent-house and I demand in a wolf voice: "Little pig, little pig let me come in!" She replies in a friendly pig voice, "Sure, wolf, come on in my house!" She once asked the wolf if it had a baby wolf in its belly. When I'm the pig, the game proceeds more conventionally until Tess says, "I puff and puff and blow your house down!" Then she lifts the blanket up and says, "I come in too?" When the pig protests, Tess says, "It's OK pig. I a-tend wolf."

Several times a day Tess asks, "What's baby brother doing?" She cracks up when he's doing the same thing as her. "Baby Brother's listening to a story." "He's eating fruit snacks." "He's getting ready for church."

Last week Tess got to pick out a pumpkin as a potty prize. Today she noticed the neighbors have a pumpkin on their porch. "They go potty too, Mom?"

Tonight at dinner Tess was coming up with rhyming words. Surprised at her own ingenuity, she held her hand up to her head and said, "What my brain doing?!"

I love how Tess periodically brings me "presents" throughout the day. She'll come to me with her hands clasped together tightly and say, "No peek, Mama!" Today she's given me an acorn with a hat and a heart-shaped playdough cutout. Special.

Nothing melts my heart more than when Tess asks me to sing the "Sparkly Eyes" song. That's what she calls the song I used to sing for her when she was a baby.

"You're sweet, and you're mine,

You're my Tess Emmeline,

Sweetest girl I ever knew.

You give such pretty smiles and have sparkly eyes,

That's why I'll always love you.

You were sent from above,

On the wings of a dove,

Straight from the heavens,

And into my heart.

I waited so long just to sing you this song,

Now we are never to part.

For you're sweet and you're mine,

You're my Tess Emmeline,

Sweetest girl I ever knew.

You give such pretty smiles and have sparkly eyes,

That's why I'll always love you."

Today Tess gave baby brother one of her sticker. Right smack dab in the middle of my belly.

"Hey, Mom! Laugh and giraffe--they rhyme!"

The other morning, Tess got out of bed and came into the bathroom just after I stepped out of the shower in my towel. "Mom, you put on some clothes and we have a snuggle in Mommy's bed."

Potty training has led to a lesson or two on anatomy. Today while driving in the car, Tess asked out of the blue, "Mommy, boys have baginas?" No, Tess they don't. Only girls have vaginas. "Boys have bums, Mom?" Yes they do. "Girls too? Girls have baginas and bums? They have both?" Yes, Tess that's right. Then she went down the list of pretty much everyone we know asking if they have vaginas and/or bums. I suppose the second half of the anatomy lesson will inevitably come once baby brother is born.

All afternoon Tess was talking about giving Dad his "choo choo" surprise when he came home. An awkward moment ensued when she was ready to surprise Dad and I still had no idea what she was talking about. After some investigative prodding, I finally figured out she was talking about the gummi candy we'd bought at the store for him. Ryan shared a piece with her, she popped it in her mouth and said, "Chew, chew, chew, chew!" Aha! The "Chew Chew Surprise!"

Tess has a bit of a cold. Ryan told her she needed to drink some orange juice because it would make her feel better. She obediently took a drink and then informed him: "It didn't work."

Tess is taking this "I do it myself" stage a bit too far.

Ryan: "Tess, does Daddy love you?"

Tess: "I like myself!"

Tonight Ryan asked if she needed a snack before bed. She hopefully replied: "Chocolate bar?"

Having tried both cold cereal and hot cereal (oatmeal), Tess has now decided that she likes warm cereal for breakfast. Oatmeal with cold cereal mixed in.

Tess pushes my hair back from my face and peers searchingly at my forehead: "Mom, you got a brain?"

Tess was sad and crying because she'd lost one of two beautiful matching fall leaves. After a few minutes of crying she asked, "What baby brother doing?" I told her he was sad because she'd lost her leaf. A smile broke across her face and said, "It OK baby brother. I give it a you!," and she held the leaf to my belly. "He like that. He happy now!" And she was happy too!

Tess is starting to play more imaginatively with her dolls. It used to be that I would have to make the doll talk and Tess would interact with the doll--like Tess and the doll were playmates. Now she plays more independently and will make her dolls interact with each other. Most of her dolls are named "Cooey" and a couple are "Shooey."

Ryan was playing dolls with Tess tonight and Tess' doll knocked on the dollhouse door.

Ryan's doll: "Hi! What's your name?"

Tess' doll: "George Washington!"

Tess still experiences anxiety about leaving Ry & me to go to Nursery on Sunday. She seems to have a good time once she's there and is always happy when we pick her up, but she dreads the moment of separation. Last week we kept her out of Nursery because she had a cold. When she saw me getting ready for church this week, Tess said: "Mama, I no go to my Nursery class! I have a runny nose! My kids get sick! My kids get sick!"

Tess was assigning playacting roles to everyone at dinner tonight.

"Dad--you the king. And mom--you the princesaa."

Ryan countered, "Shouldn't mom be the queen and you be the princess?"

"No, Dad. Mom the princessa. I the DRAGON!"

Ryan introduced Tess to snippets of Strawberry Shortcake cartoons on YouTube. Only problem is that videos on YouTube are all under 10 mins, so you constantly have to click the next one on for her. She'd been watching one clip for what I realized was a lot longer than 10 mins. Turns out she figured out how to click on the next video herself (with a laptop mouse, nonetheless). I guess that means no more unsupervised YouTube watching.

Ry's had some long, stressful days at work lately. I told Tess Dad was really busy at work and would be home late tonight. She said, "Hmmm. Dad busy at work? What he building? A door or a house?"

Tess: "When Daddy comes home I say, 'Daddy, Daddy, my Daddy!'"

Me: "What does Dad say when he comes home?"

Tess: "He says, "Tess, Tess, Tess, I love you!'"

"O-o-o-k-a-a-a-y. I try again."

Halloween night, Tess stood at the open door beckoning trick-or-treaters to come take her candy: "Hello everybody! Trick or Treat? Trick or Treat? Happy Halloween!"

What a fun Halloween we had this year! Tess has been so excited all season and has definitely developed her Nana's love for this holiday. I've enjoyed seeing how much Tess has enjoyed it.

We've been talking about her Halloween costume since the beginning of September. If you asked what she was going to be, she'd respond: "I Cure-ous Dorge. Dad man-in-yehwow-hat." I was going to be Professor Wiseman, but I kind of ran out of steam. Tess and Ryan were the perfect pair, though, and she was so tickled to see her dad as the Man in the Yellow Hat.

I made Ry's hat & tie, found the yellow shirt second-hand, and dyed a pair of khaki pants with yellow RIT dye. The pants came out a truly garish neon-yellow-green color, but the look came together with Ryan's expert styling.

We went to the Costume Parade in Occoquan on Saturday and they were quite the hit. It was fun because kids immediately recognize and LOVE the Man in the Yellow Hat! Lots of people were pointing and asking to take their pictures.

Tess was excited to go trick-or-treating at the shops in Occoquan. She caught on to the concept pretty quickly.

Nana & Papa joined us for the festivities. I'm not sure who had more fun: Tess or Nana.

Tess got in some more trick-or-treating at our Ward Trunk-or-Treat that night. Her favorite part was handing out candy, so she still has a bit to learn about this holiday.