Making Life a Bliss Complete

Drew was up with a 102 degree fever last night from his 4 vaccination shots yesterday. Very sad.

"Mom, you know why I jump and jump like this? Cuz I rih-wee need to go potty. I do that jumping."

"I rih-wee, rih-wee, rih-wee need to go potty. I rih-wee, rih-wee, rih-wee do!"

I love it when Tess reports to me things that Dad told her. Today we were driving in the car when Tess said, "Mom, bugs no go in drinks. You have to put the lid on. That way you be safe. Dada told me that."

Tonight at dinner Tess told Ryan there was a bug in her orange juice. "Tess," I said,"Are you telling a fib?" She replied, "Yes, I do! Just like the bib I wearing!"

Tess thinks it's funny to bump into me and say, "Excuse me, Sir."

Ryan took Tess to the marina today and they were watching people feed the geese. Tess said, "Birds like to eat bugs, and worms and dirty things peoples drop on the ground. I no like dirty things. I eat people food."

For some inexplicable reason Tess is convinced that spitting on her arm helps her jump very high.

"Mom, you know I like to drink spit?"

"I wearing a pull-up, Mom?" This question means it's time to get her to the potty NOW!

"Mom, please tell Drewsey I going potty."

"Mom, please tell Drewsey I like orange juice."

"Mom, please tell Drewsey I go to school."

"Mom, please tell Drewsey I have feet."

"I love my Momma!"

Tess was lying on the couch when she sat up and flipped her pillow over. "Mom, you know I like cold pillows?"

"Mom, what's a pencil upside down? An eraser?"

"Mom, you get me on couch and hold me?"

Tess needed to use the bathroom at the store today, so we headed to the back of the store and Tess saw a big blue sign that said: "STOP--Employee Authorized Access Only." She said to me, "Mom, why that sign say 'stop?'" Surprised, I asked her, "How did you know that sign says 'stop?'" Her reply: "Because it says S-T-O-P!"

Tess got it in her head today that she needed to blow bubbles outside. I told her that we could if she was a good girl grocery shopping. When we got home and she was getting out of the car she told me, "I need to take my clothes off." Confused, I explained that we were doing bubbles, not the sprinkler and she needed to keep her clothes on. Still she insisted that she needed her clothes off to do bubbles. "I need my shirt off like the picture on the wall." And then I remembered this picture on my calendar.

"Mom, know what 'peeps' mean? They mean 'excuse me.'"

Lately Tess has been a coloring fiend! Sunday afternoon she colored 12 pictures, one right after the other. She loves using crayons now and her favorite thing to color is Strawberry Shortcake. We've had to diversify subject matter because she wore her red crayon down to a stub.

Every morning Tess climbs in bed with me for a snuggle. She always comes with a book, toy or random object in her hand. This morning Ryan realized he'd slept with a plastic strawberry in the bed.

For Tess, anything that didn't happen today happened "yesterday," even if it really happened a year ago. Ryan has been trying to correct understanding of "yesterday," but Tess resists his instruction. "Mom, how come Dad say it no 'yesterday?' It YES 'yesterday!' How come he say 'no?'"

Ryan has been trying to teach Tess the days of the week for a long time now. She doesn't have a very clear concept of time and days, but she does know that "Monday"is for the moon, "Tuesday" is like the number 2, "Sunday" is for the sun, and "Friday" is French Fry Day.

Ryan is always excited to tell Tess when it's Friday. "Dad, there are LOTS of French Fry Days. I don't know why."

Tess calls her sippy cup a "sicky cup."

Tess spent the morning crying because she really wants a girl baby.

Tess was in the car singing "Old McDonald" in a funny voice.

Tess: "Know who singing that, Mom?"

Me: "Who's singing that, Tess?"

Tess: "My toe."

Tess has been much better about going to the gym and to Primary lately. Glad to see her growing up--at least in this particular aspect.

Lately Tess has been telling me a lot about her "granddaughter." Interestingly, her granddaughter lives in California, likes everything Tess likes, and has had surprisingly similar experiences.

Tess: "Mom, why there so many moms?"

Me: "I don't know. How many moms are there?"

Tess (counting on her fingers): "There's you mom, and Dipsy mom, and Nana mom. That so many moms! Why there so many moms, Mom?"

"Mom, you know why I shy? Because I shy of people. People look different. Like black hair, pink hair and purple hair. That why I shy."

We were playing outside when Ryan came home from work tonight. Tess took him down the sidewalk and told him to sit on the lawn. "Dad, I have someping to tell you." Ryan said she just bubbled over eagerly trying to recount the day's activities: "Dad! A leprechaun! The potty! The milk! Everything GREEN!"

Ryan: "Tess, tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day!"

Tess: "I'm SO EGG-CITED for EASTER!"

This afternoon Tess asked me to join her in a "hunt" in her bedroom. She said we were going to hunt for kitties. The vast majority of the time, though, was spent putting on proper hunt attire. We needed our shoes, socks, jackets, "'splorer" hats, and sunglasses "so we can see better in the sun." For extra pizzazz, she wore a tutu and I donned fairy wings. Those kitties could see us coming.

Tess likes often likes to tell us about her "favorite" things. There can be incredible variation in her list, except it usually always includes the color pink and honey mustard.

"Maybe Daddy stay home tomorrow."

Tess told me (Ryan) about a recent experience at McDonald's. When she opened her Happy Meal, she discovered that it contained the very same fairy doll that she already owned. Tess described her reaction to the situation: "I was frustrated about this."

I washed the bathroom rug and let it air dry overnight. The next day I scrubbed the bathroom floor and laid down the clean rug. Literally less than one minute later, Tess came in to go potty-- about 15 seconds too late. Talk about job security.

Drew is discovering his hands and he spends a lot of time with his together. Tess' observation: "Look like he praying to Heavenly Father!"

Tess squealed with delight as she flushed the toilet and watched the water go round. "Look like a twirly slide!"

For the past week, I (Ryan) have been reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid to Tess before bedtime (her request). It's not clear how much she understands, but she enjoys the drawings. This morning, as I passed her room, I found her in bed "reading" the same book. She noted that the passage in which Greg, the main character, dumps deviled eggs into a plant was funny and asked me to find the "button part" (a sleep-deprived Greg accidentally sets off the fire alarm at school).

Yesterday Tess kept asking, "What that blue thing that hangs in mouth is?" I finally figured out that she was talking about the little hangy thing in the back of your throat. I don't know why she thinks it's blue. I guess it's dark back there. I couldn't remember what it's called, so I told her she could look it up on the computer with Dad. They looked at pictures of uvulas and examined each other's uvulas until he told Tess it was time for bed. "OK, Dad. We can look at our uvulas later." She pronounces it something more like "Olivia." This morning she was asking to see pictures of olivias on the puter. "Olivias make your mouth look like a heart. Olivias help you talk and spit."

I was trying to wrap up my Relief Society lesson for tomorrow when Tess kept insisting that I come see "her lesson" that she'd "'pared" on her chalkboard. Her lesson was on "Spring Animals" and covered bees, frogs, bugs, and snakes. (She may have been influenced by our family outing to Hidden Pond Nature Center earlier today). "Snakes lose their skin and get new ones. We talk about it later, OK?"

"Yummy! Fish is my favorite treat! And strawberries."

Me: "Tess, I'm teaching a lesson on Sunday and I have to prepare it."

Tess: "Mom, what's 'pare it?"

Me: "It means to get something ready."

Tess: "Oh, I thought it meant something like Squawk, Squawk!"

Tess favorite plaything of late is a piece of yarn. Today she stuck one end up her nose and held the other end up in the air while let out a blaring trumpet sound. "I an elephant. This my trunk!" Time for a new piece of yarn.

I accidentally fell asleep while feeding Drew this morning. When I came downstairs, Tess had made a slideshow on the computer of my latest Drew pictures, complete with the Peanuts theme song. I have no idea how she did it.

"Mom, I like boy babies. Maybe tomorrow I have a girl baby."

"Mom, your shirt is green colored like moss."

Ryan: "Tess, did you know that I was once a missionary?"

Tess: "Me too! I be'd a missionary for Halloween."

What the ...?!

So, it hasn't exactly been feeling like spring around here lately. I was cursing the brief snowstorm we got on Sunday and Tess said to me, "Don't worry, Mom. It's OK. Spring come back soon."

So we've been living in denial that it is positively frigid outside and we just keep telling ourselves that spring will be here soon.

I took the kids out for our first long walk in our new-ish stroller. I bought it off Craigslist for a steal and it's practically brand new. It's been great for both the kiddies. Drew's carseat snaps to the front and the back can either be a full seat or a bench, which makes it easy for Tess to hop on and off. We had a great 3 mile walk, but next time I will bring a hat for Drew and a Pull-Up for Tess. (Let's just say there is a flowering dogwood tree that is now well-fertilized.) On the way back from our walk, Tess said, "Now let's go to the ice cream store!"

The stroller also served us well on a trip to D.C. My cousin Matt and his family were vacationing in D.C., so we met them for lunch at the Natural History Museum. This is the first time we've met their 2 adopted sons, Jacob and Levi.

Tess had a great time at the museum with her second cousins.

Anyone get the feeling that Jacob was trying to put the moves on Tess?

This weekend we had dinner at Nana & Papa's with Ryan's cousin Tyler, who recently moved to D.C. Nana got out an arsenal of Easter decorations, much to Tess' delight. Tess has only been asking me 5 times a day if Easter is here yet.

This week also marked Drewey's 4 month birthday!

Tess has been honing her stand-up skills with Drewey. We're not sure why she thinks some of the things she does will make him laugh. When she talks to him, she makes these loud, exaggerated noises that are a little off-putting. I can't help but wonder if I sound that bad when I talk to him.

Drew has an appointment this week that I've been saving up all my questions for, like: "Just how flat a head is too flat a head?" and "Just how constipated a baby is too constipated a baby?" and "How do you know if chronically dry skin is really eczema?" and "Why won't this durn kid sleep through the night?!" But other than that, he's a great kid and we love him bunches.