You Don't Say

Ryan to me on communicating with Tess:

"Sometimes I feel like a near-fluent speaker of Tess' language, but you're a native."

Rose-Colored Glasses

Just got back from the doctor because Tess came down with a fever last night. No vomiting, no congestion, so I figured it could be strep again. I was shocked to find out her fever was 104 degrees (I really need to get one of those more accurate ear thermometers)!

She tested negative for strep, so the doctor said it's a nasty virus. The doctor's guess--roseola. We'll see if Tess ends up with the tell-tale rash.

We had a pretty rough night last night. She was up for hours and kept saying, "I sick! I sick!" She's spent the day in our bed watching movies on the laptop and asking for "soo-mees" (smoothies). I think I'm going to start calling them "Soothe-Me's."

She's so cute when she's sick, though--it's the only time she wants me to snuggle her. When she wants to be held, she holds out her arms and says "Mommy, see me. See me, mama!" (That's what I do when I want to hold her: hold out my arms and say, "Come see me, Tess.")

Well, if she breaks out like this poor baby, she's going to be even easier to spot!

Friends & Hearts

Tess' friend Cade came to play this morning. They are so silly together. Cade told his mom he was going to make Tess laugh. Mission accomplished.

We are glad to have Christmas cleaned up and behind us--time to move on! So we decorated with Valentine's hearts today. Tess knows that Valentine's Day is about hearts and love (she gives herself a hug when she says this) and cards. I don't know how she knows about Valentine's Day cards, but somehow she does.

Speaking of people she loves, we were driving into DC on I-95 yesterday and when we got to about Alexandria, Tess started saying, "Dipsy, Dipsy!" Another mile or so, she said "Airport, airplane, ZOOM!" We were near the airport, but there were no visible signs for the airport or any planes to be seen. We've been to pick Dipsy up at that airport once, maybe twice, in Tess' memory. Tess has such incredible sense of place, it astonishes me!

We had one last IVF appointment yesterday before our cycle starts. Everything is set to go--we begin shots Feb. 9th.

I've got 4 more "Christmas" lbs. to lose...and then another 10 "pre-Christmas" lbs. to shed after that. I wanted to get them off before pregnancy...so I can just gain them back during pregnancy???? Or maybe not. OK--I don't really know what I want right now and my poor body is so confused.

New goal: Exercise & do my best to eat right. Let my body decide what the heck it wants to do. Be happy with that.

Tell Me the Stories of Jesus

Don't let this sweet little face fool you.
This scene follows a 40-minute tantrum Tess threw because
she couldn't wear her monkey PJ's to bed.

I often have interesting conversations with Tess in the car. There is a church we often pass that had a large nativity display out for Christmas. Now every time we pass it, Tess calls out, "Jesus! Baby Jesus! Are you???"

So, I took the opportunity to test her understanding of Jesus. A close approximation of our conversation follows:

Me: "Tess, what do you know about Jesus?"
Tess: "Baby. Baby Jesus."
Me: "Yes, Jesus was a baby. What else do you know about Jesus?"
Tess: "Mama."
Me: "Yes, Jesus had a mommy named Mary. What else do you know about Jesus?"
Tess: "Shepherds."
Me: "Yes, the shepherds came to visit Jesus. What else do you know about Jesus?"
Tess: "Ship-chures."
Me: "Scriptures? (That one surprised me a bit.) Yes, the scriptures tell about Jesus. What else do you know about Jesus?
Tess: [A pause.] "Waaaaah! Cried."

I guess we exhausted the extent of her knowledge, so she had to resort to speculation. (Not unlike a few Gospel Doctrine classes I've endured. Come on--we've all sat through a few of those lessons!)

We had another gospel conversation in the car tonight. We were talking about what we do at church, and I asked her about the Sacrament.

Me: "Tess, do you know what we eat during the Sacrament?"
Tess: "Bread."
Me: "Yes! And what do we drink?"
Tess: "Water!"
Me: "Yes, we drink water. What do we think about during the Sacrament?"
Tess: "ABC's?"
Me: "No, not ABC's. Who do we think about during the Sacrament?"
Tess: "Julia?" (Her friend from nursery.)
Me "No, not Julia. Who do we look at pictures of during the Sacrament?"
Tess: "Jesus."

Ryan then took the opportunity to remind me that she has less than a year until she's a Sunbeam! I think we have some work to do.

Here Goes Nothing

Paid for our IVF cycle today. The reality of it is starting to sink in, and I'm feeling more positive about it.

Snug as a Snug

Tonight Tess is spending her first night in her big-girl bed. It's her crib--with an escape hatch!

Is it just me, or is she growing up way too fast?

We Have a Potty!

Tess has been showing interest in the potty lately, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to take a shot at potty training.

After one day potty-filled day, I'm not so sure that Tess is quite ready for all that potty-training entails. And I'm pretty certain that I'm nowhere near ready.

Tess loves the freedom of being diaper-less, and she loves sitting on her pretty, pink potty. In fact, that's how she spent a good portion of her time yesterday. Problem is that I don't think she quite understands when she needs to use the potty.

So, in addition to her cries of "Oh no, mommy! A mess! A mess! Wet!," I heard myself saying things I never imagined coming out of my mouth: "No, Tess, please don't pee on the corn." "No, Tess, we don't pee on pretzels." "No, Tess! Do NOT eat that pretzel that you just peed on!"

I think I'll put away the Pull-Ups for now and stock up on some more diapers.

IVF Irony #1

The first step of IVF is a 2-week regimen of birth control pills.

Tess at Two

So, what has Tess been up to lately? Here's an update!

• When it comes to getting her own way, Tess is perfecting the art of distraction. If I tell her that she needs to stop doing something (like stop playing with the water in the sink, or stop rubbing lotion all over your body, the carpet and the walls) she'll say, "No, mama, no. Puter." Or "No mama, no. Dinner." Or "No mama, no. Bath." So what do the computer, dinner and taking a bath (shower) have in common? These are all activities I do that require me to ignore Tess, or at least pay less attention to her than usual. In other words, if I'm on the computer, making dinner or taking a shower, Tess thinks she can get away with bloody murder. She may have a point.

• Tess has a truly unbelievable memory, particularly when it comes to associating experiences with certain places. I began to recognize this at Christmas, as she quickly learned every location where a choo-choo train could be found in town. It got to the point where if we walked in the door, she knew if there was a train in that store and exactly where it was. There were Christmas trains in Target, electric train sets in the Christmas store, play train sets at the toy store and the post office, and a train that goes around the ceiling at the grocery store. And she's never wrong. If she says there's a choo-choo train in the store, then she's always right. Well, this past week we went to the library and we were playing with the puzzles when she turned to me and said, "Choo-choo train, Mama. Choo-choo train." And I thought, huh--it's the first time she's ever been wrong. There are no trains at the library, and I told her so. It wasn't until we were driving home that I remembered that Ryan took her to the library at Christmas time to see a train display put on by local train enthusiasts. Turns out, Tess was right again.
  

• Tess has started showing interest in the potty. She likes to sit on the potty a couple times a day. Nothing much happens, but she likes using the "towel" (toilet paper), watching the toilet flush and clapping for herself when she's all done. The main difficulty at this point is that she always wants to use BOTH of our potties whenever she goes to the bathroom. She'll pick one potty, the BIG potty is upstairs, and then want to use LITTLE potty downstairs after. I try to reason with her, "We only need to use ONE potty each time," but she doesn't seem to believe me. "Big, big, big!!!" Good thing we only have two bathrooms!

• Tess has started having more tantrums lately. It's hard to predict what might set her off--it's usually over something very small that she can't control. She gets concerned and anxious if something seems wrong to her (e.g., if there is ice or rain on the car windshield, if she loses the cap to her chapstick, or if she drops a toy in the car). "Uh, oh. Oh no. It happened, Mama, it happened." If she starts in on a tantrum, it escalates quickly and she is not easily consoled. She does not like to be held, comforted, distracted, or bribed. And she does not let a grudge go easily. This morning she cried on the bathroom floor for a half-hour because I wouldn't let her play with my glasses. Stubborn monkey. Often, a tantrum will end when she regains control on her own terms. She'll start grasping at straws, asking for anything I can possibly agree to. The terms of settlement won't have anything to do with the original tantrum--she'll see a doll on the floor, "A doll, a doll!" I give it her, she wins, and peace is restored.

• Tess also gets embarrassed very easily. This usually happens if she gets hurt in front of friends or family and is too embarrassed to cry. She'll turn bright red, hide her head and her eyes and want only to bury into my shoulder. Nana is trying to teach her to "shake it off," but we have some progress to make in that area.

• When Tess colors or does puzzles she likes having all her options spread out in front of her. If I give her crayons in a pencil case, she'll say, "No, Mama. A mess, a mess." Then she'll dump all the crayons out and spread them around.

• Tess loves her friends and is very good at sharing with kids her age. Every kid she meets is a "friend" and she is good at engaging children to play with her. She is generous when it comes to sharing toys and treats. If another child is upset because they want to play with a toy she has, she seems to understand that sharing will help make them happy, and she is good about offering her toy. In sacrament meeting today, Tess had a friend sitting in the row in front of us and one in the row behind us. It was funny to watch the complex offering and exchange of treats over three benches throughout the meeting.

• A couple of her new phrases that I love are "Sure!" and "'Mon guys!" As in, "Tess, do you want to go to the park?" "Sure! 'Mon guys!"

Murdock Post-Christmaspalooza!

We finally made it home from Idaho after 3 very long flights yesterday. Tess is now a seasoned traveling pro. The last leg of our flight, she actually got in her seat and buckled her belt all by herself!

We're happy to be home, but not ready to do any of the million things we should be doing. So instead, here are the pics from our fabulous trip!

For the first couple days, everyone was home together! We opened Christmas presents, took in a movie, and the girls got crafty making jewelry pendants.

Mer & I made matching tutus for Lauren & Tess. Their "dancing skirts" were a big hit!

Tess got in lots of "Dippys" & Papa love this trip.

Tess & Lauren became two peas in a highchair.

Tess learned all about appropriate winter gear & Papa took them sledding.

And sledding again...this time with the more gutsy cousins, Kenzie & Isaac.

Party time in IF with the little cousins. Tess is much braver with willing comrades!

We sure miss you guys! How am I supposed to entertain Tess all by myself? I have big shoes to fill!

Love you all!

ping PONG