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~

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!