St. Patty's Day

Tessie summoned the luck of the Irish this year with this portrait of a leprechaun in a field of shamrocks, with his pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.  

She was hoping a leprechaun might come visit us this year.  Tess found the Lucky Charms I'd bought for St. Patty's Day breakfast.  I warned her if we left them out, a leprechaun might want to taste its favorite snack.  (Tess claims it's also her favorite snack.  "Mom, the picture ones taste SOOO good!")

She snuck downstairs early this morning and found that something had left a huge mess.  She woke me up upset because she thought there was no cereal left for her to eat.  She figured:  "Either the box knocked down by itself and opened by magic, or it was a LEPRECHAUN!"

The green milk in the fridge confirmed our suspicion.  Luckily, the leprechaun left enough Lucky Charms for our breakfast.

Just a few reminders of what makes us so lucky: 

Lucky ducks!

Don't miss out on Tess' reading post just below.

Beginning Reading

We recently discovered, to our great amazement, that Tess can read.
Here's Tess reading a new book from the library.  This is her first time reading this book.
 It's amazing to watch her progress.  She gets better every day!

Randomness

Usually I kind of formulate posts in mind before I start writing.  

But I have such a random assortment of pictures, I'm just going to upload them and let the randomness speak for itself.

These pics are from before Valentine's Day.  Drewie with his lollipop kissing lips and Tess with her Valentine's balloon from Dad.  She picked it out at the store--one of the the biggest balloons I've ever seen!

Drew helping Dad clean out the fridge.

Drew's been learning how to ride his little bike, with help from his sister.

These are from a music class parents were invited to attend at Tess' preschool.

Tess saying good-bye when I had to leave.  She's gotten so much better at this part!

Her two teachers, Mrs. Hope McCaw and Mrs. Laura Ellis. 

Tess has been learning to do the dishes by herself.  She's very good at it.

 This picture has Drew written all over it.

I'm still doing "home" school with Tess.  This day I challenged her to draw a picture that took up all sections of the white paper.  Elements I love:  the girl with a "light bulb" over her head because "she had a good idea to go play on a spring day;" the reflection of the sun in the pond (note that the sun is blue "because it not really the sun, just its 'flection); and the mama and daddy birds (mama with eyelashes and a bow).

Tess' favorite "center" at home school:  the "jumping center."

Oh wow.  Tess all dressed up for a "fashion show."  We had to put a red blanket on the floor for a stage, turn on "fashion music" and turn out the lights.

When I ask Tess to smile, she tells me: "This how the fashion girls do it."

Dancing.  In case you couldn't tell.

Fashion girl.

Drewie being oh so very Drewie.

He had his 15 month check-up, and other than the not-standing/not-walking thing, he's great.

He's still a tall kid:  32 inches (90th%) and 25 lbs 14 oz (75th%).

 At 15 months, Drew:

walks while holding onto your fingers

climbs stairs while holding onto your fingers

goes from crawling to sitting by rolling on his side and walking his arms into himself

climbs up stair landing with ease

climbs first two stairs (but can't get back down)

gets up on his knees more

still can't stand on own

pulls up to standing in crib; in bathtub

doesn't pull up or walk along furniture

is master of the sitting crawl

likes riding his bike

is way into pointing-- at the light, doors, trees, sky, birds and saying "duh"

sings along when we sing ABC's

is all about putting in, in, in

loves his stacker toy

has a mechanical mind; he is curious about how things work

loves putting trains in the tunnel

is a picky eater.  He loves cheese, berries, bread, yogurt, bottle, baby food, popsicles and lollipops; he's a reluctant meat eater, and doesn't like veggies (though loves veggie baby food)

sings and dances to music

insists on feeding himself and feeding mom

loves to drink from a straw and blow bubbles

makes cars say "Brrrrm, brrrrm"

loves peekaboo 

thinks his sister is the funniest person in the world 

gets excited when dad comes home

gets sad if mom, dad or tess leaves

is very ticklish

Things that make Drew say "Ooo, ooo, ooo:"  balls, balloons, flap books, markers, pens, crayons, baths, going outside; remote control, phone, computer (anything with buttons)

Drew the first night he finally figured out how to pull up in his crib.
He was so excited, we spent the rest of the night trying to get him to stay down.

Here's where he's at on the mobility front.  

This is classic video of his "sitting crawl," his preferred mode of transportation.  

He also LOVES walking everywhere while holding onto fingers.  It seriously makes him gidddy.  

We're trying to get him so he only needs one hand, but his balance is still pretty shaky.

Drew has a marker OBSESSION.  

This game is taking the markers out and putting them back in, in, in.

He's finally pulling up on more things.  And loves putting things in, in, in.

It's sunglasses weather here.  Tess also got new Sunday shoes. 

She now wears a size 9 and her old ones were size 5 1/2!

Where'd she learn to pose like that?
(Note the early pink blossoms on our tree?!)

Enough randomness for you?  "And so are the days of our lives."

Whew!

February 2012 Tidbits

Shortly after I got a haircut, Tess looked up at me and said, "Dad, you look good.  I like your new haircut."  (RKH)

We were clapping for Drew as he practiced his climbing and he proudly joined in. Tess took objection to his self-laudatory action: "You can't clap for yourself. You not 'upposed to do that." (MMH)

Tess is in a new "coloring" phase. She spends every free waking minute coloring with markers in coloring books. She protests if she has to do something else like say, go to the store, go to the bathroom or eat dinner: "But I LOVE coloring. It's my FAVORITE!" She actually tried to talk me into letting her color in bed when she went to sleep last night. (MMH)

Tess: "Daddy, you're the tallest in the family. Mommy is the mediumest. I'm almost the mediumest, and Drewie is the smallest." (RKH)

Tess heard me on the phone with Meredith, who was almost ready to leave the hospital and still hadn't settled on a name for baby yet. Tess told me: "She just needs to pick a name! I think it should be Liam (lie-um)." I told her that Ry & Miranda were going to use the name Liam and then Tess recounted the following story: "Mom, you know the other day I had a baby and I couldn't pick a name for it. I liked Lemon, Lime and Ryan, but I just couldn't pick. I just couldn't!" (MMH)

Tess has learned how to do the dishes all by herself. She's actually really good at it. She knows how to scrub and rinse the dishes and how to put them in the dishwasher. Only problem is that it takes FOREVER, makes a huge mess and consumes an enormous amount of water. I'm a little scared to see our water bill this month. (MMH)

Tonight Tess read her bedtime story to me. It's the first whole book she's read by herself, "Bear Hugs." I'm so proud I could pop! (MMH)

After I helped place Tess' winter jacket's fur-lined hood over her head, Tess spotted her reflection in a car door. She said, "Look Dad, it look like I from the Arctic!" (RKH)

We informed Tess that since we've been passing around the stomach flu plague, the whole family is staying home from church today. Her response: "Yay! It just like another Saturday!!!" (MMH)

In the bathroom, Tess reaches up and grabs the towel bar. "Know what I pretending, Mom? I pretending I on the Metro!" (MMH)

Saturday morning and Ryan's watching Curious George with the kids. He asks Tess: "Tess, are you curious?" Her reply: "No, I know everything. Drew's curious, though!" (MMH)

Tess spent a lot of time drawing pictures and taping them all over our walls today. When I asked what she was doing, she said: "I'm playing caveman!" I was totally lost until she explained: "Cavemen did pictures on walls, too!" (MMH)

This afternoon Tess has been on high-alert-lookout status for groundhogs. (MMH)

Drew now spends a good part of every day "brrrrrrmmmm-ing" a toy car around the house. (MMH)

I was working with Tess to learn the numbers 20-30 today. When we were done, she said: "Mom, I know something else about thirty." I was excited to hear what she would add to our number-sense discussion. "It needs eyes and a mustache!" And she promptly added both to her number 30. (MMH)