Idaho: The First 2 Days

Jetting setting.

Playing & squealing with cousins.

The zoo.

"Let's get the water, let's get the water!"

Working up a big appetite.

Bon Appetit!

Spoiling Tessie

Tess was excited to spend the day at Nana/Papa's house today. This morning when I asked if she to go see Nana/Papa today, she responded with an enthusiastic, "Yeah!"

Wendy & I worked to put together the dollhouse Wendy bought for Christmas. It's supposed to be for Tess and the grandkids, but we know the real truth. Wendy & I were like kids in a candy shop! Let's just say that we wouldn't have had nearly as much fun putting together a train set (no offense, Jakers!). It's so cute--the dollhouse of every little girl's dreams! Tessie is a little bit spoiled.

So we had fun with the house, and Tess was pretty pleased with it as well. She wasn't very happy that she couldn't play with it because the glue was still wet. However, she did enjoy opening and closing the door and pointing to all the windows.

Not much else going on around here. We're just working on getting things ready for our Idaho trip. We can't wait to see Dipsy, Papa & all of Tess' aunts, uncles & cousins! She is going to have so much fun. And I'm going to guess that she'll get a little bit spoiled there too.

Getting spoiled in Mom & Dad's bed.

So Awesome!

Sunny Days, Everything's A-OK

We had Tess' appointment with the pediatric neurologist at Children's National Medical Center yesterday. I'll tell you, that's the place to hang out if you ever need to feel grateful for the blessings in your life! The doctor we saw, Dr. Bennett Lavenstein, is kind of a bigwig when it comes neurological movement disorders. Some of the kids there had such real problems, I almost felt bad for taking up his time.

Anyway, he said that it's clear that she's been delayed in meeting the gross motor markers. He did some tests on her that confirmed that she has slow reflexes when it comes to "parachuting" (catching herself when she falls) and her step reflexes are also slow. He said that if there is a neurological explanation for her delay, then it's in her central nervous system, and the only way to confirm that is to do an MRI on her.

But he said that even if we were to confirm that, the course of treatment for her wouldn't be any different--physical therapy. He said she still has time and development on her side, meaning that she's making progress and the benefits from doing an MRI wouldn't be that great. He did order some bloodwork on her, and we agreed to see him again in a month so he can gauge the rate of her progress. We'll reconsider the need for an MRI at that time.

This blog is certainly helpful when it comes to recordkeeping. I knew he'd want to know when she first rolled, crawled, sat up and walked. I just don't remember things like that. So it's nice to have a handy, searchable resource at my fingertips.

Relaxin' & maxin' with Elmo's World.

In other news, lately we've become quite the Sesame Street groupies at our house. Tess loved playing with all the Sesame Street toys at Aunt Laura's house, so we've been working on our collection. We're doing pretty well, though we still need the Count and Oscar. We can only dream of finding Snuffy, Slimy and Prairie Dawn (Laura has a sweet collection!).

Tess is a hardcore Elmo fan, but she's learned the names of other characters too. It cracks me up to hear her say them: "el-MO, "Eh-nee," "ah-BEE," "cookEE."

Sorry for the hyper-pixelation--I think my battery was low.

Personally, I'm a big Sesame Street fan. I've always loved the Muppets, and I'm happy to have an excuse to watch them daily. I think even Ry secretly doesn't hate it--at least not as much as some of the other kids' shows.

Tess grooving & making the "s-s-s" sound to the letter "C" song.

The world would be a happier place if everyone watched a little Sesame Street everyday. Here are a few of our favorite clips for your viewing pleasure: