Cousins

Tessa had an absolute blast with her 'cousins' Jack, Elle and Will this weekend (no, Kirsten has not had three kids...yet. My cousin and her family were visiting). The Tanner family was in town and stayed at my parents house on Saturday night. Tessa got to take a bath with THREE other kids and loved it. I of course did not have my camera, so I have to wait until Kim send them out before I can post some. I took a day off yesterday and we went to the Park with the Tanner's and thier friends Claire and Arik. They have a son, Miles, who is a little younger than Tessa and a new baby girl, Olivia. It was an absolutely perfect Atlanta day...sunny, 70 degrees, and a slight wind. Tessa went up and down the slide so many times, I'm surprised she didn't wear a hole in her pants. She climbs up there all by herself and slides down and then just runs right back. She also like to slide down on her belly (Daddy taught her this).

When we got home, she took a MONSTER nap. I ran to the grocery store and then Omi and I sat on the front porch in our rockers and just enjoyed the weather. It was almost a perfect day. I only wish Mike could have been there. I miss him more and more each week. I think my pending maternity leave and it being summer really make me nostalgic for late summer nights on the front porch drinking some good vino and eating cheese and crackers. It looks like this summer, those opportunities are going to be few and far between.

Blow your Nose

Tessa has learned to blow her nose (sort of), but the ritual that follows is hilarious. She will yank a tissue from the box, blow her nose into it and then say "Look" and actually look at what is in the tissue, then she'll say "Gross" and toss the tissue. And if you don't stop her she will do this is rapid fire succession. Before you can blink, she's yanked three tissues out, blown her nose three times, "Looked" and "Grossed" and tossed them aside. She really is a little booger head.

Yuck

Tessa has several nicknames. Mike and I will call her "little bug" or "T", Kirsten likes to call her "T-Rex", my dad will sometimes call her "Tess". At school they call her "Tessa Messa". These are all OK. But the one that for some reason drives me up the wall is "Tessie" There is this one teacher at her school (not her teacher) that always calls her 'Tessie' and I just really don't like that name.

Tessa's New Room (16 photos), by Sarah Ellis

We finally assembled the furniture for Tessa's new room. For some reason I am really into Owls right now, so her room is decorated with an Owl theme. The bed spread is a little on the pink side, but it has Owls and Hedgehogs (one of my other favorite animals). Tessa had so much fun helping assemble the furniture, it seems that she has already figured out the Ikea system.


We still have to finish her closet nad next weekend we'll try to put her down for naps in her new bed. She LOVES playing there and already knows that that is where she will go night-night. We tried to read her books there before bed this weekend, but she keeps getting up to play. We'll figure it out one way or another.



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Jack in the Box

Tessa's buddy Jack gave her (ironically) a "Jack in the Box" for Christmas. She absolutely loves it, and will frequently hug the clown after it pops out. These clips are pretty funny and she screams and shakes with excitement EVERY time Jack pops out.

Use your Words

"Use your words" is a very common phrase you will hear almost every new mother use. I don't know where we pick this up, but it's how we encourage our kids to talk instead of grunt or cry. Here's my problem, I use this phrase mostly when Tessa is upset and crying and I don't know what she wants. I calmly tell her to stop crying and use her words. Her response is always the same. In a pathetic sobbing voice she says "Words".

I need to come up with a different phrase.

Smarty Pants

We get this local Smyrna/Vinings Lifestyle magazine (for free) every month. On Friday Tessa was playing with it and started saying "Tiana, Tiana". Tiana is one of her buddies in school that she always plays with and loves to play tag with. In her excitement she lost the page and couldn't find it again. I just assumed there was a picture of a little african-american girl and Tessa though it was Tiana. Well, tonight I was flipping through it and there was an advertisement for some Ministry and I'll be dammed if there wasn't a picture of Tiana with her mom and dad. Apparently her father is the pastor of this Worship Center and they have a full page advertisement in that magazine. Too funny.

9 weeks to go

So - I only have 9 weeks left (assuming I carry full-term). Seeing as how I was a week early with Tessa, plus chasing her around I'm assuming I'll go early again. I still have to finish Tessa's new room which includes installing base boards (scheduled for Saturday); assembling and arranging furniture (Sunday? - may be a little ambitious), and decorate. Then I need to transition Tessa to her new room / twin bed. Also, we still have to decide on names for Baby #2. AND we have to do all of this on weekends only as Mike is out of town during the week.

So little time, so much to do.

Funny Bathroom Humor

OK - I have two funny Tessa stories from this weekend.

Sunday morning, Tessa slept in which allowed Mommy and Daddy to sleep in. When she woke up I went and got her and brought into the room with us while we woke up and got our morning routine going. Mike went in to go to the bathroom and of course Tessa followed him in. She just stared at him while he was peeing which made Mike REALLY uncomfortable. So then Tessa decided she wanted to go peepee on the potty. So she ran over to her little potty and I took her PJ's and diaper off (she like to be COMPLETELY naked when she goes potty). Then she stood in front of the toilet, just like Daddy, and was pretending to hold something down below. I tried to explain that she needed to turn around and SIT down like a lady, but she didn't understand that. So, no more learning from Daddy how to go potty.

Sunday night, Tessa and I were in the bath-tub together and she was really gassy. She had beans over at Omi's the nightbefore, at least that's all I can think of that would have made her that gassy. And every time after she passed gas she would say "Excuse Me" (I'm trying to teach her some manners) and then would go "What's That?" And would tell her it's a toot, and she would repeat the word toot. Then the next time........."Excuse Me. What's That?" It was too funny.