T & J

Jack came over today to play in the pool and Katie and I were reminiscing about how big they have gotten. Here's a great picture of the two of them at Tessa's one year B-Day party (now she's 2). I am so proud of how great she is doing and how much life she exudes. I hope I have had some good influence on her. Although, we do need to work on our listening and disciplining skills some more. I need to find a really good book or get some really good advice on how to discipline a strong-willed, independent, sassy, funny, energetic and beautiful little two year old.

I don't like it!

Along with all of Tessa's new sentences has come "I don't like that". If we are trying to do something she doesn't like or want us to do at that moments she say that over and over again (aka when I wash her hair). She talks all the time and non-stop, which is great. Her vocabulary is very well developed and it really only takes once and she remembers it.

Potty training is going really well. She is using the pull-up diapers and will pee on the potty 4-5 times a day. At school they have them sit on the potty at diaper-changing times. Most days she pees three of the four times on the potty and recently her diapers have been dry in between (meaning that she is holding it for the next potty break). At home this past weekend, she actually came up to me several times saying she had to go potty and actually went. This is all very exciting. Unfortunately, we cannot get her to poop on the potty. It would be SOOOOOOOO awesome if we could. Changing poopy diapers at this point sucks.

She has totally transitioned to being a big sister fabulously. She really never shows any aggression or anger towards Ellis and doesn't seem to be put off when we pay attention to him. She does get a little upset when Mike tries to spend time with Ellis on the weekends. She really misses him during the week and just wants to spend every minute with him. It's really cute to see her trying to 'cut' in between Ellis and Daddy when he's holding him. Mike had him laying on his chest one day and Tessa actually tried to squeeze her little butt in between the top of Ellis' head and Mike's face. We really hope that Mike will be in Atlanta (with a job) soon.

Big E

I found this new swaddle called Snug & Tug. Ellis seems to be a bit larger than Tessa was and hence doesn't fit in a lot of things I had for Tessa (like her swaddles). This one not only looks cute, it has plenty of room for his long body. His toes don't get all scrunched up in this swaddle. He enjoys "Wormy" as much as Tessa did. Wormy is actually a sea-horse, but I think Mike thought it was a glow-worm and he became 'Wormy'. After I nurse Ellis, we play and talk for a while (see video clip) and then when he starts getting fussy I swaddle him, lay him down awake and let Wormy do his magic. Ellis has been going to sleep GREAT.

Songs

Tessa loves music and song. She will often sing to herself. When she was sitting in the cock-pit of Aunt Kirsten's plane, she was just singing away while pushing buttons. She also likes to sing along to her favorite CD's. She gets a little camera shy so it's hard to capture, but here are two clips of her singing her ABC's and If You're Happy and You Know It.

Aunt K-Rock

Aunt Kirsten flew in to Dobbins AFB on Saturday. We got to go on base and watch her land. When we arrived at the Control Station there was a load of Army guys getting into a C-130. The C-130 was parked right in front of the observation deck, so we got to see them load up, start all four engines, taxi and take-off. It was really neat (and loud). The funny thing was watching these poor Army guys in thier camos, with these GIANT packs on their backs and fronts loading up. Then from the other direction came a bunch of Air Force pilots (all in thier jump suits) with thier roll-on luggage, golf clubs, two carry-ons, etc. As my dad always calls it .... Chair Force.

Then Kirsten flew in on her T1. They did a fly-by, a touch-and-go, and then they landed. This time, Kirsten was actually able to take us onto the plane once they had shut everything down. Tessa was just sitting up in the cockpit, singing away and pushing buttons. She even grabbed the yoke (a planes steering wheel) and pretended that she was flying. It was so great to see Aunt Kirsten, even though she was only here one night.

What day?

Wednesday is Water Park Day at Tessa's new school. She LOVES the water in any shape or form and really enjoyed water park day last week. This morning when she woke up I asked her "Do you know what today is?" And she said "Yes, Monday". OF course I meant it was "Water Park Day". I didn't even realize she knew the days of the week. Then she said Friday. When I told her teachers she said they had been working on days of the week.

First Day

Tessa's first day at her new school! They have to wear 'uniforms' (a t-shirt or golf-shirt). She did great and I didn't cry. I'll call them in a little bit to check in. Her buddy Jack was there and she sat right next to him and played while I talked to her teacher. She got a little upset when I started to leave, but the teacher distracted her and I snuck out. I didn't get a big hug and a kiss, so I miss her already.

She must have had a memorable birthday week, because this morning when I was getting her dressed she kept singing 'Happy Birthday'.