Ducky

She finally mastered the art of pulling a toy behind her. It was so cute watching her last night. The video clip actually captured the one time when all the stars and planets aligned correctly and the duck stayed on it's "feet" and didn't flip over. Most of the time, she end up dragging the duck on it's side or back and I am thankful it's not a live animal. She also gets it caught between her legs and then trips constantly, but can't figure out to get it out from between her legs.

Daddy

Tessa and I got Daddy a bike (that's a bicycle people, NOT a Harley). Of course, Mike won't want to ride by himself so we bought a bike for Mommy also. Now we have to by a bike carrier for Tessa so we can all go riding together. we had a great cook-out on Saturday night with Mike's son, Bobby, and a friend from work, Nate and his family.

Sunday night we went to Omi and Opa's house and had a nice relaxing dinner. My little gourmet pallet Tessa ate Salmon, shrimp, wild rice salad and goat's cheese for dinner. I bet those fish sticks at school are NOT going to be up to par now. She ate half of my mom's wild, alaskan salmon and LOVED it. She was climbing out of her chair to get more.

My little genius was playing with my keys this weekend and she actually tried to put them in the door. Of course, she is still too short to reach it. She has started to say thank you, but rarely uses it in context. She starts transitioning into the Jr Toddler class today at her daycare. I can't wait to see all of her developmental progress. I love my little booger.

My toddler

Ok - it still feels wierd calling her a toddler. She's my baby girl. Big news this week - she will begin transitioning to the Jr. Toddler room starting next week. In the Jr Toddler room they do circle time, art projects, sleep on cots (GOOD LUCK WITH THAT ONE), have a bigger and better outdoor playground, etc. I think she is getting really bored in the Infant 2 room and ready to move on. I am so excited for her and I know that her little brain is going to LOVE all of the extra stimulation.

It's really cute, because all of the kids in that classroom used to be in Infant 2 when Tessa first transitioned. The other day when I walked out of the room with Tessa all of the kids across the hall were standing at the door and pointing at us saying "TESSA". They actually remember her name. She is going to have a blast. It's also going to be interesting because right now Tessa is the oldest and most active child. The other kids in her class can't walk yet and I think she has become a little bit of a bully. Now she will be the youngest and smallest.

Great Weekend

We had a great weekend at Kristy and Kyle's wedding. They had an absolutely beautiful wedding and we had such a great time. It was so much fun getting ready together and helping Kristy prepare for her big day. I couldn't tell if Madison or Kristy was more excited. Omi and Grandpa Snapdragon watched Tessa for us. Omi took her to the pool and she LOVED the water.

For those of you that don't know, my cat Marmi has been missing for a week now. So on Sunday, I took Tessa to Animal Control to look for Marmi and there are a lot of cats and kittens meowing, so Tessa just Meow'ed the entire time. It was really cute. But then it made me sad, because Marmi is/was a very vocal cat and I know Tessa learned to meow from her. I miss Marmi a lot. I haven't completely given up hope yet. I still check Animal Control every day and check all kinds of web sites. I just can't imagine that she walked off to die in peace. I know she was old, but she didn't seem or act sick. I'll keep looking.

Fun in the Mountains

We had a great time in the mountains. Omi blew up the pool for Tessa and we all got some rays. I doused Tessa in sun-screen and somehow forgot to spray MY legs, which are now burnt. Tessa kept climbing in and out of the pool, and since the deck was so hot we put socks on her, hence the "in the buff w/socks only" shot.

She fell asleep on the ride up there with her little stuffed Penguin, she looked so cute I had to take a pic.

Birthday Girl

We had a great 1st Birthday for Tessa. The sun finally came out after weeks of rain and all the kids got top play on the front lawn. Aunt Kirsten came in town to help celebrate and represent the Ellis clan since Omi and Grandpa were out of town. Grams and Poppa Tim couldn't make it either but we were thinking of them (and Uncle Keith - get well soon). Bobby and Kirsten helped Tessa "smear" her cake every where. I ended yp taking her upstair into our shower and hosing her down. Unfortunately I didn't get all of the icing out of her hair (hence the mohawk pictures).

She partied like a Rock Star and suffered the consequences. After we put her down for bed-time she woke up around 9:30pm with a belly ache and needed some soothing. And the next morning she had a fever and was very cranky. But she's a trooper and after her 2nd nap she was back to her normal self.

I still cannot beleive that I have a 1-yr old. She is so amazing and of course I think she's a genius. Ever since she had the tubes put in her ears, she has really started talking. She says her name now, and tries to repeat what we say. My favorite is "Wow". It sounds dead on and neither of us use that word, so it must be something she picked up in daycare.

My little Kraut

Tessa said her first German word this week. She said "Hatzi" - which means Achoo. IN Germany, when someone sneezes you say "Hatzi mein Schatzi" (usually reserved for children or people you are close to as "Schatzi" means Sweety). We have always used that term everytime someone sneezes. When Tessa first started smiling, it was a guaranteed smile-getter. As she got older everytime she or someone else sneezed she would always look at you smiling, knowing you were going to say it. It's only fitting that it's her first German word.

She can also say Oma (which is Grandma in German); that's what she calls my mom.

I can't beleive she will be 1 on Monday. It has just gone by so fast.