Tessie 3.6, Caden 15 months

What a difference a few months make!
All the leaves have fallen and the cold is coming quickly. Being back to work and with both kids in daycare, life is moving quickly. It doesn't leave much time for blogging. Our new commute takes us right by the park, so we stop there on our way home almost daily. We are still trying to make the most out of the outdoors while it lasts. I got a trailer for my bike. The kids enjoy riding in the back. Caden's not a big fan of wearing the helmet, so our rides haven't been very long.

Tessie has adjusted well to her new "purple and blue school". She has made lots of new friends and enjoys having Caden close enough to visit, but far enough that she has her own space. She had a blast going to all sorts of parties for Halloween and trick-or-treated for Nana, Auntie Terri, Uncle Cookie, and Uncle Bill. I think she got addicted to candy for a few days, to the point where she got grumpy (I think with withdrawals) when we ran out. Tessie is still a princess that refuses to wear anything but dresses. A couple of weeks ago she actually wore jeans and I hardly recognized her.

Caden is officially walking. Actually borderline running now. He has curbed his appetite somewhat. His favorite foods are bananas and cheese. I swear his can finish an entire banana in less than 2 minutes. That's no joke. It's actually kinda gross- like a hot dog eating contest. He is dancing/bobbing up and down when he hears music he likes. He has more signs (banana, grampa, duck, bath, Mickey Mouse) and is saying some words: Tessie/"Dezzie", daddy, "uh-oh", "buh-bye", ball(for anything round), dog (for most animals that might look like dogs), duck, banana/"na", car/"cah", bath/"bah", grampa/"bub-buh", diaper/"bah-bur", and "no" (courtesy of his big sister by the tone he uses it). He loves to take baths. As soon as dinner is over he starts to sign and say bath, hoping it's bath night. He's a really happy kid. He will pucker up when you ask for a kiss. He's still a momma's boy and clingy, but getting better. I can tell when he's tired because he grabs a hold of my ponytail and won't let go. We're losing daylight so quickly.
I hope everyone counts their blessings this Thanksgiving. I know we are so grateful for our children and all of our extended friends and family.

Tessie 3.3, Caden 1 YEAR!

Beware: 90 photos in slideshow. Sorry it has been a while.


Monthly updates no more. We got a slower start to the summer because the weather didn't seem to cooperate, but still managed to keep busy. We spent the day in Boston for the Life is Good Festival way back in June. It was like kids' heaven: parachute games, seed spitting contests, live music, face-painting, Goldfish crackers, and free ice-cream. We also visited family in the Albany area to see Oma and cousins. On my way there, I got some amazing news that I was hired to work here in my town. While I will miss Watertown, it is an incredible opportunity. The kids will be at daycare in my school so I don't need to stress about the commute or drop-off/pick-up anymore.
We visited friends in Long Island, NY and spent almost a week in NH on Lake Winnisquam. We also did day trips to Grampa's house. He opened up the old sandbox from 25 years ago and fills up the kiddie pool for the kids. Tessie has a friend that we visit up in Maine, I have a friend that we visited down the Cape,and Nana Sally visited us for a week.

Tessie has mastered hopping on 1 foot. She likes to do chalk drawings on the driveway, coloring, writing, singing, making up songs, visiting with friends. She is still very active and likes to spend her energy at the park. She is more confident swimming with just a bubble. She is a grown up little girl. You can carry on a full conversation with her. She has somewhat hit the terrible 3s- generally low-key but has her moments of meltdown. Tessie is very excited about her new "purple and blue" school. We got to take a tour of her class and meet some new friends before she starts on Monday.

Caden is still on the edge of taking his first steps. He is cruising quickly, using a push along walker, climbing stairs, chairs, slide, and low surfaces. His favorite thing to do right now is EATING, groaning with pleasure as he does it. His favorite foods are ice cream, Cheese, peaches, blueberries and pumpernickle bread. He is clapping, signing more (signed dog, more, ball, all done), and tries to do motions from storytime (itsy bitsy spider). He also like to play in the water. He can blow bubbles in water and even does it on command which is neat knowing that he understands us. We have had a great year at home with our friends from the Library on Thursdays and Friday. He is a big fan on Mickey Mouse and dances (bobbing and swaying his head) when he hears the theme music from the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse TV show that both kids seem to be obsessed with. Caden also reached the milestone of turning ONE on August 18th. Can't beleive how quickly it has gone by. He has a Birthday BBQ at our house but the poor kid was sick and didn't enjoy it at all. We'll have a do-over next week or something.

Happy Labor Day everyone. Hope you enjoyed the summer. I will try to get on top of things and do the blogs more frequent again.

Something Fun: Here is a photo of Stephen that I scanned. I see quite a bit of Caden in him.
Stephen


Caden

Tessie 3 years, Caden 9 months

May was a very busy month. I'm trying a new format to give each child their due, although I already know that Caden is getting the short end of the stick when it comes to photos.

Tessie turned 3 on May 8th. We all comsumed more cake in one week than the average person probably does over a few months. On top of her own birthday, many friends have birthdays (and parties) so we have not had many weekends to ourselves. We even made it to a Chuck-E-Cheese party. That won't happen again anytime soon. Another party required a trip to the hospital when she twisted her knee on a trampoline. No more parties after this weekend.
She has learned how to snap her fingers and practices hopping on one foot. She can get herself dressed for the most part. She mostly wears dresses anyway. She's fine now, but also got a fat lip this past week. She is going to the potty more independently and even asks us to close the door and says , "I want privacy"...just turned 3 going on 13.
New games she likes to play are hopscotch (but she hops on both feet) and Hide-and-Seek (but she usually tells you where she's hiding). Her favorite book right now is Tikki Tikki Tembo and favorite TV show is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She loves school and all of her friends there. About 6 kids from her Preschool class just finished a session of swimming lessons. We provided the extra carseat and the YMCA took the group over to the pool in a van then brought them back to school. She loved it.
She is beginning to talk on the phone more. She can spell full name and writes her first name- although her S is just a little squiggle, but hey, she just turned 3. She'll tell you that she's 3 and that her birthday is May 8th. She can recite her phone number, address, she can write many letters of the alphabet and draws people. See the picture she drew of herself. Click on it to truly appreciate it


Caden a.k.a. the Meat-man, Porky-pine, Fat-man, C-dog, etc. is about 19 lbs. He is Crawling with the same funky one-leg-up crawl that Tessie had. He pulls himself up to standing and cruises along furniture or whatever he's holding onto. We have been re-babyproofing the whole house. He still manages to cause trouble. Caden claps his hands, waves hi/bye, and says "Buh-buh" for bye-bye. He responds to his name and some signs (milk, more, cereal, finished, bath). He is finally eating solids. He absolutely refuses baby food, but eats cereal like there's no tomorrow, and will try new finger foods if he feeds himself. Caden is generally sleeping through the night, but he is up at 5AM. He wakes up happy. As soon as he gets up he throws his pacifier, and is ready to chat, chirping and yelling in the hallway as soon as he's up. We go to baby gym on Thursdays and the library on Fridays. We have met a nice group of moms so Caden can have friends outside of the younger siblings of Tessie's friends. Like his sister, he is also a fan of Mickey Mouse. His favorite thing to do is splash in the bathtub or kiddie pool. He also likes to play catch. Maybe he will go pro someday...

2.11 and 8 months

I wanted to give one more update before Tessie turns three, so I'd better hurry. It has been a while since the last entry. We went south to Florida for a week to visit Nana Sally, Uncle Bob, Uncle Freddie, and Robbie. The kids had a great time being in less layers than when up north, although the weather was pretty cool for FL standards. Now that spring is emerging, we are getting outside more. Both kids are making use of the swingset now. We made a trip down to LI to visit my collge friends and Tessie's friend Katarina. Easter was very exciting for Tessie this year. She was excited the Easter Bunny visited and left baskets for her and Caden. He even hid some eggs in the house and in the yard. She was not fond of the egg filled with green beans, but she did love the "browns" (chocolate) he left for her.
The kids are doing great. Not quite 3 yet, Tessie is becoming a bit more challenging - typical of the threes I guess. She is still a sweetheart, but has her moments of being uncooperative. She is very flexible with Caden's sleeping schedule (or lack of) and mostly tries to be a good helper. She loves to help make food in the kitchen. She and mommy have matching aprons now. We even planted some seeds to hopefully eat some of own vegetables this summer. Tessie's preschool has started taking kids to the YMCA pool for swimming lessons. She LOVES it.
Caden is almost 19 lbs now at 8 months. He wants to be part of the action all the time now. Tessie is practicing sharing with him now that he is starting to want things to play with. Caden is on the move now, too. He is squirming across the floor in a military style crawl and continues to roll as a faster way to get there. He has also pulled himself up to standing holding onto toys and people. His legs are still very wobbly and he forgets that he's holding himself up, so he falls if your not spotting him. He is affectionate and loves to hug and squeeze. He has been known to grab me by my hair and pull, gumming on my face. Tessie even knows to beware of Caden when he is in "attack mode". Hes starting to babble a little saying "Ba ba ba" and shouting and squeaking. We go to the library for 1:1 time on Fridays while Tessie is at Preschool.

2.9 years and 6 months

What a long winter it has been so far. The kids have been stuck inside so much because it has been either too cold or too icy to play. Despite being in such close quarters for a long time, we actually still love each other. We have been doing our best to change things up and do new things. We have gone to open gym times at the local YMCA and gymnastics gym. We get together about every week with friends from the library and another family we have met through daycare. We went with them to a winterfest about a couple of weeks ago and Tessie got to ride a pony for the first time. Getting all that fresh air, Tessie actually napped (a rare occurance).
Indoors, I'm impressed by Tessie's imagination. She is always inventing new games and words and I'm proud to say that she plays the way that all children should: without batteries- building forts out of cushions, driving cars across the wood floors, building with blocks, reading books and having tea/birthday parties with her dolls and using pretend objects.
She impresses me with her mature language sometimes. She corrected me the other day about the periwinkle color of her toothbrush. When I told her it was blue she said "Actually, it's purple, mommy." She even got persistent when I tried to have her move something by herself ("I just told you, I can't move it. It's too heavy.") Not even 3 going on 13.
Six months already, Caden is growing fast and doing more. He rolls around on the floor to get from here to there. He can sit up by himself, but needs pillows around him for moments of spontaneous combustion when he just crashes backward or to the side. We are trying to get him to eat solids. It's proving to be frustrating for both of us. I'm not sure that he's ready. I keep trying but the poor kid just does not like baby food.
Not much going on here for trips this past month. We had to cancel a trip to NY because both of our friends and Tessie got ear infections. It was her first time on antibiotics and she was great about it- even reminding me that she needed to take it before bedtime when I forgot. She'll be taking care of me in less than a year I think. We are looking forward to our first family vacation to Florida. We all can't wait to shed the layers of clothes and get into that sunshine.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

As expected, this Christmas was very exciting. Tessie gets it that Santa comes to our house to leave toys for her. She was very calm and excited to see him and sit with him at the mall. What she doesn't understand yet is that it is only one night. She has been asking to open presents every AM since, is still requesting that I read her Christmas books, wants to watch Rudolph, and didn't want me to put away the Manger because she still wants to play with it. We compromised and decided to keep everything up until New Year's Day. We visited with friends for Christmas and New Year's parties and had some of our friends over for a cookie decorating party. We have been trying to go to the library's storytime and, with the holiday rush, we steered clear of our mall (which by the way is filmed in the new Kevin James movie "Paul Blart: Mall Cop"). Between shoppers and the snow, traffic was congested for a while around here. We spent a bit of time at the local YMCA. It has a mat room that is perfect for toddlers to just run their energy out. She is pretty good at somersaults now. Tessie was able to enjoy the snow a little. She couldn't make a snowman (Tessie:"Snow's not sticky enough"), so we made snow angels instead. We kept ourselves amused by doing Christmas crafts and other holiday traditions like cutting our own Christmas tree and decorating a gingerbread house. Tessie even helped put stamps on Christmas cards this year. She loves to help out with things like that. On Christmas Eve we attended church and both of the kids did spectacular, especially considering the size of the Christmas crowd. We baked gingerbread cookies with Auntie Kris and left some for Santa along with a glass of milk and carrots for the Reindeer. She also left her pacifier and some toys she doesn't use so Santa could bring them to children who need them. I was surprised at the amount of toys she was willing to part with. Tessie was happy to see that Santa left trains for her along with some other surprises like a tool belt. She was also happy to play with gifts for Caden from mommy and daddy- which were actually toys that we gave her 2 years ago, hid last Christmas, and rewrapped for Caden. Funny how that works. Tessie has been doing fantastic with potty training. She wears pull-ups only at night. She has even been dressing herself lately when she wears pull-on type clothes. Tessie says that she a a princess, so she insists on wearing dresses every day, preferably blue (her favorite color is aqua blue). She outright refuses to wear jeans despite the color. Whose child is this?! She is going to be transitioned from the toddler room to pre-school this month- such a smart girl. The Star Spangled Banner is still part of her bedtime repertoire. I actually taped her singing it just after I posted my last blog. I hope you enjoy it.

She is still a good big sister to Caden. Tessie can make him smile and giggle like nobody else. He loves her. Caden is a moose. At 4 1/2 months old, he is already 16 lbs! He weighed bigger at his 4 month Dr. visit than Tessie did at her 6 month check up. He has learned to roll over- and alternately learned to NOT roll over because he doesn't like to be on his tummy. He is perfectly content to swing in his swing- as long as he doesn't reach the weight limit on it first! He sleeps better there than in his own crib. I'm still holding out hope that he will sleep 6 hours at night at some point. He likes to be held up standing so he can look around. He is deliberately reaching for things and pulling them closer to him. We have even put him into Tessie's Baby Einstein (like a walker that doesn't move) and he loves that. It gets very messy because he loves to blow bubbly raspberries, too. The kids are growing so fast.
I hope you all are enjoying the updates. Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2009!

By the way- I just want to give a plug to a couple of businesses really quick.
1) Keepsafeco.com is a company some good friends of our are starting up. They sell all sorts of gear for families. They are nice, honest people offering some unique items to buy online.
2) Signingtime.com is the company that makes the DVDs that Tessie adores so much. I give them all the credit in the world for creating fun, educational videos that have allowed Tessie (and us) to learn ASL and we hope Caden will learn too. I have used them with my Special Education Students at school, too. Request them at your local library or buy some for yourself.
Both companies are trying to keep afloat in this tough economy so keep them in mind for your own family or for gifts.