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.

Tessie 2.5, Caden 3 months

How quickly the time passes.
Caden is 3 months old, so he can already hold a grudge against me for not documenting his life as I have for his sister...Caden is already so different from the last blog entry; in size (already 14 pounds)and personality. He is much more aware of what is going on around him. He smiles, laughs, and jabbers a bit. He turns his head toward things that interest him- mostly his big sister. I swear he loves her more than anyone else. He is aware of his hands and feet. He reaches for toys when he is laying on the playmat and is rolling onto his side. He has transitioned to sleeping in his own crib in the room that he and Tessie share. So far, his record (and mine) for continuous sleep is 5 hours at night, but mostly 3 1/2 - 4 hours.
Tessie doesn't even seem to notice Caden in her room. She has stopped napping so she's pretty wiped out by nightfall. She is a big girl now. She has been doing a great job with potty, wearing big girl underpants at home and keeping a dry diaper most of the time. She is still going to daycare and has been going into the pre-school room with the 3 yr olds from time to time. She will probably be in there full time in the next couple of months. Our daughter is quite patriotic. Part of her bedtime routine requires that I sing the national anthem (it's a long story) and she sleeps with the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the US (another long story).
We have been very busy since the last entry. My college roomates from NY visited Columbus Day Weekend so we took them around New England style by taking them apple/pumpkin picking at a local farm. They had hay rides, food, and entertainment. We were lucky to have had such great weather. Caden was Christened on October 26th- with about 10 other children. He slept through most of the ceremony. Tessie got together with friends for costume parties before Halloween- Tessie was a penguin and Caden was a fish. Since she doesn't really eat candy, we didn't bother with trick-or-treating. We had a couple of campfires in the backyard. Stephen and I were more excited than the kids to roast hotdogs and marshmallows over the flames. We also went to the Albany area to visit family. Tessie had a blast with her cousins and Oma Renate.
These next couple of months are going to be exciting with Tessie. She is at the age where she understands the holidays better although I was able to convince her that Halloween was a holiday to give away candy for now. She has already seen Santa at the mall and looks forward to when he comes to our grey house. She has been a very good girl this year...

Happy 2nd Birthday!

Tessie is such a love in our lives. I know I keep saying it, but she is just sooo much fun to be around. She is talking even more. I have estimated that she has well over 350 words in her vocabulary. She is stringing together sentences and talking more about experiences rather than just objects. I love sneezing and hearing her little voice say “Bless you, Mama”. Her memory for people is much better, now asking for people by name Uncle (Dave), Papa (Grampa), Nana, Aunt Terri, Uncle Cookie, Kris, etc. She even inquires about them when they are not around (object permanence for you psychologists out there). We have been talking to her about the baby that is coming to live with us. I found a couple of good books about it that we have been reading to her.
We had our ultrasound on March 10th. We did not find out the gender. We did find out that the baby’s due date seems pretty accurate according to the measurements. All in all, healthy is what we are looking for, and it’s what we’ve got so far. Who could ask for more than that?

Back to Tessie-
Sitting on the potty… with results, shall we say? She is using it at daycare and at home about 4 times a day. Now that the weather seems to have broken and we have gotten our final snow storm (famous last words) we are getting much more time outside. Tessie is enjoying experiences like going to the 2 playgrounds near us…driving us crazy because there is no hiding what she wants now that she talks (“Mama, go for walk park/playground” or “Simon Park”) but not understanding conditions that make it less fun (cold, rainy, dark out, 5 minutes from bedtime).
Tessie got a toddler bed (“Happy Birthday Bed” as she calls it) as an early birthday present from us. She transitioned to it no problem and still hasn’t figured out that she can just get out of bed to find us if she wants. She still lays there waiting for one of us to come get her. It’s only a matter of time, I’m sure.
She had a great birthday, although she fell asleep at her own party! She loves playing with all of her new toys, which makes it a little harder to leave home in the morning. She has made some friends at daycare and talks about them often. We have even gotten to know some of the parents, which is nice.
Hope everyone is enjoying the coming of Spring.

(The photos are out of order. Sorry, I don't know how to fix it.)