Almost 20 months

Happy New Year! I hope that 2007 treated everyone well.
First off, I know that I am late with this update. I wanted to include photos from Christmas so I thought I would just put it off by a couple of weeks. November and December have been very busy. Tessie is learning more and more words, so I won’t be reporting on that anymore because I can’t keep up with her growing signing and speaking dictionary. She has gotten I lot more signs since we found these “Signing Time” videos that we rent from the local library.
She has developed some serious interests lately, too. One in a furry, red, Sesame Street Character…I think Elmo is growing on us, too. She has also become very passionate about her art. She loves coloring with crayons (and watching mommy and daddy doodle a bit) and painting which is fun on special occasions. She loves to wash her hands in the sink all by herself. I do standby to control soap and faucets.
She also has become a more “independent thinker” in the respect that we think something needs to happen (eat/sleep/clean-up), and she thinks something else. I guess that’s expected at this age. She has also been showing more interest in the potty. She is able to say and sign it, then pull down her pants and sit on the potty. Unfortunately, this usually happens when she is already finished and she is still wearing her diaper. It’s a good start though. Tessie has also learned jumping both feet at the same time, so she now has added that to her repertoire of ways to get around the house. She especially enjoys jumping off of things like her (kid’s) armchair and potty. Her new favorite song/dance is the hokey pokey and it’s very cute to watch her twirl around with her little pointer fingers in the air. She has also learned how to walk around on her tippy-toes like a little ballerina…also very cute to watch. It’s like she knows that she is entertaining us…Such a ham.
Since I have been sending these emails for a while I thought that, like many people in the world, I should just start a blog. I confess that this is a copycat idea from friends who have done the same for their children, namely Viola and (the newest) lovely Sophia. I will continue to email the Tessie Fan Club to let you know when I have updated the blog. I have posted the previous updates, so it’s pretty neat to take a step back and look at how Tessie has changed. With practice I hope to be able to learn how to add more photos and videos.
You’ll also get to see more photos here, too, like out-takes from our Christmas Card photo shoot. Thanks to Grampa, and the new camera he gave me for Christmas you will be overwhelmed with even more pictures. Hope you enjoyed the blog update. Let me know what you think.

10 months

Wow. Tessie is walking everywhere. She is all over the place. She is walking so well that when she is headed for something she shouldn’t be (e.i. Toilet, cabinets, wires, stairs) she able to walk at a pretty good clip almost running while looking over her shoulder to see who is giving chase. We have trouble on our hands.
Tessie is saying lots of words. We still don’t know what they are, but she seems to be sure of what she is trying to say. She is pointing to let us know what interests her. She waves and blows kisses. She kisses/slimes our faces.
We have been starting to give her table food, but we are very limited because she hasn’t grown any teeth yet. So far we haven’t really found many foods that she doesn’t like. But she loves vegetables and even tofu.
We have done a lot of visiting this month. Tessie and Mom went to Long Island, New York for 4 days. With Dad traveling for work and snowboarding, we have gone on other day trips and visits locally. We also have gotten into a project of creating a playroom for Tessie to contain the clutter. (“Good Luck” you’re thinking. Right?) But we are trying. Swim class has ended but we are still staying in touch with friends from class. We have been getting together with other friends we have made at the library too.

8 months

Happy 2007! We hope everyone enjoyed the holidays and is doing well.
Having Tessie around gave this Christmas a new energy. Santa’s visit was more exciting for us than Tessie, but she will get to know and enjoy family traditions. Although I’m not sure it will always be warm enough to walk to church. We even went to a tree farm to cut down our own tree. I would recommend that to anyone! It was fun and the tree lasted very well for us. Tessie didn’t like the sharp needles at first, but the lure of lights and ornaments was too much and she learned not to mind the poking as bad. Our tree ended up naked on the bottom 2 feet.
Now that Tessie is more mobile, she is getting into a lot more. She is crawling faster and cruising along and between furniture with more confidence. As I write this email it is 6AM- she isn’t awake, so for a moment the house is safe. Tessie is a climber. She has learned how to climb the stairs so yet another barrier was put up- which she immediately learned to climb over. We are working on a new solution. In the past week she has learned how to get herself to standing without help. She can stay balanced for about 5-10 seconds before she drops to her diaper-cushioned bottom.
Tessie is keeping us on our toes. She likes to be chased around the house by her daddy. She sounds like she has a lot to say. Mostly “va va va” but once in a while she speaks her own little language to some new object she finds. She makes a snorting face a lot, too. Again- I think we encourage it by laughing, so she does it more. We don't know if she means anything by it. Maybe it's revenge for taking too many photos. Notice she makes the face on Christmas Day when my perfect photo opportunity comes...
She is trying more new foods. Luckily she hasn’t gotten her mother’s sweet tooth, preferring green beans and carrots over bananas and peaches. We will be starting to splash around a pool at the YMCA when we start a “class” on Thursdays. Maybe it will get her good and tired for Thursday naps with Grampa. ;)