It's been awhile bablblablalalbala. Here I am! Take it or leave it......
Last time I posted it was before Christmas...... Baby Tessa was only a few months old.... She is now 8 months old, creeping up to 9!!! Holy Moly, how did that happen??????? Elizabeth will be 4 at the end of October, so she's over 3 1/2!!!! EEk, she's getting old! I was so lucky to stay home with the girls until after Christmas break. I ended up getting about 14 weeks off, which I was so grateful for. Of course I wasn't ready to go back but it helps I was able to stay home for so long. So Tessa was 3 months old and started going to the babysitter with Elizabeth 5 days a week. That part of being a part is the worst.... doing what you have to do, but not wanting to do it.... Walking away from my girls each morning broke my heart. Funny thing is they did great at the sitters!!! It wasn't like they cried or hated it.... nope... just so hard not to be the one spending my days with them. So, I can tell you I cherish my time with them, every minute, every weekend, and most definitely all summer long!!! People always say "it will go by so fast".... and it truly does. When I think of just a month or two ago how different they were and what they've learned and accomplished since then I'm amazed. So, on to some interesting facts:
Elizabeth is on the left, Tessa is on the right....both at 6 weeks old!
*At 2 months, Tessa weighed 12.6 lbs and was wearing 3-6 month clothes. She didn't appreciate the shots from the nurses and preferred to be held all day afterwards. I was happy to help her out with that. Elizabeth kept telling the doctor and nurses "Be careful with my baby sisters, she's really special." She started sleeping through the night when the mood hit her, other nights she was up to get some snacks every few hours. Since snacks still come from momma she's in a cosleeper right beside my bed which is sooooo helpful! We went caroling in December (even Tessa) and handed out some cookies to family and friends. Elizabeth loved it! Santa and Mrs. Clause came to our house on the fire truck!! He even brought a present for the girls. After he left Elizabeth said "Mommy, I didn't even pee on Santa!" I didn't realize that was a concern!!! The things that come out of that girl's mouth are hysterical! Santa and his elf came on Christmas Eve. Elizabeth couldn't get over how all he said was "HO, HO, HO!" and the elf kept dancing and shaking presents!!! Tessa slept through the entire thing....Watching Elizabeth come down the stairs Christmas morning was amazing.... the innocence and joy on her face was truly magical. My favorite time of year!
*At 3 months, Tessa is adjusting more to the bottle. She doesn't prefer it at all though and eats enough at the sitter's to get her through until I come to get her. Poor girl!!! She has learned to blow bubbles and loves to throw her hands up in the air and squeal like a little piggy. She loves to smile and is such a content baby. Elizabeth just loves her and wants to hold her all the time. She's wonderful helper for me and is very territorial over Tessa :) Her sleeping has regressed as she's not eating much during the day so momma gets extra snuggles at night (of course that comes with less sleep though...). Elizabeth is going to Sunday school and loves it.
*At 4 months Tessa loves to put everything in her mouth. This is new to me because Elizabeth never put anything in hers... So it's funny to see Tessa with something in her mouth at all times. Lately, she's found her thumb and when she's tired, bored, hungry, happy, angry, or anything else that thumb pops right in to her mouth, so cute!!
She is now 15 lbs, 72nd% for weight and 90th% for height. She's rolling over and thinks it's so funny!! She's doing great, and wasn't a fan of the shots again.... Elizabeth brought her own band aids from home for Tessa to use :) Elizabeth wanted to watch the entire thing.... crazy girl! They are already best friends. When Elizabeth is upset she goes and talks to Tessa.... she says Tessa makes her happy. Our little Sweet Tea, as Daddy calls her, which in turn has Elizabeth calling her. Mommy calls her Tessy most of the time. She's still so happy and content, loves to smile and cuddle. Elizabeth does such a great job at the sitter's. She never has time outs or even warnings!! She loves Disney movies and right now she's obsessed with Frozen. She loves to reenact all the scenes of any movie she watches.
Elizabeth loves to say:
"Don't watch the clock!" (she says this after I say, "in two minutes we are going to...")
"I don't want any choices!" (typically she doesn't like the choices I give her)
"You have two choices mommy, hit you or give me fruit snacks." (As you can see she's taken the choices thing to a new level... I can give her the fruit snacks and no one will get hurt!!!)
"I wanna marry Tessa." (I tried to explain how that won't really work.... then she wanted daddy, and then grandpa.....)
*At 5 months, Tessa is popping teeth....She quickly has the two bottom and two top break through. She's a real trooper through it all. She can now roll both ways. She particularly loves holding onto her feet and rolling back and forth. Her weight gain has stalled as she's not eating much during the day for the sitter. She still nurses a lot but is just maintaining. We'll introduce some solids next month. She is sitting up well and still puts everything she can find into her mouth. Elizabeth is learning to hide her toys!
*At 6 months, Tessa tries avocados, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, and peas.... she's not impressed with any of them. She's down to the 50th % in weight and 75th% in height. She's super healthy though! She got 3 more shots. She loves to say "heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey" when she sees you. She loves to giggle and coo. That voice is so sweet. When I saw "Give mommy kisses" she smashes her face into mine.... nothing sweeter! Girls went to the townhall for an easter egg hunt. Elizabeth did great. She was looking for all the pink eggs :) She passed up one cause it had a bug on it! Elizabeth played in the 'bell choir' at church. She was so excited.
Elizabeth loves to say:
"My butt is smooth, want to feel?" (uh.... no...)
"Abe-LEE"... as in "I'm abe-LEE to do it myself."
"Let's play healthy/not healthy game." (she loves for me to name two foods and she says if they're healthy or not!)
"Come sit in timeout with me." (She must get lonely.)
"You're not coming to my birthday party!!!" (she says this in the meanest voice a 3 year old can muster.... when she gets mad at Audie or I that's what she says... I told her good luck having that party without us...)
*At 7 months, Tessa loves to blow air at people. It's too funny! She mostly nurses, not interested in food at all. She thinks puffs are disgusting and doesn't want much to do with purees. Although, she does like to spit them out at the babysitter!!! She doesn't like anything with a flavor! Tessa loves to clap and wave at people. She's almost pulling up on things. She scoots herself around backwards or army crawls forward. She hasn't figured out how to get her butt up off the ground!! We had a great mother's day and took Meemaw to the library for a special Mother's Day Tea and craft.
Elizabeth loves to sing and dance and hold Tessa. Tessa loves to laugh at all of Elizabeth's funny moves! Elizabeth is getting really good at all of her letters and sounds.She can write most of her name by herself and count to 30. She loves to rhyme and knows her address and my phone number. She loves to role play and figure out what to do for every situation. (Mom, pretend there's a gun and you want me to touch it. Mom, pretend you're a stranger and want me to come with you. Mom, pretend you are Nick and say HI.) (yes, she's obsessed with Nick but won't talk with him when she sees him, but loves to talk about him 24/7 when he's not there.) Elizabeth ran in her first race, she ran 3/4 of a mile with Aunt Kay! She did awesome... Tessa just hung out in the stroller while I pushed her. Then we walked in the Memorial Day Parade with the church. Elizabeth and Nathan loved throwing the candy at the kids!
*At 8 months, Tessa has turned into a monkey. A toy eating monkey.... Everything goes in her mouth and she wants to climb on everything. Amazing how they advance so quickly. She now likes puffs!!! and crunchies.... She'll eat some oatmeal with fruit in the morning. She'll tolerate sweet potatoes and bananas. She likes apple sauce... Slowly but surely she's learning to eat :) She still prefers momma's milk. She can sign "more" , milk, and "all done". I'm now home for the summer so it's a huge relief to be with the girls. When we asked Elizabeth what she wanted to do she said "Go to Chuck E Cheese.... where a kid can be a kid." So we did! She wanted to camp outside so Audie had it all set up for her. She was so excited..... They lasted until about 10 pm, then Elizabeth decided Mommy and Tessa might be lonely so they better go in.... Elizabeth is doing great with her sight words and sounds. She's great at puzzles and drawing. She gets the drawing from daddy and the puzzles from mommy. She's such a sweet soul! Tessa is mostly sleeping though the night now (knock on wood). She has a few bad nights, but nothing like when Elizabeth was little, so I can't complain. Elizabeth has decided she's a grown up because I let her wear deodorant the other day... I told her she needs to start paying us rent then!
I feel that we truly have the best of both worlds. We have our sweet T who is just a cuddly little snuggle bug. Babies are truly the greatest gift. And at the same time we have our Princess Elizabeth who loves to learn, tells jokes (some are actually funny), can carry on multiple conversations (at the same time) and keeps us on our toes. I love the age difference in them! We couldn't have asked for a better blessing. We truly realize how blessed we are.
