Even Tessa likes to try to play along...
With her own set of rules, of course!
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Games, Games, Games!
Recently, Calder has really started to love games. It's a really fun time for us, because we both love games as well! Some current favorites are Hi-Ho Cherry-O, Mr. Mouth, Zingo and Hullabaloo! Here are a few photos from some recent Hullabaloo action:
Even Tessa likes to try to play along...
With her own set of rules, of course!
Even Tessa likes to try to play along...
With her own set of rules, of course!
Happy Birthday, Daddy!
Daddy turned the big 3-4 last week and we celebrated with dinner, presents and cake. I took the kids shopping the week before and let Calder pick out his gifts for Daddy. He picked out a pair of football sunglasses and a batman magnet. But, he was most excited about the Bumblebee (from Transformers) card that he chose.
Dave always calls Calder "Tough Guy", so the best part of the card is that it says "Happy Birthday, Tough Guy" on the inside.
Both kids were excited about helping Daddy blow out his candles!
A little bedtime reading (from ESPN magazine!) Hey, they always say it doesn't matter what you read to your kids, as long as you read! Tessa is now prepared to help Daddy choose his fantasy team this year!
And finally, a little sibling lovin' before bed. :)
Dave always calls Calder "Tough Guy", so the best part of the card is that it says "Happy Birthday, Tough Guy" on the inside.
Both kids were excited about helping Daddy blow out his candles!
And finally, a little sibling lovin' before bed. :)
Monday, July 26, 2010
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
18 Months
Baby girl is 18 months old today! At 18 months, Tessa is smart, sweet, determined and strong-willed. She knows what she wants, and she is not afraid to let you know. :)
She hates socks and loves shoes (just like her momma!) She is constantly carrying shoes around with her and enjoys delivering them to the rest of the family. I think this also has something to do with her love for the outdoors. Apparently she thinks that if she brings your shoes to you, you'll naturally just take her right outside. It even works some of the time. Usually she refuses to wear anything but crocs, but lately seems to be starting to expand her shoe horizons. Today she brought me three different pairs of shoes to put on her, and she ran and danced around the house in all of them. Lucky for her, there's no shortage of hand me down shoes!
She loves birds. When she spots one out the window she gives a "tweet tweet!" But nothing could top her love for man's best friend. The girl is a dog lover through and through. This is slightly unfortunate for Lucky, since she is a very hands-on dog lover. She talks about "dogues" (rhymes with rogue) all day long -- constantly pointing them out, followed by a "woof woof". (And she really wants everyone else to join in on the woof-woofing too.) Half the time she's actually pointing to other dog-like animals and calling them dogs. You know -- iguanas, zebras, horses, bears, etc. Those dog-like animals.
Her vocabulary is exploding. She has over 50 words and is using several 3-word phrases: Ex. "bye bye daddy", "night night Calder"; "not nice Lucky." Oh how she loves to tell people that they are not nice. She shakes her little finger at you when she says it. She uses this phrase often: when she doesn't get her way, when her feelings get hurt, or when she physically gets hurt. She comes running up to me several times a day yelling "not nice Calder" or "not nice Lucky!" Even Mommy and Daddy are sometimes not nice!
At 18 months, her favorite books are about daddies, dogs or babies. She's still crazy about flowers, music, yogurt and baths (those last two often go hand in hand...) She loves to wash her hands and to throw things away. She hates changing her clothes. She is a big fan of hip hop music. She is IN LOVE with her daddy. She'll pat or rub your back if she thinks you're feeling blue. She wants to be in charge of the leash when we take Lucky for a walk. She can't quite nod her head -- instead, she sticks her neck out over and over, pretty much like a turtle. And, like all good little sisters, she loves to get her hands on Calder's toys and wants to be involved in everything that he is doing.
You can imagine how he generally feels about that...
Tonight we had brownies to celebrate her half-birthday. We sang "Happy Half-Birthday" and she was absolutely thrilled when she realized we were singing to her. We must have sung it at least 8 times! Happy Half-Birthday, my sweet girl!
She hates socks and loves shoes (just like her momma!) She is constantly carrying shoes around with her and enjoys delivering them to the rest of the family. I think this also has something to do with her love for the outdoors. Apparently she thinks that if she brings your shoes to you, you'll naturally just take her right outside. It even works some of the time. Usually she refuses to wear anything but crocs, but lately seems to be starting to expand her shoe horizons. Today she brought me three different pairs of shoes to put on her, and she ran and danced around the house in all of them. Lucky for her, there's no shortage of hand me down shoes!
She loves birds. When she spots one out the window she gives a "tweet tweet!" But nothing could top her love for man's best friend. The girl is a dog lover through and through. This is slightly unfortunate for Lucky, since she is a very hands-on dog lover. She talks about "dogues" (rhymes with rogue) all day long -- constantly pointing them out, followed by a "woof woof". (And she really wants everyone else to join in on the woof-woofing too.) Half the time she's actually pointing to other dog-like animals and calling them dogs. You know -- iguanas, zebras, horses, bears, etc. Those dog-like animals.
Her vocabulary is exploding. She has over 50 words and is using several 3-word phrases: Ex. "bye bye daddy", "night night Calder"; "not nice Lucky." Oh how she loves to tell people that they are not nice. She shakes her little finger at you when she says it. She uses this phrase often: when she doesn't get her way, when her feelings get hurt, or when she physically gets hurt. She comes running up to me several times a day yelling "not nice Calder" or "not nice Lucky!" Even Mommy and Daddy are sometimes not nice!
At 18 months, her favorite books are about daddies, dogs or babies. She's still crazy about flowers, music, yogurt and baths (those last two often go hand in hand...) She loves to wash her hands and to throw things away. She hates changing her clothes. She is a big fan of hip hop music. She is IN LOVE with her daddy. She'll pat or rub your back if she thinks you're feeling blue. She wants to be in charge of the leash when we take Lucky for a walk. She can't quite nod her head -- instead, she sticks her neck out over and over, pretty much like a turtle. And, like all good little sisters, she loves to get her hands on Calder's toys and wants to be involved in everything that he is doing.
You can imagine how he generally feels about that...
Tonight we had brownies to celebrate her half-birthday. We sang "Happy Half-Birthday" and she was absolutely thrilled when she realized we were singing to her. We must have sung it at least 8 times! Happy Half-Birthday, my sweet girl!
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Catching Up
I'm so ridiculously behind on blogging. So, I spent some time this weekend catching up on the month of April! Instead of just posting everything under today's date, I adjusted the dates so they appear in sequential order. Someday I plan on making a blog book (since this blog serves as our family scrapbook), so I didn't want everything to be all out of order. So, if you're interested....check out what we did in April by clicking on the links below:
First Carousel Ride
Easter Sunday
Springtime in Da Burgh
Gus & YiaYia's
Big Truck Days
Now onto May and June!
First Carousel Ride
Easter Sunday
Springtime in Da Burgh
Gus & YiaYia's
Big Truck Days
Now onto May and June!
Success!
Ok, so the placement isn't great, and it only lasted about 3 hours before she found it (and ripped it out)...but I finally succeeded in my quest to sneak a barrette into Little T's hair! :)
Thursday, July 8, 2010
More Michigan Summer
To round out the weekend, we spent the day of the 4th at my Dad and Peggy's house for more outdoor fun (and a little indoor fun too!)
Tessa loved checking out all of their beautiful flowers!
Future musician?
Calder got to pick (and eat!) the last tomato on the vine.
3rd of July
On the morning of the 3rd of July, my mom and I took Calder to the local village parade. We're talking a super small parade that lasted all of 10 minutes and the undeniable highlight was a John Deere tractor. But, he loved it anyway. Especially all of the candy that was thrown his way! Unfortunately, Tessa had gotten carsick earlier that morning...so she and Dave had to miss out while they waited for her freshly washed carseat to dry out!
Later that day, my extended family got together at my cousin's house. It was so wonderful to spend a relaxing afternoon just hanging out with aunts, uncles and cousins. I have such good memories of family gatherings growing up...and now that all of the 'cousins' have kids of their own, it's super fun to get together and watch all of our kids play together. Wish we could do it more often!
Later that day, my extended family got together at my cousin's house. It was so wonderful to spend a relaxing afternoon just hanging out with aunts, uncles and cousins. I have such good memories of family gatherings growing up...and now that all of the 'cousins' have kids of their own, it's super fun to get together and watch all of our kids play together. Wish we could do it more often!
The little ones: Blake, Tessa and Siena
4th of July hats and Bingo!
Someone discovered a love of lemonade!
Egg races!
Where's my egg??
Ready for fireworks!
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