Wired

When Alyse was born, she had two tiny holes in the upper chambers of her heart and a slightly low heart rate.  It's not something that's totally uncommon in newborns (especially preemies).  So, it wasn't much of a concern, but they asked us to follow up with a cardiologist when she was 6 months old.  I took her in on Monday for the followup and they ran a lot of tests.  As expected, the holes have closed, but her heart rate was still a little low.  Although she doesn't have any obvious symptoms of any heart issues, they decided to put her on a 24-hour monitor just to get a more detailed reading of her heart rate.  We'll get the results in about a week, but don't expect it to show any problems.  As you can see, she tolerated it very well and remained her normal, happy self!

LOVE

Babywearin'

I made a baby sling for Tessa a few weeks ago, and when I gave it to her, Calder said "Mommy, don't you know I have a blue baby???"  Little man was a tad bit jealous, so while he was sleeping I whipped up another one just for him.  :)

Two and a half

Our sweet Tessa is two and a half!  We celebrated with pink half-birthday cupcakes and sang "Happy Half-Birthday".  "I big girl" she likes to say.

Some things that I want to remember about Miss T at 2 1/2:

• She whispers at bedtime.  We can barely hear what she is saying, but she just keeps whispering at us.  It's super cute, but sometimes frustrating because we can't hear what she is saying and she just won't speak up!
• Whenever she sees the letter T she yells "T for Tessa!" 
• She's becoming very choosy about what she wears.  She frequently turns down my suggestions of adorable dresses and goes for shorts and shirts instead.  Preferably pink.   
• She's obsessed with bandaids.
• She's very sensitive to loud noises.  She does not like lawn mowers, blenders, hair dryers, and vacuums.  Oh, and thunder. ("I no like bunder.")  Apparently she doesn't like loud voices either. The other night, Dave was reading "Marvin K. Mooney, Will You Please Go Now?" and when he said "Will you please go?" in a booming voice, she looked up at him and in her tiny, sweet, little voice said "Daddy, why you do that????" and burst into tears.  
• Some things that she can frequently be heard saying are "Where's my boy baby?  Where is him!?", "Stop bovering me.", and "Whatchu doing?". 
• More funny mispronunciations include "Kepitch" for ketchup, "Mines" instead of mine, "foon" for spoon, "snowflakes" for cornflakes, "baving soup" for bathing suit, and "peanuts" for...well...a certain male genitalia. (As I was giving her a bath the other night she said "Don't touch my peanuts!")

She loves to care for her babies.  She changes a lot of baby doll diapers.  And uses a lot of wipes in the process.  A LOT.  She's a good assistant when I'm changing Alyse too.  She always insists on the cookie monster diapers, and will search through the entire stack until she finds one. It's a complete travesty if Alyse does not get that cookie monster diaper.

She's also a very caring big sister who is still learning how to use "gentle" hands.  And gentle feet and teeth for that matter.

She's the "passfire" police.  Always checking to see if Alyse needs it. Sometimes even in the middle of a feeding.

My kitchen and bathroom towels frequently go missing.  Turns out they are the perfect size for covering up babies and baby dolls. 

Legos are super fun too!  Especially if they are the ones that Calder is currently playing with!

Although she's not a huge fan of most vegetables, she absolutely loved the peas in our "garden" (read: small patch of dirt in our front yard).  She nearly ate every single one!

Now this is more her style!  (Yes, she even eats ice cream cones with a spoon.)

Her Shirley Temple curls are to die for.  She gets compliments on them wherever we go.  (One random lady even reached out and touched them as she was walking by...that was kind of creepy.)  Even though the hair on the top of her head is quite unruly, I can't imagine cutting it -- I'd be too afraid the curls wouldn't come back!  I think they'd make the most adorable little pigtails, but she won't let me do it. Her hair is very prone to tangles, and she runs when she sees me approaching with the detangler spray and a hairbrush. 

Poor girl is LOVED by mosquitos.  She gets huge welts with the bites and even got a black eye from a bite right under her eye.  See that mosquito on her forehead?  Yep, it got her.

She can frequently be heard singing Baa Baa Black Sheep, Wheels on the Bus, ABCs, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Row Row Row Your Boat and Ring Around the Rosy. And as of late, the Spanish version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star!  So, I'll let her close out this post with one of her favorites!

Baa Baa Black Sheep from courtney on Vimeo.

What do you think?  American Idol finalist in 2029?

4th of July

We had a low-key but fun 4th of July this year.  We met up with a few friends at the local parade and had a fun (albeit hot) time. 

Tessa and Will sharing snacks

Alex and Aubrey watch intently

Really, this parade is full of more political candidates than anyone cares to see...but it's close to home, has easy parking and you don't have to get there hours early to get a spot in the shade.  Win, win, win. 

American beauties in matching shorts!

Yeah, it was hot.

The obligatory sibling picture in their red, white and blues.

Popsicles after lunch!

Later in the afternoon, we headed over to the pool.  Alyse snoozed in the shade while the rest of us enjoyed the cool water!  We recently discovered that Miss T can now touch the bottom of the pool in the shallow end.  She LOVES walking around in the pool.  She's really becoming very comfortable in the water!

Practicing her kicks!

Our little fish.

 Happy July!

All Dressed Up

I took my two little ladies to a friend's baby shower a couple of weeks ago.  It was fun to get them both a little dressed up.  These aren't the most stellar pictures of Alyse...but I thought Tessa looked especially cute in these.  :)

I totally expected to have to leave the shower early, since it started right at Tessa's typical nap time.  The child just does not function well on no nap.  But, she completely surprised me, and was perfectly behaved the entire time! (I won't mention what happened later that evening...)

Oh, and do you like Tessa's hair bow?  I made it!  Go me!

Beachin' It

A few weeks ago, Calder spent a week in Pittsburgh at "Camp Nonna and Zaidy".  It was his first time away from us and he did so great!  Nonna and Zaidy kept him very busy with vacation bible school, museums, and swimming.  He's already looking forward to next year!

While he was gone, Tessa, Alyse and I met up with our friends Will and Carrie at a beach about 45 minutes away.  It was almost deserted and we basically had the whole place to ourselves.  Will and Tessa had a great time swimming, taking turns rocking the baby, playing ring around the rosy, and just being silly toddlers. 

This last picture cracks me up.  Doesn't it look like it's right out of the Summer Lovin' scene in Grease?

First Dip

Alyse took her first dip in the pool a couple of weeks ago. Just like Tessa's first dip in the pool, she had absolutely no reaction!   What is up with our oh-so-serious babies!?

Spray Park

A few weeks ago, we checked out the new spray park in our area.  It's free, so it was super crowded on a Saturday morning...but it was a lot of fun for the kids.  After having a blast the whole time we were there, Calder complained that the water was too cold and said he didn't ever want to go back.  I don't think he really meant it. :)