Sunday, March 13, 2011

Future BFF's

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Today we had an amazing visit with my sister in law Raeann and my niece Bella! Bella was born about 6 1/2 months before Tessa. They played soooo well together! Both have only child issues with sharing but overall they did great! Tessa was copying EVERYTHING Bella did! It was so cute. Here are some pictures from today!
playing together! Tessa was everywhere Bella was!
super cute!
Bella always likes to look at pictures...now Tessa does too!
Bella loves pretzels...now Tessa does too!
see the pattern???
my adorable niece Bella! She is so much fun!
Teaching Tessa bad habits!
Tried to get a picture of the two of them
This was when Tessa was just 8 months old trying to get a picture of the two of them!
CUTE! :-)
Tessa trying to tell Bella what to do :)
Tessa obviously annoyed that Mommy has blue socks on her when she has a pink shirt on! In my defense she was wearing a blue and pink shirt earlier until she got her lunch all over it!
Bella and Tessa reading together :)

I can't wait to see the two of them grow up together! They are going to be best friends!

Until next time...Peace, Love, and TESSA!!!!



Friday, March 11, 2011

Tessa loves the Library!

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Tonight after dinner Tessa and I went to the library!
This has been Tessa's first trip to the library NOT in a stroller!
 
She played for a bit with some toys, saying whatisthis over and over again :-)
We picked out three books to read a bunch over the next week. Next week we will go again and pick out three more books! I want this to be a weekly thing! Reading is enjoyable to me and I want Tessa to feel the same way! There are too many kids these days that never pick up a book!
After pulling about 15 books of the shelf we then put them back one by one! She would open them and talk very loudly while reading them! She is going to be so smart! Thankfully there were no other kids in the area so no one minded my rather loud daughter "reading".
On our way home! Such a cute site seeing her looking at the books while I am driving! Such a proud momma!
Until next time...Peace, Love, and TESSA!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Gave me a Giggle!

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This article made me laugh! Super cute! I knew there was something us parents didn't know about :-)
Enjoy!!

Awake Training for Parents:


Dear Fellow Babies,

OK, here’s my situation. My Mommy has had me for almost 5 months. The first few months were great – I cried, she picked me up and fed me, anytime, around the clock. Then something happened. Over the last few weeks, she has been trying to STTN (sleep thru the night). At first, I thought it was just a phase, but it is only getting worse.

I’ve talked to other babies, and it seems like its pretty common after Mommies have had us for around 5-6 months. Here’s the thing: these Mommies don’t really need to sleep. It’s just a habit. Many of them have had some 30 years to sleep – they just don’t need it anymore. So I am implementing a plan. I call it the Crybaby Shuffle.

It goes like this:
Night 1 – cry every 3 hours until you get fed. I know, it’s hard. It’s hard to see your Mommy upset over your crying. Just keep reminding yourself, it’s for her own good.
Night 2 – cry every 2 hours until you get fed.
Night 3 – every hour.

Most Mommies will start to respond more quickly after about 3 nights. Some Mommies are more alert, and may resist the change longer. These Mommies may stand in your doorway for hours, shhhh-ing. Don’t give in. I cannot stress this enough: CONSISTENCY IS KEY!! If you let her STTN (sleep through the night), just once, she will expect it every night. I know it’s hard! But she really does not need the sleep; she is just resisting the change.. If you have an especially alert Mommy, you can stop crying for about 10 minutes, just long enough for her to go back to bed and start to fall asleep. Then cry again. It WILL eventually work. My Mommy once stayed awake for 10 hours straight, so I know she can do it.

The other night, I cried every hour. You just have to decide to stick to it and just go for it. BE CONSISTENT! I cried for any reason I could come up with:

-My sleep sack tickled my foot.
-I felt a wrinkle under the sheet.
-My mobile made a shadow on the wall.
-I burped, and it tasted like rice cereal. I hadn’t eaten rice cereal since breakfast, what’s up with that?
-The dog said “ruff”. I should know. My Mommy reminds me of this about 20 times a day. LOL.
-Once I cried just because I liked how it sounded when it echoed on the monitor in the other room.
-Too hot, too cold, just right – doesn’t matter! Keep crying!!
-I had drooled so much my sheets were damp and I didn’t like it touching me.
-I decided I was sick of all the pink in my room so I cried.

It took awhile, but it worked. She fed me at 4am. Tomorrow night, my goal is 3:30am. You need to slowly shorten the interval between feedings in order to reset your Mommies’ internal clocks.

Sometimes my Mommy will call for reinforcements by sending in Daddy. Don’t worry Daddies are not set up for not needing sleep the way Mommies are. They can only handle a few pats and shhing before they declare defeat and send in the Mommy.

Also, be wary of the sleep sheep with rain noises. I like to give Mommy false hope that listening to the rain puts me to sleep sometimes I pretend to close my eyes and be asleep and then wait until I know Mommy is settling back to sleep to spring a surprise cry attack. If she doesn’t get to me fast enough I follow up with my fake cough and gag noise that always has her running to the crib. At some point I am positive she will start to realize that she really doesn’t really need sleep.

P.S. Don’t let those rubber things fool you, no matter how long you suck on them, no milk will come out.
Trust me.

Sincerely,
Baby J


Source: Unknown (If you know, let me know)
Copied from: http://www.babysleepsite.com/awake-training-for-parents/

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

15 Month Well Baby Appointment

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The picture above says it all! The appointment went wonderful! Tessa was as cute as can be and super well behaved! Totally made me feel like Mom of the Year :-) Ped has no concerns and said she is perfect! Tessa was Chatty Cathy while we were in there and just loved the Monkeys that were hanging from the ceiling! She keps saying Oooh Oooh!
Here are her stats!
Weight: 22lbs 11oz (47%)
(I totally thought she was heavier than this!)
Height: 32 1/2 inches! (93%)
(YEP! My baby is TALL!)
Head: 18.27 Inches (64%)
(Big Brain! Smart Girl!)

Tall and Skinny like last time! Hopefully she is always like that and doesn't get her Momma's oompa loompa genes! Like the awesome Mom that I am, I dropped Tessa off at daycare after her appointment and I went shopping! I got some great deals on clothes for the husband and Tessa....but nothing for me. I just hate shopping for myself! I did manage to pick up a Green shirt to wear next week so I can wear jeans to work. Crazy that I don't have any green clothes! Now I have a green shirt :) Busy afternoon ahead of me organizing the million diaper boxes of clothes that no longer fit Tessa!

Until next time..Peace, Love, and TESSA!!!!!

Friday, March 4, 2011

All Smiles!

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This week made me hate being a working Mom. I hated coming home from work and Tessa going to sleep not long after I got home. I hated not being able to cook her dinner and play with her afterwards. I totally need to win the lottery. It's in my 5 year plan... :-)

I have been looking forward to the weekend all week! I really wanted to make Tessa a REAL dinner since this week we haven't really been eating great...more like convenient foods, mac & cheese, meatballs, ravioli...stuff that is quick and easy to cook. I did manage one crock pot meal so she did get one home cooked meal! I got off work around 4 today and rushed home to get meatloaf in the oven. Tessa LOVES meatloaf and mashed potatoes...and ofcourse green beans. The entire time Tessa ate her meatloaf she was making the mMMmmm noise and didn't let one bit miss her mouth! She loves it!

After dinner I got some much needed Tessa play time in. She is just so much fun and full of energy! Even though she was not tired at all I put her in her PJ's around 7pm, she was still wired so we played a little more and I was able to snap a few cute adorable smiley pictures of her!





Tuesday is Tessa's 15 month Well Baby checkup!!! I am super looking forward to finding out how much she weighs and how long she is! I will try to update after her appointment!
Hope everyone has a nice, relaxing weekend!

Until Next Time....Peace, Love, and TESSA!!!