I watch. I stare. I witness. She knows. 
She is constantly looking up to see if I noticed. I cheer. She smiles.
Today I had big plans for what to get done; like publish a blog for our business, do a goal review, schedule some meetings, start planning marketing campaigns for 2013, etc, etc. Tessie’s list was easier. Play. Smile. Practice crawling. Figure out how to go from all fours to a sitting position without falling over.
Clearly only of us accomplished everything.
Oh, the normal-ness of a Tuesday. After working all morning we divided and conquered. Steve and Tessie hung out all afternoon while I took off to do some more Christmas shopping and pick up more groceries. As you can see, I also bought more supplies for wrapping gifts.
You can also see her sitting position of choice. One leg back and one forward – giving the impression she could take off in a sprint at any moment.
After she went to bed we watched the movie “Hope Springs”. I thought it would be more of a chick flick (imagine how excited Steve was) but it was really just sad. It made me want to just snuggle up to my husband. Maybe that was the point. So I wouldn’t necessarily recommend or not recommend the movie. Just be warned.
Ciao!
Why does that happen? Maybe she was just finally feeling the thrill of the snow but she did not sleep all day. Oh I threw her in bed a few times and she goofed off up there for awhile, but she didn’t sleep more than 30 minutes in the morning, and MAYBE 45 in the afternoon.
I had work to do. So I did what any awesome Mom would do. I threw her in the big chair and turned on Barney. She was immediately enthralled, and then a few minutes later she made herself more comfortable. I had 10 minutes to get my thoughts together about how to successfully complete a work day with this baby watching my every move. Thank goodness she wasn’t crabby.
That night after dinner she started laughing. Not the courtesy chuckle or the start of a real laugh like we’ve been getting for months. She was really really laughing and it was hilarious. Yes, I do have it on video (so I could show Steve). No I am not sharing it because I am a total fool on the video. Use your imagination, I’m sure it will be close to what really happened! 
Here she is just on the couch staring at me. She was sitting in the corner just moments before. This is as close as she gets to cuddling. I’ll take it.
Hugs!
FIRST BLIZZARD!!!
I get excited no matter what when the snow flies. To wake up to a world covered in white is thrilling, but then to see it keep coming down all day…. forget about it! Fast and furious the snow just flies and the entire world is blanked with cold sticky snow. Obviously I could not wait to get Tessie outside so she could experience it for the first time.
This is her initial thought. Clearly, she does not yet share my enthusiasm.
Crawling is on the horizon. She spends more time on all fours. She has started rocking and seems to rock for longer each time. She even has started picking up one of her hands and moving it around without losing her balance. I could watch her for hours as she gains strength and the instinct to move takes over. Babies. Are. Amazing.
Since I pla
yed hooky on my birthday I had lots of work to do . I know I said birthdays are work holidays… but since no one can step in for me when I’m gone and my energizer bunny husband boss NEVER stops… there is always a pile waiting for me when I play.
This is my baby playing away behind me. She is happy for the extra toys I have brought down to the office and is more than willing to show off her skills at sitting. Try not to be alarmed that she only has one sock on.
After dinner Steve and Tessie gave me my belated birthday cake. Again, one sock. Note that it is a different one.
Ciao!
Best. Day. Ever.
I am someone who likes a lot of attention on her birthday. I like the cards and the phone calls and the texts and the Facebook Messages. I like presents. I like cake. I like people to tell me how awesome I am. I welcome every opportunity for my bucket to be filled with positivity and love and my birthday just kicks that feeling into overdrive.
I used to have a party for myself on my birthday – inviting friends and family over to my house while I served only my favorite things. That was always a kick.
On my 40th birthday my family pulled off a surprise party! (Obviously it was a surprise… I didn’t even shower that day!!!) and then Steve and I flew to Virginia to see the ocean before deciding to rent a car and drive to DC. We LOVE DC! So that birthday we spent in the Smithsonian; then last year we were in San Diego and we spent my birthday at the Zoo!
This year we were home. We all slept in. We made Gingerbread pancakes. When I first checked my phone it was flooded with greetings. Since we have a company rule (that only I follow) that no one works on their birthday I had the whole day off. It was awesome.
I decided to keep with the “national destinations” theme and spent the day at the Mall of America. I LOVE it there at Christmas! The lights, the music, the peppermint mochas…. the stores filled with people choosing gifts… Love it. I had lunch with two sisters (complete with perfect gifts), coffee with another sister (with another perfect gift) , and I shopped for hours. I especially loved that I had a gift card to my favorite store so I could do some guilt free shopping as well – maximizing clearance and 40% off pricing as well.
Jolene was with Tessie all day and she volunteered to stay late so Steve and I could go to dinner. Like a date. After dinner we came home, grabbed Tessie and headed out to see Santa. She wasn’t super sure about him but she gave him a good look.
After we got home I had one more gift (the most perfect gift) from Tessie and Steve before we put her to bed. Like I said, BEST BIRTHDAY EVER.
Thank you to everyone!
Melissa
Little miss scoots a lot is no longer content with playing with the toys placed in front of her. She prefers to tip over her basket and dig dig dig for what she wants.
Before her morning nap we raced over to the rental to show it. Here we are just patiently waiting. We were a little late heading over, so she has a hat and boots on and I just wrapped her in a blanket and ran!
We had another ladies luncheon today. This time we met Grandma Kathie and Chief Auntie Pat at the Good Day Cafe. We were glad Pat got us a great corner booth so we could spread out a bit and Tessie wouldn’t bother anyone. As it was, she sat there and was just sweet as pie the whole time. Here she is with Auntie Pat. And Sophie the Giraffe. We go nowhere without her!
At bedtime – and I swear I couldn’t make this up – T was lying in her crib and was holding her hand up over her face shielding it from the light. Point made. I turned the light off and wished her sweet dreams.
Most mornings start with Tessie jumping in the kitchen while we make breakfast. Today we jazzed it up with a bear hat that Angie gave us.
After sorting through the dresser (again) we realized that this sweet shirt is flirting with being too small. So I did what anyone would do. I threw on the denim mini and her yellow polka dot leggings and we went to work. The. Cutest.
Later, she re-discovered her love of spitting. Endless amusement, this baby.
Steve was gone most of the day on appointments, so when he came home Tessie helped him prepare a late dinner.
Yes, that is the baby sitting by the knives, on the edge of the granite counter and reaching for the prohibited peanut butter. We live on the wild side here.
She is 7 months old and she turned a corner.
She has been sitting on her own for a few weeks but now today I am seeing some more confident activities. She is great at leaning for things that seem out of reach, but keeping her balance and getting back to a seated position. Today she started pulling the blanket towards her so she could get at a toy that was too far away. She also tried for a long time to move from sitting to her tummy and her attempts were much more controlled than they have been. She was on all fours at one point, but then sat back up again and started over so she could kick her leg out of the way. When she landed on her tummy it wasn’t the flop we’ve seen in the past. When I praised her she giggled. She knew.
She is scooting. Part army crawl, part arms only, part legs pushing, all fours once in a while… I could watch her for hours. I see that she moves and I honestly am still not even sure exactly how she does it!!
She is communicating better with us too. I mean, she totally grunts and hollers like a caveman to get our attention, but when we ask her what she needs she giggles when we are right. And when I think she wants to eat I can sign only, and I get the same response.
As my Dad would say.. I got a bee in my bonnet and spent the whole day cleaning and reorganizing our office space. Tessie was a trooper hanging out with me all day. She even decided to empty the recycling for me.
She is teething something fierce, so Sophie got some serious chomp action.
Later we did our own rendition of “I fought the squash and the squash won”. This new chick on the block LOVES her squash!
Great Saturday!
Ciao!
I used to work at a huge company where I would literally talk to 100 or more people every single day. Sometimes I would talk to that many people before I even made it to my desk in the morning (if I was waiting in line for a coffee in the lobby). Now… different. Now I work with just a few people and there are days and days that go by where the only people I see are Steve and Tessie.
I am obsessed with Facebook. It is sometimes my tether to the outside world. Instead of eavesdropping on a co-workers conversation, I stalk them on Facebook. Instead of “prairie-dogging” in our cubes I just check my newsfeed. This doesn’t mean I’m not busy, or swamped, or spinning my wheels. It doesn’t even mean I am totally escaping from work. It just means that I need a bit more contact than my world is currently giving me.
I still cannot actually get my head around the fact that I have a baby. I watch her everyday and she blows my mind. Some days it is literally all I can do to not post a picture of her on Facebook every hour. My family gets pictures of her texted to them constantly. They bear the brunt of my joy and I’m sure they love it.
Although I spend a good chunk of my days just staring at Tessie, I don’t see her getting bigger. I do, however, see her getting smarter. I watch her figuring things out. I watch her getting stronger. I am amazed and thrilled each time I watch her do something for the first time. I cheer for her all day. Confidence will not be something she lacks.
I think it would be fun to take a picture of her every day and post about it. I take at least a picture of her everyday anyway so it shouldn’t be that hard. It is true that many many pics of her would be exactly the same. Who cares. I’m doing it.
