Apple Picking at Weber's Farm (MD)

Tessa loved picking the apples all "by self".We were lucky it was such a gorgeous day, and that we had gotten there first thing in the morning. Apple picking in MD, is not like in MA. Here you have to go the day it starts and hope for the best. This year we got really lucky and were able to pick lots of good Cortlands. Next week in MA, I hope to bring Tessa to Tougas where I know she'll love the hay ride, animals, donuts, etc.

Tim and Tessa on the hill slides

Sliding by herself. She LOVED that she could go down the hill like the "big kids".

2nd Birthday Party Video

Birthday Party in MA

Tessa had a birthday party in MA at Nana's house. The guest of honor was Indy, Kevin and Kayla's pet hedge hog. Tessa was really excited to finally meet him!!

She got to show off her gift opening skills...and oh boy did she get good!

And eating icecream cake was clearly an excellent idea!

First Day of School

Tessa started nursery school today! And today went great! She is going Tue/Thurs from 9:10-11:40 from now til Memorial Day. Her teacher is Mrs Coplai (cop-lee). They have a "Courduroy bear" there and so far thats her favorite thing

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Happy 2nd Birthday

Today was a fun filled day! We took advantage of the unseasonably cool weather today and spent the morning at the zoo.

Tessa and Tim watching the penguins

Tessa feeding the giraffe

Riding the cheetah on the merry go round. After nap we started the transformation of Tessa's furniture to her new room. All that moved was her crib and dresser. The crib became a toddler bed...Now I had no intention of doing this on her birthday. However she has tried more than once to climb out of her crib so before she actually does climb out and hurt herself I figured we might as well just bite the bullet. So we emptied out the spare bedroom (read pulled out stuff we didn't even know we had stored away and tried to find new homes for it...). And now Tessa has a new room. Pictures to come soon. As I type this she is laying in bed, who knows if she'll stay there, but I'm hoping she will, or at least that I don't have to go in too many times to tell her to get back in bed.

After we moved the furniture we had Tessa's best friend Rylan over for dinner and Happy Birthday. The girls had a blast playing together!

Waiting to blow out the candles

Blowing out the candles like a pro!

Brownies are yummy

And a super cute video of the girls playing "ring around the rosie".

Mini Update with Lots of Pictures

Tessa's going to have a little sister! And as of right now she's quite excited about that, we'll see how much that changes when the baby has arrived.

Tessa is becoming a "big kid" more and more these days. A few weeks ago we stopped giving her milk in a bottle, she hasn't had milk since...oh well at some point she'll drink it, and if not there's always yogurt, cheese, and oj with calcium. She is also in the process of being potty trained. She understands keeping her undies dry, and for the most part when we are home has no problem going on the potty. If she's asleep, or we're out things are less reliable. However she does LOVE to go potty at the gym, the pool, and anywhere else she sees/hears big kids are going potty. She doesn't often say she needs to go, but if she is put on the potty 9 times out of 10 she goes. The other big news here is that her "bubbas" (pacifiers) were officially taken away yesterday. She was less than thrilled and showed me just how upset she was by screaming for 15 minutes, sleeping for 40, and then screaming some more. Today seems to be going better, so hopefully in a week or so "bubbas" will be a thing of the past.

Tessa is very excited to start school when she turns 2! Actually she doesn't start til Sept 14th, but I keep telling her when she's 2 she'll go to school. I was really looking forward to buying her a backpack, but her school requests "open top tote bags" so I guess thats what I'll be getting.

She has learned most of her letters, only gets confused by U/V and for whatever reasons has a hard time remembering G. She loves to point to signs and call out the letters in the words, most of the time they are not in the right order but we're working on that. She knows some of her numbers, but that is still a work in progress.

It is amazing how much she learns in a just a week. She is a little chatter box who loves to repeat everything we say. Luckily none of which has been bad...

And now for some recent pictures.
Max, Connor, Rylan, Olivia, and Tessa on Connor's last day in Baltimore :(

Dancing at Belvedere Square with Rylan, having so much fun!

Petting Zoo with Daddy (where her birthday party will be)

Loving the pony ride, hopefully everyone that comes to her birthday will love it too!

Getting her toes painted "pretty pink"

Tessa's 2nd Birthday Party Invitation

Feeding the goats at the zoo in CT near Gran
Squatting like uncle Kevin
Riding the Merry Go Round with Daddy - a constant topic of conversation

Hitting the baseball into the pool

Watching Mickey with Uncle Dan

Giving Grampa his birthday card

Really concentrating on writing/drawing with Uncle Dan

Grampa joins in and draws a rainbow for Tessa

Somersaults and Silly Faces

Outer Banks Family Trip

We were very lucky this year to be able to rent a house on the Outer Banks. Nana, Mimi, Pop, and Granpa all joined us. The house was a short walk from the beach, and had a pool in the backyard.

Tessa woke up after the first night with a tick on her head...not exactly what you want to have happen. Luckily it wasn't in deep and it was easily removed. We were pretty sure it came from playing on the cool swingset/castle in the backyard. So needless to say she didn't get to play out there much. Which didn't really matter since once the temps reached the mid-90s no one wanted to stand outside with her and let her play.

There were many trips to the beach, and the pool. Tessa enjoyed lots and lots of freeze pops. And more attention than any one child needs.

Everyone had a good time.

Pictures

Summertime Fun

Baby #2 expected early December

Tessa trying to say the names of the family dogs

New Bike

Getting pushed on the new tricycle



Walking Lou

Capturing Tessa Talking and a Cookout/Playdate

I've been trying to get Tessa to sit still and talk on camera, not an easy task. Here's a video of her saying a few things, although she can say many more.

We had friends over for a cookout tonight, and I took a quick video of the kids running around right before they left. Calvin is already in pjs, and Rylan is halfway there.

First Visit to the Zoo (This Year)

Daddy Turns "30"