Well - if you are teething and have a cold...all that extra drool comes in handy.
More cuteness...
Luxurious PB&J eating
Funny face
Do you think she knows shes cute? (I'm fairly sure she does)
Tessa is a Binkie addict. She firmly believes that you can not have to many binkies - all in bed with you - at the same time.
The only time this addiction is not cute (okay, total lie, still cute, just annoying) is at 3am when she is crying for her binkie and after a mad scramble to find Binkie A, you realize she has Binkie B stuck on her pointer finger and just forgot about it...
Tessa is turning into such a toddler! I'd like to pleasure you with some anecdotes...
The other day I was deep in a phone conversation for work, pacing the length of the condo as I talked. After dodging Tessa a number of times I realized that she was following me, with her hand to her ear babbling to herself.
She's started pretending. Over the weekend she feed Aaron with a fork a whole serving of who knows what from the empty lid of a Pam cooking spray container.
Because the cat dishes were empty I let her play with them (I know, not enforcing positive behavior!) and found her kneeling over them, biting the side as if eating from them.
Same thing happened with Quincy's water fountain (if you don't know what I'm talking about, don't ask), except it wasn't empty and she was wearing Daddy's knit hat. She ended up with a stripe of water from the crown of her head to her belly button.
While I was eager looking forward to so many milestones, rolling over, crawling, walking. I was NOT looking forward to climbing. I know it makes me seem selfish to hear that I would not help her learn to climb, if she started trying to pull up on a chair I would pick her up and set her there. NO DEVELOPMENT OF BICEPS FOR ME PLEASE! But alas, you can't stand in the way of progress and now she can climb up and sit on a chair, as smug as you please. So now a lot of my day is spent saying "Sit down...sit. Sit down...Tessa, on your bum...sit." She has yet to try climbing on the counter - and I am counting my lucky stars as long as that lasts.
Am I the only person reading about/watching/discussing politics that thinks that there is just a bit too much (ie a lot of) HATE floating around out there? Since when did having a different opinion than someone mean you had to despise their very existence? I hardly think that an election is about making a choice between a white night and a dark lord. I hardly think that every slip of the tongue or funny looking tie indicates a voluminous character flaw that must be touted and shouted from every roof top.
This vengeful dialogue must be the reason that when I go to vote I have a looming feeling of anxiety and ... distrust. What if the person I chose, who by then - because the "other side" has been slinging vile and angry accusations with the same ferocity that "my guy" has been at them - I have serious doubts about, is really a shyster who has fooled me and others who vote for him and when he wins he will slough off his human form and reveal his true reptilian and evil soul? And even worse...what if the other guy wins?!
I crave information, debate and conversation, even persuasive argument - that is not full of revulsion and fury. I want to be able to hear each candidate state his political and philosophical leanings, his priorities, emphasize his character as well as his humanity and then step aside to let the other do the same. Sure, they can debate, but please, use logic and civility, not propaganda and sarcasm. Note this - I nearly always disbelieve a person who speaks of "the other" guy with hatred. I don't discuss politics very often because it seems like I am frequently blindsided by such statements, and if I try to advocate for rationality I become "one of them." (Oh what a saint I make myself out to be!)
In my fantasy world, if the person I didn't choose happens to win I'll think to myself - "Well, its a good thing that some of my Senators and Congresspeople, as well as those in other states, share my opinion, and can advocate for the causes that I hold dear - and its a good thing that our Founding Fathers set up at system of checks and balances so that the Executive office does not hold all power. And its a good thing that this might only last 4 years, and can not go longer than 8 years. And maybe I can trust the majority of the population to at least have chosen someone with character who, though his opinions differ greatly from mine at least has the best interests of the people he serves at heart."
Of course that would be easier to believe if the candidates themselves weren't so easily...
...hold on, I've got to go clean up cat puke.
I'm a pretty decent cook. I'd humbly put my skill level at around the 65th percentile...
But that doesn't stop me from doing things like setting the frying pan on fire - twice - while trying to make fried eggs for breakfast.
So yes, I definitely lose points for endangering the life of myself, my child and my cat, and the property of 3 families. But I regain some by not giving in and going to Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast. I pulled out a second frying pan (as the first one is probably going to be sent to the great stove top in the sky), did NOT turn the burner to the very highest setting, and made some very delicious, completely un-runny (thats a good thing in my book) fried eggs. And I enjoyed them very much.
(Oh yes, I also gain points back for only thinking about taking a picture because it would be great on the blog before putting the fire (okay, both fires) out.)
Over the fact that last night Miss T ate cat food (the wet kind from the packet) that had been sitting out all day (10 hours at least).
I mean the cat himself wouldn't eat it when it was fresh.
I am Thankful this Thursday that -
Because we decided not to replace our furnace (hum...that in itself should be my Thankful...) and so we had to fill up our oil tank after months and months of letting it get emptier and emptier...it is 275 gallons and home heating oil is around $4.00...YIKES.
Luckily our 1st floor neighbors are friends with the people that deliver our oil so they convinced them to split the minimum 100 gallon delivery between our two units. So we got 50 gallons and $200 bill. Not as bad (although, yes, at some point we will need to by MORE oil).
The "discount" part!? Well apparently last spring I paid extra on the last bill, since I figured we'd be buying more and had been behind all winter. I forgot about it and when I got my followup bill from the oil company it was for $70.oo less than the original bill, because of that overpayment! YEAH!
Since I forgot about that I'm counting it as free money. Lutidootidootido (that is singing)
Aaron was in the mood for a 5 day weekend (who isn't?) so he took Thursday & Friday off, in addition to the Monday coming up.
We headed to the Cape on Thursday so that we could beat the weekend traffic and crowds. We learned that Tessa does not like long (3 hour) car rides and has a temper! But she recovered quickly whenever we stopped the car and really had a lot of fun exploring the hotel room and turning the TV off and on (repeat...)
On Thursday night we just drove around and looked at cute cottages, stopping at a beach to stretch our legs. Fish and Chips for dinner - yum.
Then on Friday we spent the whole day at Nausett Beach. The day started out overcast but cleared up and was a perfect beach day. If you were flying over the east coast on Friday and looked down at Cape Cod - those three flashes of reflected light were the U** family frolicking on the beach. We slathered on the SPF 50 because after all, if you don't even have a base tan by Labor Day, there really is no point (that and skin cancer just doesn't seem like a fun time). You may want to don your polarized specs to view the pictures in this post.
Aaron and I took turns playing in the waves. You know, its been two years since I actually got IN the water when we've gone to the beach. This time Aaron let/made me go first and I remembered that it is a lot of fun! Of course the only reason I really got fully immersed is that a wave knocked me over but after that there was no stopping me.
