15 months!

Tess continues to amaze us every day as she gets more communicative, and as her friendly, sunny, personality grows. She loves to hug and kiss us, the dog, and her stuffed animals. She is walking like a champ, and has even broken into a run a few times. She tries to climb on pretty much everything (see video) and has a lot of confidence in her physicality. She is having a great time getting to know her Grandma Janet and Grandpa Tim, and just spent a wonderful weekend playing with her cousins Sean, Brendan, and Dean in Boston. She knows lots of animal sounds and loves looking at pictures of animals. And she can identify and point to pictures of things in books, like frog, fish, flower, etc. She doesn't say a lot of words, but she just said "duck" for the first time yesterday.

We moved!

After 7 years in Chicago, we are once again back on the east coast. We are temporarily staying with Chris' parents (thanks Janet and Tim!) while we get settled. Our cell numbers and email addresses remain the same so please feel free to be in touch!

14 months!

Wow, Tess is 14 months old today. She is such a wonderful little bundle of energy and joy. She is walking, and can almost run. She talks a lot (but most of what she says is not in English). She has 7 teeth, but her molars are making their way down and should be here soon. She loves to play peek-a-boo, rearrange furniture, and put things into and take things out of boxes. She also loves music, and likes to sway and bounce her head along to the beat.

13 months!

Happy Birthday, Tess!

Here are a few photos from Tess' birthday party. Thanks to everyone who was there to celebrate this wonderful occasion with us!

one year ago...

our favorite sound

11 months!

Wow! Hard to believe Tess' first birthday is in less than a month.
Where does the time go?



Our little monkey is loving her awesome climbing blocks from Grandma Sandra (and Maisy appreciates the break).

Our little monkey...

has figured out how to scale the wall. We should probably be nervous, but we're really just proud.

10 months!

Tess is 10-months old! She loves to crawl, stand, smile, laugh, eat, talk, and play. She can walk as long as she is holding on to something for balance, and last week she took a tiny, tentative, unassisted step by herself! She can feed herself with her hands now, and loves cheerios. She really enjoys walking the dog, too.

Spring

9 months!

Tess has basically now been out as long as she was in. At her 9-month appointment she weighed 17 lbs, 2 oz. She is talking a lot, and every once in a while throws in an English word like dada. She crawls very fast and loves exploring the house. She is standing a lot too, and can do it without holding on to anything for up to 5 seconds before sitting back down. It has been a very busy 2 months, and we promise to have pictures up on Kodak Gallery soon. But for now here's a sampling.



visit with Grandpa Dan


laughing with dad


big girl shoes!


first time on a swing!


visit with Grandma Janet and Grandpa Tim

8 months old!

Tess is 8 months old! She is turning into quite a little monkey. She loves to crawl, and is very proud of herself when she goes really fast and finds some new corner of the house previously unexplored. She is pulling herself up on anything that is tall and stationary enough (that sometimes includes a very patient Maisy), and has started to try to climb on things too. Guess it's time to baby-proof the house!

7 months old!

Tess is 7-months old and she is doing so well. She loves to crawl, pull herself up, stand, smile, laugh, talk, eat, and play with Maisy. She is also loving having her dad home with her every day.

visit with grandma Sandra (Tess does her Sweet Pea imitation)


Ahh, if dogs could talk...

hello

Tess can now go from her tummy to sitting up by herself!

Happy New Year

In honor of the new year, Tess has just started crawling, and is able to pull herself up to standing with a tiny bit of help. Hope all of you are doing well!