Ice Water, Tortilla Chips & Splenda, Oh MY!

So we went to Chili's on May 11th (sorry, a while ago) and Tegan decided that his/Brendan's ice water was a bit too bland, so he added the above to them.

Who cares if the Splenda was still in the packet. Oh, and yes, he was wiping his mouth with the napkin. :)

In a bit of more recent news, Tegan can now feed himself with a fork! YAY for Tegan! He'd prefer to use one of Mama or Daddy's forks (the real ones) but for safety sake we prefer he use the "toddler" forks. Let's just say they aren't as good as picking up food as metal ones. Bless his heart, though, T just tries and tries to pick up his food with the little plastic forks until he succeeds... even if it means that he has to use his fingers to put the food on the fork. HA!

No pics of this next one yet, but T now knows how to "shhh". I've gotta get a pic of this one, though, cause it's SO funny! he pushes his finger along the side of his nose and basically makes a really wet s sound. Every now and again he'll actually get the sh out, but not too often just yet.

Hm... what else? Have I mentioned that Tegan now gives kisses? He's gotta work on closing his mouth, but he's got the lips to lips part down. Hehehe. He will also kiss across the room by making a smacking noise with his lips. I taught him that if he wants a dog to come over (i.e. my parents' dog, Lady) he makes the kiss noise and then taps his leg. He is too cute when he does that. Too bad Lady is virtually deaf... I'm pretty sure she wouldn't come to T if she could hear him calling her.

Tegan did somehow sneak a hug in with Roli (our cat) today. Poor cat probably thought he was being violated, though... at least T's intentions were innocent. :)OH, I know what I'm forgetting. As of a few days ago (Tegan wouldn't let me look or feel the past few days) Tegan has cut his 2 top molars and the bottom 2 are getting close. He's also got his 4th lower front tooth finally cutting, too. Yes, that's 5 teeth coming in at once!!! That explains the unending runny nose for the past few weeks, the SUPER cranky mood at the drop of a hat. All I can say is thank God for infants Motrin & Tylenol!

"My belly is AWESOME!"

The last thing is that Tegan has learned that a step (stair step that is) is the perfect height for him to sit on but just squatting down. He can sit that way and his feet still touch the ground. He just sits and looks over at us and gets this great big grin on his face like he's done something SO exciting and special. Just notice the floor, if possible. To Tegan's right is the eraser top of the mechanical pencil and those long black lines on the floor by the receipt/paper are the pieces of lead that came out of the pencil. At least he knows that he should only write on paper and not the floor or wall. :)

I'll finish with some AMAZING pics that Brendan's friend Dana took at last week's Buck Hill race. She's an amazing photographer! Dana, if you read this, thanks for sharing these pics with us!!!

Jamming to the music. Yes, he's dancing... he's about as good as Brendan, but since it's Tegan it's cute.

Love to all!

~j

A Quick Update:

Well, it's been a VERY busy weekend for me! Brendan was gone with the Velo Rochester bike team for a "retreat" if you will (biking and a race) up in Hayward, WI. So... that left me home with Tegan but with lots of work to do. I decided to have "Painting Party" and thankfully a few of my friends and my whole immediate family stepped up to the plate. With Steph and Sarah's help (THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!) the kitchen is totally done except for the nook where the TV is... we forgot about that (whoops!).

On Sunday my parents came over shortly before noon and then a little later my sister arrived. We thought it'd be no problem to get the family room/entryway primed and painted over the afternoon with 3 of us working and 1 watching Tegan. Well, we were wrong. We got it all primed and about 1/4-1/3 painted. I'll have to finish the rest another time... hopefully next weekend when I can get help again. I also hope to do some every night after Tegan goes to bed.

As far as Tegan goes. He even decided to help paint, much to our frustration, though it did allow me to laugh a little. In the 30 seconds that someone turned their back he grabbed a roller and began painting none other than our brand new carpet!!!! AHHHH! He got his foot and somehow his face, too. Not sure how the face got involved. My guess is he got paint on his hand and then rubbed his face. Regardless of how frustrating it was to clean, it is funny to think back on now that we did get all the paint out of the carpet :) Here's a pic of Tegan with the Swiffer. I guess he was just practicing up for his painting debut!

Here he is helping us vacuum the other day... exept it wasn't plugged in.

Tegan realized that the vacuum wasn't plugged in... thankfully we keep covers over our outlets.

Oh yes... and we always need to taste everything at some point. YUCK!!!!!!!Back to Tegan. He's got a new favorite face that he makes... see pics below. He makes it a lot. :)We are also now supposed to bush teeth 2x a day... we're working on that. Tegan prefers to suck the toothpaste off the brush before we get to the brushing part. Don't worry, it's the training toothpaste, so it's not toxic.Helping Daddy mow the lawn.

Post mowing bonding time.

Ok... all for. Love to all! ~j

Life Before 7am on a Tuesday...

Here are a few fun pics I shot of Brendan and Tegan having some fun together this morning. I wish there was a bit more light in the room... but there wasn't. I am just semi-antiflash cause it distorts colors and shadows and stuff. Regardless, I got some good ones. Take note of the name on the back of T's t-shirt. Yes, that was someone's kindergarten soccer jersey nearly 25 years ago. It's not T's favorite p.j. Too sweet!

In other news, today was Tegan's 15 month check-up. All looks great, so nothing to report except the stats: 27.0 lbs = 83% 32.3" = 82% I can't remember the head circumference measurement, but it's "up" to the 33% :)

Love to all!

~jenn

Moving Sucks!

So... we're all moved in and pretty much unpacked. Tegan even thought he'd help us...There are only a few precious boxes left that need to be emptied and then we'll be done. We also got a dishwasher yesterday, so I don't have to do it all in the sink anymore. Yahoo!!! The grates for the stove are en route via UPS so we'll be able to cook again soon, too. Yeah, the people who had the house before us took the stove grates with them and let me tell you, they are not cheap to replace. I guess it's part of the perills of buying a foreclosure. I'm glad, though, that we were able to do most of it in just over a week, pretty impressive since we both work full time and have Tegan to keep tabs on :)

OK, on to the little man. Tegan has made some major improvements when it comes to walking. At home, he'll pretty much walk anywhere he wants without holding on to Brendan's or my finger/hand.

Walking in the new kitchen.He's the same way on any hard surface outside (driveway, deck, sidewalk...). When it comes to grass or the playground, though, Tegan still prefers to hold on to something (preferably mommy or daddy). It's pretty cute!

15 months old and trying to get Daddy's beer bottle... what will he be doing at 15 years old?!?! Today Tegan and I went for a nice long run and then stopped at the park 2 blocks from our house on the way home. There were several "big" (3+ years old) kiddos there and it was SO funny because Tegan usually loves to play, but today all he really wanted to do was watch the bigger kids. It was neat to see his facial expressions as he took it all in.

Playing with Grandma Moore with the dishwasher box.

Talking is starting to really take off too. Tegan now says "nigh-nigh" for "night-night". He also says "no" and his "daddy" is really pronounced. He's even starting to say "mommy" which is exciting for me! :) Yay!!! T will also now nod his head for "yes" and shake his head for "no" and usually does so appropriatly. It's SO cool and weird to see and experience him communicating, answering questions and, sometimes, following directions. I can't believe how quickly he's growing up! We sat by several little-ones at church this morning and it totally reminded me of the fact that I'm definitely ready to get going on Baby Numero 2... we'll see. :)

Tegan became obsessed with this can of Ginger Ale one evening... he took it everywhere he went, even outside for play time with Daddy... until he threw it down on the concrete sidewalk 1 too many times and it exploded and started spraying him inthe face. :) I wish I could have see that happen!

Gotta explain this last pic. It was our last day at the townhouse and Tegan decided that all he wanted to wear was his diaper and crocs... it was too cute seeing him toddle around all morning in just that. hehehe :) My baby is SO cute! OK... gonna rest. Love to all!!!
~j