From the Mouths of Babes...

Awright, awright, awright, awright.

Blogging Shmblogging...

Thank you Mama. This went on for like 10 books. I wasn't quick enough to catch the whole thing. Just the end.



Tess has turned in to a polite little girl, although she is a liar. Every time I ask her if she has pooped, she says, "No." Usually she is flat out lying. She knows it. I know it.

Anyhow, she is polite. When I thank her for doing something, she responds by saying, "Thank you, daddy." And I say, "Thank YOU, Tess." And then we go through that about 17 times before we both get too bored or angry with the other's stubbornness.

Happy International Museum Day!

To celebrate this renowned holiday we took advantage of free admission at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It was great because our personal tour guide (Josh) came along too. We've had a hankering to visit there for a while, but hey, $15/person is exprawnsive, man! Free, though? Free we can handle.

I did Tessa's hair up cute for the occasion - check out her first pigtails!!! I nearly died from the cuteness of it all. She nearly died from my squeezing the life force out of her and saying shmoopy things like "Ohhh! My baby's not a baby anymore!"







I had to turn on Dora to get her to stay still long enough for me to do them.



We had a great time looking at pichurs (and sculpchurs) at the museum. Here are Tess and I with a Rothko:



And with a large hanging Calder mobile:



We found this painting by Edouard Vuillard a little disturbing, though:



It wasn't the picture so much as the caption that made us do a double take:



Here are Tess and Josh outside in front of the Rocky steps:



And lastly, here is a video of Tessa taking a cue from Dada and giving us an art history lecture. Hope you enjoyed International Museum Day as much as we did!

It doesn't have to last forever to be everlasting...

My dad told me that quote after I had told him about a text message I got from Jaime this last week. Any of you that have endured been blessed to be part of a Toiaivao family prayer might enjoy this text:

Tess was saying UP! UP! during prayer tonight, so I picked her up, and she got right in my face and said, MAMA, AMEN!

I love that little girl! Much braver than her daddy.

And here are some pictures of her from my cellphone:

Valley Forge...

After a year of living in this area, we finally decided to go to Independence Hall and to see the Liberty Bell this week in downtown Philly. We decided to wake up early and leave the house around 7:30am to be first in line for tickets to the guided tour. So, of course, we woke up around 9! And then we decided to go to Valley Forge instead, another site we hadn't visited yet. It was a great day, although cold. Here are some pictures:

Tess as George Washington:


Jaime as ole George:


My awesome parenting skills on display...Trying to get a picture of the baby climbing on a cannon instead of realizing she was about to fall backwards, hit her head and scream bloody murder:


America's Arch de triomphe. I told Jaime to get a picture of me and Tess in front of the arch. She said okay and then added, "Try to stand so I can get a picture of those brazilians' big ole butts!"


Tess' favorite part of the trip--a stone stump in front of the arch that she thought was her personal seat:


Look how big this giant girl (Tess) is getting:


This is her pointing and saying, "Two," to her mom...meaning: "There is a second stump over there Mom. You should leave me alone and go sit on that one and stop trying to keep me from falling backward onto my head like I did at that cannon."


Tess' other favorite spot--leaning over her mom and dipping her hands in the creek...just like George Washington used to do.


And walking on a wall while holding her dad's hand...just like George Washington used to do:

Naptime?

On the way home from church Tess fell asleep in the car. This is not unusual, and normally we can peel her coat and shoes off and deposit her in her crib without a hitch, but today she woke up mid-transfer. She was still groggy, so we tucked her in with her trusty blanket and dog and hoped she would drift back off.

Twenty minutes later it was clear that she was not sleepy at all anymore, but AWAKE! AND READY TO RUN MARATHONS EVEN!



Jumpajumpajumpajump!

Sore loser...

When we bought a Wii, we got it so the whole family could enjoy it, and Tess LOVES playing Wii. More often than not, when I am in the living room, she will run to the tv stand, pull out the drawer where the controllers are kept and bring one to me while she keeps the other so we can play.

So, yesterday I sat down on the couch to watch some Olympics, and Tess swaggers over, pointing right at me, looking me right in the eyes and talking a whole boat load of trash about how she's gonna mop the floor with me in tennis. She says to me, she says, "When I get done with you Dada, you're gonna be pickin green felt out ya teeth!" No lies. I felt it was only right to humble her a bit. Jaime taped the end of the game, when I made that baby eat her words. It turns out she has her Grammy's competitive nature combined with John McEnroe's fiery temper. Sore loser.





I dominated that mullet-headed little girl.