Tess really likes to assign us all alter-egos from her favorite shows/books/etc. When she's thinking about Mulan, for example, I am "Captain Mommy," she is "Captain Tessa" (or "Tessa Tailua Alley, Captain") and Josh is "Mulan Daddy."
When she's thinking about Peter Pan, she is "Peter Pan Tessa," I am "Wendy Mommy," and Josh is "John Michael Daddy." (Also living in her Peter Pan imagination are "Captain Hook Kellie" and "Tinkerbell Shane," heh heh heh. I swear there is minimal seed planting on our parts to get these out of her.)
We used the last of our free movie passes to see Rango last weekend and for a few days after that we were "Rango Tessa," "Rango Mommy," and "Rango Daddy." I guess she didn't think the other characters were very memorable in that one. (As an aside, Rango = pretty good for supposedly a kids' movie! Although maybe too scary for actual small children...I was kind of nervous about Tess as we were watching it, but she is weirdly immune to scary things in kid movies and showed no signs of trauma either during or after.)
Anyway, she got a dinosaur book for Christmas and at some point (I think when we were all snowed in) I took this video. As you can see from her rockin' hairdo she and I had been playing hair salon. After her first trim at Christmastime she got really into getting and giving haircuts. :) So here is our conversation about our dinosaur selves. It was a good heart to heart. Lots of soul-searching.
There's something mildly disconcerting about how obvious it is to her that I am a T-Rex, I think. (Is it my weak arms? My extra-pointy canine teeth? Or just my towering size?? Hmmmm. After making this list I think she might have been onto something after all.)
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Friday, March 11, 2011
Dream car...
Wouldn't it be so cool to be able to tell your friends, "Yeah, I helped my friend's/in-law's/sibling's/cousin's sister drives one of those new all-electric cars." Wouldn't that make you feel good about yourself. Of course! Tell your friends and share the link!!!
You know you want her to win!!!
Watch my sister's awesome video and vote here so she can win an awesome new car: https://www.drivenissanleaf.com/Win/Vote.aspx?b=EU9ZM2XRCAWR.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
My boyfriend wants to do skips with me...
We found out yesterday that Tess has a boyfriend. She wouldn't tell me his name, but she did tell me, "My boyfriend wants to do skips with me..." That better not be a euphemism for something.
And here are some videos of her lately. This one is of her trying to watch her stories. She loves the TV and zones everyone out when it's on. It's her hobby. Am I right, mom? Tess puts up with a lot with us as her parents, but we've got to figure out some way to let her know we're superior. She's always thought of me and her as equals under Jaime. But for some reason, she has decided recently we're all on the same level. Jaime is no longer our evil overlord. So, here's Tess watching TV:
And here she is at Chipotle Friday night. These next two videos show she is definitely a product of both of us. She loves her salsa:
And this proves she is Jaime's. Jaime is the chorister at church, and Tess thinks it's really fun watching her mom lead the music (she might be singing in French). When I asked her the name of her song, she said: "On do ma fa.":
And here are some videos of her lately. This one is of her trying to watch her stories. She loves the TV and zones everyone out when it's on. It's her hobby. Am I right, mom? Tess puts up with a lot with us as her parents, but we've got to figure out some way to let her know we're superior. She's always thought of me and her as equals under Jaime. But for some reason, she has decided recently we're all on the same level. Jaime is no longer our evil overlord. So, here's Tess watching TV:
And here she is at Chipotle Friday night. These next two videos show she is definitely a product of both of us. She loves her salsa:
And this proves she is Jaime's. Jaime is the chorister at church, and Tess thinks it's really fun watching her mom lead the music (she might be singing in French). When I asked her the name of her song, she said: "On do ma fa.":
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
What's your favorite number...
We were reading stories together this evening, and one of the books was a counting book. One of the last pages had all the numbers listed with a corresponding number of objects (like 6 bananas). So the page said to pick your favorite number and count the objects. This is how the conversation went with Tess:
Jaime: What's your favorite number Tess?
Tess: Dancing!
Me: That's not a number. Do you have a favorite number?
Tess: Yes.
Jaime: What's your favorite number?
Tess: Charlie and Lola!
Me: Nope. That's not a number either.
Jaime: Do you like the number 1?
Tess: Yes.
Jaime: Do you like the number 2?
Tess: No.
Jaime: Number 3?
Tess: N'es
.....That's another of her contractions. It either means maybe or I don't know. No + Yes = N'es
So, Jaime goes through all the numbers (well just 1-10--not ALL of them), and most of them Tess says she likes.
Jaime: So what's your favorite number?
Tess: Teddy bears!
And speaking of hating the number 2...Jaime decided it was high time to potty train Tess, and it's been going really well, as seen by this picture Jaime put up on Facebook:
Yesterday I called Jaime from work to see how it was going. She said Tess had already had a number of accidents and didn't seem bothered by them. In fact, Tess would wet herself (or worse), find Jaime, start dancing (because it's her favorite number) and sing: "I'm not learning! I'm not learning!"
Jaime: What's your favorite number Tess?
Tess: Dancing!
Me: That's not a number. Do you have a favorite number?
Tess: Yes.
Jaime: What's your favorite number?
Tess: Charlie and Lola!
Me: Nope. That's not a number either.
Jaime: Do you like the number 1?
Tess: Yes.
Jaime: Do you like the number 2?
Tess: No.
Jaime: Number 3?
Tess: N'es
.....That's another of her contractions. It either means maybe or I don't know. No + Yes = N'es
So, Jaime goes through all the numbers (well just 1-10--not ALL of them), and most of them Tess says she likes.
Jaime: So what's your favorite number?
Tess: Teddy bears!
And speaking of hating the number 2...Jaime decided it was high time to potty train Tess, and it's been going really well, as seen by this picture Jaime put up on Facebook:
Yesterday I called Jaime from work to see how it was going. She said Tess had already had a number of accidents and didn't seem bothered by them. In fact, Tess would wet herself (or worse), find Jaime, start dancing (because it's her favorite number) and sing: "I'm not learning! I'm not learning!"
Monday, February 21, 2011
N'on't...
Learned a new word today from Tess. N'on't. As in, "No, don't!"
Jaime: "I'm gonna tickle you!"
Tess: Shrieks, "N'on't!"
It might be spelled no'n't.
Jaime: "I'm gonna tickle you!"
Tess: Shrieks, "N'on't!"
It might be spelled no'n't.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
February? More like first day of summer...
Since it was in the 70s today, we spent all day outside of the house. That's what Atlantoids do. As soon as it hits 80, though, I'm going back inside the air conditioning. We didn't exactly spend the whole day outdoors, but we did do our best to wear out Tess.
We started by doing a little shoe shopping. Tess was absolutely obsessed with these mirrors. This is quite possibly the best picture I've ever taken:
Afterward, we were invited to play some frisbee golf with some new friends. Frolf. Jaime had never played before. And I had only played once, and it wasn't a great memory. This girl I really liked had just broken up with me (I won't mention names to protect her from the swift judgment you should all bring down upon her, but I eventually married her. That might help some of you narrow it down.). And so one of my roommates set me up with a girl and we all played frisbee golf. Frolf. I think it's great that both of my experiences with frisbee golf have involved playing with people I don't know very well. I'm not awkward...at all. It's probably not helping to endear me to frisbee golf. Frolf. And Jaime and I are both horrible at throwing a frisbee. I wanted to say we were both horrible at throwing it straight, but really we're just horrible at all aspects of it: straightness, distance, not landing it in hazards like muddy water/briar bushes, etc. We convinced Tess to tag along with us, even though she had offered to stay behind at the playground.
It finally got to the point where she kept telling us, "I need carry you, Mommy." That sounded great, but apparently that meant she needed to be carried. Similar to how she will tell us things like, "These peas don't like me," when she doesn't want to eat peas. Well finally after 9 grueling holes, we made it back to the playground. And played and played. I don't remember wanting to go down the same slide 20 times in a row as a kid, but that's the thing to do.
After tearing Tess away from the playground and making fun of her for saying things like, "What's happen to my eye?" after crying uncontrollably, we made it to the car and went for some ice cream. There's a place here that gives anyone under 40 inches tall a free ice cream cone(the promotion might actually say, "Any children under 40 inches"). So, we got Tess her very first ice cream cone! So our little girl who thinks something horrible has happened to her any time she has a tear rolling down her cheek or gets food on her hands, ended up like this:
She just doesn't like being dirty. Some how she got ice cream on her back. We're not sure how that happened.
When we finished ice cream, we piled back in to the car and drove down Riverside Drive on the banks of the Chattahoochee. Tess had fallen asleep before we got out of the parking lot. 9 holes of frisbee golf really wears a kid out. This is her on the couch after we got home wiped out:
She did wake up long enough to eat a few things and build some lego hammers. But she was asking the whole time to go back to bed. She's a strange one. Jaime got her all ready for bed, put her in bed and left the room when Tess started crying, "Help me. Help me. Let me out! Let me out! I wanna dance! Please. Please. Daddy, help. Please, Dada. I wanna dance!" How can I say no to that? So, we finally ended the day with a slow dance around her room, and now she seems to have gone right to sleep. What a weirdo.
We started by doing a little shoe shopping. Tess was absolutely obsessed with these mirrors. This is quite possibly the best picture I've ever taken:
Afterward, we were invited to play some frisbee golf with some new friends. Frolf. Jaime had never played before. And I had only played once, and it wasn't a great memory. This girl I really liked had just broken up with me (I won't mention names to protect her from the swift judgment you should all bring down upon her, but I eventually married her. That might help some of you narrow it down.). And so one of my roommates set me up with a girl and we all played frisbee golf. Frolf. I think it's great that both of my experiences with frisbee golf have involved playing with people I don't know very well. I'm not awkward...at all. It's probably not helping to endear me to frisbee golf. Frolf. And Jaime and I are both horrible at throwing a frisbee. I wanted to say we were both horrible at throwing it straight, but really we're just horrible at all aspects of it: straightness, distance, not landing it in hazards like muddy water/briar bushes, etc. We convinced Tess to tag along with us, even though she had offered to stay behind at the playground.
It finally got to the point where she kept telling us, "I need carry you, Mommy." That sounded great, but apparently that meant she needed to be carried. Similar to how she will tell us things like, "These peas don't like me," when she doesn't want to eat peas. Well finally after 9 grueling holes, we made it back to the playground. And played and played. I don't remember wanting to go down the same slide 20 times in a row as a kid, but that's the thing to do.
After tearing Tess away from the playground and making fun of her for saying things like, "What's happen to my eye?" after crying uncontrollably, we made it to the car and went for some ice cream. There's a place here that gives anyone under 40 inches tall a free ice cream cone(the promotion might actually say, "Any children under 40 inches"). So, we got Tess her very first ice cream cone! So our little girl who thinks something horrible has happened to her any time she has a tear rolling down her cheek or gets food on her hands, ended up like this:
She just doesn't like being dirty. Some how she got ice cream on her back. We're not sure how that happened.
When we finished ice cream, we piled back in to the car and drove down Riverside Drive on the banks of the Chattahoochee. Tess had fallen asleep before we got out of the parking lot. 9 holes of frisbee golf really wears a kid out. This is her on the couch after we got home wiped out:
She did wake up long enough to eat a few things and build some lego hammers. But she was asking the whole time to go back to bed. She's a strange one. Jaime got her all ready for bed, put her in bed and left the room when Tess started crying, "Help me. Help me. Let me out! Let me out! I wanna dance! Please. Please. Daddy, help. Please, Dada. I wanna dance!" How can I say no to that? So, we finally ended the day with a slow dance around her room, and now she seems to have gone right to sleep. What a weirdo.
Friday, February 11, 2011
I need a Hammer...
Legos are the best. Ever. That's been proven scientifically. In multiple studies.
Tess got a bunch of legos for Christmas, and it's been really fun the last couple days seeing how creative she gets. I'll show a few of her most recent creations:
Exhibit A:
Me: What is that Tess? The letter T?
Tess: Yes!
Exhibit B:
Me: What is that Tess? The letter T?
Tess: No. It's a helicopter.
--then she twirled around the room flying her helicopter.
Exhibit C:
Me: What is that Tess? A helicopter?
Tess: No, it's not a helicopter. It's a hammer!
--it's been a hammer since.
This is her cheesing for me, when I asked her to smile. I should have videotaped it because it was one of the first times she has smiled on command for me. So, more like constipation than glee.
This was a little better:
Don't you love the colors on her hammer? We were listening to one of my favorite Bob Marley songs when she built it. She da rasta baby mon! Listen to it:
Hammer by Bob Marley
Tess got a bunch of legos for Christmas, and it's been really fun the last couple days seeing how creative she gets. I'll show a few of her most recent creations:
Exhibit A:
Me: What is that Tess? The letter T?
Tess: Yes!
Exhibit B:
Me: What is that Tess? The letter T?
Tess: No. It's a helicopter.
--then she twirled around the room flying her helicopter.
Exhibit C:
Me: What is that Tess? A helicopter?
Tess: No, it's not a helicopter. It's a hammer!
--it's been a hammer since.
This is her cheesing for me, when I asked her to smile. I should have videotaped it because it was one of the first times she has smiled on command for me. So, more like constipation than glee.
This was a little better:
Don't you love the colors on her hammer? We were listening to one of my favorite Bob Marley songs when she built it. She da rasta baby mon! Listen to it:
Hammer by Bob Marley
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