Week of Firsts

Tess has experienced a ton of "firsts" this past week. She tried her first solid foods: rice cereal and sweet potatoes; her first Christmas and her first Colorado Avalanche game. She loved them all and it was so fun to experience them with her.

She's currently rolling over front-to-back and back-to-front, and beginning to push herself up on her arms. It won't be long until she's on her knees and then ... watch out world! At her last checkup (December 19) she weighed 12 pounds and is 24.5 inches long. She's a very tiny six-month-old, but developmentally she's right on target, so she's doing great. Our big girl!!

Little Miss Personality

Tess sure is letting her personality shine through these days! She's making all kinds of new sounds and finding her voice, which is: loud. We're happy to report that she found her toes on November 21 and rolled over, tummy to back, on December 1.


Please tell me that time slows down so I can enjoy my baby forever!!!

Halloween Baby

Tess enjoyed her first Halloween dressed as a cow. She was so happy in her costume and loved watching all the activity at the Halloween party!

Earlier in the day, she had some playtime in her jack-o-lantern hat — a gift from her cousin Caleb.

Before trick-or-treating even started, Tess had already enjoyed her fill of candy! Looks like she's ready for some Pepto Bismol.

Our Little Pumpkin

Tess enjoyed her first visit to the pumpkin patch last weekend. Unfortunately, she received her four-month shots at the doctor the day before, so she didn't feel like smiling for any pictures. Luckily, she recovered pretty quickly and felt like posing with our pumpkins on the porch a couple of days later.

Other news: she's trying to roll over! She's staring to throw her hips and leg over to one side ... it won't be long now. Just this morning I went to get her out of her crib and she'd turned herself all the way around and was sleeping on her side. Goodness know what she does in that crib all night long — that little devil!

Professional Baby

Tess just had her three month pictures taken today and they are beautiful! Here are a couple of my favorites.

Baptism

My very good friend, gretchen Sausville, recently became an ordained minister in the Presbyterian church and we were fortunate to have her at our home last weekend to baptize Tess. We were surrounded by family and the amount of love around Tess that day was amazing. It was a day we'll never forget.

Smiles

We absolutely love our darling daughter! Watching her learn to smile has been very exciting and heartwarming for us. I was lucky enough to capture one just yesterday ...

Two Months

Our little sweetie is two months old today. I can’t believe it! She’s now sleeping four hours at a time during the night … I never thought I’d be so happy to only get four hours of sleep, but it feels like heaven.

She’s started smiling at us and giggling a little bit — it completely melts our hearts. She’s also reaching out to things, but isn’t able to grab yet.

Bath time is a lot of fun and over the last two weeks she’s decided that she likes baths pretty well — except for the part where you have to get out of the water and dry off.

She weighs about seven and a half pounds and is a little over 19 inches long — about the size of a normal newborn. I’ve really enjoyed my tiny baby … it feels like she’s been my sweet little newborn baby for a long time and I love it.

Here are some pictures of her enjoying (and not enjoying) her baths.

Growing Like a Weed

Tess now weighs 6 1/2 pounds and is 19 inches long. I know that most babies are born at that weight (or more!) but to us it seems like she's just giant compared to where she was. Here are some updated photos. Look at those cheeks!

One Month

I can't believe our baby is already a month old. She's growing out of most of her preemie clothes and is finally into newborn-sized things. We're excited about that because we have so many clothes for her that she couldn't really wear until now. She is only a few ounces below six pounds. Growing like a weed!

Tess enjoyed her first trip to the grocery store and her first ride in her swing last week. Don't you wish your life were so simple?!

Pictures below. ***Cuteness Warning!!***

Tess' Birthday

Here are some of Tess' stats:

• She arrived at 8:47 a.m. on June 14 — four weeks early
• She weighed only 4 lbs 2 oz and measured 17 3/4 inches long
• She didn't require any assistance from the nursery during the stay at the hospital ... no oxygen or feeding support. She didn't even get jaundice and she came home with us two days later.

Some of our favorite hospital pictures:

We love the one on the scale. How funny is she??

We were pretty surprised to have her arrive so early, but we're so thankful she's here.