18 months (and 19 months...)

(This turned out to be a pretty long post.  I wanted to record all of these memories so I can look back and remember Tessa at this age.  There are some pictures and videos at the end if you would rather just scroll down to see Tess in action.)

I'm a month late in posting Tessa's 18 month stats. ...

34 inches tall - 97th %tile
24.4 pounds - 75th %ile

Also, we had an interesting scare the night of her 18 month appointment.  Our doctor called us to let us know that his nurse had given Tessa an adult dose of the chicken pox vaccine on accident.  He assured us that the worse that could come out of this mistake was that Tessa would most likely contract the chicken pox.  I wouldn't have been so stressed out about this news if we weren't starting our first week of school.  Kyle was even more stressed out about it because he has never had the chicken pox.  Luckily, though, there is a a blood test that he had done to determine if he was immune to the disease anyway.  It turns out he is!  (He is telling everyone he's super human now...)  It appears that Tessa is super human, too, because she never ended up getting it.  Yay!!  Of course, I was a paranoid freak for the whole three week incubation time frame.  But, luckily, she managed to avoid getting the itchy red mess!  (Oh, and that nurse was let go from the practice, by the way.)


Now Tessa is a big, 19 month old wild woman!  I have to say this is probably our most challenging month yet.  (Well these past two months.)  Tess knows what she wants, and she will do whatever it takes to get what she wants.  She can throw a mean temper tantrum these days.  She is loud and destructive.  There have been quite a bit of throwing and hitting going on, too.  I know she gets frustrated easily because she can't tell us what she wants, but she also just wants her way and doesn't like to hear the word "no".  She has learned how to say the word "no", however, and it seems to be her favorite word lately!  (Even when she means yes!)

Despite all of these tantrums, Tess still has a lot of sweet moments, too.  She is starting to understand so much more, which will hopefully make things easier on all of us.  We're learning that she, like Kyri, is a "routine girl".  (Uggh, how did I get these two mini Kyles??)  : )  When we start the bath, she gets all of the soap/shampoo supplies out of the closet and pretends to pour them into the tub.  In the morning, she has to have her shoes on before she leaves the changing table, and then stops by her bow holder and pats her head.

Some other cute things that I want to remember about this age...

• She likes to play pretend with her baby dolls...changes their diapers (by using 15 wipes), wraps them in blankets and burps them or rocks them to sleep, then puts her finger up to her mouth and tells everyone to "shhh" because her baby's "nigh nigh"
• She loves everything "Rella" (Cinderella).  She likes to read a Cinderella book before bed, sleeps with a stuffed Rella doll from Aunt Jan, and she points out anything with Cinderella on it.  It seems that all of the Disney Princesses are "Rella" to her right now, actually.
• Speaking of that, she tends to generalize everything...  Any type of drink is called "water" to her. Any body part is an "eye".  And she used to call all animals "puppies", but now she's starting to be able to name some others like horse, bird, leopard, monkey, and bunny.
• We're working on knowing the names of family members.  Aubry is definitely her favorite family member right now.  Sorry everyone else.  I have heard her singing herself to sleep with songs about "Auby".  She has even called for Auby in her sleep.  And if you even mention Aubry's name, she runs around with her hands out saying, "Auby, R you?"  (Where are you?)
• She recognizes both sets of grandparents' houses when we pull in the driveway and starts yelling, "Nama" or "Mama".
• Tess seems to be pretty coordinated and likes to ride on toys and figure out how things work.
• Tessa makes A LOT of messes, so she is good at telling on herself when she makes a mess now. This is usually because she's playing with her meal.  Tess is amused easily, so she likes to put her spoon under her plate and then have it pop out.  (She cracks up at her trick.)  She also thinks it's cool to spin her spoon like a board game spinner.  It's also fun to put food on top of your sippy cup and then try to drink it.  

We've said it since she was just a few months old... Tess is going to be the class clown for sure!

Her hair is finally getting long enough to fit into a ponytail.  It doesn't last long, though.

One of her sweet moments

This was the result of finding a blue marker in Kyri's craft basket while I was in the bathroom.  She decorated herself and the kitchen table.  The picture was taken after we scrubbed her hands with soap and water...

Here is Tess looking at her photo album of family pictures.  Most people probably can't understand what she's saying, but I have a habit of translating for her when she talks.  Sorry you have to listen to my annoying voice after her sweet words.

This video is titled, "Auby, where are you?"

(Don't mind the mismatched pajamas.  Kyle changed her.)

Wrapping up her baby and rocking her to sleep