Sayonara, summer!

Wow. I forgot how hectic life is come August. Where do I even begin? So much has happened.

We bought our first home and moved in Aug. 8. Soon after, we realized how much more Tessa-proofing we have to do. We think she likes the new digs. She often stands against the patio door and watches the neighbor boys play in their sandbox. (When they hear her talking, they look up and say hi — it’s nice.) But that in itself is a concern: boys! We’re surrounded by them. It’s a good thing Eric got in some target practice before his summer ended. : ) And that’s another thing: Daddy daycare came to a close. With the move and a new daycare, Tessa had a difficult time transitioning. She refused to nap at daycare, so after I picked her up, she’d be so tired and cranky that we’d have to put her to bed right after supper. We miss her, so that was really hard to do. She’s doing much better now, though.

Two days after Tessa’s last well-child checkup, we had to bring her to urgent care. She had a bad cough that turned out to be croup, and she was on meds and a nebulizer for a week. Poor girl.

Tessa is perfecting the art of walking and has made her first attempts at running, which result in a fall soon after. At least we’re getting our exercise chasing her! Eric recently inflated the canopy pool she got for her birthday from Mima. It’s sitting in our family room because it has been too cold to use outside. Tessa loves climbing in and out of it. Sometimes she goes in one leg at a time. But other times, she goes in headfirst and does a little flip/tuck-n-roll thing. She usually giggles post landing. I think she’s trying to make a ball pit, because every ball she finds ends up in the pool. And that’s her favorite word to say right now: ball! She also says hi, bye-bye, mama and dada clearly. She talks extensively in rambles, but we don’t know what she’s saying yet!

Her personality is definitely shining through more. The other day I was telling Eric that my friend and former co-worker, Ardis, died on Sunday. Well, as I told him I started to cry, and Tessa walked over to me and gave me a hug. It was the sweetest thing ever. Life with Tessa is full of sweet, sweet moments.

Last night was Eric’s first volleyball match of the season. We swept Madison — Eric is so stoked! Attending the matches will be so different now: I have a mobile child who wants to run after balls! Tessa and I arrived while JV was still playing, so she spent some of her patience on that match. But she did well sitting through it all, even clapping after watching the crowd clap. We just have to teach her only to clap for our team! She sat still on my lap through most of varsity’s first game, but we left after that since it was past her bedtime. Plus, I can only give her so many unsalted saltine crackers in good conscience.