9 Months!  

We took Tesla in for her 9 month check-up and here's where she's at:

16 pounds 6 ounces--18th percentile

27.5 inches long--50th percentile

For Weight-to-Height, she's in the 25th percentile and her head circumference is in the 90th percentile!

This is what happens when Tesla doesn't get her way....

And this....(how does a 9-month-old know how to milk a situation so well!  And the thing that gets me is that if she gets her way, she will go immediately from this to smiling and giggling within the same breath!)

She celebrated 9 months by finally getting a tooth, and then the second followed a few days later.

Lennon had his 4-yr check up at the same time.  I'm still amazed at how brave he is with his shots--he doesn't even flinch, let alone cry!  Here's where he is:

31 pounds 8 ounces--about the 18th percentile

38 inches tall--10th percentile

I had Lennon answer a Birthday Questionnaire (that I hope to ask him each year)--here are a few questions and answers:

• Favorite Food:  Mac & Cheese (no surprise there)
• Favorite Color:  Black (again, not a shocker)
• Favorite TV Show:  Super Why (which is a major reason Lennon is reading)
• Favorite Clothes:  Packers Shirt
• Where do you want to go on vacation someday:  School
• When you were little, you used to...:  Be a Baby (so logical!)
• Three words to describe yourself:  Cool, Awesome, Great

Tesla is giving us a run for our money--Lennon never came close to preparing us for this little girl.  I don't think Tesla is really all that much of a terror, but in comparison to Lennon, who was exceptionally easy and low maintenance, we feel like we're chasing Tesla around all day, saying "no-no" (which we hardly ever had to say to Lennon).  Tesla is surrounded by toys, both hers and Lennons, and yet she chooses the one thing that she is not allowed to get into--my wallet and the toilet are her current favorites.

All the ways Tesla is a Stinker, according to Lennon!

 One day last week, which was a super busy week for me for work, with a big event coming up, she got into the toilet, broke a glass and ate a candy bar, all within an hour or so--clearly I need to pay more attention to my daughter!  I saw her find a mini Butterfinger (probably left over from Lennon's party) and I thought, "that will keep her occupied for a few minutes without causing any harm." Ha! A few minutes later I look over and see a big bulge in her cheek and chocolate drool down her chin!  How she opened a candy wrapper by herself, I don't know!  And unfortunately, that's not the only sweet that she's eaten.  A couple weeks ago she had found a random M&M under Lennon's bed--she picked it up, looked me straight in the eye and started shacking her head "no." She continued to shake her head as she popped that M&M in her mouth.  Here she is, mastering her head shake.  She totally know when she's not to do something, because she always shakes her head:

Like I said earlier, Tesla loves to get in the potty.  She can open the lid by herself now, and is just beginning to show an interest in the toilet paper.  I know it may seem like I'm encouraging it, but I had to get it on video just once--and, as you will see by the head shaking, she knows she will get in trouble for it.  Time-outs were never effective for Lennon (and he's only needed like five in his life), but Adam and I are thinking Tesla will become very familiar with time-outs (probably pretty soon, too!)

10 Months!

 Tesla always giggles when anyone around her laughs, regardless of whether the laughter is at her.  The other day I was reading something funny on the computer and was laughing a lot--she was in her highchair giggling away, thinking she was so hilarious!

Tesla turned 10 months and Aunt Shay turned 30--so we went out to breakfast to celebrate Aunt Shay!  As always, Lennon had a blast with her!!

 

 Aunt Shay was very excited that she was able to hold Tesla without a fit!

Happy Easter!

It was fun to have Easter early this year so that we were able to celebrate with my parents.  On Saturday we went to a big Easter egg hunt.  We got there early so we were able to do the bouncy castle and enjoy the playground.  Swings are Lennon's favorite:

 

 Lennon stood in line of kids for awhile to ride the zip line--I'm not sure how he felt about it because he didn't want to go back to the beginning--but at least he tried it!

 

 The older kid section of the egg hunt was by the playground so that's the section he wanted to go to--and he saw a specific egg that he wanted, so we had to do some coercing to get him over to his age group.

 Last year when we did the egg hunt, Lennon was busy watching all the other kids and only ended up with 2 eggs--you gotta be quick to get those eggs, something that Lennon is not.  This year we got in a position where there weren't a ton of kids, in hopes that he would have a bit more time to get some eggs.  Once the egg hunt started, Lennon was on the move--he would pick up on egg and then keep going, passing up a ton of other eggs.  He had specific eggs and colors that he wanted to get.  About 30 seconds after the egg hunt started, the older kids, who had wiped their sections clean ascended on the toddler section like a swarm of bees.  After it was all over, I heard one of the volunteers say 6,000 eggs were gone in 45 seconds!

 Lennon is saying he got four eggs and a small one for Tesla (I just love how thoughtful he is)--five eggs is definitely more than the two from last year and he was completely happy with his five eggs because he had specifically chosen them!

  

After the egg hunt, we headed home to dye some eggs--Lennon was psyched, can you tell!

 Very proud of himself--and, as always, he had his favorites!

 Easter Day was fun and relaxing.  We went to church and heard and sang along with the Hallelujah chorus (Lennon was singing it the rest of the day, except he says, "Halle-you-ah," which I absolutely love!)  After church, Tesla was needing a nap, so Lennon was totally content hanging out and playing with his new soccer ball from Grandma Marilyn & Papa--he was very patient for his own egg hunt and Easter baskets until Tesla woke up.  Here he is in his Easter's best, wearing the tie I made for him!

 And here's Tesla in her Easter dress that her Auntie Leah made for her--she looked adorable!

 Here's the back view, with the bow...thanks Leah!!

 

 My mom and I hid the eggs and the Easter baskets--though the baskets were pretty much out in the open.  But Lennon always has his methods and he had to get all the eggs first, even though he kept passing up all the baskets.  He seemed a bit disappointed when he found all the eggs and had to get his baskets!

 Finally giving in and getting all his baskets (there were three for each him and Tesla: one from us, one from Grandma & Grandpa, and one from Auntie Leah and Uncle Drew).

 

 Lennon giving Tesla a kiss as he checks out what's in her baskets!

 

 Tesla put her new sunglasses on her head by herself--clearly she has an eye for accessories!

 

 We took our time with Easter dinner and just enjoyed the day together as a family.  My parents left on the Tuesday after Easter.  Here are Grandma & Tesla getting some quality cuddle and tickle time in before they leave the next morning:

Lennon must have been pretty exhausted from the two weeks of fun with my parents, because on the night before my parents left, he ate a few bites of dinner then when to lay down on the couch--we look over after dinner and he was completely passed out:

Not even Tesla can wake him....(in the video, she's pretty excited to get a hold of Ernie & Bert, which are her toys that she got in her Easter basket from Auntie Leah & Uncle Drew--Lennon likes to attach himself to her toys)

Lennon is 4!

It's hard to believe that Lennon is 4--I look at him more and more (and even pictures I see of him) and think, "He's a boy, not a toddler!"  I would have to say that the 3's were the hardest in the life of Lennon (and in the life of his parents, too).  He spent that year learning how to be himself in a world that sometimes overwhelms him and sharing his life with a sister (who is not at all inclined to leave him in peace).  He's becoming more confident in who he is as we are showing our confidence in who he is. Going into his birthday, with my parents coming into town and his party that I was preparing, I was a bit unsure of how to plan his party.  I wanted to make it a big deal and was planning it so, but I was worried that he might be completely overwhelmed by everything, as he was last year--tons of people and activity stress him out and when he's overwhelmed and stressed, he retreats into his shell.  However, I went forward, planning on taking cues from him.  To be honest, I was amazed at how much fun he was having at his party--I knew that he was growing up and becoming more adaptable in situations, but it was fun to see him not worry about all the activity and actually join in on the fun!

Here's Grandma and Tesla making Lennon's solar system shirt for his birthday.  Last year, Lennon picked out the design he wanted, but on the day of his party decided against it (in fact he only started wearing his "3" shirt a couple months ago!).  However, we were all thrilled when he decided to wear it on his birthday!

We let Lennon open up his gifts from Auntie Em and Jordan a couple nights early--here he's thrilled with his new t-shirt that has a cape attached to it--he knows he's so cool!

Trying out his brand new skateboard from them: 

Right now he prefers to be pushed around on it:

After Lennon went to bed on his birthday-eve, I hung all the stars and the planets I made.  It was fun to see his eyes light up as he came downstairs on his birthday.  One of the first things he checked was whether there was a Pluto--and was relieved that I made him one (he doesn't like Pluto to be excluded!)

 

Pin the Sun on the Solar System!

 

Lennon did great with "Happy Birthday" and his cake.  He isn't always thrilled with being the center of a celebration--last year he would have preferred to not have "Happy Birthday" sung to him. But this year he was silently singing along and had fun blowing out his candles.

 

Eating his "Earth" oreo pop.  When asked what his favorite planet is, he had a look on his face that read, "that seems like a silly question, because the answer is obvious..." and he said, "Earth."

The Saturn Pinata...which had some issues.  I ended up making it a pull-string pinata because there was a hole in the paper mache.  I thought it would work out perfectly because it would be quick and less dangerous doing it in the house since the weather was snowy and cold.  However, when they all pulled on their strings, the pinata came crashing to the floor because the hook (that was supposed to hold 100 pounds) broke.  It didn't come out of the ceiling as a whole, the screw part actually broke.  But I don't think the kids ever care too much about whether a pinata works or fails--all is forgiven when the candy and goodies come flying out!

Tesla having fun with the left-over candy

Lennon and Aunt Shay--his eyes light up whenever he sees her.  I think he was most excited to have her at his party!

Tesla was pooped after all the activity--she skipped her afternoon nap (not that she would've gone down anyways with a party going on downstairs--she doesn't like to miss out on the fun).  She went and went until she couldn't stay awake anymore.

After most of the guests left, we had round two of presents.  You can see how excited is was to get his new Packers hat from Grandma & Grandpa:

Checking out his new telescope from Grandma & Grandpa.  We saw Venus next to the moon the other night and Lennon kept saying that he needed his telescope to really see it--we keep waiting for the weather to warm up a bit for us to have a sky-gazing adventure.

Aunt Shay got him No Stress Chess, which is awesome (I'm excited about learning as well)--here, Aunt Shay and Lennon are learning together:

After dinner (he requested Mac & Cheese, which is no surprise), we headed to Magill's for his birthday ice cream--he knew it was a special day because we let him get the sprinkle waffle cone!

Sleepy Tesla with Grandma:

Lennon was extremely attached to Grandpa (as he always is).  He made sure to request that Grandpa sat next to him at the ice cream shop.

As he was going to bed that night, he asked me, "Mama, is tomorrow still my birthday?"  I said no, not technically, but that we could still celebrate...and we did, by heading to the pirate ship pool.  It's been a long time since we've been to the pool (last summer maybe? yikes)  He asks to go every once in awhile, but I haven't felt brave enough to venture to the pool with two kids.  So we started off the day by going out to breakfast and then heading to the pool--it was a fun day to celebrate Adam's first day of spring break as well!  This was Tesla's first time in the pool and we thought she would love it because she loves baths and is pretty adventurous, but I guess going during nap time wasn't a good plan.  She was not thrilled about being in there, but eventually she warmed up and started enjoying herself!

 

 It's fun to see Lennon come out of his shell on his own.  He loves the slide, but when we first got there, he wanted to go down with someone else.  Then he got braver and decided to go down on his own, but was pretty slow about it.  We told him he could take his time, but that if he wasn't going to go down right away, he had to step aside to let the others go down.  After several times of letting others pass, he got quicker and he would slide immediately--he even became the one that others were letting go in front of them (which doesn't happen too often with him, if you know Lennon at all!)

We spent the rest of the week just hanging out and having a good time.  It finally warmed and dried up towards the end of the week so we got to do Lennon's other request...mini golf!

 

Lennon kind of did his own thing the entire time, he was usually one hole ahead of us.  He tried to use the putter for the first stroke, but then would usually pick the ball up and put it in the hole.

 Loving the dinosaur hole: