Smiles

Tessa makes weight

Tessa had her six-month check up today. Tessa's pediatrician said that we don't need to use her adjusted age anymore, since she is the size of a six-month old baby and "doing everything a six-month old should be doing." Tessa now weighs 15 and 1/2 lbs (35% for six-month olds), she is 25.5 inches long (40%), and her head circumference is 43.3 cm (74%)!

We also wanted to share another picture from California. Here's Tessa enjoying a bagel shop, after asking her daddy why we moved to Massachusetts...

* Photo credit: B. Davis Noll

Where's the cake?

Tessa managed to sneak her way into the end of Sarah's wedding reception. She was hoping to score some dessert while the bride was looking the other way, but all of the cake had already been eaten.

*Photo credit: B. Han

Tessa's First Flight

Tessa took her first trip on an airplane when we flew out to San Francisco this weekend for Megan's law school reunion and a friend's wedding. Since it was her inaugural flight, Tessa insisted on traveling in style. She booked us two first class seats (thank you, United Miles). It was a good thing we were in first class, since the plane was not equipped with any changing tables, but the seats were just the right size for changing diapers (watch out for seat 4A, if you happen to be traveling from Boston to San Francisco this week). In all seriousness, the flight went well and the flight attendants were lovely. They made Tessa a "first flight" certificate and insisted that we snap a few pictures with the captain after we landed. Tessa only cried for a couple minutes on the way out. She was a little fussier on the way home, but mostly around her bedtime. Once she fell asleep, she was completely out through deplaning, baggage claim, and the car ride home.

Tessa's too cute!

I feel like an extra in an Anne Geddes photo...

Sitting Up Skills

We thought this was a cute picture of Tessa working on her sitting up skills ("You know, like nunchuku skills, bow hunting skills, computer hacking skills..."). She still needs support from us to keep from tipping all the way forward, but she is getting stronger and can "sit" for longer every day.

Oyster Festival

We went to Cape Cod last weekend for the Wellfleet Oyster Festival. http://www.wellfleetoysterfest.org/ (In my limited experience, I've noticed that people from Colorado like nothing better than to eat lobsters, oysters, and other fresh seafood for every meal when visiting the East Coast.) When we arrived on Friday, we were at the tail end of a Nor'Easter. Despite the 27 mph headwind, Tessa was determined to get out on the beach for a walk:

By Sunday, the weather was sunny and beautiful. The waters and wind were calm and it was much better for walking.

Generally, we keep Tessa's face out of the sun, but we made an exception to capture this family photo. (We also tried to keep her from eating too many oysters, as we've heard that live animals are not an ideal first food for babies. But who can resist a freshly harvested, freshly shucked bivavle mollusk?)

Tessa picks some apples

We decided to take advantage of a beautiful fall day in New England by going apple picking yesterday. At the orchard we visited, there were two options for the picking: a 10 pound bag or a 20 pound bag. The trick, as we were informed by the woman working there, is to overfill your bag. As long as the apples stay in the bag, you can keep them all (and they don't weigh the bags). Also, some of the more popular varietals (Fuji, Braeburn, and Granny Smith) are the furthest from the starting point. Apparently, most people just fill their bag near the starting point and call it quits, a strategy that you can appreciate once you try carrying 20 pounds of apples for more than 5-10 minutes. Luckily, we had an ace up our sleeve. It turns out that despite being unable to reach even the most accessible apples on a tree, Tessa is a pro at carrying the bag of apples...

More Tubby Time

Tessa loves taking her baths in the blue baby tub in the kitchen sink (the only part she doesn't like is getting out of the tub). She also enjoys putting everything she can reach and hold straight into her mouth. While her daddy and grandad gave her a bath and her mommy snapped photos, Tessa tried to eat a washcloth and one of her rubber duckies.

More family!

Tessa has some more visitors this week. Fred and Jodi are here and they've been having a blast holding Tessa, walking with her, and generally entertaining her. Tessa is also learning where Robbie's dancing skills came from...

Tessa loves her daddy

Tessa has started to realize how much fun her daddy is with his funny faces and noises (not to mention his dancing skills as previously mentioned).

Mirror, mirror

Tessa has discovered the mirror, and she can't get enough of herself. (Who can blame her?) It's becoming increasingly difficult to get photos of her, since she's very aware of the camera and just stares it down whenever she sees it. The mirror helped us catch this photo of her trying on part of her Halloween costume -- her little piggy hat.