Introducing...

Tessa Kate Welch

9/24/10

10:53 pm

7lbs 8oz 20in long



More to come on Tessa's arrival and big brother Jalen, including pictures and video!

The Waiting Game

2 Weeks, 2cm....which will come first?? There are a lot of hot spots on the calendar between now and the 7th. All we know is if she comes on Monday, Daddy will be playing golf! haha just kidding. He would stop playing for that (after 9 holes) :)

In the mean time, the bags are packed, the car seat is in the car, and I've washed everything in sight. Jalen has named everyone's place in the car - Mommy seat, Jalen seat, Sissy seat. If we are missing anything, I guess we will figure it out later! Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock.......

Oh My, What Have I Done?

Yesterday, when Jalen woke up from his nap, we went into the kitchen and I got him a snack as usual. I was about to make some puppy chow (muddy buddies/white trash, whatever you call it) (for me of course), so I gave him a bowl of plain ol' Rice Chex cereal. Well that was all well and good until I opened the chocolate chips, and he wanted some, so I threw a few in his bowl. YUM. By then, he was sitting on the counter watching me mix ingredients and finishing his snack. By the time it snowed (powdered sugar) in the bowl, he came to the conclusion that puppy chow is not just for Mommys!

New Ride

Devan has been wanting a bike with a pull-behind wagon for Jalen, and last weekend his wish came true. The first day we had it, they went on three bike rides around the neighborhood. Jalen loves to ride in "Jalen's bike" while Devan pulls him on "Daddy's bike".

Happy Grandparents Day!

We love and appreciate all of you!

Baby Sister

We are planning the arrival of Little Miss on October 7th, by c-section. However, she is welcome to come any time before that.

Jalen-isms

I feel like Jalen's brain capacity has doubled in the past few weeks. His vocabulary has really taken off and he is learning things like counting, abc's, and colors. Does this even seem possible?? Have I been doing this blog for that long, because I vividly remember the very first post. Anyway, back to reality. He really is growing and learning, and there really will be a new baby joining us very soon.

Here are some of his new, amazing words and tricks:

• Counting: 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 10! The usual, sometimes better, sometimes worse. He can also identify many numbers like 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8


• Just beginning to identify colors. He is best with GREEN (FOXES), Blue, and Red


• Knows almost all animals in his books and the sounds they make. If I am on the couch, he will bring EVERY book one by one over to me, burying me, and then sit down to read.


• Likes to hear the Itsy Bitsy Spider song and The Wheels on the Bus. Oh, and Ring Around the Rosie, so he can get dizzy and fall down, then say, "Fall Down!"


• Of course climbing up any step, box, ledge, piece of furniture, and then jumping off. He sometimes calls himself a monkey ("mo-key") while doing this.


• When we are going out, he says, "Bye bye Mace. Hug." Then walks over and does his version of a hug. Mace is usually running away from him.


• "No" is an easily discernable word. But he recently started saying "yep", which sounds like " 'sup?" Devan's favorite He also gives knucks, which, combined with 'sup probably makes him the coolest kid on the street.


• He is learning how to help me buckle him in his carseat. Which is not that exciting because immediately following that little trick he will learn how to UNbuckle himself from the carseat.


• He keeps a step stool in our bathroom so he can brush his teeth when we do. He has a regular-sized toothbrush and a baby toothbrush, and he MUST use both.


• If he is referring to an item that he doesn't know the name of, it is by default, that one. There are many "that one's" around the house and it can take a lot of pointing to figure out what it is.


• When he yawns, or when I yawn, he sometimes says "Sleepy".


• On the way to the babysitter's, we come to a red light and a stop sign. He tells me when to stop both times. Today when the light turned green and I said "go", he said "green".


• When the babysitter tells him a toy is broken or out of batteries, he tells her to "fix it."


• He says "church" when we pull into the parking lot, and "bye bye church" when we leave.


• We have a photo album with lots of family pictures in it, and he can name everyone from home! He can even pick out Daddy, Keith, Jake, and Ross all standing together, which I think has to be hard.


• He had his 18-month check up and is 35" tall (95%) and 26 lbs (50%). Tall and thin, who does that sound like?

Well I think that's it for now. He will probably come up with something new when he wakes up from his nap.