The Life of a Tater Tot

Fast foward three months...

2009-04-09T09:28:00.000-07:00

It's been quite a while since I've posted, but I suppose now is better than never!

Tegan is now 10.5 months old. She is 20lbs, and just about 30 inches tall. Her hair is reddish brown, and starting to be very curly in the back and sides. Her eyes are gray with green and gold flecks in the center. She is finally about to get her first tooth. Her favorite foods are yogurt, squash, sweet potatoes, chicken, turkey hot dogs, and any sort of fruit you can imagine. She can drink from a sippy cup and a straw cup.

Tegan can also walk if you hold her hand(s), pull up on things, cruise, and crawl on all fours (she's done these things for the last month or so).

She says, "Tee-tee" (her name), "Kitty", "Duck", "Ball" and "Mama" (me), "Nana" (my mom) and "Bob" (that's my dad's nickname. Who knows! Hehe). She'll say other random words when she feels like mimicking.

I think that's it for now! Here are her 10 month pictures (copyright all pictures: pjphasmid [my mom])

Snowtime!!!

2008-12-22T18:20:00.000-08:00

... and we did get dumped on! We had so much fun in the snow :) Let's hope it snows on Christmas!! Here are pictures of Tegan, Obi (our wolf-dog) and me playin' last weekend.

Tegan meets Uncle Nathan, Aunt Amy & Cousin Sara!

2008-12-09T14:42:00.000-08:00

Tegan flew with Mommy to Folsom, California on Friday, December 5th! We stayed til Monday, December 8th. This was Tegan's second plane vacation, so she's becoming quite the veteran baby flyer ;) We were visiting Neal's brother Nate, his wife, Amy, and their daughter, Sara (who was born one year and one day earlier than Tegan! They almost had the same birthday!) We had suuuuch a great time. It was the first time they were able to see Tegan in person, so it was a very special time. Tegan and Sara got along great! (And yes, 'Tegan and Sara' is a Canadian Indie/Rock group, and no, we did not coordinate their names to be like theirs -- it was just a coincidence, seriously!)

The first picture is Tegan and I the day before we flew out. The other pictures are from decorating the Christmas tree and hanging out around the house. Enjoy!

Shopping Cart Fun

2008-11-22T16:14:00.000-08:00

Teg rode in a shopping cart for the first time yesterday. A Floppy Seat (provided by my sister-in-law Amy) came in handy! She absolutely loved it. She squealed at everyone and growled the whole time. And, she waved! YES, waved! Tegan has learned to wave, and it's stinkin' cute. Here are a few pictures from our adventure at Safeway!

Rain, Rain, Go AWAY!!

2008-11-06T11:27:00.000-08:00

Ugh! The rain has started in the Pacific Northwest. Here's to afternoons stuck in front of the television! *toast*

Tegan has officially started to try to crawl. She gets her right leg up underneath her and tries to catapult forward. Last night she rolled over and over for the first time! I never saw her do it, but somehow she got from the middle of the floormat to the carpet. She also has started this horrible habit of grabbing your face with her fingernails! I can't tell you how many scratches I have. :-p She can also sit unassisted for a few seconds before falling over.

Teg has also started regular solids, once a day. She has eaten peas, sweet potatoes and carrots (stage 1, 4+months) and prune juice. She loves to eat! I had started her out on rice, but it didn't agree with her. She also has learned to nap regularly, and it's been really nice. This is mostly due to the fact she is sleeping on her belly now.

I can't believe she is going to be 6 months old this month! Wow, has time flown by!

Happy Halloween!!

2008-10-31T20:14:00.001-07:00

Tonight was Tegan's first Halloween! She had so much fun. First, she went to Gearhart Elementary School to see Dalton with his mommy (and my cool neighbor friend) Kelly. She got to meet a lot of kids and watch the festivities! Then she went downtown Seaside to trick or treat, then to the outlet mall to trick or treat, then home for some dinner. We were going to go to the convention center, but Tegan was pooped! So we called it a night and I snuggled her in bed. Here is some footage of the day!

my little cow-let!

... and she sure was pooped!

Photoshoot with Grandma!

2008-10-17T16:43:00.000-07:00

Teg had a photoshoot with Grandma Lorenz recently. Here are some of the pictures!

First Amusement Park! ~ Santa's Village

2008-10-15T13:16:00.000-07:00

Although she didn't meet Santa (the line was verrrrry long), Tegan had a great old time at a park I used to frequent when I was a little tot. She had so much fun that she slept for 12 hours straight without waking that night! (Go Tegan!) She got to pet Santa's reindeer, take a trip on the train, sit in Grandpa Lorenz's lap while Mommy drove an old car, hung out with Grandma Lorenz as Mommy & Grandpa crashed around in the bumper cars and even got a teeny tiny ring made for her out of a hoofshoe nail for reindeer (of course, she can't wear it, but it was fun just the same!)

Tegan and Mommy ride the carousel!

New Pictures

2008-09-14T16:26:00.001-07:00

I took some pictures of Tegan Friday during "blanket time" :) Thought you might like to see!

Family Swim

2008-09-14T16:15:00.000-07:00

We went swimming again today!... but this time Neal came, too :) So he took a picture on his cell phone for you all to enjoy. It was the first time we all swam as a family!

Afternoon at the Beach!

2008-09-04T19:48:00.000-07:00

On Monday, September 1st we all went to the beach with Obi! (Labor Day). We had so much fun playing in the water and hanging with Tegan. Here are some pictures from our outing! (the first one is Daddy playing "Scrabalicious" with Teg before we went).

Tegan's First Swim!

2008-08-28T22:10:00.000-07:00

Tonight Tegan had her first pool visit :) She loved it! We were invited by my friend Trista. Kelly (my next door neighbor) and her two boys, Dalton and Dillon, went, too. She bobbled around in the water with Mommy for an hour and even got to put her little feet in the hot tub for a while. Because I didn't have super-duper-picture-taker Daddy around no pictures were taken! (I know! I'm horrible!) We will have to take some pictures the next time we go to the pool.

We did have a scary thing happen at the pool, though! As I was walking down the steps I slipped on the last step and fell backwards onto the other steps. Thankfully I was holding Tegan tight against my chest when it happened and only her face went under water. Poor Teg was coughing and sputtering and crying, too. I thought I was going to freak out at the lifeguard, though -- she saw the entire thing happen and never ONCE came to see if we were all right. She just smiled! I'll be the first to say that I will be letting her boss know about her incompetent skills as a lifeguard! Geez!

Other than that, what a neat time we had.

Neal should be flying into Portland about now -- he was in California for the past two days interviewing for a position. Teg and I miss him so much!

I have to go to bed now, so good night!

I'm Three Months Old!

2008-08-28T14:46:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone! Tegan is three months old now. Man, she's growing up so fast! I can't believe it's already been three months (this past Monday the 25th).

I only have a copy of the emails I sent out for her 1 and 2 month updates so I will post that here:

** Hi everyone!I can't believe that I'm already informing you all that Tegan is 1 month old today! Time is flying by so quickly. Tegan has been such a joy and so much fun! She has quite the personality. This week has been a week of many firsts. She started to coo and smile and does it quite frequently... especially when she knows she is about to eat, haha! I've gotten to know her cries pretty well, so it's been easier to cater to her needs. She was 7lbs6oz when she was born, was 6lbs15oz at her 2 day doctor's visit (normal, as most of you know), and is now 10lbs2oz (weighed today)!!! We were shocked to see how much she had gained and really excited! She doesn't fit her little clothes anymore and is long enough to fit into most 3-6 month clothing. She's had a belly button for a couple weeks now (a sort of innie-outie) and LOVES her bath time soo much. She is co-sleeping half of the night instead of all night now. Neal is absolutely loving being a dad! Both his and my parents were here this month (separately) and we all had a blast. Tegan has already been to Mt. St. Helens, hiking, to the beach, and the state of Washington! As for me, I'm doing well post-partum. I've lost about 30 pounds and am staying active and loving life with Neal, Tegan, Obi & Nemo! Tegan's awake, so I gotta run! I hope you all are well and enjoying the summer! **

**Hello All! On Friday, July 25th, Tegan was 2 months old! Can you believe ANOTHER month has gone by already?! WOW!! She's getting so big. She had her two month appointment that day and boy, was it a rough day for her! Tegan loves her pediatrician, Dr. Ramchander, but that's probably because he doesn't administer shots (lol). She laughed and coo-ed and talked to him while he examined her and she pulled through with a clean bill of health! She was 10 pounds 11 ounces and 22 inches long. She's in the 37th percentile for her height, but almost in the 70th for her weight. Growing right on track ! ! Then the nurse came in and gave Tegan her shots, and I've gotta say, I started crying before she even did it. Poor Teg was crying so hard, but it was soon over and I held her really close and nursed her and she felt a lot better. She slept for most of the day and just lounged with mommy :) So it was a nice recovery! As for development, Tegan is trying to roll over and has really good head coordination. She has been drooling some and keeps chewing her fist, so I'm afraid early teething is here :(. I can feel a hard section in her gums but we'll see. I made a sling for her yesterday! Sewed it myself (with help of a pattern). I am so proud of myself! Tegan likes it, too. Anyhow, I think that's it for updates on Tegan!**

As for her 3 month update: She can already roll from front to back (with a lot of effort, usually). She hates belly time for more than 30 seconds, so this is why I think she started it somewhat quickly! She has discovered her fingers and toes and loves to put them in her mouth. She is incredibly expressive and has discovered that she can make new sounds by forming her lips certain ways (which has resulted in new squeals, screams and squeaks at high frequencies, lol!) Her eyes are getting darker with little green flecks in them -- I think they'll be green, just like ours! They are still grey for right now.

This past week (August 20-24) Neal, Tegan and I went to Gold Beach, Oregon to meet up with Meme and Papa Hershey for a little R&R at a cabin on the Rogue River. Tegan did ok, but felt really out of place and had a hard time the first couple of days. I was so proud of her -- she made the 7 hour car ride without a hitch! We all had a good time and enjoyed the beautiful warm weather.

Tegan also went on her first camping trip to Cook Creek, Oregon! We went with the Smiths and their friends. We had so much fun!!

The Beginning

2008-08-28T09:14:00.000-07:00

Ok, I know this is late -- like, THREE MONTHS late -- but I thought I'd post this here just the same.

Tegan was born on Sunday, May 25th, 2008 at 10:00pm. She was 19.25 inches long and weighed 7 pounds 6 ounces. I had been in labor since about mid-afternoon on Saturday. It picked up by the next morning and we were admitted at noon on Sunday. At 8pm I started pushing and she was here two hours later! I had her naturally and without an epidural. When she came out it was the most wonderful thing I had ever experienced in my entire life. She was such a beautiful little newborn!

We got to come home on Monday night and boy was it good to be in our own bed! We all piled in bed together and fell asleep.

Hi Everyone!

2008-08-28T09:12:00.000-07:00

This is our family Blog for all of you friends and family out there. Now you can keep tabs on Tegan and what we are up to! Join us as we follow Tegan's milestones as she grows grows grows!