I know, I know, you thought I had to spend Halloween in the clink, didn’t you? Well I said I had some good lawyers, and apparently they pulled some strings and I got probation for Halloween. I got six hours of freedom for good behavior. Phew! I thought I would miss Halloween altogether this year!

Anyway, so now I can finally reveal my Halloween Costume!!! It’s been tough keeping it a secret all this time. I’ve been putting it on every night, to make sure it still fits, and practicing. Practicing my LADYBUG impressions! BzzzzzzzzzzzzBzzzzzzzzZzzzzzzzzz!

Check it out:

The festivities started this afternoon when two of my friends showed up, also in costume. Here we are planning our strategy for the Hoboken Ragamuffin Parade.

So we headed out to the parade, and WOW there are LOTS of babies in Hoboken!

There were some amazing costumes, let me tell you. Good thing I learned how to point recently because that came in real handy today.

This one wins the TBCY Award (Tess’s Best Costume of the Year):

Something tells me this guy breaks out his funny car for the Fourth of July Parade too:

Oooh, and here’s a shot of me and Mom at the Parade. This may come as a bit of a surprise to you, but my Mom actually helps me with my blog, just a little. Mostly editing and some technical assistance, but that’s it.

Oh, and one last thing. Guess how big I am?

That’s right, I’m SOOOOOOO Big!

Now it’s off to bed for me, I’m POOPED!

xoxo
-Tess

It’s all my fault. I admit it. If anyone deserves time in the clink, it’s me.



I deserve hard time. You should see my rap sheep. You name it, I’ve done it. I’ve lunged for sharp corners, ingested hairballs, reached for electrical sockets, tugged on power chords, chewed alphabet floor tiles, pulled armoire drawers, licked sneaker soles, face planted onto hardwood (and almost chipped a tooth!), chewed chair legs and attempted to scale impossibly top-heavy furniture that threatens to tumble down and crush me!

I guess I should feel lucky. I’m behind bars now, relatively safe. Yeah, my cellmates are a little sketchy. There’s a shifty-eyed lamb and a freakishly chipper ragamuffin girl who won’t stop shaking her rattle and crinkling her dress, but they both seem harmless enough.

Anyway, I digress. I’m incinerated but it’s for the best. Just imagine the alternative. Me, out on the streets, choking to death, goose-egg bumps, toothless and crushed under heavy furniture. I know, it’s not a pretty thought.

Mom and Dad say it’ll only be a few month, a year, max. We’ve got the best lawyers money can buy, so I’m hopeful. Don’t forget me while I’m gone.

xoxo
-Tess

I’m nine months old people!!!! Can you believe it? That’s right, yesterday was my birthday. To celebrate I slept through the night!!! And I’m not talking any piddly 6 to 8 hour stretch. Mom put me down at 6:45 pm and I slept, and slept, and slept, until 6:20 am!!!! Mom’s hoping for a repeat performance tonight, but I can’t make any promises as it took quite a bit of concentration.

In other news, this past weekend was a big family reunion for me. I traveled to Connecticut with Mom and Dad, and saw tons of aunts and uncles, and a bunch of my cousins. Here I am with all my beautiful big girl cousins.

Overall I have to say it was a perfect Fall weekend. We went for a walk in the woods to check out the foliage, here I am playing with the big girls in the leaves. What, you can’t see me? Oh, I’m just outside the shot kicking up leaves in my stroller.

After our stroll in the woods we went back to the house and cousin Vivi and I played a few duets on the piano.

Dewd, my cousins are so lucky, they have an actual life sized Trampoline in their yard!!! If you don’t know what a Trampoline is, it’s sort of like a giant Exersaucer that your whole family can play on at once! Check it out:

We worked up quite an appetite so later we built a huge fire outside and made Smores! Too bad I’m not allowed chocolate until one year. I tried to tell Mom I could handle a roasted marshmallow or two, but she wouldn’t listen. Bummer. I told Mom I wanted a Smores Cake for my 1st Birthday.

Here I am all bundled up with Dad before we went out to roast marshmallows.

What great weekend.

You all know I’m a Winter baby, going out in the snow before I was even a month old. And I’ve been all around the Spring and Summer months. So now, after this weekend of official Fall weather, I think I’m finally qualified to declare a winner. After what I’ve heard about this Halloween stuff, I have to declare Fall the Best Season Ever!

Speaking of Halloween, do you have your costume ready yet??? There’s only 14 days left!!!

Well, gotta run, it’s time for bed!

xoxo
-Tess

Wow, its been a while since I last wrote! This weekend was jammed packed with fun.

Saturday morning we packed up the stroller and took the D train waaaaaay out through Brooklyn to Coney Island!

None of us had ever been there before, and it was my first time ever at the beach. Mom and Dad said we probably won’t be going back, I’m not sure why. It was fun enough. We walked the boardwalk, ate some Nathan’s Famous Hotdogs, and did some people watching. It was sort of hot so we cut our trip short and headed back into the city to our air conditioned apartment.

Here’s me and Dad on the boardwalk. You can see the famous Cyclone in the background:

Sunday we all woke up early so I could give Dad his father’s day gift: a Mug with My Mug on it!!! He loves it. Now he gets to show me off to his co-workers without actually bringing up my name. Can you picture it, Dad will be like “That’s very interesting Jim, let me think about it while I take another sip of coffee from this mug here….. sssssssssssssiiip.”

Other than that we’ve been trying to stay cool in the heat.

Oh, and I almost forgot!!! Tonight I rolled over back-to-front, for the very first time (or at least its the first time Mom caught me doing it). I was going down for my nap, and I was stretching all over and suddenly I found myself on my belly. I was a little discombobulated and not sure how to get myself rolled back the other way. Luckily, Mom came in to check on me and she set me straight again. Phew! Anyway, that was fun.

Gotta run, bedtime for me.

xoxo
-Tess

I’m 5 months old today!!! Yeah!

That’s almost half way to a year! It’s not technically a real birthday, which I understand only happens once a year. But anyway, birthdays are not like normal days. Today I learned that when it’s your birthday very special things happen.

It all started early this morning. I woke up in my crib and I was going about my business. Doing my usual stretching and yawning routine, sucking on my Lovey, waiting for Mom to notice my rustling noises. Next thing I know, Dad is hopping out of bed like a spring (which he NEVER does) and he’s grabbing me. Then he’s throwing me into this, this, Massive Command Center of sucking, spinning, flashing, popping and beeping TOYS.

This is me in my new Exersaucer, it’s my Birthday Present! It was a complete surprise!

Apparently Dad snuck the Exersaucer into the apartment late last night after I went to bed, and he and Mom stayed up ’til the wee hours assembling it. Then this morning, there it was!

I spent all day playing in it. I haven’t even gotten to all the toys yet, let alone the bouncing and spinning functions. This thing blows all my other toys away. Seriously, check out this bad boy:

What fun! Now I’m totally pooped and have to go to bed. Can’t wait ’til tomorrow to play in it some more!

xoxo
-Tess

Happy Mother’s Day to all the Moms out there! This is my first Mother’s Day, and my Mom’s first Mother’s Day too. It’s so weird, people on the street keep saying “Happy Mother’s Day!” to us — who knew it was such a big deal!???

Anyway, Dad helped me pick out a gift for Mom. He said Mom would like nothing better than some good Chocolate for Mother’s Day (although I think he had his own motives on this one).

Here’s me with the chocolate:

Hmmm, do you think she’ll notice if I eat one??? Dad said it was ok, since the solid protocol is: first Rice Cereal, then Chocolate, then Veggies….

xoxo

-Tess

So back to our Easter fesitivities. On Easter Sunday my cousins and their neighbors all got together for a huge Easter Egg hunt. I couldn’t really keep up with all the action from my stroller, but next year I’ll be ready! Here’s me with the gang before the hunt:

Dad felt bad about me missing out on the hunt action, so he thought it would be neat if I got some grass time, even if I was way too slow to find any eggs. Here’s me during my very first experience with actual dirt and grass (we don’t get much of that stuff in New York.

Wow let me tell you that was pretty weird, and sort of itchy if you ask me. I’m sure it will be more fun when I’m running across it instead of mowing it with my chin.

After the hunt we went to the pet shop with Shannon and Casey. Do you know what a pet is? Well pets can come in all shapes and sizes. Shannon and Casey got fish, but the shop also carried bunnies, lizards, rats and frogs. But my favorite by a long shot were the PUPPIES!!!! Oh. My. God. I now know what my purpose in life is: to own and care for a puppy, preferably a yellow fuzzy one. If I could just get my hands on one of these, my life would be complete:

What do you think Dad, can I have one? PLEEEASE????

Phew I’ve had a huge weekend over here! Am I ever tired. This morning I had to have an epic nap to catch up on my rest. I met so many people and did so much new stuff, I’ll have to report in parts or else I’ll tire myself out again!

Saturday I took the train with Mom to Stamford, where I met my Grandpa Marino for the second time. Love Love Love Grandpa Marino. We talked and laughed, it was a blast.

Grandpa Marino drove us to meet my Grand Uncle Doc and Aunt Marie, more Marinos!!!! Aunt Marie made us a wonderful lunch and also gave me another hand knit blanket, this time for my doll, very cute! I’m thinking of taking up knitting myself someday, as soon as I get the swing of this opposable thumb thing.

Here’s me and Uncle Doc:

Aunt Marie sent us home with an Easter Bread, an Italian tradition, yuuumm. Next we drove to Wilton to celebrate Easter with my cousins. Before we talk about Easter, check out my adorable outfit from Saturday, and before you ask, yes, that’s a kilt!! (I am a quarter Scottish after all!):

So where was I? Oh yea, Easter. Easter was everything it’s cracked up to be, and then some!!!

So there’s the Easter Bunny, did you know about this? Well he comes with baskets of candy for all the children in the world. And somehow the Easter Bunny knows about me! He’s got to be some crazy logistics expert because I was certain I wouldn’t get on the roster until next year.

Anywho, here’s me with my Easter stash.

Ohh, getting sleepy over here. I better get some shut eye, but tune in later, more to cover, egg hunts, my first time on the grass, and more!

xoxo

-Tess

Hi Everyone, I just wanted to drop by to wish everyone a Happy Easter! Have you finished your Easter shopping yet? We did! Here’s me at Easter Headquarters:

Not sure if you can see in the photo, but those are the Chocolate Bunnies, or more specifically, the Chocolate Cowboy Bunnies, sold only in pairs (inspired by the film “Brokeback Mountain”). How romantic!

Not big on Easter Shopping? I know, I know, usually we think of Christmas as the big shopping holiday. But really Easter is the bigger event, right? At least Dad says so. I can’t quite figure out what Christmas and Easter are all about, but I think it has something to do with the Birth of Chocolate. Maybe next year Dad will explain better. Anyway, have a great weekend everyone!