I can't believe that Tessa just turned a year old yesterday. I honestly don't know where the time has gone. Okay. Maybe I do. I know I haven't spent the time sleeping. I've had one night where she actually slept through the night. That was less than two weeks ago.
Tessa is still nursing, though I hope to start the weaning process sometime before she heads off to college. Okay, I'm hoping to start that really soon. I'd like for her to be completely weaned in the next couple of months. Not sure she's going to cooperate though. This is the same girl who screamed like she was being skinned alive after I gave her a bottle. She likes to drink from my cup though, so this might not be terribly hard.
She's a good eater. She tried Indian food today and absolutely loved it. She also likes sauerkraut (!!!). She loves bananas, mangos, really just about everything that is on my plate. She does not like baby food.
Right now she is crawling. She didn't start crawling until she was ten months old, a little bit later than my other kids, but not surprising since she has two older sisters who do her bidding...er...walking for her. Tom thinks she'll be walking within a month. I'm not so sure about that. I think she's probably two months away from it.
Tessa is able to say 'Mama' and 'Dada.' She also sasses us. We don't know what she's saying, but we definitely know we're being told off. She has great control of the bottom lip. If she's told no, the lip comes out.
I think Tessa has a super power. She has this ability to draw people to her and make them fall in love with her. Maybe it's her smile--it can melt the coldest of hearts. Maybe it's that she is almost always happy. Maybe it's her big, brown eyes or that gorgeous dimple on her left cheek. Whatever it is, she is able to reel people in wherever we go. She's even made the cat fall in love with her. A couple weeks ago, she coughed while she was sleeping. It woke me up. The cat got up, came over to check on her, gave her a kiss and a few purrs, then went back to his spot on the bed. The cat has never warmed up to Timmy, but he'll take a beating from Tessa (not that I allow her to hurt the cat).
She loves her brother and sisters, especially Lesa. I love seeing all of them play together. They're all good with her. She's brought so much joy to our lives. While she sleeps, I tell her that she's the baby I would have pined for forever, and I actually believe it, even when she wakes up five times in a night because she's getting a new tooth.
Since she was born, we have gone to Gatlinburg, Tennessee; Orlando, Florida; Indiana; Savannah, Georgia; and back to Indiana. She is an amazing traveler, but she really has to be in our family. A few times yesterday, I worried we'd forgotten her somewhere. She's that quiet in the car.
I look back at all my worries from when I was pregnant and cringe.
And here is where you're going to think I'm a tad incoherent. Between that last paragraph and this one, with a few hours to stop freaking out, I got some news. Looks like the summer just got a little more stressful. The hubby and older kids are heading back to Indiana at the end of the month for a wedding. In July, we're going to Florida. And in August, we are moving nine hundred miles away from where we currently live. I am excited, nervous, resentful, sad, happy, proud, and so many other emotions all at once. The kids are very excited. Lesa is especially excited because she thinks she won't have to complete that middle school math packet she was given for summer homework. But her mom is mean and she needs the practice. Poor girl.
But back to Tessa and me cringing about all those worries. I've only been asked once if she was my grandchild. I handled it well. I didn't cry nor did I earn a free trip to jail, so that's good, right?
Tessa is healthy. She's been a good baby. Though teething has been difficult, I haven't minded waking up a gazillion times during the night or changing the nasty diapers. I can laugh about the time she pooped all over me and I had poop splattered in my hair and all over my shirt. I've tried to savor each and every stage because she won't be little forever. She's also helped me to relax when it comes to the kids. She has been good for all of us. Such a joy.
I am hoping to include a picture of her from her birthday party. We were lucky enough to celebrate it with family while we were in Indiana. All of her cousins were there, which hasn't happened for seven years. She's the youngest on both sides of the family, and will probably be the last on both sides...unless....
