She's a little stinker. Can't you tell that just by looking at these pictures?
Don't the crinkled eyes and pursed lips say everything I could already tell you about how fully exasperating and challenging and hilarious our days are? Doesn't the tilt of her head imply that she's been carried kicking and screaming out of more than a few restaurants in her day?
Tessa hit her half birthday mark this month, and we are as obsessed with her as ever. She blows us away with her mad conversational skills, with her dance moves, with her memory, which can summon the details of who was there, what we ate, and what was said months after the fact.
I question her recollection, but my own mom swears up and down that I was a perfect baby--no tantrums, no sleep or food issues, nothing but sweetness and independent play. One big long baby walk on the beach. Tessa, on the other hand, is a tapestry of personality. Though Nekos's mom passed away three years ago, I like to imagine that if I asked her she would tell me that Tessa is just like he was.
I will tell you that for as challenging as Tessa can be (just a few days ago I was dragging her into the car while she was biting me, and there was a tantrum over a free Kroger cookie that made me want to disappear), she is far more sweet than she could ever be sassy. She gives the best hugs of anyone I know, knows just what to say to make me laugh when I'm sad, and shows immense empathy toward others' feelings. Her love of life and adventure inspires my own.
Oh, and I think we almost have the hang of this potty training thing. She is in panties all the time now, except for naps and bedtime, and her accidents are happening less often, although they continue to be memorable. Yesterday, for instance, nowhere near a public bathroom, I tried to teach her that it's OK to pop a squat outside sometimes. Like in a parking lot. She thought that was fantastic, and now wants to take all of her business into the great outdoors.
She seems to be really excited about becoming a big sister and asks me at random, "Is Livvy still in your tummy?" And when I say "yes," she says, "Aw, she gonna be so sweet."
Yes, she is, Tess, and so are you.
