4 Beautiful Months!

It is hard to believe that it has been 4 months already! In a way it is such a short time and in another, it seems like longer, as if Tessa has been with us her whole life. It is difficult for me to even imagine life before Tessa!

She is doing incredibly, amazingly well. I think she has been given the gift of a photographic memory, something I had wished I had all of my life. Her memory is amazing and she surprises me with statements from our short history together of events, statements or smells that she or we have experienced. She remembered the jersey number of the Florida Gators quarterback on Saturday! Her Nai Nai taught her "Go Tibo, 15" about a month ago and we haven't watched football since! And then on Saturday as the game was playing she yelled "Go Tibo, there he is number 15!" But what really impresses me is Piano/Music class. When the teacher asks the children to repeat a melody after her, Tessa does it immediately "Do do so so la re mi mi etc." and gets it right the first time....I barely get to the thrid note. The teacher actually had to correct her and instruct her to read the notes and not to recite from memory!

Tessa is doing great in school and made Honor Roll. Yes, I know it is only Kindergarten, but K isn't what it used to be! She can already sound out words and knows many words already!! Her English is stronger everyday. Her school is awesome! She has an awesome teacher! There are so many great activities and events and Tessa has fun with her classmates. Plus Tessa is no longer coming home with negative phrases, but with all positive ones like "good job, I did it, I can do it..." My favorite...one that I will take credit for teaching her is "That's Okay!" She says it all the time and it really helps her stay calm. She doesn't fret over much and even when I feel bad about forgetting something, she always tells me "Mama, that's Okay!"

Her behavior has been very good. In the back of my head, I am anticipating the storm but it just hasn't happened yet. Tessa learns fast. She knows the rules, and she really seems to want to follow them. Recently, she has wanted to surprise me with getting dressed all by herself, making her bed all by herself and cleaning up. She has been very affectionate and super clingy lately. Last week, I had to lovingly explain to her that I didn't like her hanging on me so much (and refusing to let go). She said simply "Ok, I won't do it anymore." She did dratically reduce the frequency and today she said "Tessa no way hang on Mama anymore." I think she noticed that "I" was more affectionate with her when she didn't hang on me all the time and she really loves it when I pick her up and squeeze and love her. She is such a perceptive child.