Some of my favorite pictures of our Tessa

Tessa is wearing some "big sister (Jingju) hand me down" clothes and looks great!

Baba's Bday Cake

Tessa sang Happy Birthday to BaBa.
We are still surprised she has not transitioned
into calling us "Mom & Dad,"
but we like Mama and Baba; it is very unique.

Our Valentine

OMG! Pulled her hair back for our dinner out for Baba's Bday;
She looks so much older!!
We had a great time at PF Changs.
Tessa liked it so much, she asked to go back the next day...
ok, my food can't be that bad...

Tessa LOVES Tom & Jerry! I am able to find boxes of Chinese CDs on Ebay.

Year of the Tiger!(Chinese Class)

Our Amazing Tessa!

Yardstick Kung Fu

Tessa was drawn to this yardstick
her first day home and it has continued
to be one of her favorite "toys."
Looks like she could be a Kung Fu star one day?

Tessa's First Violin

Aunt Becky sent Tessa her first violin.

Tessa was so excited about it;
she put it near her bedside at bedtime
and opened the case several times to touch it.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Tessa's K-1 Mandarin class performed for the parents for the Chinese New Year.
They sang 13 songs in Mandarin. It was fabulous!!

The class got the golden opportunity to have a dragon dance performance just for them.

Tessa and I attended the Shen Yun Performance in Ft. Lauderdale.
She loved it!!

Playing a famous Chinese cartoon character in female form:
"Monkey Queen" (and wearing JingJu handmedowns!!)

Yanni brought her bike this past visit. The girls had a great time playing Wii, watching Chinese movies, going to ChuckECheese and being with eachother again!

Oh! so much has happened these past few weeks. I blog in my head everyday, but just can't find the energy at night to type it. I have learned so much about myself, about being a parent and about being a mother to Tessa, who has now found comfort in every segment of her life and has tested some boundaries. She continues to be an absolutely amazing child who is thinking all of the time, so I really need to be on the "ball" all of the time...and this is tiring....

Everyday is a journey! Tessa has grown and matured so much just in these past few weeks. She hears every whisper I make and understands my intentions, my disappointment and my pride. Tessa is reading now, writing and made straight As this semester! I am really just shocked at her ability to learn so quickly. She loves reading now and asks to read a book together quite often.

And as much as I have her in all these Chinese classes, I fear she is losing her ability to write Chinese. I'm told she is still speaking Mandarin very well, so that is good.

Tessa has had many playdates and these have given me the opportunity to observe and work on Tessa's aggressive play. She is sharing a little better, but this is when I am around; it is a different story, or picture really, when I'm not around...not pretty.

Just this past weekend was a turning point with me. I was so frustrated with Tessa's increasing defiance and obstinance, that I was about to start her on a behavior chart. But I found myself yelling more than I knew I should be, reacting too harshly (and knowing better) and just getting to a place that was ugly. So on Sunday I softly talked to Tessa and said I was going to try really hard not to yell anymore. Well, her behavior improved 50% that day...I talked to her softly about some of her defiance and she reacted so much better. On Monday, her behavior was 100% better. So, like I knew already, by changing my behavior, I changed Tessa's behavior.
Ok, so really...can it be that easy? No, it takes work not to react the way I really want to!! But I hope with practice, I'm gonna get good at it!! And with this experience, I hope, later, I can better help other families.

I've also learned how important SLEEP is for children! During Yanni's visit last month, I kept Tessa up with her so they could play. Tessa had school the next day (Yanni was off). That following morning, I did not recognize my child. She could have been one of many who have walked into the clinic I used to work at, with symptoms of inattention, fidgeting, poor concentration, easily distracted, disruptive, aggressive.....yes...symptoms that MD's treat with with ADHD drugs! I did a lot of reading after I saw this incredible metamorphesis and can't believe I didn't know this earlier. Now, Tessa is getting 11 hours of sleep a night!

Tessa and I attended a lot of Chinese New Year festivities. She has enjoyed all of them and I think exposing her to the arts, dance and culture has really renewed her appreciation of the place she used to live. She really enjoys watching Chinese dance!!

And! We finally got to meet some of the many adopted children and Moms in South Florida at a great gathering at Barnes Park. Tessa knew at least 5 girls already, who are her friends, so she had a blast! Unfortunately, I charged my camera for the event and left it on my computer......we are looking forward to the next event!!