And we have no more babies in our house. Well, you know, I mean, kind of. Tessa turned one yesterday and has passed that stage of helpless blob. We are now in the phase of discoveries and growth and learningness. Where imagination starts to emerge and opinions become cemented and a little body takes shape and independence.
In true second child fashion, poor Tessa kind of had her (supposedly) special day hijacked. All manner of little dramas took the attention away from her yesterday, the most dramatic of which was the trip to urgent care to get big sister's arm xrayed and splinted. But Tessa did get to meet the fish and watch a water fountain and get whisked away by a handsome medic with a little stuffed animal (while I went with Mags for the xrays). So maybe urgent care was not as much a bust for her as it may have seemed.
There were friends dropping in and lovely singing phone calls (which baffled her each time) and a few presents and cards to open (mostly done by Maggie who couldn't keep her patty-paws off them). And when we went to preschool to get all of Maggie's things (it was supposed to be her last fun day of school before Christmas break), I politely asked if the kids would like to sing Happy Birthday to Tess. In a wink she was whisked to the front of the room, presented with her own birthday crown, and serenaded by many small voices. (A few seconds after the video ends, she did clap her hands and smile.)
And thus our sweet and unassuming little girl slips over into one year old. Still sweet and cuddly and social and engaging and now ready for new adventures.
