Tessa turns two!!

The only thing that makes me believe that she is already two is that she is acting like a two year old. Lots of the time that just means a bit more independence, sometimes it means an outright tantrum, but most of the time it means extra kisses, her vocabulary growing exponentially, and a contagious excitement about everything. This isn't her best picture ever, but she insisted on wearing her new dress, had Dora icing all over her and her hair, and she wouldn't relinquish the Dora toy from the cake. Did I mention her independent streak?

This year she celebrated a day early since Ted and I were going to Cancun, and we had a Dora The Explorer cake - she LOVED it. It is fun to see how excited she will get over little things!

Ten great things about Tessa:

1. Have I mentioned Dora? She loves Dora the Explorer. I love hearing her yell "backpack!" from the other room in the morning!

2. Tessa loves to shower. She will get in the shower all by herself (with us nearby of course) and will wash her doll and play in there every chance she gets.

3. Tessa loves to color. I had almost forgotten what it was like to have a child who would sit and color - the boys HATED it. Even now when they are asked to draw something it is a stick figure and just the minimum required to complete the assignment. Not Tessa: she loves to color. We have even seen a few of her masterpieces on our walls, our computer monitor, and her arms and legs. We are now working on using paper as the preferred medium for her creativity!

4. Tessa is our only child who does not have red hair. We love her long brown hair!

5. Tessa's name combines "Ted" and "Les" into one and her name actually means "fourth child." The fact that we discovered all of this after we chose her name doesn't really matter does it?

6. Tessa loves her siblings, and they love her right back. I was worried that Ted and I would spoil her since she is our last, but I think we need to worry more about the kids spoiling her!

7. Tessa loves to dance. If there is music playing then she is dancing.

8. Tessa loves shoes. If there are shoes out, she is trying them on. This only becomes a problem when she tries shoes on at the top of the stairs.

9. Tessa has a knack for knowing where all the candy is hidden. She has even forced Ted to relocate his stash a couple of times.

10. Tessa loves to be outside. She will stay outside in any temperature, any sort of weather, for as long as we will let her. Again, usually this is a great thing, but we have had to train all of the older kids (and neighbors) to leave our backyard gates closed at all times!

Happy Birthday sweet 2-year-old!!!