Dear Tessa.

Dear Tessa,

For the past hour, you have been either lying or sitting in your crib, jibber jabbering the night away while your Daddy is in bed, not three feet from you, trying to sleep as much as he can before work. Part of me thinks that I should go in there and scoop you out of your crib and shush you until you are so sleepy you can't keep your eyes open so that Daddy gets some quiet. But at the same time, I love to hear your chatty little self go on and on, your hands swinging through the air, making all kinds of gestures. You are so expressive. Just like me. If you're happy, unimpressed, sad, or angry...the world knows in an instant. Your facial expressions and the inflections in your voice give you away. If you love something, you'll clap and bounce. But if you don't like someone or something is bothering you, the sassy side of you comes out and you glare. I always tell Daddy "if looks could kill, she'd be quite the assailant." 

Your Uncle Rob calls it "baby music" when babies chat and make noise. I always thought it was a little odd, but now I think that term is perfect. That's what your ramblings are to me: baby music. Your little voice is the most beautiful sound I have ever heard and I could listen to you all day. It doesn't matter where we are, you go on and on and I am convinced you are telling me all about your day and what you did with Daddy and you are people watching, just like I do. You have been a chatter box since you were four months old. Most people don't believe it, but it's true! Daddy and I have kept recordings of you. One time we were in Target and you were talking so loud, I was convinced people could hear you from across the store. People would stop to see who was making all those cute sounds and were so surprised to see it was a baby as tiny as you! 

To this day, you still attract a ton of attention. When you're with me, which is all the time, I swear we get stopped 8-10 times in one grocery shopping trip. The workers at Ralph's go crazy for you and know you by name. Lauren, the manager, always gives you a balloon before we leave. I know it's because you are just so sweet and friendly. You say "hi" to everyone as we walk through the store and when we leave, you wake and say "bye!" as loud and as many times as you can until we get to the car. 

You are just so smart. You say so many things. Let me list them for you: hi, bye, baby, kitty, cute, woof woof, Mama, Daddy, Minnie ("Mimie"), Uncle Blaine (Ca Bay), go, bite, and no. Right now you love to say CUTE! about everything. Especially your Minnie Mouse pajamas. We were looking for a high chair for you online and you saw a baby and said "baby!" and pointed so excitedly. When we were at the park, we saw four small dogs on their leashes and you instantly started saying "woof woof. Woof woof!" You were so happy and I was so proud. Every day I am so proud of all the new things that you learn. Right now you are learning to feed yourself with a spoon. You can get the spoon with the food in to your mouth, but getting the food on the spoon is still trial and error. You tap your spoon on your plate and say "bite!" until I help you scoop some food. 

You didn't eat for almost two days because you wanted to be sitting at the table with Mama and Daddy, not on the floor in your little chair. It wasn't until you sat in the high chair at IHOP and ate all of your food that I figured out the problem. I couldn't help but realize how much like me you are. So stubborn and strong willed. You stick to your guns until you get what you want. You're emotional and get your feelings hurt easily. Some of those things I wish you took after your father, but what can I do? You got his looks and my thin skin. Sorry, kiddo.

Tonight you made me smile, like you always do, and I just had to sit down and type this out. I want the both of us to always remember how amazing our lives are together. How much love there is between us. You, my Tessa Baby, make my heart feel so full and simply amazing. I can't even appropriately describe the feeling I get in my chest when I see you or even think of you. I love you more than anything in this world and you better never forget it. Even when you're a teenager and you think you hate me. You'll always be my baby.

Love always,

Mama