Like Sands in the Hourglass

These are the Days of Tessa's Life.

I just wanted to add some cute pics of Tessa and that's all I could think of for a title. Sorry!

Eating salsa with a spoon.

Learning to swim. She was afraid to leave the steps at the beginning of summer and now will swim out to the 4 foot section alone with only her floaties for assistance. Brave girl!

Always willing to smile for the camera so that she can "see Tessa" after I take it.

A purple fairie making herself "bizzy" by twirling in front of the mirror.

It's hard to give in to sleep when there are so many adventures to be had. This is Tessa's version of "staying on the bed" as her parents repeatedly tell her to do.

School Daze

That's what we're in now that the school year has officially begun! At registration, Phoebe was grinning from ear to ear, even though she is at a new school this year. After a long battle that was going nowhere with her former district, our move strategically allowed us to get her into the Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind. Phoebe's visual impairment is one aspect of her challenges that is really difficult for us non-vision specialists to understand. She does have quite a bit of vision but the methods of teaching they use at this school will be quite different than any other. We have a really good feeling about this placement and what it could mean to Phoebe's development. They also have every type of equipment available, such as tricycles (Phoebe actually pedals some of the time!), a swimming pool (she swims twice a week), and access to a hippotherapy center where she can ride horses again (other than the county fairs and such she has been deprived of her favorite hobby for almost two years). I know that in addition to learning she is having fun! It has been challenging to be her "bus" driver for the first two weeks of school, while our home district figured out their options, but it was still worth the 4 hours a day on the road. Tessa was getting pretty frustrated spending that much time in a car seat and asks to go to school too. She figures that much time in the car she should have a reward! All of her friends are in school so it is hard for her. (I remember being jealous of my sister...) Into the second week of school, Phoebe has already attached (literally sometimes!) to her teacher, Miss Seamons.

Endless Summer

I'm sure that Tessa wishes it could go on forever. She came home from her vacation absolutely enamored with her big cousin Elizabeth. She throws a bone out to cousin James, Papa and Gramma, Auntie Shawna and UncUg (Doug) every once in a while too. The first week of being home she would suddenly burst into tears and say "I sad". Then she would beg to call Grandma or Papa but instantly request Elizabeth once someone answered. Somehow she knew that Elizabeth didn't have her own phone so she needed a ploy to get around that. In typical big sister fashion I was told that E wasn't always thrilled to have a shadow following her around, but was a good sport about it. I wonder if she missed Tessa after she was gone. Here are the last few photos from summer in CA. James and Elizabeth made over $50 selling shells, even though they weren't tending to their stand most of the time. How do I get a piece of that business???
The big kids (and James and Elizabeth, hahaha) organized a treasure hunt for Tessa. She has been very into pirates lately, thanks to the Backyardigans. This was something that was done for the big kids a few years ago at Lake Powell, when Pirates of the Caribbean came out and was on everyone's mind. I was skeptical that the kids would fall for it. Pirates at Lake Powell?!? They either didn't get it or didn't care, and had a grand time following the treasure map they found. Tessa followed suit and believed that Pirates once roamed Balboa Island hiding their treasure chests filled with Mardi Gras beads. After she found the treasure she tried to rebury it. Here is Tessa walking the plank.

Phoebe's favorite pastime, riding horses, at the OC Fair. She was so perturbed to be taken off the horse at the end of her turn that when Shawna tried to make her leave she just flipped herself around in a 180 to get back to them. Pretty determined for a girl who can't walk!

Tessa and cousins enjoying the Pirate ride at the fair. It took her a while to warm up to the idea of carnival rides but eventually she was riding roller coasters with her hands in the air like a big girl.