Payne Nation: Tessly Is 1!

On July 8 our sweet little baby turned 1 year old! Her first year seemed to go by faster than I remember it going with the other 2 girls, and its hard to believe that she is no longer a baby! We were so glad that we were in Utah on her birthday... it was so fun celebrating her with our families!

Tess LOVES Mickey Mouse and I was so excited when we found this cake for her. It was perfect!

So much fun watching her open presents...

And she couldn't wait to get in the wagon that she got from Grandma and Grandpa Wayment and Grandma and Grandpa Payne...

It was so funny to watch her go after her cake. She would bend over and act like she was going to take a big bite out of it just to sit back and again. Finally she dug right in and then she couldn't get enough.

Sweet cousins playing with her new toys, with Great Grandparents behind watching...

And plenty of loves for Great Grandma Johnson...

Some things about Tessly at 1 year old are:

She loves to walk... just not on her own. She would walk all day long, but she has to be holding a finger, and it can get a little hard going round and round with her all day. As soon as you even attempt to slide your finger out of her hand, she drops to the ground.
She loves fruit. Though she willingly eats most of the food that we give her she gets really excited when she sees fruit and will eat it like she is a bottomless pit.
She says Uh-oh, Mama, Dada, Whassat (What's that), Oh Wow, and Bird. And she loves to shake her head no with an occasional nod yes. She holds conversations with people (though no one actually knows what she's saying) but she can talk and talk.

She gives the best hugs and is super friendly. She often makes a new friend wherever we go and will freely give out hugs before too long. She also loves to give kisses and we all love it. She has already given many a baby their first smooch!

Tess has such a sweet heart. Anytime she sees someone crying she hurries to them and tries to hug them. Eventually it turned into her hitting you and then hugging you to make it better.

She gets really excited about the following: fruit, Mickey Mouse, baby dolls, stuffed animals, dogs, birds, Alex Boye's Lemonade song, The Gummy Bear song, M&M's, and airplanes.
Tess knows what she wants and she will let you know it. She tells me when she wants to go to bed by pointing towards her room. When she wants food or a toy she points to it or leans her body towards it. When she doesn't want something she vigorously shakes her head no.
This kid knows how to throw a tantrum! When she gets mad, she throws her head into the ground. I can't tell you how grateful I am for carpet now because of this. She has had so many bruises I am surprised CPS hasn't been called yet.
She loves to dance and clap hands and climb on just about anything. She also loves to mimic people. She "talks on the phone", sings in microphones, and blows kisses.

While we were in Utah, our talented sister-in-law, Becky, took Tess's 1 year photos and they turned out so much better than we could have hoped for!