Punkin time!

Daddy's monkey

Mommy's beautiful girl

Having fun in Blowing Rock with Mommy and Daddy

Martha Stewart Jr. at it again.

Aaaah, bubbles!

And here are two of her adoring fans- Ella and Annelise.

Tess is quite the social butterfly. Here she is at her second party of the day-The Forrester's pumpkin party.

I had to show the big kids how to color.

But I found the dog's ball instead.

The grown-ups wanted us to help find the eggs.

Farm birthday party at Marissa's house.

Nothing rides like a John Deere.

Wow! If only this corn was cooked, I could pack it all in my jaws.

Martha Stewart Jr. decorating her first pumpkin.

Tess' first visit to the pumpkin patch.

Tess loved her teacher-Miss Bethany.

Tess and Grandmere showing off at the library "Once Upon a Lap" class.

This is a very rare glimpse of Tess cleaning our house. Usually she is destroying our house.

Tess loves the park.

I love the playground at Pepop's place!

Dada is showing me how to build a sand castle.

Tessie's first time playing in the sand.

Nothing says July 4th like cupcakes and homemade banana ice cream!

Happy July 4th from an all-American girl!

Don't I look cute in my watermelon dress?

Tess loved her first time in the pool.

Tess' favorite place to snooze-on Grandmere's lap.

One of Tessie's favorite pasttimes is dancing and lip-syncing to her favorite Colbie Caillat CD.

Tess is walking! Tess took a few steps on April 24, 2009. Then on her 13 month old birthday, April 25, 2009 she began to walk. She has been practicing quite a bit since then. Here's a video of one of her practice sessions.

Honorary grandparents- Cathy and Grant

First cupcake

A Happy Family

Happy Birthday, Tess!

PaPaw is a babyhog.

Tess' First Easter Basket

Two of our favorite girls Annelise and Ella Forrester had a bunny party and invited Tess.

Today is Tessie's first birthday. She spent the day with her Mom and Grandmere. We went out to eat lunch and supper! The big party is Sunday but we had a nice day together. Aunt Barbara sent Tess her first flowers. What a fun surprise. They are beautiful!!!

I know everybody thinks their child is "advanced for their age." But here's proof that Tess is definitely beyond her years. Not only does she read the local Chinese newspaper she also speaks fluent Chinese. We can't understand a word she is saying but we're sure it's proper Chinese.

Tess has had a hard couple of days with a runny nose, cough and fever. We were concerned about her passing her physical exam with all her symptoms. If they thought she was too sick, China would not let us take her out of the country until she got better. Fortunately, her fever went down and she started feeling better the morning of her exam. Thank goodness because there was no way we were leaving without her. Today she still has a cough but no fever or runny nose.

Here is Jane, our guide, doctor, teacher, caregiver, protector, bargainer and much more.