Mary Tessa Joyce Nolte is one!

The traditional squat-upon-the-gifts.

She was 100% pleased. What a pleasant girl to gift.

Probably the best investment was the balloon. Please excuse the headless, disheveled mother who posts this out of love for her child's love.

And . . . . . . . the Cake Montage:
the approach


first impact



gingerly acquainting herself with frosting
applying frosting streaks to tray. nice consistency that stuff has.

Timber!

Yet more proof that the kids only eat/like the frosting and the ice cream. I *had* to eat her cupcake for her. Even though the family (or mom) was frantically trying to get dad off to puerto rico and she had to have storebought easter cupcakes (gasp.) she DID get to have dear, sweet, strawberry BlueBell ice cream.

(She really can't pull off the saying on that bib.)

And, she can dance:

I really adore this girl. She has been my angel through the hard times of diagnosis and recovery. When I was recuperating from my cancer surgery spending days in bed with her at my side I told my mom that everyone who's healing should get to have a baby with them. This was her time to come and bring peace and I can sense she'll continue to do so for our family. Really, the girl so nice, we named her twice.

Oh, I forgot two important things she did on her birthday (besides getting her finger pricked at WIC). She learned from Simon during dinner how to talk with her nose plugged. Pretty hilarious. She spent the evening dive-bombing my stomach and blowing snoofs on it. Have you heard her giggle? It's heaven.