Birthday Part I

Dear Luthien,
I knew this would happen. I wanted to write about your actual birthday before your party occurred but I did not get around to it, and now I must recount both days...
It was nice to have you all to ourselves your birthday weekend- everyone went out of town since it was over the 4th of July, but we stuck around and found some fun things to do. On Friday evening we went to a free night at the Phoenix Children's Museum. It was a long wait but well worth it- tickets for even babies cost $9, I didn't even look at what adults cost! I wish we brought our camera to document your favorite parts of the museum: #1 was playing at the sand table. You actually liked this sand because it was very fine and dry- we made designs with cookie cutters and watched the different colored lights illuminate the table. You were totally into it. They also have a fun baby/toddler area with tons of climbing equipment and various activities. Your favorite was climbing up the stairs and looking down at daddy's face through the clear parts of the floor below you. I was crying laughing watching the two of you look at eachother through this clear floor. Anyone who knows dad even remotely well knows he can make some pretty funny faces. The next day we went to a book reading at Changing Hands, a long time Tempe bookstore that we love taking you to. Curious George was there to share his stories, and you LOVED it. I didn't think you would be as into seeing a giant monkey as you were. You also listened and behaved very well during the reading. So cute! That night we barbecued and had our own little 4th of July celebration. Unfortunately the fireworks part didn't work out the way I wanted it to, and it reminded me why I want so badly to move out of Phoenix. To make a long story short we tried watching the fireworks on our roof, but as soon as dad got up there he saw about 5 scorpions. We hopped in the car and started driving, but the traffic was so bad that the fireworks ended up starting, and the only place we could get to was Tempe Marketplace, one of Arizona's many (and newest, most popular) strip malls. You and I watched the end of the fireworks with a million cars racing in front of us, while dad tried to find a parking spot. We will have to plan better next year, and I'm sure you will enjoy it more anyway since you likely will have more energy at that time of night, and more understanding of what is going on.
I should probably interject with some pictures now. We didn't get pictures of any of the activities I have described, but here are a few random ones from the same weekend...


Dad was really proud of this outfit he picked out for you. He loves gray and brown together so much he doesn't even mind the bit of pink you are sporting. Actually, I have to say that dad is better at picking out your outfits than me! He's always been good with women's clothing, something I love about him. You haven't been wearing too many bottoms now that you have your cloth diapers and more baby legs, which is fine by me!



Here you are pushing your little walker around the house. I think I mentioned this before but this was the first time you did it using only one hand. The other hand is tightly clenching one of your favorite flax crackers. Grandad has said your cracker is kind of like your pacifier. You've never really used a paci but in the past few months you seem to always be holding a cracker. You hold on for dear life to it and take little nibbles throughout the day. Sometimes you prefer to give it to Roofus and then request another, a habit we are trying to break :) I love that you look like such a grandma in this picture!

Now, on to your actual birthday. We had your Uncle Rhett over for dinner and practiced a few of the recipes out we planned on making for your party. I have since found that I am one of very few people who like eating Gazpacho, but that's a different topic. You didn't like it at first but are liking it more and more as you give it a try. These pictures are a bit out of order but here you are playing with your presents. I mainly included this one because I love the way dad looks :)

More of you playing with your gifts. I can't remember if I've told you this but one of your very favorite things to do is taking off and putting on tops of containers, bottles, etc. We found this cute wooden "condiment set" where you can do this to your heart's content. Plus you don't get as frustrated because they're a bit easier to take on and off then other things. Again, no pants/skirt, sorry!

You LOVED this book we got you! It was funny, because at that point I hadn't really even sung you the song very much. I think you loved those round wheels mostly (although your circular obsession has lessened a bit, you still tend to gravitate toward round things). Now you love to dance and hear us sing the song that goes along with the book.

I love this picture. You can see your delight, immediately when you opened the present:

And here you are with your cupcake. You wanted to grab the flame so badly. Mom accidently bought trick candles, so after we sung to you and blew it out once, dad had the idea of letting you "learn" about the heat associated with the candle. You eventually did touch it and were very sad, until you realized that meant you could play with ice cubes. As far as actually eating the cupcake, we will never have the classic 1 year-old birthday picture with smeared icing on your face. I shouldn't have expected it. You ate two pieces of strawberry but would have nothing to do with the rest of the cupcake. I am happy my daughter chose the fruit over the sweet, however, I did work hard to make sugar-free (cane, at least) cupcakes for you! My crazy, picky girl!

Love, Mama

P.S. I'll write separately about the party.