Yesterday, my baby turned 1! Where has the time gone? It seems that not too long ago, she was so tiny and fragile and now when I see newborns, she looks huge! Sometimes it feels like she is growing up too fast and it makes me really sad, but other times, I see that this growing up thing can be fun! I love her constant giggle, her excitement when she can say a few words like "uh oh" and "kitty" and looks to me for affirmation. Nothing is more rewarding to a parent than having your newly-crawling baby (yes, she was almost a year before she started crawling) crawl past her brand new toys and straight over to you for a hug. I'm just having so much fun with her. Every day, I try to think of at least one new adventure that I can take her on for that day. Some fun things we have done the past few weeks are Storytime at all the libraries in Utah county, Summer Science experiments at the Orem library, visits to all the pools and splash pads around, a visit to the pet store--she loves kittens and calls every animal a kitty, trips to ShopKo, which is never crowded just to walk through the fun toy aisle. Being a teacher has worked so well because I can still do what I love--teaching bright high schoolers--and still have time to have lots of mommy and me time.
I spent the last several weeks, wracking my brain for a fun theme for her first birthday. I wanted to do something fun and creative. Last year at this time, I was going through some rough stuff and this year, things were great. As I thought, I considered every princess and pink theme, spent hours of her naptime on Amazon, Pinterest and blogs, scouting out all the cute ideas. In the end, I decided to go with a Ladybug Party Theme. I might have gone a bit overboard, but I definitely had fun. She had everything from a decorated Ladybug High Chair to a beautiful strawberry shortcake with ladybug stickers. Okay, the cake looked more like the melting cake that the three fairies made in Sleeping Beauty, but it was homemade and I was proud of it. I knew as I scanned Pinterest that I found the right cake when I saw it had 3 tablespoons of vanilla and a whole box of fresh strawberries! It was a lot of work and she didn't feel like taking a nap her whole birthday so I did some crazy tricks to get it made in time, but here it is! I told the guests to wear black and red, had tomatoes and olives as snacks as well as those little Costco cheeses turned into ladybugs. As I started to get frustrated at her lack of a nap so I could get the ladybug decals on the wall, I realized that much of the time, these "kid parties" are for the parents, or in my case, the mom. The best part about a 1 year old birthday, you ask? A baby smash cake! She started out with a taste of frosting and in no time, she was smearing it everywhere. She was ecstatic over the cream cheese frosting with strawberries. Awe, it was worth it.
The summer fun continues: next week I plan to take her on a ride of the Heber Creeper (do they call it that anymore?)! I am always looking for ideas of things to do with a 1 year old. I have tried taking her to the movies, but after 15 minutes, she just wants to get down on the sticky floor and crawl towards all the lights. My mom and I went to Puss n Boots last week and the baby did love the Mexican music but after a couple of minutes, she thought that searching for old popcorn off of the floor would be more fun. We left that movie after 20 minutes. At least it was only a dollar.
