Heidi's First Birthday Party

Heidi's party was pretty quiet, but she was as happy as could be and we had fun. We just had some family members over for dinner, cake, and presents. I didn't plan any games because she couldn't play them and I figured all the cousins would just play with each other. This first picture was just when I started setting up, but it shows a little what her party looked like- pink and gold colors and pretty girly.

Heidi really enjoyed playing under the table because we threw all the balloons under there while we were setting up.

After dinner, I put Heidi in just a tutu so she could smash her little cake. She really liked the feel of the material and especially liked everyone gathered around looking at her.

My sister made both the sign on the table and the number one for Heidi to hold in pictures.

When she first got her cake, she wasn't quite sure what to do with it.

When she finally started digging into it, she thought it was fun to play in.

After I gave her a little sample of the frosting, she got the idea of eating the cake.

After awhile, the sweetness of the cake got to her and she pulled this face.

But she still ate a bit more before she decided she was done.

After I got her all cleaned up, she was very interested in what her brothers were eating and tried to get some of their cupcakes and ice cream.

She also enjoyed opening her presents, but not nearly as much as her brothers and cousins enjoyed helping her unwrap them :)

Heidi is ONE! (Part 2)

Grandpa surprised us by calling the night before Heidi's birthday to say he was driving over. I swear he did it just to feed her ice cream :) Here are a few of the pictures I got

 And of course once Little Miss was in bed, the boys helped Grandpa set up the tent for their tradition of sleeping in the backyard when Grandpa comes to visit.

Heidi is ONE! (part one)

Wow, my little baby is growing up! She is now one- and that year passed so quickly. It seems like they just keep growing up faster and faster. Little Miss is still a doll and loved by everyone, but she is also in a stage where she can be a real pain sometimes. She crawls all over the place- sometimes so quickly that I have no idea where she's gotten off to. She loves to pull herself up onto everything, pulls down anything she can get her hands on (which has resulted in her not being very happy as a pile of books or kids' plastic plates falls onto her head) and is into everything. She loves to go in the bathroom as often as possible to pull herself up next to the bathtub (she loves taking tubbies!) or to play in the toilet. I kept scolding the boys to keep the toilet shut and the bathroom door closed, which they sometimes remembered and sometimes didn't. A few weeks ago, Heidi got her hands on one of their cars and put it into the toilet and ever since then they have been very good about keeping the toilet closed and the bathroom door shut tight. One of her favorite pastimes is to take things out and put them back in. Its nice to keep her entertained pulling things out of my bottom bathroom drawer and putting them back in while I do my hair and makeup. She also semi-helps to pick up the boys' toys when I'm trying to get them to put everything back into the correct bin (until she decides its time to take all the toys back out and we have to put them in again ;) She is delighted by any form of peek-a-boo. You don't even have to hide behind anything to play- turning your face away and then looking back is good enough for her. She also still loves to pass things back and forth. Heidi has turned into a little piggy at meal times and gets very distressed when someone else is eating and she is not. She especially loves oatmeal, any kind of fresh fruit, and pasta. Sometimes when we are eating a real meal and I offer her cheerios, she gets all fussy and slowly pushes all the cheerios onto the ground- I guess she thinks she ought to have a real meal too. We have taught her how to sign "more", but she has only done it on her own twice- both times for Austin. Asher and I always make her do it when she starts whining that she wants something, but she won't do it for us. I've noticed that once I get her hands started in the sign, she will start to do it herself, but never initiates it on her own.
Heidi is still incredibly cuddly and affectionate. I love when I pick her up and she clings onto me in a full-body hug! She also loves to press her face against mine and is very happy when the boys show her any kind of affection. She is joyful when she sees Austin and usually tries to jump out of my arms to get to him.
Heidi's language skills are coming right along. Just yesterday she waved and said "bye-bye". I had been trying to get her to do this for weeks with no success, then as I was standing and talking to my mother-in-law, someone on her TV said bye-bye, so Heidi waved and said it too. It was so cute and we got her to say it a few more times, but not when we were actually leaving. Heidi says Mama or Mom sometimes to me and has said Da-da, but I'm not sure if she is referring to Austin or not since she has never actually said it with him around.
The boys got into Heidi's room this morning before I could, so while they were entertaining her, I blew up some balloons. She was delighted (as were the boys) by the balloons! She probably would have played for hours in her crib, but she didn't mind at all when we went to the kitchen to have some strawberries and blueberries.

 Here are some photos I took of her in her birthday girl outfit. Leif and I went to the store last night to get some helium balloons and those were even more exciting for her, although she wasn't super pleased by me pushing her back onto the blanket to take pictures instead of letting her crawl all over me and play. Some of the good close-ups I got were actually from when I just let her lean against my legs and think she was going to make it onto my lap :)

The kids

 Here are some photos I got of all the kids the other day. They aren't exactly Christmas-card-worthy or anything, but they turned out pretty well for the relatively painless effort it took to get them and how quickly the kids cooperated to get them done.