Mia's Purrfect Party!

" Happy Birthday to Amelia!"

Click play on the scrapbook below to click through a slideshow of photos from Amelia's party:

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Amelia's party was "one"derful! She had an intimate Hello Kitty party with just family and a few friends. It was a busy day! Nate had his first soccer game first thing in the morning, followed by the preschooler's Easter Party at our church. I stayed home with Amelia so she could nap and I could set up for her party. She got a good nap in. When everyone arrived, we let the babies (and the older kids) play for awhile while we chatted. We opened presents early--of course this is the one time she had no interest in taking anything out of anywhere! She had bags & bags with tissue paper just begging to be pulled out. She would not have anything to do with it! She just wanted to walk. Nate appointed himself her designated-opener. She got a plethora of cute clothes and shoes, a fancy pink swimsuit with polka dots and ruffles, a Hello Kitty backpack, a xylophone, Hello Kitty tableware, a push-popper, books, some bows for her hair, etc.

Amelia cheering on Nate's soccer team.

Jason made some fantastic fajitas for dinner and probably his best batch of guac ever! Of course, we broke out the Amelia Beerdelia that Jason brewed in honor of Amelia. We tried another attempt at opening presents before cupcakes...still not interested. So we sang, Nate blew out her candle and Amelia dived right in. The girl loves her sweets. She will not let me eat anything dessert-like without begging! I'm sure it's because that's all I could eat for about 6 weeks while she was in my tummy--donuts, cakes, frosting, etc. Amelia polished off her whole cupcake and cried when it was all gone. Granna gave her some of the HEB Poteet Strawberry Seasonal Selections ice cream (a delicious concoction! If you haven't tried it, get it while you can!) The cupcakes were yummy. I doctored them up from the plain box of white mix.

A close-up of Mia's Hello Kitty cupcakes!

Mia loved the guac, too!

She had her one-year appointment with Dr. Grant on Friday. Here are her stats:

• Length: 30 inches
• Weight: 21.5 pounds
• Head Circ: 18.65
• Shots: HEP A, MMR, PCV #4, Varicella
• Blood: lead test (pricked her finger then filled a vial drip by drip)
• Dr. Grant must have mentioned her "exploring personality" three or four times in the 15-minute appointment. She was into everything--diaper bag, drawers, his computer, etc.
• I did ask about possible allergies (along with every other person here in SA this season). He gave her some samples of Zyrtec to use "as needed." That's what we're using for Nate, too. (In generic form, of course!)

Amelia has some fun and not-so-fun accomplishments at one:

• She is nodding her head, "Yes!" Of course, she's been shaking her head, "No!" for quite some time and even says, "maw" for her version of "No!" But the fact she's even interested in nodding the affirmative is encouraging! ;)
• She loves playing in the toilet. Nate was not a bathroom explorer. Mia loves the toilet paper roll, the garbage cans and the toilet itself. Two new rules in our house: 1) Close the bathroom doors behind you and 2) Check before you flush!

One toilet episode captured on film as evidence.

• She is INTO everything. I don't remember Nate being this precocious. At first we were frustrated because she would take everything OUT (the used kleenex out of garbage cans, crayons out of the art bucket, shoes out of the basket, books off the shelf, diapers out of her diaper bag (nice when you show up somewhere with no diapers), toys from their boxes, etc. She empties everything. There has been progress! Now she wants to put things IN. But that has it's own problems... like the above "into the toilet" scenario.
• She loves playing cars with her brother, wrestling with him on the floor, pretending to draw like brother on the easel (with caps on her markers), and walking up and down the hallways.
• Her favorite toys are plastic lids, crumpled up paper (like receipts or junk mail flyers), cars and dolls or stuffed animals. I've noticed she is drawn to the toys with faces (whether it's a plastic car, animal figurine or one of the "Little People." She'll walk around with a marker in one hand and her teddy in the other hand until something else diverts her attention.
• She loves animal books (but will not sit still very long). She'll even make a monkey sound, baa like a sheep, sort of bark like a dog (which sounds a lot like her sound for cat) and do some sort of duck quack, "ah, ah, ah." She says "Momma," "Dada," "NaNa" (Nate) and "Maw!" ("No!").
• Signs--"more," "milk," "all done," "airplane." I think we're going to work on "diaper," "eat" (though walking to her chair and fussing seems to be working OK for her), "help," and "sleep."
• She's a great eater--cheese, hot dogs, strawberries, sausage, crackers are her favorites. I found out this week (after buying two blocks on sale), that neither of my kids like Velveeta.
• Speaking of eating, in the high chair is where her little devilish side shines the greatest. She is a sippy cup dropper. I remember our friends' little girl (Riley) went through this phase in Okinawa and I told Ann, "Oh, she's probably exploring gravity." If Riley was anything like Amelia, Ann probably wanted to choke me! It's so frustrating--picking up the sippy cup 83 times in one meal. Amelia does not like her cup on her tray, but she wants her milk. After each drink, she'll quickly rake it onto the floor. "Splat!" No matter how "spill proof" your sippy cup is, it's going to splatter a little milk when it hits the floor with force. Then she'll cry. Obviously, we're trying to correct this behavior while balancing her nutritional needs and she is making progress. It has developed into a bit of a game, now she'll look at you, smirk, open her hand and drop it when she's feeling exceptionally feisty. This behavior has spread to her food habits, too. When she's done eating and we haven't taken her out of her chair fast enough for her liking, she'll pick up handfuls of food and drop them over the side--again, looking at us and smirking while she's doing it. Now she's started saying, "Maw!" while she does it. It's quite a game.

Her first glass of whole milk!

And there goes the milk--over the edge of her tray!

• Dancing! She loves music. If she hears any semblance of a beat, she'll start bopping her body up & down and grooving. She also "sings!" She'll croon to the hills as she squeals her way around the house!

Amelia thinks Turning One is Fun! (Can you tell?!)