And just like that, in a blink of an eye.....she turned ONE! So much to remember that makes us smile and yet so much more to look forward to! She went from our little baby Tolle of 7 pounds 8.6 ounces and 21 inches long to a 21 pound and 31 inch BIG GIRL! Her small and carefully steady steps have turned in to a confident....really almost sprint. And her two lonely bottom teeth had to wait a full six months for some company. And all FOUR top teeth came in at once! But I must admit that other than a few fussy days, Madelyn really handled the process well. There were a few restless nights, but the hard part seemed to really interrupt her appetite. But now we are on to filet with our potatoes the doctor said! Maybe not so quick....I can tell the next group of friends to come will be here soon. I just hope it doesn't get worse because we are about to give up the bottle and pacifier and I really want her to eat well so that I know she's getting all the nutrients that she needs. We also graduated from the infant room to the young toddler room. I think it was really just a hard transition for me (as I cried every day for about one week after I would drop her off in the morning). She was ready though and had actually for a few weeks been visiting the room to help with the transition. But she was so lonely in that infant room with all the babies that would just lay on the floor or in the bouncy chair...she needed action and some other kids to play with! It is so amazing how she sits at the snack/lunch table with the other kids and sits in these short little chairs like big people while feeding themselves their snacks and lunch. And at nap time there are no cribs, just these little fold up cots that they sleep on. I was in complete disbelief that she would ever sleep on a cot....but she does. We were also invited to our first birthday party for two little twins that are "friends" of Madelyn's at school. It was at Gymboree and it was ten times better than our visit since she's older and more interactive AND she got to play with her school friends instead of random people that were at our individual visit.
And I mean this is in the truest sense; Madelyn is not a baby anymore. She is this awesome little person who understands what we say and she is learning to express herself with shaking her head "no", crinkling up her nose and mimicking things we show her how to do! We are excited more than ever for this summer to go and do fun things and show her all sorts of new things in the world! This month we got to hang out with Miss Evie, which we had our very first play date with. Miss Evie is only two weeks older and getting these girls together is so much fun! We shared toys, had a great lunch, tried to break the dogs free and went for a walk through the neighborhood. On the walk the girls were leaning over their strollers and talking to each other. It was sooo cute!So, this first year I had made the greatest effort to make Madelyn's "first" everything to be festive and a big deal with a special outfit. Naturally, the first birthday is going to be a big deal.....but I may have gotten a little out of control. I did become addicted to searching for the perfect everything online for about two months straight. It all started when the best invitation to fit all 12 months of pictures was found. Really it was the only one and so the theme was no choice but cupcakes. The weekend of the party I noticed my baby shower invitation on my mom's refridgerator and by coincidence cupcake was the theme of the shower too!! After the invites were sent all that was left was the decorations! Ryan came home from work each day to a new box on our doorstep. He said he knew it was bad when he would ask what it was and I wasn't sure because there were so many coming......So, from there I had a onesie, banner (actually banners because the first wasn't showing up and the lady wasn't responding to me emails), and cupcake toppers made. And then to top off the cupcake theme, I made a huge cupcake for her smash cake. I found the cake pan, which came with NO directions and gave it a whirl. I started with the first trial run and found that it took TWO cake mixes instead of one.....then when I baked it I filled it up too much and while baking it rose up so high it baked the next oven grates into the top...so the second trial run went much better and then the day of was complete success! I was such a wonderful day to have all our family there to share such a special day! AND to top it all off, her new cousin Brantley Gapp decided to arrive on her birthday! So a big thank you to the Gapp family for the best birthday present ever! I just love that her and her cousin will share their special day together going forward. I love family being close :o)
Thank You to everyone for everything; it was a perfectly unforgettable year!
No comments:
Post a Comment