Andi's first Birthday party

A photo report of Andi's first Birthday party!
We had lots of Ben's side of the family come to celebrate (Tom, Marilyn, grandma Maynard, grandma Bryan, aunt Melody and uncle Fred, aunt Kim, uncle Les, Anna and Stephen, aunt Lori, Mike, Jen, Abby, Tyler, Isaiah, and Aubrey) and friend Eric.
It was a great party! At first, Andi was a little hesitant with all the people and noise in the house, but after a while she warmed up to everyone.

Unwrapping a PILE (!) of presents with Dad:

2nd cousin Aubrey likes to help.

Her first birthday cake! A smiling strawberry lady bug, with red velvet cupcakes. We won't mention how long it took mom to frost these! ;)

In her pretty dress by the cake.

She's a professional cupcake eater now!

Hap!

Clap, clap, clap. Smear, smear smear!

This time it also ended up all over her head and in her ears :) Mmmm!

Did I mention that ever since those delicious tastes of cake and frosting, our little miss Andi has pretty much lost her interests in vegetables? Why bother?! Haha.

And a couple of pictures of the fun presents she got:

A pink dump truck, and a barn to learn a few colors, letters and animals;

A little table filled with excitement and to help her learn to stand and walk;

A bunch of clothes for the coming summer and fall! She's going to be way better dressed than mom and dad!

And, a rocking horse that grandpa Tom and grandma Marilyn made!

Now it is on to year #2! Looking forward to seeing what it will bring!

Happy 1st Birthday Andi!

Big day yesterday: Andi turned one year old!

Since she was born in the afternoon, the whole day I kept thinking about what it was like one year before: getting induced, how my contractions were progressing, pacing the halls of the hospital, trying my hardest to manage the pain by bouncing like a mad woman on that exercise ball having Ben there with me, and then, finally, pushing, and getting to meet our girl. What a miracle!

Anyway...enough with memories, on to the big day! Here's her 1 year shot with Slungel!

When Andi woke up in the morning, both Ben and I went into her room, and sang "Happy Birthday" to her while she was laying in her crib. She just looked at us with a straight face like: "Mommy, daddy, you guys are weird. What's all this?" Ben left for work, and I made us some blueberry pancakes for breakfast... she wasn't all that interested in those either :) So much for a birthday feeling. She did however show some interest in the birthday sign and balloons that were up. :)

At lunchtime, she got her first present: A lamb walk bike from her Grandma and Grandpa Mooiweer! Though her feet don't touch the floor yet, she loves riding on it, being pushed forward, and holds on for dear life.

In the evening, grandma and grandpa Bryan came over for dinner. After dinner, it was time for presents! More pictures here. Since she loves emptying out my purse, I sewed her a little purse of her own. From Aunt Liselotte she got a cute wooden tea set and loves to play with it. Of course, Navy people Uncle Grant and Aunt Sara had to give her a Navy shirt and doll that say "beat Army", and from grandma and grandpa Bryan she got a cool electronic book.

After the presents, it was time for the highlight of the evening...Andi's first cake! Because we are having a bigger family birthday party on Saturday that I am making her real birthday cake for, we just had some delicious red velvet cupcakes to celebrate. By now Andi was already getting a little tired, cranky and ready for bed. However, when this little thing came in sight, with candle and all, her interests were once again spiked....

A little hesitant she poked her fingers into the cream cheese frosting, and ...

... as soon as that first taste of sugary frosting hit her lips, it was All Systems GO! "This stuff is delicious!" It was hilarious to watch her absolutely devour her cupcake :)

How can I get this stuff in my mouth any faster?!

Then, the sugar hit her blood stream, and on a sugar high she went! What a ride! Smearing, splatting, cake everywhere! So much fun :) She definitely has a sweet tooth, just like her momma!

And, she gets to do it all over again on Saturday!

This morning we had her 1 yr checkup with Dr. Horst. Everything looks great. She is right on track developmentally. A little ahead on her fine motor skills, and neither behind nor ahead (;)) on her large motor skills (she crawls, and pushes to a stand, but doesn't walk along furniture (let alone by herself) yet). Here are her stats:

Weight: 20 lbs 5 oz - 35th percentile (down from 50th %)

Height: 28 inches - 18th percentile (down from 30th %)

Head circumference: 49.7 cm - 70th percentile (up from 65th %)

Still a pretty short girl! Everytime we go in the doc says he's waiting for her parents' genes to kick in and see a growth spurt :)

Some of her latest developments: Besides crawling and pushing herself up to a stand, she loves waving "bye" or "hi"; she claps her hands; she says "Dadda" when she wants her daddy, and "Mama" when she wants her mama; and, when you ask her "Waar is je voet?" or "Where is your foot?" she will promptly touch her feet :). Yes, my dear friends, this little girl is bilingual already. A post about that is to come soon! It is so cool to see that your little one is actually starting to understand what you are saying, and responding to it! This, and Andi's new found mobility certainly also opens up a new world of discipline. It comes as no suprise that we are noticing that she has a gentle heart ... the other day I had to tell her "No" about something, and immediately her lip started quivering, and the crocodile tears came out...sad face :( It would be nice if it stays that way, and she doesn't become defiant! Haha!