Happy Birthday Violet!

I can't believe our little girl is already ONE! While my life before Violet is but a fuzzy, long-distant memory, this big milestone does seem to have come too soon.


Thursday was her Big Day, and that meant a whirlwind of preparations, as Someone in this household decided it would be a good idea to start remodeling the guest bathroom in the weeks leading up to her party. On top of the projects we had already began, our plates were somewhat full. And yes, Mom, you told me so.

Long story short, not everything got finished that we wanted, the planned decorations did not get executed, and my Martha Stuart aspirations came up woefully short. However, big picture realizations: we were able to celebrate this big event with close friends and family, Violet was a champ throughout her party (despite dealing with her very first ear infection), and we got to reconnect with important people in our life. I think the final headcount was somewhere around 36 (which is a LOT, considering our compact home). I also learned a lot of lessons for the next time we decide to host something on this scale (like, having it during warmer months so that we can overflow onto the patio, don't have it in the middle of remodeling, etc.).

Anyway, special thanks to my Mom for ALL her help (including watching Violet for a few hours so we could work on the house, making pizza dough, bringing fruits and veggies, and making her the ADORABLE birthday tutu!) and a big shout-out to Becky for taking pictures for me!

Violet had a wonderful time tasting her birthday cupcake, which was the first time she had had anything sweet like this. It was a chocolate cupcake base (a modified version of Crazy Cake) with whipped chocolate ganache topping.

Contemplating the cupcake.

Going in for a taste.

Evaluating her first taste of chocolate.

Deciding she is done being ladylike.

Going in for round 2

Some current catch-up facts about our little Miss V:

• She cut her first two bottom teeth right around 7 months and got a third on the bottom about a month later. Then she cut FOUR teeth in ONE WEEK right around 11 months. She has recently cut her eighth tooth about a week ago, and we are still adjusting to her toothsome smile.
• Violet also started crawling right around 7 months, and she had the cutest, butt-wiggliest crawl EVER! She was cruising around shortly thereafter, and beginning at 11 months started taking her first independent steps. When my oldest brother and his family came to town at the beginning of February, though, she decided she should not be the final crawling cousin holdout and she has been walking like a champ ever since. She was (and is) very cautious, and her first steps were, indeed, baby steps. Or baby shuffles. But as she gains more confidence, she takes bigger and wilder steps, which is super fun for mom and dad. Fortunately, she has amazing balance and self-corrects very well.






• Violet loves to chatter (something she definitely did not get from both her parents) and will say certain words when prompted (FINALLY I can get her to say "Mama"), but her favorite thing to repeat is, I kid you not, Bob Loblaw. It is the funniest thing.
• She LOVES "Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree" and will make the popcorn popping motions with her hands as soon as we start singing it. So fun! And her no-fail soothing song is "You Are My Sunshine."
• Violet has been enjoying solid foods. She loves to fill up both her hands, and then just dive right in with her face (see the cupcake picture above). Heaven forbid she should eat what is in her hands first. She and Wyatt love patrolling the ground below the high chair when the other is eating and cleaning up the leftovers.
• Violet has recently started giving hugs, and it just warms Mommy and Daddy's hearts every time she toddles over to us and gives us hugs. She received a little teddy bear for Valentine's Day and will give it the sweetest hugs, too. Her baby doll, however, she persists in carrying around by the leg.
  
  
• Violet loves her doggies and will follow them anywhere and everywhere. The dogs are wonderfully patient with her and put up with her pets, hugs, and eye-gouging.
• Violet also has been waving and clapping for a few months now. She will also give high-fives when asked. She will applaud enthusiastically if she hears clapping on TV or if she hears someone cheering ("Yay!" gets lots of smiling claps every time).
• Violet loves music and will often stop what she's doing and start bobbing up and down whenever she hears it. She also loves to toddle over to the piano and start tinkling on the keys. We are positive we have a piano prodigy on our hands.
• Violet LOVES to play peek-a-boo, and will do it ALL THE TIME. She will pull blankets over her head and pop out, or crouch behind the ottoman and pop up. She has even tried to play it will Penelope, but I think the concept was lost on a dog.

Violet has been the best thing in our lives and I am so grateful every day for the opportunity I have to be her mom. It makes me a better person, and makes me try to be the mother that she deserves. She is a joyful soul who has made our lives infinitely better, and it is a privilege to be part of a family with her.

Violet Louise, thank you for coming to our family!