Livia's 1st Birthday!

Livia turned one on Thursday! At the request of Grandma Mari, I documented Livia's birthday and am including a timely post. First, Dan and I rushed into her room when she woke up and sang Happy Birthday to her in the crib. (We did not record this part -- I have a new policy of not singing in front of anyone else after an embarrassing family incident a few years ago.) Livia came downstairs to a balloon on her highchair. She quickly figured out how to pull the string down so that she could reach the balloon part, and she enjoyed playing with it.


Next, we went into the playroom, where her gift from Dan and I was waiting. It was the Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Kitchen. The gift was a big hit!




When Livia got bored and went on a journey into the living room, we read one of her new books, "Where is Baby's Birthday Cake?" Then she decided that she would rather look at it herself.

Cassidy came down for a dance party.

After a quick nap, we headed out to Gymboree. We are taking a class there and Livia LOVES climbing on everything.

She also likes playing with the balls and scarves, though she can get very intense about it.

Next, we met Daddy for lunch at George's Garage. We used to meet Dan at this restaurant when Livia was a newborn and would sometimes sleep in her carseat carrier (though other times she would scream through lunch). Now she is a big girl-- she sat in the highchair and fed herself cheese and melon.

We went home for another quick nap, then Isla came over for a playdate. Livia received lots of birthday phone calls from family and friends. She especially enjoyed the birthday wishes from Bat, Blankie, and the rest of Gabriella's toys who all had their own separate birthday greetings. It turns out that Blankie has the same birthday as Livia, so we want to wish it a Happy Birthday as well. All in all, it was a great day!

This afternoon (Saturday) we celebrated Livia's birthday with some of her playgroup and the Book Group babies/toddlers (most of my book group was pregnant at the same time so we have kids roughly around the same age). We had 7 babies/toddlers over, along with their mommies and some daddies. It was the most people that we have had in the house at one time since Livia was born. Cassidy had her own party at Camp Bow Wow -- she may be able to handle Livia, but we thought that 8!?! babies would put her over the edge. It took Livia about a half hour to warm up to everyone, but then she did great! She was happy to share her toys with everyone.

Some of the babies got along especially well. We may have some really early matchmaking going on. Abby and Ben really enjoyed playing with Livia's new kitchen toy.

Jake and Isla preferred the Infant to Toddler Rocker. That's not the only thing they have in common-- they are both due to receive younger siblings on February 25!

Sam, the youngest of the group at 7.5 months, took it all in from Amy's lap.

Livia told Sam that he had a phone call from Obama's campaign. Sam didn't want to take the call because he already is in contact with Obama on a regular basis (Sam's daddy took a leave of absence from his job to work for Obama's campaign, so he wasn't able to attend the party).

Callie was in deep thought about something. Maybe her own birthday, which is coming up in a little over a week.

A family photo of Paul, Rachael, Jake, and baby #2 to be

Time for cake! Kaden, the big kid of the group at just over 2, was excited for this part. Livia did really well-- she didn't even cry when everyone sang!

A family shot

Livia went right to work on eating her cupcake. No lesson needed, and none saved for Cassidy. She devoured the whole cupcake in about 2 minutes flat.

All the cake and attention was very tiring.

After everyone left, we ended the night with a bath (though Livia was surprisingly clean after eating the cupcake without a bib-- it made me realize that she really can get all the food in her mouth when she wants to). With all the excitement of the party, Livia forgot that she needed to poop. She started to go in the tub, but I scooped her up and sat her on the toilet right in time. It was a perfect end to the day.