First birthday madness

Oh what a week we have had. Natalia's birthday party was a huge success! Thanks again to all who came, and for her lovely presents!

So Wednesday I was a busy bee decorating the house and frosting a cake and cupcakes. The cake turned out to be a big blobby mess, but it was meant to make a mess so it all works out... right? he he he. Natalia was super cute when we got the balloons and she noticed them in the house. She kept pointing at them and finally she got a hold of one of the strings and was just walking around the house in her walker carrying this string with the balloon following behind her. Her guests started arriving around 5pm and so we started up the grill and got all the food set out. I over estimated the amount of food we would need, but thought more people were coming then did. oh well! We still had a great turn out and she did good for a while. She had only slept an hour that afternoon, so I knew she was going to get cranky fast. As soon as everyone had been fed, we went for the presents. Charlie sat down with her and "helped" her open them up. She got lots of cute cloths, a super cute Adirondack rocking chair, a personalized piggy bank, some books, more blocks, and tons of other stuff! That kid is so spoiled... =) Then we went for the cake. I was so sure it was going to be a huge mess, so I covered a chair with a plastic table cloth and even laid one down on the ground. Charlie stripped her down to her diaper and put on her special ladybug bib we'd bought. We sang happy birthday, at which point I almost lost it! I seriously was struggling not to just start bawling!! I had done well all day and kept my tears in check up till that point. Luckily I got a hold of myself. he he he. We set the cake down and backed away thinking the worst was about to happen. BOY WERE WE WRONG! She stuck one hand into the frosting and then freaked out. She hated it! I tried to coax her into taking a little bite to see that it was sweet, but she wanted nothing to do with it. Darn it all! But we managed to get some cute pictures of her anyway. After that she was done with the whole party so we cleaned her up and had her say her good nights. I took her upstairs and put her down for bed. She was out like a light! It was so neat to see everyone show up to support her. I know she'll never remember this, but I wanted to be able to show her pictures someday. So the party was really more for me. =) It was also odd to think throughout the day about what was going on that exact day and time last year. I mean how often can you remember what you were doing this exact minute one year ago? That day I could for sure. What a special year it has been, and I look forward to many many more!!

Yesterday we went to her one year check up with the pediatrician. I was reminded once again how happy I am with this new pediatrician and how glad I am that we made the decision to switch. Dr. Townsend is wonderful and her staff is amazing. They always treat us great and don't seem like they are in a hurry to get to another patient. The nurse is super sweet to Natalia and even if she doesn't really remember Natalia out of the dozens of patients they see, she always acts like she knows exactly who she is. We had decided to hold off on doing Natalia's live vaccines (MMR and Chicken pox) for the summer. Oliver can't be around anyone who has received those for a month. And, with everything going on this summer it would have been too difficult to work out a schedule for dinner etc. Especially because my mom is taking her over two nights in July while Charlie and I got to Seattle for a wedding. Anyway, so Natalia got two other shots which she HATED! I'm still crossing my fingers that she wont be as cranky as she has been in the past following shots. They gave her a little book and a toy at this appointment too. It's things like that that make this doctor that much more special. Anyway she's a skinny minnie officially! She weighs 19lbs 6 oz (putting her in the 25%) and is 29 1/4 in long (putting her in the 50%) and her head as always is huge 18 1/4in (75%) he he he. We'll start transitioning away from formula and into whole milk now and hopefully that will help fatten her up a little. We go back in September for her 15 month check up and at which point she'll get the rest of her shots. I'm still unsure if I want to do the chicken pox vaccine or just have her get the chicken pox. I'll be doing more research on that one. Another thing they've suggested and we'll be sticking to is to keep her rear facing for another year. It used to be 1 year or 20lbs was the point they could turn around. But, now Dr. Townsend says she prefers they stay rear facing until 2 years or 40lbs. I guess there's a lot of that going around now. There's tons of discussion on it on my Babycenter June Mom's group. Some people are going with the new recommendation and some aren't. It's supposed to be safer for her, so we're staying rear facing.

Well she is waking up from her afternoon nap. I better go get her. =) BTW, I posted an album that has all her first year photos. It has the pictures I took that morning, her one year photo shoot at the train depot a few days before, and tons of pictures from her birthday party.