Happy birthday, baby!

Eliza's birthday went off without a hitch. Her actual birthday was on a weekday, so we didn't have her party until the following Saturday. On her birthday we went out for a pancake breakfast, which is her favorite. When she sees pancakes on my plate, she starts rocking in her seat and going "Mmm! Mmm! Mmm!" because she knows I'll share with her. Actually, in the last few days, she's started doing that any time I'm eating, which means that we're going to have to start having healthy lunches at home rather than picking Daddy up and taking him out to lunch every day. What I deem good enough for me to eat and what I think is good enough for her to eat are two very different things, but they're going to have to converge.



In between her birthday and her party, she started pulling up. I just realized that I don't have a still photo of this yet, although I did catch it on video. It's hard to get a picture of her doing things lately because she's very interested in having her picture taken, so if she sees the camera, she stops what she's doing and gets all excited about that.



The party was a small affair with family. My brother and nephew flew in, and we don't get to see them often, so that was nice. We had homemade chicken salad sandwiches on homemade bread with homemade lemonade. I didn't do a lot in the way of decorations. I ordered a cake to match the dress that I made, and we picked up some balloons to decorate the dining room. Eliza loved the balloons, and kept signing "lights" at them. I couldn't stand to give her sugar or anything that might stain the dress that I made her, so she ate a carrot zucchini muffin with cream cheese and honey icing and sprinkles on top instead of the chocolate cake.


Lights!

Afterwards, she got her first haircut. More of a trim, really. She was born with lots of hair and almost all of it fell out when she was about 6 months old, leaving just one little strip down the center of her head that we called her mohawk. When her hair came back in and started getting thicker, the mohawk started looking pretty silly. Her father was very attached to it, though, and said I couldn't cut it until after her birthday party. Silly Daddy. I didn't tell him that I had done it, and when he discovered it, he said that I had scalped her. But I think he's gotten over it. She also had a single curly hair over her ear that was past shoulder length, but I haven't seen it lately. It must have fallen out, and that makes me a little sad. Silly Mommy.



Her one year pediatrician's appointment was on Tuesday, and the doctor said she couldn't be doing any better. He was impressed with how smart she is, and it was nice to know that someone who isn't family thinks so, too. Her vocabulary has been exploding lately, and it's so much fun to watch her grow.



Grandma and Grandpa stayed through Wednesday, so we've been catching up on laundry and slipping back into our old routine the last couple of days. I cut out the fabric for another little dress, but I haven't sewn it yet. Not that she needs any more clothes! Grandma and I went shopping and it wasn't until I packed up some of her too-small winter clothes and hung up all of the new stuff that I realized just what a spring/summer wardrobe this little girlie has. I think we'll be good until fall.