We celebrated the weekend before May 1st. It was an insanely busy weekend with Claire’s dance rehearsals and recital, but it was the PERFECT weekend weather wise, and such a sweet time with family and close friends.
Her theme was “April showers bring May flowers”. The table, her high chair and the cupcakes were decorated with grass and flowers with raindrop streamers having behind the table in the window. We just did a few finger foods, drinks and cupcakes for her 4:00 party.
I ended up having to wake her up from her afternoon nap around 3:30. She got dressed and played with claire and Kent while waiting for friends to get to the house. Once everyone was here we sang “happy birthday”. She could not WAIT to get her hands on that cupcake. She was reaching so hard trying to get it, and once she did, she devoured it! We opened presents shortly after. She got such wonderful and thoughtful gifts! A xylophone, ball pit, outdoor kitchen, ice cream cart, placemat with plates and snacks, book, pool supplies, shoes and clothes, a water table, ball toy and a lunchbox. After she opened gifts, we all went outside to play and it was the best evening!
Her actual birthday wasn’t super exciting, but I hope she still felt loved and cherished. Claire sang happy birthday to her during breakfast and at supper. Mrs. Cristy came to watch the girls while I had bible study, and then we spent the day together just playing at the house. It was a cloudy and kind of drizzly day, so we stayed in. She roamed from room to room just jabbering and looking for things to get into. She let me know when she wanted to be held, and wrestled and cuddled with me in her room. She fell asleep while I was nursing her at bedtime and I just sat and rocked her for a while and reflected on this year and what a blessing she has been.
Abigail Jean, you are my sweet sunshine girl. Everything about you is pleasant and cheerful. You love to observe, but recently you’ve decided that you want to get in on the action. You love to be chased and wrestled, and when we do those things you kind of collapse to the floor and roll to your tummy waiting to be tickled (much like Brody does). You think it’s funny when we tell you “no no”. Probably because you haven’t heard it very much, but it’s definitely becoming more used in our every day vocabulary - you like to sneak around and touch or pull on things that you don’t need to (trash, toilet paper, open potties, cords and plug ins...) You LOVE Claire. Love her. And she loves you. You’re starting to play with each other and really enjoy it. I know as you grow you will have more and more fun with her. You love to be put down to crawl around and explore. Your first reaction when someone tries to take you from me is to burry into my neck and I love it, but your getting better about staying with other people. You still love that paci and and know how to look for it if I ask where it is. If you have your paci and blankie together, you instantly lay down. You will lay still and snuggle with me sometimes and it’s so precious. You randomly kiss me over and over and it’s my favorite. I’m so very proud of you. I’m proud that you’re brave and excited to explore and try new things. I’m proud of your sweet disposition and the twinkle in your eye when you see something you like. I’m proud of how strong and smart you are. I’m proud of how well you sleep and eat. I’m proud to be your mama, and I’m extremely grateful for this first year with you!