Par-tay!

Sprout at 12 months

Sprout at one day old!

Yummy birthday cupcake!

Beautiful Owl Cake

Daddy & Sprout in her birthday girl outfit

We've come to the letter 'P' finally, and after an agonizing 2 months of trying to blog my way here, I can finally write about Sprout's first birthday party! Birthdays are so bittersweet now, after watching my first child have her first special day. You're so proud of all of their achievements and accomplishments in their first year, but it's one of those double-sided things. You want them to keep learning and changing and growing, but you want to hit the pause button for a while and just stay with them in this adorable phase of cuddly, stumbling, talking cuteness.

Owls have always been a huge part of Sprout's first year. Her nursery is decorated in an Enchanted Forest (check out www.lambsivy.com for the bedding and nursery set) theme, and from the first day we brought her home, we took a picture each month with her stuffed owl that belongs to the nursery set to mark her growth. So it wasn't a huge surprise that we decided on a pink and brown owl-themed party. A wonderful friend of my mom's from work made the most beautiful cake for Sprout, and I made cupcakes with pink and cream frosting with little owl cutouts on toothpicks stuck in the top. She wore an owl sweater, black leggings, and a pink pettiskirt. The only downsides to the day? The weather was awful, and both Sprout and I had come down with a horrible cold. She woke up in the morning and laid on my chest on the couch and cried for the first 20 minutes. Thank goodness she is a resilient little thing - cake, treats, and presents really perked her up!

I was extremely proud of the fact that I did NOT cry at her party. I did cry on her actual birthday, and I definitely had a good cry afterwards. The first year goes by so quickly, and the fact that she has a brother or sister coming along in only 4-5 months just makes it even more meaningful. I wanted to hold on to the baby phase for as long as I could, but she just flew right past! She was a spoiled, but very well-behaved little owl at her party, and I couldn't have asked for a more wonderful turnout of close friends and family. So nice to be able to celebrate with so many people. The only thing that she didn't cooperate with (which we had practiced for weeks beforehand, and which she asks to do with my house candles EVERY day now) was to blow out her first birthday candle, which I stuck in the top of her cupcake. She just stared at me like "what do you expect me to do with THAT?" I think she was confused, because she knew it was supposed to be a treat, but I was asking her to do something weird with a cupcake. Why would you have to blow on a cupcake?

Anyways, so another two months has passed, and Sprout is almost fully walking (I don't know if she'll ever toughen up and stop being such a chicken. She'll walk to me, and if I keep backing up, she will walk around the whole house! Little turkey.), and says well over 50 words on a regular basis now. She came up to me yesterday with the manger from the Little People nativity scene and the angel, and said "House. This (points to angel). On. Pleeeeeease." She blows my mind. The manger has a little peg on top where the angel sits, and then when you push it down, it lights up the star and sings "Silent Night". The fact that she can already structure that kind of sequence of words and express what she would like me to do (WITH manners) absolutely blows me away. I think my favourite new development (other than saying please and thank-you without always being prompted) has to either be her naming all of her colours, or the fact that she says 'love' now and gives herself a hug when you tell her to say 'love you'. And then blows a kiss. I am so thankful that I get to spend every day with her at home, watching her constantly learn and grow. I can't wait for the next stage of our family life, when this new little Seedling joins us and Sprout, and our lives change yet again.

I hear you talking to Iggy and Monster up in your crib...I suppose naptime is over, even though it hasn't been 2 hours...

Can't wait to throw your next party, Sprout. I'm already in the planning stages!

xoxoxo

Mommy