Sophie's First Birthday Party

This past Sunday we celebrated Sophie's First Birthday with our friends and family. There were about 50 people here, including 15 kiddies. Let's just say, I was happier than usual when the Merry Maids left today. In all seriousness, though, it was a lot of fun! I tried to have something for everyone. There was kid-friendly food- as one friend put it, "you know you're at a one year old's birthday party when there is yo baby yogurt on ice." There was a make-your-own cup craft for the older kids. The little ones just played with Sophie's personal Toys R Us. I felt like I was running a daycare in the basement. We made a montage of sorts that ran on the tv upstairs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HC-CXYYw10k
It is only 2 minutes long, so I felt pretty bad for my wheelchair bound father-in-law, who could not move away from the tv and watched/heard this thing run continuously for over 2 hours.

I still can't believe how much this kids has grown over the past year. We have her doctor's appointment tomorrow, so I don't have the exact stats yet, but I'm guessing that she weighs around 22 lbs (that's 16 more than when she was born!). She has 10 teeth (that I can count without losing a finger). She can pull herself up to a standing position and take a few steps holding on. And.... drumroll.... she is actually crawling. Ha! I was so sure she'd go straight to walking, but she is finally crawling. The days of her sitting in one place and pointing to the hazardous thing she wants are now over. It finally sunk in today when she crawled over to my drink and pushed it over. She says a few words too- fish, uh-oh, daddy, mom (it sounds like Cartman from Southpark: "meh-ehhhmmm"), and book. When we were in Charleston she had been saying kitty, but it's hard to reinforce that word now that there is no real-live kitty to play with.

Here are some pictures from the party:

The older kids designing their cups:



Playing with her little friends:


So excited!


Cake:


Mommy and Sophie (with frosting all over her face):

Sophie is 1!

How do I even attempt to put into words the way I feel today? This has truly been the most amazing year of my life. Starting yesterday evening (a year after I went into labor) I have been constantly thinking, "what was I doing this time last year?" From dinner last night all the way up until 4:35 pm this afternoon the answer was "still in labor." But after that, the memories got more interesting... and less painful. When I laid Sophie down in her crib tonight and we looked into each other's eyes, I remembered the first time I locked eyes with her one year ago. As soon as she was delivered, she was not laid on my chest in the picturesque scenario they show you on TV. Her umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck twice and was in a true knot. They called all available staff to rush into the room to help her. Once she was okay, Thank G-d, they were cleaning her up. She was laying down and one team of nurses was with her, while my doctor was still finishing up on me. I remember looking at Sophie and our eyes locked into each other's. We just lay a few feet apart staring at each other- our bond already unimaginably strong. That bond has only grown stronger over this year. Even though she is gaining independence by the day, every so often during playtime she still climbs over to me, buries her head in my shoulder, and snuggles in tightly, as if to say, "I still need to feel your love, Mommy." I hope she always does.

Look how much she has grown over this year:

Then: a week or so old in her Daddy's hands


Now: today on her first birthday wearing a 1st Birthday Princess tiara!




I cannot believe how quickly the year has flown by. I cannot imagine my life without my beautiful daughter!!!

Do you feel like a grown-up?

That's what my friend asked me on Monday after I told her that Shimmy and I were going out that night for New Years Eve and hiring a babysitter for the first time. I laughed at the question, because I have felt like a grown-up for a long time now. But later on her question rang in the back of my mind. As I got ready to go out, got dressed, put on my makeup, and sprayed my perfume, I was taken back to the Saturday nights I would spend as a little girl watching my mom get ready to go out (it was the '80's and I can still picture my mom's heavy eyeshadow and smell her Estee Lauder Beautiful perfume). When I picked up the babysitter it was so odd to be the one in the driver's seat making chit chat with a teenager instead of being the teenager. And it was especially daunting to be the one handing over the money at the end of the evening instead of the one receiving it! (I paid her VERY well.)



It was a big step for me to leave Sophie. We have never left her with a non-relative before for more than about an hour, and that was only a couple of times and with people we know well and trust. As soon as we walked out the door I told Shimmy I wanted to stay home. But we went out and we had a good time. Since we had put Sophie to bed before picking up the sitter, she never even knew we were gone. I was only slightly paranoid while we were out, and only had minor anxiety attacks when Shimmy's cell phone rang (he got two wrong numbers, which was quite nerve-racking). All-in-all, the evening went well. And one day I will take pride in telling Sophie that she never had a babysitter until she was almost a year old.