Quoth the Oliver

On the ride from daycare this afternoon: "I like it when you and dada come to get me, cause I can't drive yet."

Happy Valentine's Day!

From my sweethearts....

to you!

Ruffles and bows

She walks

He splashes

Chicken noodle soup from the Crock Pot

And a chocolate chip cookie (also homemade!)

Big girl

And so it happened once again that a child in my house turned one.  Emme's first birthday came and went with less fanfare that I would probably have liked, but she's one and won't remember any of it.  (Maybe I should have thought of that before I started documenting every detail of my kids' lives here...).  The big birthday started on Friday with her one-year checkup at the pediatrician's office.  Oliver came with us, both because it was an early appointment and I didn't want to take him to daycare before it, but also because I wanted to have his ears checked.  He so often has ear infections without me knowing it, and if he continues to have them over the next six months, we may have to think about a second set of tubes (since the first has now completely fallen out).  Emme measured in at 18 lbs., 9 oz. (15th percentile), 29 1/4" (55th percentile), and head circumference of 17 1/2" (30th percentile).  She's little compared with Oliver's 23+ pounds at his first birthday (and tiny compared to his current 36 pounds!), but I love it.  The nurse actually measured her twice because she hadn't gained any weight since her last appointment.  I pointed out that her December weight included a 2-3 pound cast, but regardless she did fall in her percentile.  Her surgery, the subsequent infection, and her general business probably account for the slowed growth, but there's no doubt she's overall healthy and developing right on schedule.

It turns out that both the kids had an infection in one ear (opposite the ears that were infected at Oliver's three-year checkup).  They're both on amoxicillin.  It baffles me because neither usually shows any indication that they're in any discomfort.  Dr. Rauth is repeatedly shocked at how bad Oliver's ears can look (and yes, she does know what his ears look like healthy as a comparison) without him running a fever or complaining.

They both went to daycare after the appointment so that I could get some work done.  Emme wore her first birthday onesie that Aunt Laura gifted her at Christmas.  Before I picked them up in the afternoon, I stopped by Harris Teeter and got two helium birthday balloons that I knew they would like.  I also put back up the multi-man tent in the living room, thinking that would be a big hit.  The kids' enjoyed both he balloons and the tent (while Lucy liked neither).

Wes had an evening shift on Friday, so we waited to do cupcakes and such until Saturday.  I did make Emme's mark in the doorway that night -- I thought it was more important that it was "official" than that Wes was there for it.  Consequently, though, I couldn't get any really good pictures of Emme standing next to it.  Oliver somehow helped me get the mark made, but that was about it.  Both kids were in bed a little early, and I wasn't far behind.

Saturday morning the kids and I did a bunch of errands (it becomes a "bunch" when you go to both Target and Wal-Mart and Costco in the same morning).  It ended, as I had repeatedly promised Oliver, with a trip to The Painted Cupcake for Emme's birthday cupcakes.  Emme wore her "1" shirt that day, though it didn't make it all the way until dinner time.  When evening finally came, Emme was fussy, Oliver wouldn't eat any of the dinner, and Wes and I were both in foul moods.  But I didn't want to wait another night to celebrate, so I relented and let Oliver have half a cupcake, even though he didn't have any real dinner.  He and Emme split a strawberry one with pink frosting.  We did the one candle, we sang the song, and I think Emme went to bed thirty minutes later.  We finished the mixed half dozen of cupcakes (some kind of chocolate, peanut butter, pumpkin, and others) over the next few days, and they were the best I've had in Nashville.  Very moist, just enough icing, not sickeningly sweet.

There were no presents this year.  I will be sure in future years, when she's old enough to remember, to have a birthday present for her, even so soon after Christmas.  Wes's birthday (and my sister's) is right around Christmas, so I've heard enough to know that there has to be a distinct celebration for it to feel real.

So the day is done.  I wish there had been something that felt a little more special.  I wish I had better pictures to remember it all.  But regardless, it happened, and I now once again have a one-year-old in my house.  Oliver keeps asking if Emme is still a baby now that she's one and kind of walking.  I don't know that I have an answer for him.