Happy birthday baby girl!
Hazel’s 1st birthday cake
It’s hard to believe, but Hazel hit the one year mark last week! Even though she isn’t yet old enough to understand the concept of her birthday, I’m certain that Hazel enjoyed all the celebrating that went along with the event.
Hazel dances along to “Happy Birthday” as her cake comes to her
The weekend before, my parents came into town. We got to see lots of great photos and videos from their recent trip to Kenya, and we enjoyed a lovely anniversary/pre-birthday dinner at Pop’s. It was the first time that I’d been to their new location, and I loved it. I’ve heard some folks say it’s noisy, but I didn’t find that to be a problem at the baby-friendly dinner hour. Hazel definitely was the star of the show. She was the most well behaved baby ever, and she ate everything we gave her. A definite win for parents of little ones everywhere.
Hazel at Pop’s
On Hazel’s actual birthday, she went to vote (it was election day!) and we had a quiet night at home with close friend’s and their daughter. Nothing fancy, since we planned her birthday party for the following weekend. But it was fun to compare Hazel in her carseat now to all the other photos I’ve taken of her in her carseat over the last twelve months. Watch her grow!
Hazel trying to climb out of her carseat on her actual birthday
This past weekend, we had a little party for Hazel. Dan’s parents came into town, and a couple local friends celebrated with us. Hazel’s usually a great eater, but I wasn’t sure what she would think of all the attention as she had her first birthday cake served to her, surrounded by a circle of people singing. She loved it! She danced along to “Happy birthday,” and dug right into the frosting. Then once I broke the cake up with a fork, she took huge chunks of it before I was able to cut it into normal sized pieces. I made her a little yellow cake in a mini tube pan that I have, and she ate it all!
Hazel and a huge chunk of her birthday cake
It was a fun way to celebrate all the craziness that comes along with the first year of parenting. It’s really amazing to think back to all the ways she’s changed over the last year. Dan put together an excellent series of close-up shots, one from each month, that really show how different a kid she is now, compared to one year ago, when we were deep in the midst of finger feeding an excessively sleepy baby!
Hazel on her birthday trike
Hazel really has everything she needs, so we didn’t really do any birthday gifts, but her grandparents did spoil her with a convertible trike (right now, we can push her around in it; later the straps will come off, and eventually she’ll be able to actually pedal herself). She loves it.
Hazel and her drawer in the kitchen
Some of Hazel’s other favorite things at one year old:
- Feeding herself - she’s a champ with finger food, eating pretty much every single thing we eat
- Saying “Uh oh” when she drops her cup, in the deepest, most guttural voice you’ll ever find coming out of a little girl
- Digging in “her drawer” in the kitchen
- Getting held upside down
- Playing around with the sound (word?) “Mmmmmmm-MA!”
- Visiting with her friends Marisol and Quinn at daycare
- Meeting new people
- Smiling and laughing
She’s a pretty fabulously happy little girl, which makes her parents pretty fabulously happy too! Thanks to everyone who’s helped us in this crazy adventure called parenthood over the last year. :-)
