One Year Old.

Yup. It's been a whole year. Amazing how quickly it's gone, when the pregnancy seemed absolutely interminable. The day after her birthday, she woke up saying, "No, no, no!" and I said, "What--did you think you turned 2?" I tell people she's one going on 25, and she definitely has strong opinions that she's not afraid to express.

Here she is a couple of weeks before her birthday, enjoying some pasta:


For her birthday, I made two cakes: one for her and one for the rest of us. They were the same kind--chocolate layer cake with chocolate buttercream frosting. In hindsight (you'll see below), the frosting wasn't quite as dark as would have been ideal for the messy pictures. But it was quite tasty! I used lavender (her signature color!) for the decorations:



We tried to rush dinner (salmon--her favorite!) and festivities between her naps, but unfortunately she was more than a little tired by the time we got around to cake. At first she seemed excited by the attention, but the actual cake didn't thrill her.




Of course she stuck her finger in the flame (not captured with the camera), we scared her with our yelling and quick grabbing of her hand and blowing of the candle, and then I had the nerve to stick her hand in a glass of cold water. Not her favorite moment of the evening.


Eventually, though, she started trying the cake:



In the end she utterly demolished it, but I don't think she consumed more than a couple of bites. We'll have to try again later--surely it was that she was too tired, and not that she didn't care for chocolate!


After cake and a quick bath, it was time for presents. She was still soooooo tired, but managed to muster some excitement about a couple of her new books,


(oops! Missed a spot in the bath!)


and the card from Grandma & Grandpa,



(don't take it away, Dad!)


and her new fancy Mongolian outfit from Grandpa Artsy-Fartsy and the Rev. Running Nut.


A few days after her birthday, she went in for her one-year checkup. She's 30 1/2" long (85%), 20# 5oz (32%), and her head is 47 cm (91%). Way to go, Cindy Lou!