A Birthday Party- The Details!

We had Tegan's 1st Birthday party last week, and if I do say so myself, it turned out really well! We even somehow managed to keep Tegan in a good mood despite the fact her schedule got screwed up! Since this was her first birthday I wanted to make it special, but lets be honest here- she's not going to remember it, the party is really for the adults at this stage. So while planning this whole thing I was trying my darnedest to not go overboard which is so easy to do especially with all the great ideas on Pinterest. Oh Pinterest, you will be the death of me! Anyways...I started out with a 'Mad Hatter' theme for the party because for whatever reason Tegan thinks it's hysterical when people are wearing hats, but the end result had nothing to do with the original inspiration. Instead I ended up focusing on colors and textures.

Okay, enough with the boring dribble, here are the highlights of the party...

The decorations:

The dinning room.

The living room...

More living room- These were Tegan's monthly pics all lined up!

And lastly- the Birthday Girls Seat all decked out!

The food, yum...

The buffet line...

We made Tegan's favorite food for the party, sloppy joes, and followed that with blueberries! We also had pretzel chips and gold fish, veggies and hummus, and green and red grapes. I jazzed up the buffet line with the professional pics we had taken a of her when she was first born, 3 months, 6 months, and 9 months (we'll be taking her 12 month pictures this weekend!).

And of coarse...

CAKE!

I made Confetti cake with cream cheese frosting. Tegan had her very own cake, and cupcakes for everyone else.

At the last minute, I added some entertainment for the kiddies that were coming...

Azalea demonstrating the ball bit...

And a tunnel and tent! If you look closely you can see cousin Eva hanging out in the tent!

And...There you have it, the details from the party. This got long enough on it's own, so I'll follow up with the guests and birthday girl in the next post. I know you're all waiting on the edge of your seats, so stay tuned :)

12 Months- Happy Birthday!!!

It's official, my little girl is a whole year old! I always hate it when people ask on my birthday how it feels to be a year older, cause come on really?!- Nothings really changed other than the date, and the age on my license.  But as completely irrational as it is, now that Tegan is a full year old I keep expecting something to change in a huge way! And of coarse things will change in little ways, but I'm not really sure what major change I'm expecting to happen,  but I admitted already it was irrational. So moving on...here's what you've been up to these past few months...

At 10 months:
Weight: 16lbs 9oz. After the slight weight problem at your 9 month check up we were happy to find that you had gained 2lbs in two weeks putting you back on the charts! Unfourtunetly, at 11 months you caught Grandpa's stomach bug at the end of our vacation and I'm pretty sure we lost some progress on gaining weight. I suspect at 11 months you were still right around 16-17 lbs.

At 12 Months:
Weight: 18lbs. 15oz. (16%)

Height: 26.5in...Umm, no! We know this is wrong, but it's what they measured so it's what was recorded. If this were accurate then you would have shrunk, and since you're out growing your clothes I know that's not the case. We'll have another unofficial check in later this month, and they use more acurate ways to measure so we'll get a better idea later. Silly nurse, pshaw!
Head Circumference:  18in (69%). As the Hubs put it, you're getting my big head. 

Clothes: We finally have you in 9-12months/12 months clothes. While you can't fit into your 9 month clothes anymore, you also don't really fit your 12 month yet either. We're in that kinda awkward transition stage at the moment. We're making it work...except for the pants. You literally crawl right out of your pants Ha!

Diapers: Still in 3's. We're slowly starting to see signs of you growing out of them. The tabs aren't completely over lapping anymore!

Feeding: I mentioned in a previous post we were going to start weening you. Our plan was to get you used to a sippy cup and transition you that way. You had other plans! The sippy cup was just another toy for the longest time and bottles were an absolute no go. I was getting pretty frustrated that I was never going to be able to ween you. As it turns out, you were really just showing us how stubborn you can be. Around 10 months you had an overnight stay with Grandma G so the Hubs and I could go to a company party. The next morning as Grandma was putting together some oatmeal for you, you started reaching for the bottle of formula. As Grandma put it "I'm not going to argue with a hungry baby at 5am!" You sucked down two full bottles that morning as if having a bottle was something you did all the time! After Grandma tadled on you we started substitution one feeding a day for a bottle. Every two weeks we'd cut out another feeding. 

We're down to just one feeding in the morning because I'm to lazy to get a bottle made when we first get up. But now that you're 1, we'll make the final cut and switch to whole milk. The whole weening process thankfully went really smooth for both of us, we made it a whole year with breastfeeding and we we're both ready to stop.

As for solid foods- you have a pretty regular 3 meals a day. Around 11 months (right after Christmas) you started refusing anything that we would have to feed you with utensils. Instead everything has to be finger foods you can feed yourself! Now that you've taken charge of feeding yourself, the Hubs and I have been able to eat our own food again. I'd almost forgotten what it was like to eat the food in front of me when it was ready. Although now you want a piece of anything we're eating. It's been a long time since I've been able to finish my own banana around you. Ha!

Sleeping: Still no problems sleeping through the night. You consistently provide a wake up call between 6-7am, and take two naps a day at about 2hrs a piece. For all the above mentioned, I thank you ;)

Baths: You've graduated to the big girl bath-i.e.the tub, and our bathroom is starting to be taken over by bath toys. Doesn't matter though, you still hate baths. Sigh...

Milestones:
Crawling: Check. Been there, done that.

Walking: You're not walking yet, not even pulling yourself up yet. But you're showing interest in things above you and if we help you up you'll support yourself for the most part while you investigate. The Hubs and I always kinda suspected you might be slow to walking, since it's hard in our house to offer you the surfaces to learn to pull yourself up to.

Teething: You've finally added another tooth. You have a grad total of 5 now! Although there are some that you have been working on for months now!

Talking: The Hubs and are were recently talking about how to decide when a baby says a word instead of just sounds that sound like a word. The verdict was it needed to be said while pointing or some other obvious motion to make it completely clear that a baby meant to say that word. No sooner had we laid out the guidelines, you were putting them to use. You looked at the kitty, looked at me, pointed to the kitty, and then said your first word "kitty"! Since then we have decided that you are indeed saying "Mama", "Dada" and "dog" too.

Check Ups: Your 12 month check up was this week. All is very well. The Dr. was very happy with your size, impressed by your cognitive growth, and unconcerned about your delayed motor skills when it comes to walking and pulling yourself up.