Birthday - part 2

All-in-all, we were in St Louis for a four-day weekend. I know the kids loved the Purina Farm visit, but I think another highlight for them was playing in the creek. As I mentioned, we were experiencing a heat wave that weekend so Will had the brilliant idea to take the kids to a shallow creek and let them play. It truly was a great idea! The water was warm, like bathwater, there was a gentle breeze coming through, and even at its deepest point it was pretty shallow.

On the way home (10 hour drive, plus stops for Madeline!) we stopped in and saw Caleb's Grandmother. Madeline is her 23rd great-grandchild! That's a lot of love.

Once home we had to prepare for another TWO birthday parties! That Saturday we had some of our friends over to help us celebrate. Caleb decorated the cake (I made the chocolate flowers and chocolate ladybug), and we had a really great time chatting and playing.

It was a French Vanilla cake with a raspberry cream icing middle. Yum!

Madeline sharing a party plate with Nick, Caleb's friend from work.

The next day we had a smaller party with neighbors. If you will recall, last summer we found out that Madeline was one of SIX babies born within about a month period. We decided to invite the other families over so the parents could get to know one another a little more, with the excuse of celebrating the kids' birthdays. We even had a coupon for a free cake! Yes, more cake... (By the way, Caleb pointed out that this little girl got FOUR CAKES: her name was on the Roblee Jamboree cake, the chocolate clown cake, the garden-party cake, and this one)

 

This is Madeline with Ella. Seconds before, she was giving her a hug and

grinning at the camera. Then Ella fell over. Oh well, it still was sweet!

 In other news, she is off of her reflux medication!!! Yay! We're so glad that she has outgrown her tummy problems. She's still very much a picky eater, both regarding strong flavors and textures of any sort, so the pediatrician gave her until 13 months to improve. If she doesn't start doing a lot better, she'll have to go to food therapy. We're hoping it doesn't come to that, though.

At her 12 month check-up, she was weighed and measured. She's back on the charts for length! She's 9th percentile for height, 17th for weight, and 33rd for head circumference. She's our petite little peanut, but she's growing.

Here she got a banana and actually stuck her finger through it. Doesn't she look proud?

Her hair has been getting long, and pretty much looking like a mullet.

I experimented with a ponytail, just to see how long it was!

So we decided to get her a (professional) haircut. It's a lot shorter than I wanted, but she gets lots of compliments. Can't hide that cuteness! Below is a shot of her, with her short hair, and her new toy! My brother David gave her "her first set of wheels," and she had a BLAST walking with it. By herself, too!

She loves her new toy!