Louise Met the Cookie and Saw That It Was Good

the introduction

skepticism

disbelief

acknowledgement

elation

disbelief of elation

dancing

frenzied face stuffing

thirst

Forecast: 9-15"

What is with this winter?! Today it was snowing/sleeting/raining all day long. When Louise and I are stuck inside and unable to go for our daily exercise around the neighborhood we go positively batty. Please weather gods, can you just keep the snow from landing on the sidewalks so we can barrel on through with our Maclaren? Is that too much to ask? Sheesh.

At least we have crayons and Louise's hilarious sticky jam-in-my-hair trick to keep us entertained indoors.

Louise's Birthday- Making Lemonade

Unfortunately, Louise's first birthday did not go off without a hitch. Following the arrival of Oma, Auntie Em and Lila, both babies got a horrible stomach bug. This was on Louise's actual birthday. The next day Louise's parents got the stomach bug and learned how impossible it is to care for a toddler when you're near death. Oma saved the day and rescued Louise who later in the day dropped a sauce pan on her big toe. Her toe survived but she's sure to lose the nail and had two successive days of pathetic limping and wimpering. SO SAD.

By now it was evident that we needed to cancel Louise's birthday party. The next day the parents were well enough to catch the other 2 sets of grandparents and Alicia and her girls who had flown into town for the big celebration. This was also the day that auntie Em and uncle Daniel came down with the bug.

On Sunday Louise (and her family) deserved a party.

We may have only had bagels, and Lou's cake may have been a certainly non-homemade cinnamon bun but it was festive, fun and full of love. Man did she love that cinnamon bun.

Barring illness or natural disaster, birthday #2 is going to be a blow out.

Happy 1st Birthday Louise!

Exactly one year since the arrival of our Louise. It's shocking how quickly these months have flown by, how much she's changed and enhanced our lives and how impossible it is to remember life before her.

In addition to the obvious growth and changes in Louise over this year, Scott and I have been transformed (for the better) too. We talk about how as parents we finally, really and indisputably feel like adults. About the huge and immeasurable love that pours from us into her- a type of love unknown to us before. How, if necessary, I could lift a car or hurl a boulder to save our little cub. So many mysteries about being a parent (and perhaps a human) seem to have been unlocked by this small child. I get it now.

In light of all this I am immensely grateful to our parents. This is a job fit for superheroes. Mom, Dad, GB and Po, thank you.

Now back to Louise. On the occasion of her 366th day of life we wanted to tell you a little bit about who she is as a one year old. Louise, as many of you may know, is a fireball. She has more energy than your normal, run-of-the-mill toddler and can pitter patter the length of our apartment in the blink of an eye. She bypasses toys in favor of books and stuffed animals, with one of each usually in her arms as she cruises around. She's very affectionate and loves to kiss, hug and snuggle. She says these words: hot, nigh night, tickle tickle, dada, mama and that. She's willful and opinionated when it comes to eating foods other than fruit or yogurt. She's a social animal and lights up when she sees her cousins, other children, and to their horror, dogs- Theo in particular. She's got spirit and spunk and we love her.

Happy Birthday Louise!

Also, thank you to our loyal blog followers. Sharing with you all the loving, humorous, and exciting moment in Louise's life has been an honor. Knowing that you're out there feels like we're building an even wider circle of love around her.

Our Valentine

Valentine's day with our valentine at the Museum of Natural History.

Blue Jean Lady

Yesterday at our local 2nd hand shop I bought Louise her first pair of jeans. They're "skinny" style with little back pockets that I assume are for stashing snacks or binkies or possibly a baby wallet. For a moment there, after she stole away with my cell phone (fast becoming an issue around these parts), she looked like a teeny bopper leaning back on her high school locker texting friends. A scary glimpse into the future?

But then we had a tea party and she shared her snacks with some pals and I exhaled my anxieties about her growing up too fast. And after the tea party she made a pillow out of Douglas the puppy, laid her sweet head on his squishy body, said nigh night and took a pretend nap.

Highchair Hellion

Before we head into Louise's birthday week and get all mushy about the glorious magic and sweetness that is Louise, I thought I'd temper the love fest with a dose of good old fashioned complaining. This kid is a terrible eater. This week she's on strike against all foods of color preferring simply to subsist on banana, cheddar and the occasional toast with cream cheese.

Before having Louise I'd look at parents feeding their children piles of chicken fingers and mac and cheese and tasteless, colorless slop from the children's menu and think How did they get here? Why did they give up? My kid's going to eat stinky cheeses and dinosaur kale straight out of the womb. This is not so. And as you can see, the daily showdowns (3! times a day), can get ugly and sticky. Notice also that Louise refuses a bib and thinks it quite hilarious when she's actually wearing one, to slowly rip apart the velcro fastener just as I walk away.

You Are Here

Small Child, Big Playground

Scarf Play at Music Class