Howdy from the Birthday Girl!

For a party that wasn't officially a "party", Amelia's first birthday celebration was a real treat! I'm not sure who was more excited about the big day, Amelia (who was clueless to it being different than any other day) or me (who could hardly believe we had arrived at one year). Just the other day I was telling Lee that on the one hand I feel like I've known Amelia my whole life... but, on other hand, the past year has been a blink of the eye. It's been one of the most incredible years of my life, filled with so many new experiences. When folks say parenting is a "labor of love" they aren't kidding... it's the best "job" you could ever have, but, boy will you put in long hours!

For the big celebration, we talked about doing several things… the zoo (too cold in March!), the Raleigh children's museum (too far!), attending the ACC Tournament (are you kidding?!), and finally settled on the unknown – Kidzu, the new children's museum that just opened uptown.

Grandma Carolyn flew in from California especially to mark the grand occasion; Grandbuddy and GG arrived with their arms overflowing with gifts; and although we don't have official confirmation, we suspect Uncle Scott timed his arrival home from Afghanistan to coincide perfectly with Amelia’s “party”. What a great crowd! The only way the day could have been better was if Uncle Jon, Aunt Gina, Cousin Maddie, and Uncle Matt had been able to join us.

Kidzu proved to be the perfect place – not too big, not too small. We expected it to be crowded, since it was opening weekend, but thankfully, it wasn’t. After working our way through the great traveling exhibit “Where the Wild Things Are”, we found out way to the “infant area”.

Jackpot! It was an enclosed play area where Amelia could roam free, crawl over big soft blocks (and kids who got in her way), test out new toys, and delight her “audience” (grandparents, an uncle, and the proudest parents in Chapel Hill).

We had to pull our little one away kicking and screaming when it was time to go. Even dangling the “carrot” of lunch, cake, and presents wasn't tempting enough to distract her from all the fun. For days afterwards all we heard about was "Kidzu this" and "Kidzu that", "Kidzu is the coolest place ever, Mom!". OK, so that might be a bit of an exaggeration. Needless to say, Kidzu will become a regular stop on the weekly-Amelia-entertainment-train.

After a delicious lunch at Spanky’s, that seemed to take forever even though the restaurant was empty, we headed back to the homestead for the final festivities… cake and presents!

Amelia had her first cupcake, and boy, was she in love! Thanks to Uncle Scott, who acted as the human spoon, there wasn’t a happier birthday girl around. You would have thought it was Christmas if you had seen the pile of gifts waiting to be unwrapped. Our girl is dearly loved and that means so much to her parents.

Amelia spent her actual birthday (3/14) at our local Gymboree, trying out a new class. She had a ball climbing on all the equipment and playing with the other kids.

Shy she is not! We were the first ones to arrive and Amelia proceeded to greet each new classmate with an exuberant squeal. Mostly she got a “who is this girl?!?” look from the other kids and a few laughs from the other moms.
That didn’t stop her from marching over to many of the kids to give her famous poking-you-in-the-face hello. A greeting only a mother could love.

The class ended with a real treat… everyone singing “Happy Birthday Amelia” followed by a shower of bubbles. What could have been better?

All in all, it was the perfect first birthday. Year 1 will be pretty tough to beat, but we look forward to all the new adventures year 2 will bring!

For more birthday photos, click here. Be sure to check them out!

PS... Our girl is on the verge of walking; small steps have been taken! Stay tuned for video of this new talent.