Walking!

Sweet baby girl is walking 25 or 30 steps at a time now!  This is a little video I took on our first-ever picnic at the library.

Baby's first ice cream cone (and first steps) at Sweet Cow

via Instagram http://instagr.am/p/KnWbnWhPTE/

Moments before this photo was taken, Devyn took her first two steps—to get at that ice cream cone!  I had to put on my sunglasses and dab at my eyes with a paper napkin because I was a little overcome.  How amazing that she should decide to give it a try on Mother's Day?  And, even more wonderful, how special that she should try to walk for the first time with both me and her daddy in attendance.  Thank you, little one.

Birthday Party!

We had such a great time for Devyn's party. Huge thanks to my mom and dad and to Larry and Zana for their help making it look exactly how I had imagined. 

The party was circus themed. I got the idea for the curtain and the candy decorations from Pinterest, and I found the free printables for the cake toppers there as well.

We hung Devyn's month photos in order across the window there, and hung red pom poms over the table. The tablecloth was a fabric remnant I picked up that was sheer white with little black stars.  We had hot dogs, popcorn, peanuts, fruit salad and a veggie tray.  And my mom and I successfully made soft pretzel bites, which were pretty easy and very delicious. 

There was an elephant, a seal and a trapeze girl for the cake.  The cake was lemon with lemon curd filling and a marshmallow frosting from Kim and Jake's Cakes, and it was OUTSTANDING!

Here is the little ringmaster in her birthday getup with Grandma Zana.  She had sparkly shoes, too, but the shoes and the bow didn't last very long, and it was really too hot for the sweater.  Oh well!  She looked cute regardless.

We sang and had a candle for Devyn on one of the cupcakes I made—which were really carrot muffins with cream cheese frosting.

She definitely liked the frosting...

But the cake was almost as good!  She ate the entire cupcake this way.  It was pretty cute.  As Brandon said, she liked it way too much to smash it.

Then we went outside to play in the sand table that was her gift from me and her dad.  We filled it with cornmeal since she still tries to eat everything.

Turns out, that was a pretty smart idea, because cornmeal is DELICIOUS!

All in all, it was pretty much perfect.  It lasted just long enough for everyone to have a good time, but not so long that anyone got grumpy.  I couldn't have been any happier with the way things turned out. 

1 Year Old

Dearest Devyn,

Happy birthday, my sweet one!  What an exciting time for all of us! I can't believe you are already a year old.  It has passed in the blink of an eye.

You know, I make my living finding the right words for things, and so I can tell you with some authority that there are no words to describe how much I love you.  "Love" just doesn't seem big enough for this feeling I have when I look at you, my baby.

This is just the first of all the birthdays we have ahead of us to celebrate, and I hope each and every one is happier than the last.  I know that, in 12 or 15 years' time, you and I will have a very different relationship—and that's OK, that's the way it's supposed to be; but I hope that you will keep these letters somewhere near you always, and if ever we are at odds, not seeing things eye-to-eye, please come back to these words and be reminded of where we started, and where we will always be in our hearts.

You are beloved, my sweet child, more than you will ever, ever know.  I love you with every single particle of my being more than I knew it was possible to love.  Your daddy and I could not be any happier with you, with everything you are, everything you are not, everything you may be and everything you will never be.  I know it may be hard to remember sometimes, but you will never be anything less than perfect in our eyes.

I love you when you are sweet and bubbly.  I love you when you are screaming and angry.  And I love you every moment in between.

That awe I felt in the first moments I saw you, the first days we got to know you, has not diminished.  You are beautiful, brilliant, strong-willed, curious, brave, and friendly.  You are everything I ever wanted in a daughter, and everything I never knew I wanted.

It was so wonderful to be able to celebrate you this weekend with all of your grandparents and our friends.  Although I know you won't remember this birthday, sweet one, I always will.

Happy, happy birthday to the greatest gift we've ever gotten.

I love you always, my sweet baby.
~Mommy

Some Easter Photos!

Belated Easter photos for you!

Once Daddy showed her that there were exciting freeze-dried bananas inside one of the eggs, she wasn't very interested in finding the rest of them!  She did, however, very much enjoy playing with the packet of cheddar bunnies she got and she really likes the little garden rake and spade the bunny brought.

The Easter bunny brought Daddy some Cadbury creme eggs and Mommy some fancy truffles, so we were all happy. 

11 Months Old

Dear Devyn,

Oh, child.  Beautiful, wonderful child.  After I took this photo, as I was processing it on the computer, I found it took my breath away.  Who, I wondered, was that big girl smiling back at me from that picture?

You are changing faster and faster every day, it seems.  Your babble and talk sounds almost like words.  You point to everything you see and seem to "ask" what things are.  And we are thrilled to tell you. We play peekaboo a lot now, and you love to clap your hands. You love to explore and go anywhere you can.  You're becoming more and more affectionate, giving us hugs and kisses.  And you are such a flirt!  You make friends with everyone you meet.

I can't believe you're almost a year old!  I hope you'll forgive me if I cry a little on your birthday; it's a little bit of sadness for the baby you were, but so much more happiness that I get to meet the little girl you are becoming!

I bought you a little birthday photo outfit today to wear when you have your pictures made for your first birthday!  You love to shop. (Which works out, because so do I!)

You've got two new teeth poking through on the top, but they don't show up in pictures yet. And, as you can see from the photos, you are incredibly close to standing up on your own without support.  Last week you stood up and grabbed your walker toy and took off on your own.

You are a fearless eater.  You'll try anything we put in front of you, from Korean lemongrass beef to tandoori chicken.  Zucchini is a favorite lately, as is any kind of protein.  We're still nursing three or four times a day, but we've finally given up your middle of the night feed, and you've done really well with that.  You still wake up around 4:30am, but you usually put yourself back to sleep pretty quickly.

I can't tell you how proud I am of you, Devyn.  You are such a joyful little baby.  You make our lives so amazing, and I'm so grateful to know you.

So, until next month when we're celebrating your first birthday, my love!

Always and always,
~Mommy

47 weeks: Swimming!

Devyn got to go to the swimming pool for the first time today!

I wanted to take pictures at the pool, but the camera I brought was out of battery.  :(  But here she is posing in her pre-swim outfit: swimsuit, cropped cardigan and clamdiggers!

She was more than a little apprehensive about the pool.  We went to the baby pool first, and she REALLY didn't like the thing that splashed water down into the pool every few minutes—even though it was several yards away.  She much preferred being carried in the lazy river.  We went with her little friend L, who has been taking swimming lessons for a while, so he was excited to splash and kick, and Devyn wasn't too happy about being splashed, either.  

But I thought she did really well and was very brave.  We'll have to go again and get her exposed to the pool and splashing water a little more.  L is having his birthday party in June at a little splash park, so I want to be sure Devyn can have a good time then.  

10 Months (and 2 days)

Dearest Devyn,

Sorry this letter is a little late, my darling, but your Daddy and I have been incredibly sick with food poisoning since Monday night.  I can't tell you how glad I am you didn't get it!  We thought we were going to have to call in reinforcements on Tuesday, during the worst of it, but you were so incredibly good, we managed to get through.

You, by the way, are the sweetest little 10-month-old I know!  Just in the last week or so you have started wanting to snuggle more, you climb up into my lap just to sit with me, and when we were sick and would pull you up into the big bed with us, you covered me in the sweetest baby kisses.

You "sing" when you're happy, long, high-pitched notes of joy that make me smile right down to my toes when I hear them.  You have learned to clap your hands, and like it when we take turns clapping to each other.  And you have started to point to pictures in books—especially dogs—when I ask you to.  You absolutely love to read, whether someone is reading to you or you are looking at the books by yourself.

You love to get out and go, regardless of where we are going.  In the grocery store, you smile at little old ladies and little old men and just make their whole day.  You grin at the girls at the check-out register, so even when they're feeling a little surly, they just have to stop and smile back.  You love to shop with me, whether at the grocery store or anywhere else, because you just love to look around and see everything.  Long walks in your stroller are a favorite, too, when the weather is nice enough.

You rub your head against us as a sign of affection. (We think you must have learned it from the cat!) And the sweetest thing is that we have seen you doing it to the dog, as well.

Your hair is getting longer, and it curls up charmingly in the back when it is damp from a bath.

Generally, you are a very happy girl, and you bring so much joy into our lives.

We got some sad news this week that your great-aunt Marti passed away.  She was fighting a long battle against cancer, but all her family was able to say goodbye before she passed.  She was a sweet, kind woman who loved my uncle Joe very much.

In the wider world this month, the singer Whitney Houston died.  The Afghani people are rioting against American forces because some Americans burned some copies of the Koran.  It's been the snowiest February on record here in Colorado.  And they broke ground on the National African American History Museum on the National Mall in Washington DC.

I think we will finally get to leave the house today, after nearly a week of being sick, and do a little shopping, so it should be a nice day for you today, little one.  I've started plotting and planning for your first birthday party—just two months away!  I cannot believe how fast this year is going.

I love you always, my sweet girl.
~Mommy

41 weeks: Snow Day

We are having a big February snow storm this weekend.  It's been snowing for a little less than 24 hours now, and we have 13.7 inches of snow so far. (Officially; it looks like more in our yard.)

This is Devyn posing next to the gigantic pile of snow left after Daddy cleared the driveway.

Yesterday, before the snow started, Devyn had her first playdate.  Her little friend came over with his mom, and we had a really nice time.

Devyn has started trying to stand up more often.  This isn't a great photo, but she uses her walker to stand up, sort of...

And THIS is our brilliantly ghetto baby gate.  Notice the panel of wood, held to the gate and the banister with zip ties.  And notice the old socks between the zip ties and the banister, so that the wood doesn't get ruined.

It's not pretty, but it works.