Odegaard Baby Turns 1

At 3:45 this afternoon, amid applause from friends and family, Kalina Odegaard turned one year old.

"It was actually my second birthday. I think this is my favorite so far," the girl commented.

"Mine too," her mommy chimed in.

The pair noted that in some ways, the day was much like last year, in that Mommy had a lot of work to do, many phone calls were made, many pictures were taken and many presents were received.

"A lot has changed since then," Kalina remembered. "Back then, all I knew how to do was cry. Now, I can eat lima beans and carry blocks all over the house, and once I caught a lightning bug.

The birthday began, as all days do for the Odegaard family, at 5:30 a.m. Kalina bounced out of bed while her mommy and daddy groggily wished her a happy birthday.

"I actually didn't even know it was my birthday until Mommy told me!" Kalina bubbled.

The girl wasn't allowed to open a present until after her first nap, and then only one.

"I thought that was a little mean-spirited," mentioned Kalina. "But at least there was a dog."

The dog in reference was Poky, Kalina's rental dog for her birthday week courtesy of Aunt Nancy, who also supplied the aforementioned first present.

A visit to church, lunch, playtime, pictures and another nap later, and the time came for Kalina's party.

"I'm glad I was asleep for the final preparations," said the little girl. "I'm told they had to change the location last minute, and Mommy was still icing my cake 10 minutes before we had to leave for the park. I just think that would've been stressful for me."

The festivities were punctuated by an overenthusiastic musical balloon, and adorned with cupcakes. The guests were offered decorate-your-own cupcakes, while Kalina's was a giant cupcake creation she could grab at, complete with pink candle and cherry on top.

Kalina, who wore a special pink cupcake shirt and denim twirly skirt for the occasion, admitted that she liked playing with the cake more than she liked eating it.

"I could squish and smear the frosting, both of which are very appealing options for me," she said. "Also, I could tear off pieces of the cake and stack them. But the best part was being able to cover Daddy with frosting. The cherry was especially cool--I gave it to Mommy because she's good at holding things for me."

Several other babies and even more adults had gathered to celebrate the baby's big day in a local park. The group burst into applause at 3:45 p.m., prompted by Mommy and Daddy. Kalina, who loves applause of any kind, grinned back at everyone, and then frowned as she became overwhelmed by the attention.

And finally, the time came for presents, which Mommy opened as fast as possible while the baby ran around completely overstimulated.

"Let's do this every day!' said Kalina.

When asked what her plans are for year two of her life, Kalina said that she'd like to increase her vocabulary and eat more cupcakes.

"Other than that, I think I'd like to do some more playing."

Happy first birthday, Kalina!!! Mommy loves you and thanks you for being such rich blog material, not to mention a good sport. I'm looking forward to another year of writing about our (mis)adventures!