A very happy Naomi birthday!

Happy first birthday, Naomi!

The baby is 1? Really? Now? It's true: Naomi is 1. A toddling, babbling, bouncing, splashing 1-year-old who loves her big sisters, elevators and being bounced on the bed or patted on the back. She dances by wagging her head back and forth, prays and even initiates prayer (I know this routine!), hugs sweetly and generally wraps us all around her sweet little finger--as long as she's not high-tailing it toward her sisters' rooms in an attempt to get there before they can close the door, that is.

At a bleary-eyed 6:04 (a great improvement over last week, nonetheless), I have to admit that the fact that it was the baby/toddler's birthday slipped past me. But less than an hour and a half later we were all singing the birthday song, much to Naomi's delight.

Knowing that the 1-year-old's favorite thing is fruit, the big girls insisted she have it early and often throughout the day. And so we did! At least six different kinds--seven, if you count tomato. Whether the extra helpings of fruit contributed to the fact or not, Naomi was in high spirits virtually until bedtime, at which point she utterly collapsed. We received a visit from Grandpa, and a whole stack of cards in the mail--in fact, nothing but cards; no junk mail or bills whatsoever. Some of the cards may have been for Mommy, too.

Naomi at the frozen
yogurt store.

We had a lot to celebrate this week, it being our first official week of homeschooling (more later), so we decided that everyone could find something they liked at the frozen yogurt store. I piled colorful yogurt and even more vibrant toppings into the big girls' cups, and three types of fruit into Naomi's, along with a little vanilla yogurt. It was love at first bite. Whereas the other girls were a bit more tentative and surprised with regards to their first frozen treats, Naomi was begging for more. "That stuff--right there! I'll have more of that!" I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream! Fortunately, no screams were necessary--there was plenty.

Among other things, Mommy celebrated the fact that Naomi is fully toddling around on her own! She had been taking steps for months, but still preferring the speed she could gain by pulling me around with her. Not that I don't enjoy accompanying her on her adventures, I just sometimes miss being able to stand in one place and wash the breakfast dishes before lunchtime--or dinner. It's taken the toddler a while to accept the fact that she can, indeed, toddle on her own, but now that she has, we're both proud and content. Content is a wonderful thing to be, and truly grounds for celebration.

And who better to lead the way than a couple of sweet big sisters? Kalina and Elise did an excellent job helping make sure Naomi had a lovely day. While big sisters sometimes take the spotlight off of you, hide away your coolest toys and wake you during naptime, they are also great for making sure you get your fair share of spoiling before you're old enough to demand it for yourself. Hence all the fruit.

Although we all enjoyed Naomi's actual birthday, we saved the party for the weekend when Daddy could attend. We love birthday parties. As such, Kalina and Elise began planning an elaborate woodland-animal-themed party for their baby sister. We got the idea because Naomi has attached to a hedgehog puppet, and once I scaled down the grandiose plans to only include a craft, some decorations and a little imaginative play, along with pizza, fruit and a hedgehog cake, of course, we ended up with a very nice party! By the skin of our teeth....

Saturday was my birthday, too. For my birthday, I wanted to have my friends over to celebrate my baby's birthday. Who wouldn't? I also wanted a restaurant meal and some cake. Instead, as our efforts to shield Kalina and Naomi from our raging head colds failed, we postponed until Sunday. This was fine: in some ways, it worked out better.

We decided to make this the big present-opening day, and Naomi had a field day toddling around from one colorful gift (and bow) to the next. Although she only made short stops to see her actual presents, she loved the activity, and especially seeing Grandpa. The big sisters appreciated the new influx of toys, and we spent the whole day telling them, "Be sure to let Naomi play, too," which they would've if she could've settled down long enough to.


In fact, Naomi just loved toddling, being now, officially, a toddler. Toddle, toddle, toddle. She pulled along a small puppy pull-toy she'd received, she paused to toy around with her new gifts, she opened her books and carried around some bows, but mostly she toddled from one interesting sight or person to the next. In her own way, she had a very enjoyable day. I only wish we could've gone outside more--she loves the outdoors--but we would've melted her like a birthday candle.

And did I mention Naomi received a ball pit? She can climb in and out, and seemed gratified to finally, finally get to taste any ball pit ball she wanted--a forbidden privilege in the ball pit at the kids' museum. From her big sisters she got a peg toy, which they picked out with her help at a toy store.

The next day, I forged ahead on the hedgehog cake and the big girls helped me put the finishing touches on the decor. We'd only invited a couple guests (after all, Naomi is just a little one!), and they started arriving. As Grandpa patiently held Naomi up to enthusiastically bat at the balloons, the bigs donned forest animal masks with a friend and started crawling around the house (cute! The masks worked!), and soon Elise was rushing into the bathroom to throw up. Shortly before the final guests pulled into our driveway.

The good news? Elise gets so excited sometimes that she just has to throw up. Once it happened when she ate three slices of bacon (and she refuses to eat that many ever again), another time over Thanksgiving. And we love her for it. In this case, as we later realized, the culprit was the treat box she was anticipating at the end of the party, and especially the gummy bunnies. It happened several more times (upstairs, with our guests fully warned and graciously deciding to stay anyway) until Matt finally got the bright idea to hand over the box and let her dig into the gummies. Fully cured, she soon returned to the party and was hopping around again in her role as Bunny.

It was really hard to convince the
hoppity bunny to stay still for the
picture.

Naomi enjoys seeing new faces, watching big kids play and being part of the activity, so she was not traumatized by her party--and I suppose at age 1, that's what we're going for. In fact, the cake was probably the hardest part. While she was thrilled to be given a slice of watermelon ahead of time (the pizza order not having gone through--eek!!), she wasn't so sure about the cake itself. So that she wouldn't shriek and scream and demand to be out of her chair (like most mealtimes), I let her have a small taste as we were all getting ready for the candle lighting. She liked it. So much that she wanted to grab the whole baby hedgehog cupcake away from me, lit candle and all. We tugged of war, and I won--actually, I suppose you could say we all won. She enjoyed the cake, but in the end preferred the blueberries she received afterward: the ultimate treat.

Naomi consented to sit in her chair for
cake, but only once she tasted it (she
didn't believe me that it was tasty,
having been fed meat and veggies
before on the very same tray).

I should mention that Kalina and Elise spearheaded the party effort. I won't pretend that the promise of cake and goody boxes at the end didn't fuel some of the good-natured energy, but if there's one thing those two have learned over the years, it's how to celebrate a birthday. Plenty of treats, favorite guests, a festive attitude and lots of fun.

In many ways, Naomi is still the mixture of sweet and serious we saw in her earliest weeks, and it's been delightful to watch her personality start to shine. Relational and studious, she's more than happy to involve you in whatever she's learning (like how to flip open Mommy's Kindle), but drag her away too soon and she's less than thrilled. Naomi is certainly a happy baby, but one constantly on a mission. She gets really excited about them ("I'm going to bring you all the stuffed animals from that corner! Look, there's more! I'll bring those too, don't even try to stop me!" or, "Here are my shoes, now we're going outside.")

Naomi and her good-natured party
guests!

The baby/toddler loves balls (as most 1-year-olds do), and is more likely to kick or throw a ball around with Daddy than either of her big sisters. She enjoys peekaboo, hugs and pens, and she loves playing the piano, especially if you can hold her up on the bench rather than simply putting her in your lap. Naomi likes books, and even seems to have favorites: The Big Red Barn, Sleepy Time, Pat the Bunny, Where is Baby's Belly Button and one that has a dog with a squeaky nose. She especially likes, however, flipping through a thicker book or magazine to feel the pages as they flip past her fingers.

Naomi has started to mimic (she loves to "write lists" in Daddy's listing notebook, just like Daddy, and put on makeup just like Mommy), and is amazing at sharing--offering toys unprompted, and at times to complete strangers, no less. Will it last? She'll certainly get lots of practice around here, and she'll be learning from the best.

Naomi has been known to say ball, ma and hi (and lots of other things, according to her big sisters: "I think she kind of said 'outside!'" and the like), but is more likely to prattle her emotions without saying the actual words. Nevertheless, we're pretty good at distinguishing her, "I'm really annoyed about the situation I'm in" feelings from her, "I'm doing exactly what I want to be doing" feelings. With all the chatter we hear, I'm certain Naomi will be filling us in a bit more specifically soon.

Naomi gives the best hugs!

The girl still doesn't like sitting in her high chair or carseat any longer than she absolutely must, and detests diaper changes ("I have to lay here for two whole minutes???"). She does, however, enjoy her crib and can run back and forth in it.

None of us can believe we've had the baby/toddler for a year now, but we're all excited about the next one with our sweet girl! Happy birthday, Naomi! We love you!


At the pediatrician on Monday, Naomi weighed 16 lbs., 10 ounces, and was in the 42nd percentile for height. Tall and thin, once again! She also held up surprisingly well to her shots and finger prick, having missed her nap but caught a head cold, poor thing.

A very popular toy they could
all pay with at the same time!