We Have A One-Year-Old!!

Ok...so I know I'm a terrible mother. Sophia's first birthday was weeks ago, and here I am, finally posting on her blog about it. I apologize. I can only give lame excuses.... well, and one not so lame one: I HAVE A TODDLER!! Anyway, here are some photos and the latest update on our girl.

Her birthday was a spectacularly fun and joyful day. We had a terrific party here at the house with about 40 of Sophia's family members.....both her blood family and our Army family were here. My sister, Jeanne, and our good friend, Mary, came from PA to share the special day with us. And let me tell you, if it weren't for those two, the party would have been a colossal flop. Jeanne and Mary helped me so much.... with the food and preparation and just generally being here to keep an eye on Soph while things got done. I thank them for all they did that day.... and I can only hope I have them for every birthday party from here on out!!

Sophia's cake was gorgeous.... and she loved it. She smooshed into her piece pretty well, but didn't make near the mess we thought she would. She mostly just enjoyed eating it. I guess she has Daddy's sweet tooth! She played for a long time in an old-fashioned playpen (provided by Auntie Therese) with her BFF, Ava Biland. She and Ava are very close in age and we look forward to helping Ava celebrate her big one year birthday in June. She got wonderful gifts.... the biggest of which came from the folks that Alan works with. They pitched in and bought Sophia a house!! Yep, a real house.... with a doorbell and a phone and opening and closing door and windows. She loves, loves, loves her house. Her newest thing is to stand at the back door and scream until I take her outside to get in it! Thanks a bunch ACLC family!!

Aunt Jeanne brought Sophia a cute birthday dress that had feathers on it and said "Birthday Princess".... she was adorable in it. For the first half of the day, we had her in a t-shirt that read: "Her Royal Highness is One"! That came from Auntie Christy and the Cook family...much love and thanks to them. I'm going to try to get all the photos I can on here to show what I'm talking about...we'll see.

All in all, it was a glorious birthday and our girl kept her wits about her and never even fussed the entire day. As a matter of fact, I think she was disappointed when everyone left! She's very social. Not sure where she gets that!!! :)

As far as her growth...well you know that's happening at lightning speed. While Aunt Jeanne and Mary were here, we took Soph to her one year doc appointment and our pedi deemed her "perfect." She's getting so tall and she's really walking like a champ now. As a matter of fact, she's got the running thing figured out as well. But, if she goes too fast, she goes down. I understand completely where the term "toddler" comes from! She's finally gotten her top two front teeth in and it changes her appearance when she smiles now. No more cute gummy smiling.... now she's got real teethums. Daddy's ready to give her steak! We're working on phasing out the formula and giving her milk and that's going well. She never seemed all that attached to her bottles, so I think getting away from them will be an easy transition. She is enjoying all kinds of table foods now and she just had manicotti last night to celebrate Daddy's birthday. She loved it. She's a carb queen and loves her bread. Just like mommy.... and her Italian heritage is obvious.....she'll eat anything with sauce on it!! She loves scrambled eggs too and we have those for breakfast a couple times a week.

We just got back from a week in Nashville at the Opryland Hotel and she had a great time. Her wonderful Auntie Diana came along to babysit for us (we were there for Al's professional association convention -- Army Aviation Association of America) so that we could attend the sessions and the parties at night. It worked out beautifully.... we had adjoining rooms and Sophia had a ball toddling from one to the other and out on the balconies. She slept well after the first night and getting used to the different crib.... and we decided she's an outstanding traveller. Much love and thanks go out to Diana for helping us and loving and taking such good care of our girl.

So, that's the update from here. Our next big adventure will be our yearly beach visit to Tybee Island in Georgia the first week of June. Looking forward to seeing the Ernst/Porier/Lanier family and getting Soph on the beach. Look for photos sometime in mid-June.

For now, we wish you all a happy Summer and send our love from Southern Alabama!