The Day We Celebrated Emily’s 1st Birthday

Just one short year ago, Katelyn and Brooke were so excited about little Emily’s arrival.  They adored her instantly and as you can see in the photos, the feeling is mutual.  The dynamic duo quickly became a terrific trio and they have had the best year ever.

We cannot believe that our little Emily is already a year old.  The girls were so excited to celebrate her birthday and insisted on a “Kitty” themed party to go along with her nickname. 

We kicked off her birthday celebration by singing to her.  She loved our serenade and rewarded us with lots of squealing and clapping, so of course we did it over and over.  Then it was time for breakfast waffles and playing with her sisters before school.  When it was time for Katelyn to leave, we surprised Emily with that beautiful rite of passage for all those who are at least 12 months old AND 20 pounds.  She wasn’t quite there in the weight department (19 lbs 13 oz) but we did it anyway and she loved riding forward facing with the big kids.

Next it was time for the birthday girl’s morning nap.  She slept well which was a good thing because the rest of her day was full of fun.  We started by picking up Katelyn just before lunch and then heading to the airport to pick up Gram.  That was definitely a present for all of us.

 

 

We went straight from the airport to play at Chuck E Cheese.  As it turns out, Emily no longer enjoys the rides there but she was a huge fan of the toddler play land – especially since her entourage was willing to join in on the fun.

One of her favorite “games” in toddler land was definitely the phone.  While she was busy making a call, she also made a new little friend.  They were adorable and really seemed to like each other.  Katelyn was so excited and said, “Mom, it’s Kitty’s first friend!”

She also loved driving with Katelyn and playing skee-ball with the girls.

Before we knew it, it was time to head to ballet.  Emily had a nice little nap in the van, followed by a minivan picnic for dinner in between their classes.  There was even a beautiful rainbow to celebrate the day.

As a side note, since Emily’s birthday was on a “dance day,” we celebrated as a family on Saturday too.  We went and played at Mobius and then had a great dinner at Olive Garden.  Emily loved the breadsticks and the rest of us were pleased with her choice of cuisine.

Back to Monday… So after dance, we rendezvoused with Kyle back at the house and got her party started.  Even though it was bedtime, everyone rallied and she had a blast.

Emily loved opening presents and was fascinated by the paper and all things crinkly.  Katelyn and Brooke were so excited for her to open their present.  They gave Emily her very first build-a-bear, a Kitty of course, so she is now officially part of their club.

She loved her kitty and since it wasn’t stuffed she decided to wear it around her neck like a feather boa.  The girls loved it!  They also loved playing with each of her new toys, especially the mailbox from Grandma Carol.

She really loved all of her presents and we discovered that anything soft she immediately put around her neck.  She was always so proud of her new look.

Emily also loved her new Hello Kitty stuffed animal… she gave her lots of kisses.  By the end of present time she was definitely getting tired (so was Brooke as you can see in the photo below), so we headed into the kitchen for some birthday cake.

I made her a “Kitty” cake to go along with her party theme.  she also got her own personal cake that she could devour.  The girls could hardly wait to see what she would do with her cake.  When they turned one, Katelyn stuck her face in her cake and Brooke ate more cake in one sitting than I thought possible, so they wondered who Emily would take after.  She of course, did her own thing…

She loved having us sing “Happy Birthday” to her and she was glad her sisters helped her blow out her candle.

Emily was curious about her cake but not at all interested in eating it.  So Katelyn and Brooke tried to help her sample it to see if that would get her interested.   

After tasting the cake she still wasn’t interested in eating it but thought it was fun to dig at it with a spoon.

She has a blast aerating her cake until she found an even better activity…

… feeding the cake to her sisters, Gram and her birthday duck.

We ended her day with our tradition of reading “Birthday Monsters” and then it was time for bed.  She was worn out and happy to see her bed and blankie.  She had a great birthday and we were so glad that Gram was able to be there to spend the day with us.  Happy 1st Birthday Emily… and many more!