Julia's 1st Birthday Party, etc.

Before her birthday party was St. Patty's Day. Mama celebrated it with Julia by dying her milk green.



Green eggs, anyone?




Mmmm...delish!



One of mama's St. Patty's Day decorations



Julia actual birthday, March 18th. No we didn't give her the whole cake! Just a tease...



But mama...I want MORE!!

We of course relented and gave her a yummy piece!

Now for her birthday party, which was held the Sat. after her birthday at Grandma and Grandpa Q's house. It was a jungle theme! (yes, mama was getting tired of pink)

Decorations...

More decorations...

The birthday girl, all dressed up and ready to party hardy!

The birthday girl with the boo-boo on her forehead from the coffee table...

Waiting patiently for the cake...

C'mon mom...where is it?!

The Jungle Cake!! This cake is actually a "Go, Diego, Go" cake, but mama put on her own figures to make it into a jungle theme. Note the smushed blue frosting on the bottom from a transport mishap in the car, but we improvised and made it look like the animals' fault. Hey...they were just tryin' to reach the Amazon! The monkey's almost there...

Ahhhh...finally!!

Phase 1 of "Operation Destroy Cake"

Reaching Phase 2...

"Operation Destroy Cake" has been successfully administered!! Victory!

Time for presents! She got many, many cute clothes...

Books...

A swing, an interactive Elmo, and much much much much more not pictured....

Party madness (note cousin Christopher playing nicely with Julia)

Julia, deciding she's had enough.

What a fantastic 1st birthday!!!! Thank you everyone!!!!

Brand New Playground!

Today we went to a brand-spanking-new playground that is nearby. It was very funky with some new equipment mama and dada had not seen before. Also, the entire playground had an interesting, squishy ground to it for safety reasons we suppose. Playgrounds sure have come a long way from the metal merry-go-rounds of mama and dada's childhood! I think we had pebbles on the ground...anyways, I digress...



Julia on the one of the odd new swings. As you can see, she was definitely enjoying it!



Roller slide! She thought it was hilarious. Although you can't tell from this pic.



Here we are on some big, weird, teeter-totter-type thing.

Here is dada feeling queasy on the big, weird, teeter-totter-type thing.

We definitely enjoyed a beautiful Sunday and are looking forward to the next two nice days outside. Yay for impending spring!

Children's Museum and Birthday Party!

Yesterday (Saturday) Julia was quite the busybody. She went to the DuPage Children's Museum and explored all of the sights and sounds of the very fun yet very overstimulating place. She was pretty overwhelmed by it all right from the get-go, so needless to say, we did not stay very long.



Here she is exploring all of the interesting nooks and crannies the baby play area has to offer.



Saturday night we went to dada's cousin's baby's 1st birthday party. Here they are, slow-dancing the night away!



"Hey Julia, you're cute and all, but it's my birthday first!"

Grandma and Grandpa Q showing Julia pics of herself, which she appears to be curiously amused by.

It was quite an exciting day for the little miss!

The Houseys' House

A pic of Mama with Julia taken earlier today


Julia had a blast today on a playdate with the Housey kids, pictured below.



Gracie, age 3, Julia almost 1, Andrew age 3, and Will, age 5



Julia loved hangin' with the "older crowd"!



Here she is doing a bit of tunneling

Julia (looking amazed at some fabulous toy) with Shelley

Gracie as a caterpillar

Andrew as a caterpillar with Gracie in the background

What a fun playdate it was!

Julia's "In Shape"

Today, Julia and mama hung out at the Woodridge Library and Yorktown Mall. While the Woodridge Library has a fantastic children's department, unfortunately, we were the only ones there :( However, as you can see, the lack of socialization did not damper Julia's spirits whatsoever!



In fact, she decided to make the best of the situation and create her own group of friends to share a puzzle with.



"Mmm the textures of the shapes are deliciously fascinating."



"It's ok, Elmo. I know it's complicated, but I will help you finish it. It's all about the right fit..."

Random pic of her first spaghetti dinner the other night. Mmmmmmmm!

Little Orphan Annie

Check out Julia's post-bath hair!



It exactly resembles a wig mama had when she was "Little Orphan Annie" for halloween when she was 4 years old. Also, happy birthday Grandma Mary! Here are some pics from our celebration of her birthday at PF Chang's Saturday night (and some at home too):



Julia all dressed up!



Grandma Mary and Julia



Auntie Kim and Grandma Mary

Uncle Paul and Uncle Chris

So excited to celebrate!

The following are some pics of our official move from Julia's first official residence:

"What is going on, mama?"

Dada and Julia, taking a break from the packing

In other news, she officially said her first word on Sunday. Her first word is...."off"! She continues to say it in the context of the tv being "off" and the light or fan being "off". Too cute, says mama. Tooooo cute.