Livi’s first birthday celebration.

Crazy how time flies!  The youngest member of our family (for now) celebrated her first birthday this weekend with lots of decorations, some presents, and of course the sugar-high-inducing frosted cake.  We had a slight mishap when Aunt Ginny’s little pup Peanut (size of the dog matches the name) walked across the cake…but we decided no one really cared and moved on.  It has become a tradition for us to have cake problems at most occasions, so this was simply following in our own footsteps.

I made some little bug cakes to go with her plates and napkins, so we used those too. 

Olivia was so happy to be eating sugar (who can blame her, right)!

She had fun opening presents (with a little help from big sis).

She is really coming into her own personality these days.  Girly-girl, loves new shoes and beads, and anything sparkly and pretty.  She has a quick temper and knows what she wants.  She is strong-willed, independent, and determined, which are great qualities for a little young lady to have I think (although they make parenting difficult, as we are learning from entering the oh-so-monstrous-threes….really people, who coined the term “terrible twos”, were they kidding?  Three is the new terrible-two…on crack!) Olivia is a very sweet little girl.  She loves to get kisses and snuggle.  She is a real ham whenever we are out.  She doesn’t shy away from anyone and is seems to get a kick out of it when people fuss over her at the supermarket or wherever.  If I had to pick one word to describe her at this stage, I would say content.  She is such a content little girl.  As long as she is not hungry, tired, or wanting something immediately beyond her reach, she is content.  She will play and read books on her own, loves to throw balls and run after them, loves to swing, and loves anything musical.   She really loves being in the thick of whatever is going on, but she is content to be part of it;  she doesn’t shy away from any attention but she also doesn’t seem to need to be the center of whatever is happening.  What a great trait to have.  I hope she always feels this way.   It is amazing to watch your little ones grow into their own souls.  So interesting and heart warming and endearing at the same time.  I feel like one of my greatest challenges as a parent is to help our children develop their own strengths and bolster their weaknesses in order to be their best selves, without placing too much of my own bias and self-interpretation in the mix.  Just letting them be who they are, and guiding them in the development of their own individualities, while maintaining fairness and harmony in our household…yikes!    So far, this little one make it easy. Happy Birthday baby girl!