Birthdays

Sarah and Emilee are asleep. The older kids are at school. I have free time! I could do dishes, clean other scary parts of the house, or do any other of a myriad of useful things I have on my to do list. However, since Sarah is 13 months old today, I want to post some birthday pictures.

Sarah turned one on September 21. She was the center of attention - what else is new - but she didn't quite understand what was going on. She tried to grab the cake before the candles were in it, but didn't eat much of it once she had some in front of her. She mostly played with the frosting.

She did like her new present once we showed her how to open it. It's too bad there was only one present, because we later learned how much she likes ripping paper. Sarah is an amazing little girl. She is so sweet and loving. She is also very determined. (This seems to be a character trait of all my girls) She took her first steps sometime around her first birthday. Once she started, there was no turning back for her. She would stand up at the couch and start into the middle of the room. When she fell, she just got back up and started again. It didn't matter how many times she fell, how many times she got hurt. She just kept going.

Now, a month later, she can walk, go up stairs, go down stairs, climb up and down the stepstool, get off furniture, turn around in circles, and melt hearts with that sweet toothy grin. And she doesn't seem to be slowing down. I think that little girl is going to conquer the world.

Two weeks after Sarah's birthday, we had another birthday to celebrate. Emilee turned 4 on October 6th. She decided that she wanted to go to Red Robin for her birthday dinner. Here she is with her free ice cream sundae. Emilee was excited all day. We were all ready to go, when Sarah almost ruined the evening for Emilee.

We decided not to have cake on Emilee's birthday, since we are never hungry after coming home from Red Robin, and because she was having a birthday party on Saturday. In light of this decision, I wrapped Emilee's present and brought it downstairs to take to the restaurant with us. I figured she could open it there. It was a great plan that failed to take into account the event of two weeks previous. Sarah had learned about opening presents, and hadn't forgot. I was upstairs getting ready when I heard a brokenhearted wail from downstairs. Emilee was holding her beautifully wrapped, and now partially opened present. Sarah found it sitting on the couch, knew just what it was, and started ripping at the paper. I quickly took it upstairs, and taped the ripped paper. Meanwhile, Robert soothed Emilee, who is not easily calmed down when something in her world doesn't go exactly according to plan. Disaster averted, and we had a great evening.

That was on Wednesday. On Saturday, Emilee had her very first friend birthday party. She was thrilled. She had kids from her church class and some kids from the neighborhood at the party. It was chaotic, but lots of fun.

Sarah, actually eating birthday cake. She finally made the mess that you always hope your baby will make on their birthday. She just waited until Emilee's party to do it.


Emilee with her birthday cake.


Emilee and her friends playing musical blankets. (It's almost like musical chairs. Only difference, no one gets out. They just have to squeeze on the blankets to fit.)

Emilee is quite a girl. She amazes me by the things she can do. At 4 years old, she can bake. She knows the difference between mixing and folding, and can roll out dough. She can clean the bathroom. She can play equally well, or poorly depending on her mood, with 3 year olds and 6 year olds. She has an incredible vocabulary, and surprisingly deep thoughts.

She is a challenging little girl, no way around that, but she's also pretty great.

I don't know if I should brag so much about my girls, but their birthdays only come around once a year, and I feel pretty lucky to be their mom.