MAJOR BEDHEAD i wish i looked this cute after a nap. wren took her first unaided steps this month! YAY! tommy was home for lunch at the time, which we had always hoped he’d be home to see her take the big steps. the two of us were sitting on the floor watching her play when she decided to stand up and walk to him. we both screamed. she even screamed. below is a video i took later that evening when she had one last burst of energy before bedtime. hyper and exhausted from the thrill of walking, she ended up collapsing to the floor after an hour of running around. other fun notes from her fourteenth month: first molar, bottom right {nine teeth total now}, can brush her teeth and hair {at least tries}, and washes her hair during bath time {grabs the bubbles in the bath, rubs her hands together, then scrubs her hair}.
PLAYING. POUTING. PLAYING. i find wrennie’s quite moments of independent play time absolutely adorable. i find her pouty mouth absolutely adorable too – she’s been voicing her opinion more frequently – as you can see above she did not get her way.
ON THE DAY WREN TURNED ONE i sent ohdeedoh pictures and a small write up for their birthday shout-out section. it wasn’t posted the day-of {why in the world did i assume it would be?!} but it’s finally up today! you can view it here. i confessed to tommy this morning that i had been wanting to do this for YEARS. yes, way before i was even pregnant with wren. there was just something irresistibly cute about all the little birthday boys and girls being featured, and how proud their parents must be to see their adorable offspring featured on a very cool site. i’m a proud mom today.
p.s. photo credit to the awesome jason paige who took this picture as a test shot back in december. this is a test shot! he’s very talented, and it’s such a great story that it deserves its own post.
A YEAR! our sweet girl has been with us an entire year. february was a fun and exhausting month for us all. wren’s birthday party was a blast {if you couldn’t tell from the photos}. it took us awhile to recover, mainly because we have been so sick the entire month. we’re all better now and enjoying this new chapter with wren. there are so many new and exciting developments that we see in her daily. i wish i could capture every single one on camera or video. impossible. instead i’ve been trying to tuck them away in my memory. we love our little wrennie and cannot imagine our lives without her.
THE TURNOUT FOR THE PARTY was overwhelming and an absolute blast! little wren had no clue what was going on but enjoyed every minute. such a gracious little hostess, she was a delight and riot, even missing her afternoon nap without a fuss. we had so much fun and cannot wait to do it again next year – who knew throwing kid birthday parties would be so much fun?!
I SHOULD HAVE TAKEN BEFORE AND AFTER PICTURES because the transformation of that dark and dated clubhouse was a miracle. tommy and i were up well into the early morning hours decorating with paper birds, colorful paper chains, and my favorite piece, the happy birthday banner. my mom even joined in and quickly made a ridiculous amount of paper chains when we realized that we hadn’t made enough. i wish i had a picture of her doing it, she’s so cute and nimble. i also wish there were more pictures of the setup, but too much was going on before the party for me to capture all of our hard work.
if you couldn’t already tell, the theme is BIRDS, of course! if there was more time i was going hang paper birds from the ceiling, but i’m only human and that idea died at 3am when i could no longer keep my eyes open while sticking pictures of wren’s first year on the wall. we had so much fun decorating with the paper chains that i’m thinking of keeping up with the tradition every year. i spent five dollars on a stack of construction paper and was able to use it for all the paper birds, the chains, the flower arrangement covers, and the happy birthday banner.
wren’s party was a huge group effort, friends and family pitched in, making it special and very fun. one family let us borrow their large, round kid table. a friend went out of her way across town just to bring all the balloons. two other friends made two cakes the night before. the grandmas brought tons of food and prepared all my food when i realized there wasn’t enough time for me to get it all done! wren’s grandpa brought eight costco pizzas {and carried them by himself – his poor back – have you ever tried carrying just one?}. everyone loves wren and this party shows it!
LOOK WHO JUST TURNED ONE! wren had so much fun on her first birthday – just look at her with her birthday balloon. tommy stayed home from work and we played all day. i’d say that wren’s highlight of the day was being pushed on the swing by dad. my highlight was seeing her gag on her birthday cupcake. she hated every moment of it. the video of her trying to get rid of it is hilarious. tommy and i spent most of the day reflecting on the first year. we might have gotten a little teary-eyed too. it’s been a wonderful year and i wish we could go back to the very beginning and do it all over again.
STANDING! i found wren standing in her crib this month. she was shouting for me after her afternoon nap. when i walked into the room, the biggest, proudest smile was beaming right back at me. from that moment she’s been crawling faster and pulling up on all the furniture. she has so much more confidence in everything she does now {well, except in that last photo}.
WHILE AT THE PARK ONE AFTERNOON in early december, attempting poorly to take our own christmas photo, a nice photographer named jason stepped in and offered to take the photo for us. we said YES! what a relief because i was exhausted from running back and forth to reset the timer on the camera. jason asked to borrow wren for a few test shots before a family session. the little one happily obliged.
