Elise's First Birthday

Continuing a tradition we started on Carter's first birthday, I hung streamers in Elise's doorway on her birthday eve. She liked grabbing them as I carried her through them and ended up ripping a couple of them off. It's such a fun little tradition and I got the idea from a student who said his mom did that for him every year on his birthday. For breakfast I treated Elise to blueberry oatmeal. She loves oatmeal and I had never added blueberries to it, so I figured it would be a nice treat. I put the candle from her birthday cake in her oatmeal and Carter and I sang her happy birthday. Carter was also excited to have blueberry oatmeal and thought it was awesome the blueberries turned the oatmeal purple. Elise got to wear a special birthday shirt her Oma and Opa bought her and I decided Carter needed to wear something special too. So he wore his Valentine's Day shirt because it's pink and says, love my lil sis. We did a little photo shoot of Elise in her birthday outfit and then of her and Carter together.

 

 

 

 

Uncie Taco got Elise Violet the dog stuffed animal which is interactive and is just like Carter's Scout. Both kids had been trying to play with her while she was in the box so I got her out and set her up so she would say Elise's name. When Carter heard her say "Elise" he was disappointed that Scout didn't say his name. I had him go get Scout and he pressed Scout's foot and he immediately said, "Hello, Carter!" Carter said, "Oh, he does say my name!" It was so funny. Carter played with Scout and Elise played with Violet while I got ready for the day. Then we headed out to our weekly playdate where we shared the leftover cookies from Elise's birthday party. The big kids decorated cookies and I let Elise eat one that wasn't iced. There was a sensory table full of multi-colored rice, perfect for a birthday, but also a mess for a child who shoves everything in her mouth... Ahem, Elise! She had also set her bubble machine up inside which was a huge hit with Elise. She wanted to hold my hands and walk through the bubbles pretty much the whole time we were there unless she was at the sensory table shoving rice in her mouth. When we got home we ate lunch and then I enjoyed snuggles with Elise before she went down for a nap.

 

Eating her first cookie.

 

 

 

When Elise woke up from her nap I put a sheet down on the floor and gave her a cupcake for a photo shoot. Carter woke up while Elise was eating her cupcake and enjoyed watching her. It was so funny to see her grab the cupcake and shove the entire thing toward her mouth. She was thrilled that the crumbs attracted the attention of all the dogs, Harper and both of my parents' dogs who we are dog sitting, who came over to sneak bites off the sheet. Elise crawled and pivoted around while eating her cupcake and Carter laid on the sheet watching her, giving me a running commentary, and occasionally talking to Elise. It was super cute!

 

When Elise was finished with her cupcake we headed into the backyard for some bubble fun. I set up the bubble machine which Elise loved and then she wanted me to walk her all around the backyard while she held my fingers for support. Carter requested her up in his fort with him where we played for a while. Then it was time to head out to Elise's favorite playground to meet daddy. It's Elise's favorite playground because it has steps she can crawl up. It is my favorite playground for her to play at because it has turf and a solid rubber ground. There are no wood chips or pieces of rubber for her to sneak into her mouth. There are also some great pieces with holes for us to play peek-a-boo through which is always a good time. Anything to get Elise to laugh, it's the sweetest sound!

 

 

We ended day with leftover chicken from her birthday party for dinner. The big excitement was that Uncie J and Opa came over to eat with us. Opa gave Elise a bath and they were both laughing so loud I had to go in to check out what was going on. It turned out Elise thought it was hilarious for Opa to fill a squirter with water and spray it into her mouth. They are quite the pair! It was a fun filled and busy day for the precious birthday girl!