Friday, April 5, 2013

Vienne's 1st Birthday

*Springtime is the time for birthdays in my family.  Mark, myself, and Vienne have birthdays, each 3 wks apart from each other.  And now my niece Miriam has joined the spring time birthday crowd.  All this to say, that I am going to fill this month with many birthday-themed posts.  I am also counting down until Vienne's birthday on May 1.  Celebrating your dead daughter's birthday, for the first time without her, does not sound fun to me.  But, I want to take time to remember the birthdays past.  Today, I am remembering Vienne's first birthday.


On May 1, 2009 Vienne turned 1 and was still such a chubby little peanut...growing a fabulous curly mullet and sporting the yummiest cheeks.   She was not yet walking...but was "scaling the walls" and furniture instead.  Here is a fun list of "Vienne Facts" that I found in her baby book.  They are funny to read back over.  She has been unique from the very start.  You will see from these facts that she always did things in her own sweet time.  It never meant that she was "behind"...she was just on her own schedule and we all know that she turned out just fine!   (this should be encouragement for those parents out there who "think" their babies are behind in "normal" developmental stages.)

~ At 1 yr. old, Vienne weighed 17.8 lbs and measured 27" tall.  Teeny teeny.  She was still wearing size 2 infant shoes! (umm...so does Ivy)
~ Her favorite game to play with Mama was "Peek-a-boo"
~ Her favorite game to play with Dadda was to sit on his shoulders while he ran around.
~ She made us laugh when she would bounce/dance, while holding onto a ledge and "run in place", shaking her head like a "Flash Dance" move.
~ Right before her first birthday, she FINALLY broke out of her swaddle and wanted to sleep without    it!  Whoah.
~ She started to FINALLY really eat solid foods.
~ Once she started sleeping out of her swaddle, she started to sleep on her tummy for the first time.
~ This one is funny:  She sat up for the first time on her own at 14 months!!  What?!  Weird.  I, now, remember joking that we could lay her on her back and she was like a flipped turtle!
~ She took her first steps at 14 mo.
~ She moved to 1 nap at 14 mo.
~ She stood up without help, or crawling to a ledge at 15 mo.
~ She said "Hi" at 15 mo.
*12-15 months was a big time for her!


Here are photos from her First Birthday

(opening her very first birthday gifts that came in the mail a few days prior to her party)


(oh those sweet sweet cheeks)

We were still living in Cannon Beach at this time.  In the days before "Pinterest" and homemade cupcake tiers and bunting banners, we threw Vienne a basic Open House party, decorated only with balloons and flowers.  It was simple and sweet.   I did make her invitations.  I remember going all out in the kitchen (no surprise there, of course) and filling our table with yummy appetizers, in a buffet-style set up.  I made two desserts - the fun adult dessert and the healthy one for Vienne because I had not let her eat sugar yet.  A lemon-rhubard tart for the "health-phobic" =  amazing.  And then I made what has been coined as the "Birth-Day cake" full of dates, coconut, bananas, honey...you know me...healthy.  It was the special Birth-cake that was made for me when Vienne was born.  Of course, Vienne had no interest in the cake...but then again, Vienne was just starting to slowly show an interest in food.

(This was Vienne's first birthday party invitation that I made for her.  Simple and sweet.  I think it is neat that before I even knew her favorite colors would be blue and green, her invite was made in blue and green!  [BTW:  that phone number is no longer used...so don't worry])

(Birthday girl in her simple and sweet birthday dress)

(playing with friends)

(My sister, Kate, and her hubby, Jeremy...always hangin' around the food table!)

(opening gifts)


(these photos remind me that she had unexpectedly broken out in a funny rash/reaction on her cheek...just for her birthday party!)


(it's funny to look back at these pictures - she wasn't as smily for the camera as her little sister is...of course that all changed as she grew older) 

(a snapshot of the grandparents - Mark's mom, my dad, and my stepdad in the back)

(the lemon rhubarb tart my sister and I made for the adults...it was delish!)

(singing "the song", with the organic healthy cake I made for Vienne)

(look at the yummy healthy cake mommy made!  I notice, here, how she is not even wearing a bib...because she rarely ate and when she did eat, she was as neat as an adult!  Ivy is too!)

(poke poke...)

(um, no thanks, Mom)

(oh well...)

(almost ready to take first steps)

She was gifted with darling clothes and a few beautiful wooden toys.  We had annoyingly made it clear that we preferred minimal toys...and that they preferably be wooden or cloth.  Yes, we're those parents.  But, I don't regret it!  We never had a home over-run with plastic loud toys.  And, Vienne was able to employ her imagination to her simple toys...and those who know her, all know what kind of a wild imagination she developed.  I hope the same for Ivy.
(cute dress she received from Aunt Kate)

(wooden blocks - a play time staple)



 

12 comments:

  1. My daughter just turned 1 on March 21st so I'm looking forward to seeing more birthday posts. I love Vienne's expressions in pictures. She tends to be so gentle and delicate with everything :)
    I love the wooden toys by the way!
    Love to your family! !
    Allie

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    1. Congratulations on your daughter turning 1. Such a fun milestone age.

      Yes, Vienne DEFINED the words "gentle" and "delicate"!

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  2. Oh goodness, I love her sweet chubby cheeks. So so precious.

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  3. What a sweet face she has. Such a gentle girl, I can just tell. Love and courage to you today. Love you. And it was so great to have you in my home. xo

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    1. I love that her personality was evident in at such a young age - yes, sooo sooo gentle and calm and sweet.

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  4. I just loved how detailed your 'firsts' were that you wrote for your sweet baby girl. I enjoyed reading them. Back when my babies were little, we recorded the firsts in their baby books but I didn't think to add details. I've been writing a journal to our grandson after each visit to document the little details of our visits and his 'firsts'. I hope that someday he enjoys reading them. Thanks again for sharing your daughter with us all. Blessings to you all, Terry

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    1. Thank you, Terry! I, too, am soooo very thankful that I kept such account of such detailed accounts of my girl. I read and reread them all often. I never ever want to forget.

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  5. Adorable pictures!!! I love the pictures of her in her chair, with the cake in front of her. In some of them, she is looking away, like she can't even look at it, much less sample it LOL. So sweet.

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  6. Oh, my heavens. Such sweet memories. Everything about her is sooo delicious. Her beautiful round cheeks melt my heart. I miss my Vienne so much.

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