Bring on the Pink

You know what they say about the third (and maybe the second too) child: they never get the same attention that is lavished on the first. For the most part I don't think that is the case with our third child as she DEMANDS her fair share of attention. However, I do have to admit to depriving her of her deserved place in the spotlight because I am belated in wishing her a happy birthday in blog world.

In my defense, it does seem a bit too soon to be wishing her a happy 1st birthday. In fact, I'm not sure this is actually our daughter. Our daughter is a tiny baby. She's delicate, fragile and still very much in need of her Mommy. This baby toddler isn't tiny at all (more on that later). She's tough, she holds her own with her brothers, she lets her opinions be known and she's needing her Mommy less and less each day.

Yes, I guess our little Elise is growing up and really did celebrate her 1st birthday this past weekend complete with friends, family, girly gifts and...CAKE!

She enjoyed the cake. And maybe would have enjoyed the ice cream if it hadn't been so cold. Not being able to feed yourself with a spoon definitely changes the experience of eating ice cream and her poor little hands got so cold that they hurt.

Friends and family abounded (is "abounded" a word?). Thank you to all who attended and to all those who couldn't attend but sent happy birthday wishes. It is such a blessing to know how much Elise is loved. The "friends" portion of the guests consisted of boys...lots and lots and lots of boys. I thought it would be fun to get pink (is there any other color for a girl's 1st birthday?) party hats for all the kids to wear, but decided to hold off until Elise could appreciate the humor. I can't wait to see 7 little boys running around in pink party hats.

And the gifts were girly. Until very recently most of the toys Elise played with were "boy toys." Her truck sounds rank right up there with the best of 'em and she loves to play parking garage. She was able to add to our abundant car collection, but her car is pink. Dolls, pink and glitter (much to Sean's dismay as he abhors glitter) were all over and Elise (and maybe Elise's mom too) enjoyed every girly second of it.

We closed our very fun extended weekend with a trip to the doctor for a 1-year check. I am happy to report that, for the first time ever, Elise is in a higher percentile for height than weight. While her weight has fluctuated between the 96th and 99th percentiles for most of her life, her height hasn't been quite that extreme. Until now. She is a long and not-so-lean 32 inches (only 4 inches shorter than her 2-year-old brother) - the 99th percentile. She's still in the 98th percentile for weight, but if she's anything like her brothers, she'll start to come down over the next year.

The poor girl got 4 shots (ouch!) and cried harder with each consecutive poke. After the doctor we hit the zoo and, with no morning nap, 4 shots and all that crying, Elise spent most of the time resting in the stroller with her beloved plug and blankie.

We are so excited for the changes the next year holds for our baby girl and we can't wait for all the PINK to come.