Happy Birthday Addie!

Addie is one now! She had a wonderful birthday, I think. She even got to play with her own toys occasionally. We're working on teaching Chloe that Addie has rights and possessions, too.

Opening her first gift.

Enjoying her loot and repeatedly saying hi to the baby on the box. I think she was the most excited about him.

New hat and glasses.

Reading a new book with Dad and Chloe.

Enjoying her ball popper.

We celebrated Addelicious' birthday on Friday, August 22, and had a party on Sunday August 24 with family and friends. Addie had a great time. The theme of her party was "loud" since that has been the main adjective of her life.

There was a megaphone cake for the party

And small megaphones filled with noisemakers for the guests

And her own megaphone cake.

And party hats.

And presents

And bucket baths at the end.

I can't believe my baby is one! It has been a fast year, full of lots of learning. Addie has definitely been a learning experience, and increased my testimony that our spirits existed before we were born. How else could two little girls with the same parents be so different? Addie has also made me rethink my parenting skills for the same reason

Here's a few examples of why/how:

Chloe slept through the night at 2 months/ Addie didn't start sleeping through the night until about 6 months, and still wakes up at least one night a week.

Chloe is a great napper, and will drop anywhere, anytime when she is tired. The other day she fell asleep while we were shopping, and I took her out of the car, shopped, and put her back in still asleep 3 DIFFERENT TIMES!/ Addie will not fall asleep, will fight a nap forever, and if she does nap, will often wake up again within 20 minutes. She will also wake up and be wide awake and talking immediately.

Chloe likes other people and other kids, but has always liked to do things by herself and been a little intimidated by crowds/ Addie works a room. She immediately starts talking to whoever is sitting near us at church, and will rotate to make sure everyone gets a bit of her attention. And she loves to say, "HI!" The other night I swear I heard her say, "Hi" in the middle of the night, and then go back to sleep. I just kept my fingers crossed that she wasn't greeting a burgler or something, because if I had gone in to check, she would have started a whole conversation with me, and I wasn't up for that in the middle of the night.

On Chloe's first birthday, she picked a little at the frosting on her cake, but was otherwise unimpressed. I had really been hoping she would totally dive in, but no, hardly a mess./ Addie gave me everything I was hoping for, twice. Check out the next two slideshows for the details.