Birthday Party!

We had a little party for Geneva yesterday and it was great fun! Here are some pictures to prove it.

Pre-party backyard

Kids mask-making and bubbles.
Birthday sign (made by sis-in-law) that will probably be at every birthday party.

I got an idea from a blog to print out oversized pictures of the birthday girl! Fun, easy, cheap ($1.65) decorations!

Another 18x24 print. As soon as we put these up in the kitchen, Geneva kept pointing to them. It seemed like she was saying, "Hey! That's me!"

The food

The table

Birthday girl!

This is the only picture I took during the party (except cake pics, of course).

Geneva and her cake. I wasn't actually too surprised that she didn't get messy. She's just our dainty little girl.

Birthday song, Dad blowing out the candle, and a taste of frosting.

Geneva eating her cake like a lady. She just used a pincer grasp to eat little bits of cake. Ladies don't get messy.

11 months

For this month's blanket shot, you get a series...

This month Geneva has gotten more and more wiggly. She is still bum-scooting, but she is now bum-scooting everywhere! She also loves pulling herself up on everything. She recently learned how to sit down, and at first it was in major slow motion, which was pretty funny to watch. It was like an intense crunch workout. Geneva finally got her first tooth this month! She was noticeably more fussy and liked to chew on her hands a lot. The first one to come in was the lower left, followed by the lower right a week or so later. Here's a picture to prove it!

Geneva is such a little chatterbox. She says "mama" and "dada", but it's really just mostly babbling those sounds at us. She makes this funny squinty eye smiley face. It almost looks like a fake smile, but it sure is cute. She loves to read and play with books.

Introductory Calculus. She'll move on to the real stuff after her birthday, don't worry.

She loves her peekabo books.

Reading with daddy. She's a pro at turning pages, we just have to get her to slow down enough so we can read the story. I guess she's a speed reader.

Learning Russian - she found a dictionary just her size :)

 

 A more complicated bum-scoot. 

Standing and sitting.

Clapping while swinging.

Baby playdate

Just hanging out in the pantry.

Swinging!

This is how Geneva rides in swings. We've tried and tried to get her to sit back, but she insists this is better. Maybe it's more like flying?

Fancy new toy (for free via Craigslist)

Yogurt mustache

In the slow-motion sitting phase. She held this for a few seconds, now her thighs are ripped!

10 months

Happy 10 months, Geneva! I think this is my favorite age so far. She makes us laugh every day. She is a gorgeous little chatterbox. She makes funny noises all day long. Geneva is a certified scooter -- she can get around pretty well now, even if it is pretty slow (not complaining). Not sure if there is any "crawling" in sight, but she now has started inching her way across the furniture. She is just starting to get her first tooth, it's still a bump, but maybe by next month! She started clapping this month. She does it most often when we sing songs that she likes. Now for pictures and videos!

So I'm putting a lot of videos on here because I take a lot of videos... Don't worry, they are short.

Scooting.

Scooting. Talking. Going for the camera.

 Swinging and babbling.

Giggling with Daddy before bedtime.

Just babbling.

Excited about the penguins at the zoo. Sorry for my loud voice and finger in the shot...

Can you find the cute baby? She loves standing there and looking out the window.

Beautiful face

At the zoo with friends

On a walk with Daddy

She loves kneeling in her crib after naps

Discovering grass and sunshine

Another "can you find the cute baby?" Don't be confused by the  weird ceramic hat guy we inherited from the last owners.

Discovering flowers (and when I say flowers I really mean weeds)

Being entertained by cousins. We took a trip to Utah! More on this in another post.

Wearing the hat with the family crest

Another "real" blanket shot

Hanging with mommy, sticking out the tongue.

Tulip Festival 2013

We made it to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival this year and had a much better experience than last time. Two years ago we went on a beautiful, sunny Saturday... along with everyone else in the Seattle area. The unbelievable traffic made the trip less than stellar. This time Henry took a Thursday off (also to attend our Roots of Empathy classroom visit, more on that in a future post) and it was cloudy and rainy. Perfect! Forgive the picture quality, I forgot my camera, so we only had my phone - not too bad really.

A Daddy and his girl.

Henry needs to work a little on framing shots. At least you can see the nice mud puddle there.

Here's another shot of the intense mud. It was actually pretty packed down, so it wasn't too squishy. They did have signs asking you not to go between the rows. Not that I'd be tempted with all that water!

Oh, the carnage. Tulip massacre. 

Geneva was more interested in the people than the flowers. Go figure.

My own personal tulip variety. Although our actual favorites were called "Ice Cream" and "Ninja".

We wanted to end the trip by having a pie at a little place we visited last time, but when we got there we found out it was closed! So instead we found another local bakery and shared a cream puff the size of Geneva's head. No joking. I didn't get a picture because we ate it too quickly. Walking around looking at flowers really works up your appetite.