Happy Birthday Alice!!

Yesterday, or I suppose now 2 days ago, Alice celebrated her first birthday. My mind is having a hard time comprehending that my little baby has been here for a full year. It has gone by WAY too fast. The following are some pictures taken throughout the day, plus some fun Alice info.

You can see her cake caked little face, although pink frosting doesn't show up very well. Trust me, she was covered. Especially her bare belly. Alice has always been an excellent eater. Sometimes, she'll eat more than I do at a meal. She loves everything, (except goat cheese and capers...it will come) and lots of it. She'll let you know in no unsure terms when her tray is lacking. Often, you'll catch her putting food in her mouth with one hand, then the other, then the other, with barely a breath between. Food, it seems, is serious business to this little one.

Alice held onto this balloon through the whole cake eating process- there was no way she was letting go. Alice also has a hard time letting go of her "silky". My Grandma Barnes made these fantastic silky blankets for all the grand kids and great grand kids, Alice was lucky to get the last one she made, though my awesome mother has continued the tradition. Alice LOVES it! It soothes her swiftly and helps her sleep. She loves to play peek-a-boo with it and just feel it on her skin. I love it that she loves it.

This is perhaps my favorite picture of the day. She's so happy! Alice has always been a very easy baby. She has had very few inconsolable sessions. even as a newborn. She smiled early and has been a smiley baby ever since. She sleeps the night, and is dream to put down, (just make sure she has her blanky and her binky). She is pretty laid back, (except when eating) and is just such a complete delight.

This is her ghetto cake. I'm only showing it because of it's ghetto charm. One day she might care. Today is not that day. Sally, however, talked to her Grammie (who is here now- yay!!) about the cake's beauty.

Doesn't she look sweet? Alice is the epitome of sweetness. She loves to cuddle and give big open mouth kisses. She will crawl with excitement into open arms and has the softest angel skin. She gives the biggest Halloween treat bag a run for the money when it comes to sweetness.

Sally and Alice have an interesting relationship. They are both very interested in each other and usually very nice. Alice likes to follow Sally around sometimes and play all kinds of things with her. Sally likes to give all kinds of love to her baby sister and sometimes likes to help. Other times, she likes to slam doors in poor Alice's face or restrain her from pushing buttons or getting into things by laying on her. Alice is pretty much a champ through it all. She will whimper for a moment and then all is well for this little one. They really do love each other.

Okay, maybe this is my favorite. She is just so beautiful! Alice is starting to say some things. She can say mama, dada, muh (more), uh-oh (this is ADORABLE), bubble, do a fishy mouth and a lizard mouth. It is so fun to see her progress. She also babbles quite a bit and makes the cutest sounds. I even like one of her cries that almost sounds like a siren (if you are in my ward, you're well familiar with it) It's actually very cute.

Alice is getting to be such a big girl! She can cruise along most anything and LOVES to walk with things (thank you Grandma for the cool "walker"- she loves it!) she can stand for quite a long time and has stepped with her right foot a handful of times. Sometimes, even two steps (both with the right foot, making her rotate around) She'll be really walking soon. I'm pretty impressed by the way she rarely gets hurt. She seems so aware of herself and her surrounding- she hardly ever bonks her head on anything. Bill said it nicely here, "One facet about Alice to note is her remarkable caution - which takes patience, focus and awareness - all traits that she shows daily. She hardly ever gets into accidents. I'm really impressed at her ability to do things like learning how to walk, do crawling to sit-up transitions, climb the stairs and to explore safely."

We went to the indoor play area at the mall and Alice LOVED it. She is a good size for all of the fun "toys" they have. She had a blast going through all the tubes and standing up to everything and cruising. She also went down the little slide about 2548 times. Now, she seems to be a "safe" baby, but she still likes to explore. She loves seeing new things and seeing what could be inside everything. That is evidenced in some movie cupboards we have. She loves to see what's inside the cupboard, and then what's inside each case. I'm constantly picking them up. Same goes for CD shelves, kitchen cupboards and any drawer she can find.

Alice adds so much to my life. From her pensive expressions to her huge grins. From irresistible laughter to funny whimpers. She makes me feel so... warm. Like drinking steamed milk with a caramel shot, only so much more intense. She warms me even deeper than the marrow, to the place science has yet to discover. If only they could play with Alice for a little bit they would have no doubt there is so much more to us and to life. Her birthday is the day before mine and I am glad. I always know I have the greatest birthday present a person could have. A sweet, loving, happy, playful, adventurous, beautiful, fun, overall wonderful little Alice Marie.