and she's off...

Yep...that's my baby, and there's no stopping her now! The day after turning one Cecilia decided it was time to walk. Within days she went from an unstable walker to a little girl running in circles around my house. It is crazy just how fast she picked up the whole walking thing. I figured it would take her a few weeks to get comfortable with it, but it's like she just woke up and decided it was time to get moving. She is a busy girl and is ready to explore her world.

The timing of the walking milestone fit perfectly with 1st birthday celebration. Our little, big girl was excited to show off her new skill to the many friends and family members that came to wish her a happy birthday. The party theme was butterflies and we did what we could to throw her a sweet, little party. Of course no 1st birthday is complete without an adorable party dress. 

We kicked things off with a full Filipino feast. Todd cooked teriyaki beef on the grill and we had a handful of yummy side dishes. There were a few fun little butterfly themed treats for all to enjoy as well! As soon as dinner was over we wasted no time getting to the main event...the cake of course! My nephew's very talented wife, Crystal made Cecilia the most beautiful cake. She even made Cece her own mini-cake, simply for her tasting pleasure. 

Cecilia was cautious at first. She wasn't sure about getting her fingers covered in frosting. With a little encouragement she quickly decided that shoving handfuls of frosting into her mouth was pretty fun! She kept us all entertained as she enjoyed her birthday cake to the fullest. After about 10 minutes I felt that she had probably reached her sugar consumption for the day and decided to cut her off. She was on her way to becoming a smurf when I passed her off to my Mom for a bath.

Our attempt to get all of the frosting out of her hair was slightly unsuccessful, but there was no time to wait. It was on to presents! Surprisingly a one year old needs help with opening presents. As Olivia and I helped Cece dig into her gifts she quickly became attached to an Elmo book. The rest of her gifts took a back seat to that Elmo book for the moment. She did not noticed at the time, but she did receive some very nice gifts.

The party was a success and my sweet little girl celebrated this wonderful milestone with a smile on her face the whole time. I am amazed by how quickly her first year has gone. I am faced with the fact that my little baby is now turning into a toddler. I am excited watch her grow and learn, but at the same time I am sad that the baby stage is officially over.

Now the day before the party was Cecilia's actual birthday. It was a day I will never forget, not just because she turned one, but because we had one of the worst storms I can recall in my lifetime. Cecilia was at her sitter's at the time and in the middle of having her birthday celebration when the power went out. She may have been a bit freaked out by the storm and power outage, but still managed to find a way to enjoy her birthday cupcake.

Cece's babysitter, Holly made sure she had a very special birthday celebration. Holly's kids gave Cecilia her very first baby doll, which has since turned into her "lovey". Until now Cecilia had not attached herself to anything. Olivia had a small blanket that she fell in love with around 8 months of age, and still sleeps with to this day. Cecilia does not much care about blankets or teddy bears, but this soft, squishy baby immediately stole her heart. She smiles and squeals whenever she finds her and often showers her with baby with hugs and kisses. It is simply sweet.

Now it's time to backtrack a bit and do a recap of Olivia's dance recital at the end of June. Last year at this time I was just hoping to get through the dance recital weekend. I was days away from having Cecilia and I wanted her to hold off on making her appearance until I would watch Olivia perform and so I could be there to support the kids that I teach as well. Hard to believe that was one year ago. Olivia is one year older too and still quite the performer.

She performed her tap routine the first night, which also happened to be Todd's 40th birthday. I am pretty sure that was not how Todd planned to spend this milestone, but he sat through a three hour recital for Olivia and I think it was worth it. Just watching her shake it on that big stage could put a smile on anyone's face. She worked hard all year to learn her tap steps and I was very impressed with how well she performed them in front of hundreds of people. Her fantastic performance was rewarded with flowers from her Daddy.

The following night she performed her ballet routine, looking just as beautiful and doing an equally great job. This is Olivia's second year taking ballet and I am very impressed with how well she is picking it up. I could not get over how grown up she looked with her hair pulled back into a bun and how graceful she looked on that stage! I am very proud of my girl. She worked hard this year and performed her little heart out at her recital.

The girls are having a wonderful summer thus far. Because of how hot it has been we have been spending most of it at their Uncle's pool. What I have enjoyed the most this summer is watching Cecilia go from a baby to a toddler. Her little personality has just blossomed lately. When I say that this girl almost always has a smile on her face, I am not exaggerating. In fact most of the time she walks around the house just laughing. I am not sure what is always making her laugh, but the sound of it just makes me smile. She went from walking to running in a matter of weeks. She has been walking for close to a month now and i am impressed with how quickly she mastered the skill.

Her vocabulary is starting to grow as well. She started with a few sounds which led into gibberish. Lately she has started to form a few actual words. Now you wouldn't think this would be so fascinating to me since I did watch Olivia learn to speak for the first time, but I am completely blown away with how quickly she has picked up a few words. As of this week Cecilia says, "ball", "bubble", "go", "down","uh-oh", "night-night" (or nigh-nigh, as it sounds to most), and of course the typical first words, "dada" and "mama". When she isn't saying one of her words she is making sure she is heard by just babbling as loud as she possibly can. To me there is nothing sweeter than listening to that precious angle voice.

My little baby is growing up right in front of my eyes! At times I can hardly believe how quickly her first year went by. I must say, I am pretty excited about the the person she has started to become. Both of my girls continue to bring such happiness to my life. I will continue to do my best to make sure that I fill their lives with love and great experiences. And speaking of great experiences, I just realized that I still have not recapped Olivia's trip to California sans Mom and Dad. I will be sure to cover that in my next post. Until then, it's off to the pool. It's about the only way to stay cool this summer!