a few words...
We'd like to first share a bit about our girl greta, our impressions of who she is and who she may become. We have known her now for 3 months, and can't imagine our family without her. She has shown her personality from day one. She is curious and loves to look around and take in her surroundings with a quiet contentment. And we melt when she gazes at us with those big, round, blue eyes. She is a very spirited and happy girl, and is constantly gracing us with smiles and laughs. She has a wonderful sense of humor, and we laugh at her mischievous looks and antics. Greta shows her flirtatious side when she giggles and smiles at us and then quickly turns away. She is for the most part very mellow and easy going, yet she has lived up to her nickname "monkey" she was given in utero, as she is very much a mover. She especially loves doing "kicky legs" where she seems to be riding an imaginary bicycle at a very frantic pace. All her "exercise" has paid off, as she is a very strong little girl, much to the agreement of all the nurses she has met. At this point in her life, greta is fascinated by her hands, our ceiling fan, anything with a face and of course, her mama and daddy. She loves to strike up a conversation and tell us about her day--she is a very enthusiastic story teller. We love seeing her daily and sometimes hourly growth. It is nothing short of amazing that we have this beautiful, remarkable little girl in our lives. We both have experienced a whole new kind of love that gets bigger by the minute. If you haven't already met greta, we hope you will meet her soon. She is something else.
6-5-06 greta finds her voice...
Over the last couple weeks and especially over the last several days, greta has found her voice. She has been a talker for quite some time now, but she has entered a whole new realm of experimentation. Her repertoire has now expanded into large shrieks, resounding "ahhhhhhs", big gurgley monologues that I'm not sure how to represent phonetically, and what some might refer to as arias (look out maria callas). When it first began, we would often run to her bedroom to see what was wrong, but, alas, she was smiling and bubbling and just showing off her big voice, obviously very pleased with herself. It took us a while, but we can finally discern between, "I need you to come fetch me right now" and "I am greta, hear me roar". It is absolutely hilarious to listen to her go on and on with such passion and sound. We will never, ever get tired of listening to these beautiful verbal presentations.
6-14-06 chloe
Greta has found a new favorite toy--our dog chloe. Luckily she does not put chloe in her mouth like she does her other toys, but she does enjoy careful observation. A few days ago, we noticed she started smiling and laughing while watching the dogs play. We've always pointed them out to her and she would glance at them briefly, but had never really "interacted" with them. Now she will just stare at chloe, no matter what she is doing and smile and coo. And she seems to have a particular squeal/sigh reserved especially for the occasion. She appears to search for her and the two big questions around the house now are "where's chloe?" and "what's chloe doing?". Unfortunately for kona, he doesn't seem to elicit the same response. Likely because the old grandpa just doesn't do much anymore except nap. (She does still watch him and we do see the occasional smile from her...poor kona) Chloe reciprocates an interest in greta, however not quite as enthusiastically. She will sniff at greta's feet and sometimes kiss her toes and she does seem to sleep in our bedroom a lot more than she used to. She may be a little tired of the constant observation and mama telling greta over and over to "say, hi chloe". She is a good sport, though. Someday soon, once greta begins crawling and moving around more, I'm sure we will find her curled up next to chloe on the furry, stinky dog bed, or with a slobbery dog toy in her mouth. But until then, we will enjoy our daughter's delight in her pet dog.
6-25-06 roller girl
Well, she has finally done it. Greta has rolled over. Rolling from her back onto her belly has been her foremost goal now for the last few weeks. She worked on this diligantly at any given opportunity, always getting about 3/4 of the way there, but unable to get over her left arm. Her "Everest" so to speak. Whenever we put her down, she immediately rolled to her left side, kicked her leg out, tilted her head back and pulled with her arms, usually just remaining in that position until we picked her back up again. We were always so proud of her perseverance and determination. She even chose to sleep on her side at night, as if to honor her rolling goal. Well, on one of the hottest Portland summer days (over 100), we were all hanging out on our bed, trying to stay cool, when all of the sudden greta rolled to her usual position, attempting to get closer to daddy's face, and then even further, rolling directly on top of her arm. She was able to get most of her arm out from under her and with a teeny-tiny bit of help from mama and daddy getting her arm all the way out, she had completed her first roll. A perfect 10 in our eyes. And, oh, you should have seen the look on her face. She looked so proud, so happy, so excited. Eyes big, mouth wide open. Complete bliss. I suppose we have now entered the mobile stage of her life. Oh, boy...
7-14-06 ohio
So we have returned from our very first traveling experience, back to the midwest to Ohio to visit family. We should first let you know that greta is a most excellent traveler. We had a very long flight both coming and going and during this time, greta decided it was a good time to sleep. Honestly, we couldn't have imagined a smoother plane ride. There were a couple moments where daddy had to stand up and sing a few verses of "oh, Susanna" until she nodded off, but other than that, she did beautifully. Happily, greta also seems to be very flexible when it comes to new experiences. She had no problem being in a different setting, different house, different bed, and she enjoyed all the new faces. We all had a very relaxing time in both Marietta and Centerville and greta was showered with attention,love and hugs by all (Grandma Ellie, Janet, Grandpa Jim, Grandma Pat, Uncle Richie, Auntie Abi, Uncle Eddie, cousin Evan and Great Grandma Aldrich). Greta especially enjoyed the new dogs in her life, Rudi, Max and Andy, and all the toe kissing that came with them.
7-15-06 teeth
We're unsure if it is just coincidental, or if something about Ohio brought it about, but greta is officially teething. We thought we saw a tiny white ridge on her lower gum on the flight back home, and sure enough, the next day we could feel not just one, but two lower front teeth coming in. Such a big girl. Things like this happen and we realize our daughter is growing up whether we like it or not. She seems to be dealing with it well, maybe a little fussier than usual, and she has taken to latching onto mama's cheek, but a tough girl nonetheless. Hard to believe her beautiful, gummy smiles will soon be only a memory.
7-29-06 first hike
Today we (finally!) took greta on her first hike. We were a little unsure as to whether or not to count it as her first, since we didn't quite make it to the summit. But even so, it was greta's first time up to Mt. Hood, so that in itself is a milestone. We wanted to go to Parkdale today because there was a "green" (in the environmental sense) open house we wanted to visit to get ideas for our future home, so we found a hike nearby. We took her to Lookout Mountain, an easy 2.4 mile hike up to the top and back. It was a beautiful day, upper 60's, sunny with a great windy breeze. It was greta's first long distance journey in the ergo (baby carrier) and she did great. She just loves the outdoors and was cooing the whole time, looking at the wildflowers and many shades of green. We had unfortunately gotten a late start to our day (as usual), so we were only able to make it about halfway before we needed to turn around to make it back to the "green house" on time. No bother, though. We still hiked for a good 45 minutes and got to see a great view of Mt. Hood. And the house was pretty inspiring, especially to greta, who is trying very hard to be an eco-baby. We were all day-dreaming on the way home, quite literally for greta who nodded off with her thumb in her mouth (her new trick that her parents love). All in all it was a great day and greta is insisting we go back soon.
8-5-06 pink martini
Tonight was greta's very first concert. We went to see Pink Martini, a local and now very international band with our friends Lisa, Andy, Emma and Sophie. It was a sold out concert, and while our seats were waaaaay in the back and we couldn't really see the stage, it was still a great show as always. We listen to Pink Martini around home a lot, so I am sure much of the music sounded familiar to her. Greta had a good time and though she has not yet entered the dancing phase of her development, she carefully observed her two year old friend, Emma, taking note of some of her dance moves that she will surely use later on. We just have to hope that she wasn't paying attention to Daddy when he was dancing....
8-12-06 canadian vacation
Hard to believe, greta is not yet 6 months old and she has already been out of the country. Very promising for her traveling future. We spent the last week in Whistler, BC with Grandpa Sam and Grandma Bea. We made our way up there over a couple days in order to check out the Kitsap Penninsula, where we are considering buying a piece of land for future building. It was great fun to envision having land for greta to play on, and Whistler itself was very nice and relaxing. We suspected for a short time that greta may be sprouting another tooth or two, and wondering if that was a trend in her development: vacation=new teeth. She had a tough time falling asleep a couple nights and she spent most of our walks in our arms, leaving Grandpa Sam to push the empty stroller. Her fussiness subsided, however, so it may not have been teeth after all. She did make excellent progress on sitting up and now acts as if she knew how to do it all along. It will be great fun to bring greta to Whistler as she grows older....and I'll bet one of these years she will even get to hear the marmots that gave Whistler its name.
8-17-06 a day at the zoo
So today we spent the day at the Oregon zoo with our friends Lisa, Emma and Sophie. While greta has already been to the zoo for the Pink Martini concert, she didn't get to see any animals then. And I figured since she loves the dogs, she would love seeing zoo animals as well. As is often the case, it seemed to be nap time for many of the animals. No bother, though, greta just joined right in and took her own nap. She definitely was interested in the animals she could see and made her usual baby observations. She particularly liked watching the sea lions swimming past her through their window, as well as the large fish and turtles. I suspect the zoo will become one of greta's favorite places and especially with her daddy's expansive knowledge about animals, I bet she, too, will become a little zoologist.
8-19-06 beach adventure
We figured we had better get ourselves to the beach before summer's end, as greta had not yet had her first Oregon Coast experience. And being a water baby, we knew she would enjoy herself. We had no idea that this would also be her first forest fire experience....Our plan was to go to Ecola State Park, near Cannon Beach, have some lunch and then hike 1.5 miles down to Indian Head Beach, play for a bit, and then hike back. We did have lunch and we did hike down to the beach and we did play for a bit. Greta was intrigued by the sand and raked her toes through it over and over again. She seemed mesmerized by the ripples the water made in the sand, and as usual, she loved watching Chloe play. Once it was time to head back, we said goodbye to the beach and headed back on the trail. We had been hiking for quite a bit when we came around the edge of a bluff and noticed a plume of smoke on the side of the bluff ahead. It appeared to be off the trail and so we continued on. We were about 5 or 10 minutes away from the truck, when we came around a curve and spotted the actual fire. Some hikers ahead of us said it was in fact on the trail and though it wasn't too terribly large, we had not choice but to turn around. (Note: greta is sleeping through all of this.) So we did. Luckily, there was access to Indian Head Beach through another road, so we got back to that parking lot, Daddy found a ride to our truck and then came back to fetch us. According to a few different people, there had been a couple teenagers setting off fireworks off the side of the trail, and apparently one of the sparks caught fire. We still haven't found out if they caught these boys, but we are keeping our fingers crossed they have. Despite the tragedy of the forest fire, it was a fun and beautiful day and greta's first big wilderness adventure, which she handled very well. However, we have decided that greta is now no longer allowed to become a teenager. Ever.
8-23-06 the babbling begins
So greta has been experimenting with consonant sounds for some time now, and more recently using variations of "da" and "ga", uttering something sounding like "diggy". Well today the babble officially began. It has been "ga ga ga ga ga ga ga" for the greater part of the day. Greta has things on her mind. Greta has stories to tell. Ga ga ga ga ga ga ga has opened up worlds for her. Mama and Daddy are finally going to get the talking to they deserve. Ga ga ga ga ga ga ga....
8-29-06 rice cereal debut
Tonight greta was introduced to solid food. We started her off with a bowl of delicious rice cereal, which she absolutely LOVED. I think she has been so keenly observing us while we were eating dinner that she knew exactly what to do. She practically grabbed the spoon from my hand and put it directly into her mouth, slurping as much cereal as she could get. A professional eater already. She grew very excited and enthusiastic with each bite and I think she got a little disappointed when it was "all gone". We suspected she would be a good eater, considering who her mama and daddy are and considering that she is currently a hefty 18 pound baby girl. It will be lots of fun (and oh so messy) introducing new foods to her over the next few weeks and being able to include her more during dinnertime. Next on the list...bananas!
9-15-06 storytime
So we are finally able to partake in our local library's storytime, or "Book Babies" as they call it for the 6-12 month children. Book Babies involves a group of mamas (and the occasional daddy) with their little ones sitting in a circle singing songs, blowing bubbles, reading a couple books and playing with toys. It also involves watching and laughing at the babies checking each other out, interacting with each other and attempting to escape from the room. It was pretty fun and I think greta liked the singing and she especially liked the bubbles. She liked the stories as well, though I imagine she wished she could have put the book in her mouth like she does at home. The library is such a great resource and it is great to have this (FREE!) activity to add to our weekly repertoire.
9-17-06 new tradition
Today the three of us began a new tradition with greta--we ran the Race for the Cure. Well, we actually didn't run, we walked (easier on mama's knees). It was a chilly morning, so we all bundled up and headed out bright and early. It felt even earlier than it was due to sleep deprivation from the night before. The three of us went to bed pretty late and perhaps it was teething again, or anticipation of the exciting race day, but greta didn't sleep as well as usual. This ended up working to our advantage, however, as she slept the majority of the 5 kilometers we walked. It was a great turn out, close to 47,000 people I believe, and for such an important cause, we were glad to be a part of it as a family. I think greta enjoyed the people watching (and likewise, the people enjoyed watching greta--she did look quite cute with her "Race" t-shirt over her fuzzy bear snowsuit) and next year, I'm sure she will love being able to walk herself. Though I suppose then it will likely take us four days to reach the finish line...
9-26-06 classic portland entertainment Tonight the three of us ventured to Chapman Elementary to behold the spectacle of the Vaux swifts. These beloved birds are something many Portlanders look forward to watching each September. Groups of the swifts (thousands of them) gather in the chimney of Chapman (in fact a fundraiser enabled the school to switch to gas heat to allow the chimney to function solely as a home to the birds) before they migrate south to Central America. The cool thing about it is that each night during this month, they fly back to the chimney at sunset in extremely large swirling swarms and funnel themselves into the chimney, which houses close to 35,000 birds. It is a pretty amazing sight, and we even spotted a hawk (a smart one at that) perched on the edge of the chimney, waiting. This postponed their "going home" until the hawk finally got what it was looking for. Predator/prey in the city. People bring blankets and picnics and cameras and video recorders and it is so Portland. Greta seemed to enjoy the people watching more so than the birds, but it could have been that the people were easier to see. No matter, we have it on video for her to watch later. And no doubt, this will become another September tradition for us.
9-30-06 it's official...she's crawling Greta is crawling. Greta has been, well I'm not sure I would use the term crawling, but she has been "getting around" for some time now. In our house, the main play area is our bed. And during playtime greta definitely moves around the bed, doing this sort of bulldozer, flopping motion where she gets on her hands and knees, rocking back and forth, then propels herself forward by planting her head in the bed and moving the rest of her body. She was also very proficient in the "downward dog" yoga pose, where she would tent her body, bum in the air and attempt to move. We have felt for some time now that crawling was just around the corner. Well last Monday, we were at our friend Lisa's house. They have a little foam pad on the floor they use as a play area, and I put greta on it with a couple toys to occupy her while I tried to make some progress on knitting her stocking. She got onto her hands and knees and actually started crawling. No head planting, just hand, knee, hand, knee. I couldn't believe it. The foam pad was somewhat small, and she just moved a couple strides, so I wasn't sure if she just got lucky or if it was the real thing. It occured to me that because we have hardwood floors and two dogs, we haven't really given greta a firm place to practice. It's always been the soft fluffy bed, mostly to cushion her head as she bulldozes along. We thought it was time we offer her a little sheltered instruction, so today we purchased a very bright tumbling mat (see photo) for her to use to perfect her crawl. We brought it home, unfolded it, put her on it, and off she went. Free to crawl without restricting comforters and sheets and cushy mattresses. How long she has truly been able to do this (had we provided proper terrain for practice), we are unsure, but we are proud of her new skill regardless. And now that she apparently already knows how to crawl, the mat is almost futile. She is going to want to crawl off the mat and beyond. Beyond to the dog bed, the electrical outlets, the corners of our furniture....
10-19-06 if you're happy and you know it.... clap your hands! Which is exactly what greta did today. Now mind you, we have done our share of "Pat-a-Cake" and I often will clap to the beat of a song I have made up, but clapping has not really been a skill we have focused that much on. Well today, greta was in her new Pack 'n Play (used primarily for naptime on the days mama is nannying) babbling and playing with toys, when she crawled over closest to me (again I was attempting to knit her stocking), got up on her knees, looked straight at me and started clapping. There wasn't much sound to it, but it was definitely clapping. Of course I cheered her on, which always produces more of what she is being cheered on for. And just like that, she was an expert. I love how she learns a new skill, and then repeats it over and over, all day long, every day, as if she had always known how. The clapping is very cute--it made my day--and as with everything, she claps very enthusiastically, with all her being. It looks as if she should have a pair of cymbals in her hands. (Grandparents, don't get any ideas.)
11-4-06 greta's exercise routine I thought I would share with you greta's latest workout routine. I think I mentioned the pack and play we bought for nanny purposes, well it turns out she loves being in it and having a little "greta" time. I believe the reason why is, she can practice her standing and balancing and be certain of a soft landing. Her routine looks something like this....crawling her way up the side of the pack and play, usually pressing her face into the netting on the way up, she gets herself to a standing position holding onto the top rails. Once she is "on stage" like this, she will peer over the top, generally making loud noises so that anyone nearby will be sure to watch. Occasionally she will press her forehead into the netting and remove her hand from the rail, balancing solely with her head, and look around for a bit. We have yet to capture this on film. Next, she uses her hands again to steady herself and then slowly pushes herself back so that she is standing all by herself. This will last anywhere from 1 to 3.5 seconds, then, BOOM. Onto her bum she goes. Repeat steps 1 through 4. In addition, just last night as she was in her standing position, daddy starting clapping (she always joins in on this) which presented a new challenge for greta. As always, she accepted this challenge and successfully managed to clap three times before landing. We are proud parents. We predict she will be walking by the holidays.
12-3-06 a few of her favorite things
It has been quite some time since I've last written. A testament to how busy our lives have been, I guess. Well, I thought I would just summarize some of greta's favorite things to do, which will also give insight into a typical day. Greta loves....1.pointing--she points at anything and everything, despite the notion that pointing is impolite. She often points and says "dah", but we are not sure if this has meaning or not. She will occasionally point up into the air, as if about to make a proclamation (usually "dah"). 2.kissing....greta loves giving kisses, or, opening her mouth, planting it on someone (or something) and leaving behind a generous amount of slobber. It is very sweet and we are enjoying this affection from our daughter. 3.walking....well, not quite yet, but she does love holding onto our hands and stepping along, right foot, left foot. She has really begun "cruising", as all the baby books call it, along the furniture, obviously unsatisfied with being fixed to one spot. You can tell she has studied walking from the best. 4.photographs of pigs....greta's very first stuffed animal was a Steiff pig affectionately named "Schwein". We had Schwein sleeping in bed with us during my pregnancy, under the impression that it would then smell like us, being a comfort to greta when she was born. It turns out she loves Schwein, and subsequently loves any photograph of a pig. She is already making text to self connections (you teachers know what I mean); when we read books, she coos when we come to the pages with pigs. This may also be subtle foreshadowing to her future vegetarian lifestyle (at least mama is hoping so). 5.dropping things....it's her favorite new game. Greta drops a toy on the floor, we pick it up. Greta drops a toy on the floor, we pick it up. Greta drops a toy... And lastly, 6.drinking from a cup. Sometimes with a sippy lid on it, sometimes without. Often getting water into her mouth, sometimes not. We enjoy "cup" because it will usually buy us some time to do dishes, cook, etc. And the ultimate fun: drinking from her cup, and then dropping it on the floor.
12-21-06 greta love
We have just recently discovered that our daughter will give kisses on command. I think I had mentioned earlier how greta likes giving kisses. Well, we were all in bed one morning and I started by saying "Can mama have a kiss?", and sure enough, greta leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. Then daddy said "Can daddy have a kiss?", and of course Greta leaned over and kissed daddy on the cheek. Over and over we played this game, it was just too irresistable. She will kiss her stuffed animals, characters in her books, almost anything she is asked to kiss. And we always say, very enthusiastically, "Oh, thank you!", which she just loves. Also, in the spirit of her love of pointing, we found she loves to point at you and have you point back at her, and then touch fingers. We always then say, "I love you", and so this has become our sign language for the I love you sentiment. There is nothing better than greta love.
12-25-06 greta's gift to us
So Christmas morning was a good one. We actually bought a tree this year (a living tree, so it was smallish, but fit perfectly in our smallish home) and decorated it, which greta showed much interest in (ornaments were a new thing to point at). We woke up, had leftover chocolate cake for breakfast and got down to business. Now, greta had had some experience opening gifts, as she had her Bellingham christmas the week before. And, as it was there, she showed most interest in the boxes and paper and ribbons and gifts that weren't given to her. But she did have lots of fun and was very spoiled with wonderful treasures. She apparently decided to wait until later that afternoon to give us her present. We were all playing on the floor, surrounded by new toys and I was talking on the phone to Grandpa Jim. Greta was standing, holding a couple of toys in her hands. She took one small step, on her own, then another, then another, one more and then down she went. Four steps, all by herself! Granted, they were little-bitty steps and she had to catch her balance in between each one, but she was certainly walking. We were so tickled and proud, and in a sort of disbelief at how fast this little girl is growing up. We couldn't have asked for a better holiday memory.
1-7-07 "uh-oh" and "baby"
Over the last couple of weeks, Greta has been uttering a couple of actual words. We are pretty sure she says "mama" and "dah", and connects those words to us. But we have discovered two more that are definitely part of her repetoire. First, baby. We have a set of My First Word cards, which includes, on one, a photograph of a baby. Greta has always enjoyed looking at this card, chewing on it and carrying it around. Of course, we talk about what is on the card, say baby a lot, etc. Greta commonly babbles varieties of the "b" sound, and has when looking at the baby card. But, we had started asking her, "Who is this?" and she would then answer "baby". Mind you, at first, it would often come out "bebe" (which just means she was speaking in Spanish), or "babeebeebeebee", when she was particularly excited. But she will always answer baby. Pretty cool in our eyes. She will also say "uh-oh", usually repeating us once we have said it, but it is definitely "uh-oh". We are not certain whether or not she makes the connection, like when we say uh-oh when something drops on the floor, but we don't care. It's so darn cute. I am sure there are other words she says throughout the day that we just haven't recognized yet as words...for now we love baby and uh-oh.
1-10-07 our daughter, the walker
Greta has reached that very exciting milestone--she is walking! You may remember that on Christmas day, she took a few steps all on her own. Well, we hadn't seen anything since then and even questioned our memories--did she actually take those steps, or were we just loopy from the holiday craziness? Just over the last few days, she has been having another go at it. Traveling from the couch to one of us, or back and forth between us, gradually increasing the number of steps she is willing to take. She is getting faster and faster and more and more stable. And she always walks with her arms high up in the air, perhaps holding onto imaginary fingers, or possibly to show us what a "big girl" she is. I have been told that our lives will change in unimaginable ways once we have entered the walking stage. But I, for one, will be happy to say goodbye to the furry, dirty knees and hands that went along with crawling.
1-26-07 more!!!
We have been using sign language with greta ever since she was born. We would use signs for milk, more, all done, bath, dog, bye-bye and I love you as much as possible. Greta had not yet used these to her advantage, though I suspect she has understood their meaning for quite some time. This evening at dinnertime, we were enjoying our grown-up meal and greta was on her 45th serving of "o's". She had finished them up and I asked her if she wanted "more", also using the sign for it. She looked at the box, but didn't sign back to me. I said jokingly, "Oh well, I guess greta doesn't want anymore", and went back to my meal. And sure enough, to our surprise greta immediately put her thumbs and fingertips together and tapped them together several times. The EXACT,PERFECT sign for more! I must have dumped half the box of o's on her tray...
2-3-07 monkey see, monkey do
It seems now that greta has been doing new things daily, almost more than we could keep up with on her website. But there are a couple of little things that are just so irresistible, I had to tell about them. The first is that she often puts her hands up in the air as if to gesture "Where is it?" She will do this when I ask where is Daddy, or if she hides one of her toys under her blanket. She even has the expression to go with it. Sometimes she just walks around with her hands up in the air, expressing general curiosity about the world. Along with this, greta now also plays her own version of peek-a-boo. I think it started with me crouching down in front of her high chair and saying, "Where's mama?", then popping up with a "Here I am!". Greta's version is crouching down in front of the couch or chair where we are sitting, waiting for us to say, "Where's greta?", and then popping up, so excited to hear "There she is!". We may easily play this game for a solid 10 or 15 minutes. Lastly, whenever we would read books together, I would often point to a picture and tap on it several times, saying there is the sun or that is a ball. Now, during storytime, greta turns through the pages of her books and will find a picture of something she recognizes (a nose, a ball, a dog, etc.) and then tap on it several times. We just delight in these tiny moments and I wish I had more time to write about them all.
2-20-07 greta is one
Well, today is the big day. Greta Jean has turned one year old. What an amazing thing this is. Our day was a pretty mellow one, as she had come down with a slight fever and cold last night. But it was still nice, and she was exceptionally cuddly because of her cold, and still in great spirits despite the congestion, etc. I sang "Happy Birthday" to her all day long, which she loved, showered her with kisses (germs shmerms) and we danced to Dan Zanes in celebration (a new skill we are working on). Tonight we had our small family celebration with just the three of us. Oh, and Kona and Chloe were there, too. We got a little banana cake, which coincidentally, Daddy had on his first birthday as well. (A new tradition???) Greta LOVES bananas, and will eat just about anything, as long as it is mixed in with bananas, so we figured banana cake was the only choice. Mama was a little worried that after tasting it, Greta would eat nothing but. Quite the contrary. With the video recorder in hand, we sang Happy Birthday. We cut a smallish slice of cake and put it on her high chair tray. She, of course, picked some up, slipping it through her fingers and playing with it, then finally putting a bit in her mouth. She gagged, attempted to swallow it, and then just spit it out. After a few more tries, we wondered why we were encouraging greta's sweet tooth and just finished the cake ourselves. This is just fine by me. She did enjoy playing with it and I think at this point in the evening, her cold was making her sleepy. After Daddy and I indulged (we are already tarnished with a sweet tooth) we moved to the living room for gifts. As always, such wonderful treasures she received. She was a champ at ripping off the wrapping paper, little bits by little bits, handing them to me to put on the pile on the floor, and was actually more interested in what was inside this time (she has already fallen prey to materialism). I think all of this just about wore her out, so, after ample play time, we got her pajamas on and put her to bed. It is just so surreal that an entire year has passed. We were reflecting on the events a year ago, and thinking how we had no idea of the joy Greta would bring to our lives. All day long, I kept thinking, THIS is my favorite day of the year.
2-24-07 the big party
So today was the day of Greta's birthday party that included more family and friends. There is a little cafe in the Pearl District called Sip & Kranz that has great food, Stumptown coffee, beer, wine and best of all, an enclosed play space for children. They will reserve space for parties, and it is a pretty "hip" cafe, that is kid friendly, but not kid crazy. Perfect, we thought. We sent out an evite invitation a while back and most everyone was able to attend. The party sort of took on a life of its own, as we added more guests, ordered more food and cupcakes, and watched it become bigger and bigger. No matter, this was Greta's FIRST birthday and we knew this would likely be the only time we celebrated this big. (Next year maybe we will just go snowshoeing) Well, it was just lovely. The people at Sip & Kranz were wonderfully helpful and kind, our friends and family who came made Greta feel very special, and most importantly, Greta had such fun. She walked around like she owned the place, loved opening even MORE gifts, and actually took a couple bites of her cupcake (no frosting though). She enjoyed seeing many familiar faces, grown up and baby ones, and it was great for us, too, a sort of reunion since we don't find ourselves going out as much as we used to. And I loved hearing so many voices singing "Happy Birthday" to Greta. It was a wonderful day and we were sad when it came to an end. Maybe next year we will invite just a few people to go snowshoeing with us. And I could make some cookies to bring along, and Greta could wear a party hat over her snow hat....