Bea's Big Birthday Celebration

 

Yea, even though we are a month out almost, Bea's first birthday is still pretty fresh in our minds. Here are some photos from her big bee-themed first birthday celebration that we had at our house on March 10th. Thanks to all the super special people who joined us to the celebrate the miracle that is Baby Bea, the wonder that is Josie as a big sister and the joy & gratitude we have to be a family of four!

Some sights from the big event:

An exercise in elapsed time

Last year's harvested sunflower seeds make great party favors
Hand Foot Mouth virus - not so much (Oopsies!)

I heart etsy.

 

A ***SURPRISE*** cake from our friend Teresa
(aka one of the kindest, most generous people we know)!!!

About 20 pounds worth of cake from Whole Foods

Some pre-party and early-party scenes:

Lyla & Josie fill the sunflower seed pouches

Make your own picture frame craft table:

Lots of friends:

Josie's bee dress :)

Look at that intensity! :)

  

A Fairy Tour courtesy of Cousin Morgan

CAKE TIME!

Bonus Footage from post-party:

DD & Girls (next time Grandma, hop on in!)

Lou & Bea, aka evidence Lou was there :)

Bea & me - see I was there too :)

Look - Bea and Josie are in a picture together 

A photo of all four grandkids

Bedtime after a Busy Day!

Thanks to Tia for helping with the photos! XO! Next year, I swear I am going to get all the family photos out of the way first.  At least there's some evidence that most of us were actually there. :)

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET BABY BEATRICE! 

I hope you enjoyed your first circle around the sun just as much as we did!

Sidebar: Here is the link to the shop where I got the decorations, Josie's dress and Bea's onesie. 

Isn't Etsy the BEST?!

Beatrice at Age One

That magical thing happened where Beatrice hit the one year mark and is suddenly a toddler and not a baby.  (Sorry there sweets but we'll be calling you "Baby Bea" for awhile longer.)

Here's a little sampling of some of the things she's up to these days with some recent photos of her peppered in for your adorable baby viewing pleasure.  

But, before I get to that I have to share a funny little fact. You might remember that we've all referred to her as "Baby Goo-Goo" for some time. This has been morphed into all kinds of Goo-names like Goo-ball, Gooey, Dr. Gooenstein, etc.  Anyway, long story short, the poor thing thinks he name is Goo! When she sees a picture of herself, she points and says Goo! When she sees a baby in a book, yep, Goo it is. And even when it's a picture of both girls, she will point to Josie and say "JoJo" then to herself and say "Goo."  Funny, right?

Some of Bea's new skills:

• Waving & saying hi and bye: Some funny moments with this - When we were at the bank last week, a guy walked in and Bea stumbled toward him waving and yelling "Hiiiiii!"  Although she waves good-bye to us all the time, it was hysterical when she walked toward the open door herself and turned around and waved to me. (Yea Bea, you're one now girl. Hit the streets. Just come home when the street lights come on.) Just yesterday she started saying "Bye" when she waves, although it sounds more like "Baaaa."

• Giving kisses: Real, on the mouth, leaning in smooches that are hilarious. And even sweeter when she just decides on her own that you need a kiss and plants one on you - ready or not. This morning she woke me up by planting a big one on me while I was still sleeping. Can't think of a better way to start the day - even if it is pre-dawn.
• Saying all kinds of things and versions of things: Mama, Dada, JoJo, YaYa, Hi, Amimal Noises - Woof & Mooo, Random words out of nowhere like "Shoes" (which sounds more like zooos)

• "Reading" Books: We have at least a zillion books strewn throughout the house. Bea has about 3 or 4 favorites. She repeatedly, several times a day, goes and picks out one of these books and brings it over to you then turns around and sits in your lap.  All of the books that are her favorite have one thing in common - photos of real people, animals and objects.  They aren't illustrated.

• Eating:  She's just hitting her stride on 'real' foods.  She wants to eat things (like raw carrots and apple chunks) that are still way beyond her chewing ability so we have to watch her like a hawk around Josie's snacks and our food.  We've offered her cow's milk but she's not a huge fan. Her favorite thing to drink besides breastmilk (although she's slowing way down on that too) is cold water and Odwalla Superfood Green Juice (a favorite of Josie's too).  She also loves sucking down those puree pouches. (Will someone please invent a refillable one so I don't have to keep forking out the dough for the disposables?!)  She also loves pasta, rice, grilled chicken, turkey and veggies like broccoli, peas and spinach. 

• Moving: Bea walks very well now and she's really getting her wheels. Wow she's fast. She's an expert climber too. You can't turn your back for a second or she will be half way up the stairs.  Her new thing is walking backwards. She's got a pretty rad "moonwalk" figured out. 
• Using tools: Isn't there research out there about chimps and children? What age is the comparison? About now I think. Bea totally has chimp-like behavior (day and night). She's starting to figure out how to manipulate things in her environment. It's cool to watch, albeit messy. (Like the time she went through the recycling to find an empty bottle that she could take over to the cat's dish to fill with water and play "fill & spill" all while I was in the other room with Josie for about 90 seconds.) 

• Mimicking us: She's doing lots of things that she sees us do - cleaning counters with towels, wiping herself with toilet paper, wiping her own nose with tissues, laughing when we laugh, imitating Josie's crazy sounds, trying to use utensils, etc. Fun stuff. She's also obsessed with trying to put on her own socks and shoes  - which causes endless frustration for her, but she keeps trying. 
• Playing with water: To Bea, everything is a water table. She's obsessed with water. She would sit in the bath all day. And she loves the sink. Oh, and she loves the toilet. You gotta watch her or she'll run off with something to drop in it! Don't believe me? Ask Josie's pink boot. At least it floated. Ewww.

• Being busy:  Like most 1 year olds, she is always into something.  Splashing in the cat's water, dumping out a whole box of spaghetti, taking all the clothespins off the cracker bags in the cabinet, unloading the dishwasher, turning anything and everything into a drum. 
• Dancing: Put music on and she will instantly move! She's got some fancy footwork that we will have to get on video soon. Like her sister, she loves the Fresh Beat Band. (Don't we all? Wink.)

• Signing:  She does the common signs (i.e. more, all done) but she's got some unconventional favorites. The girl signs "cat" every single time she sees a cat, every single time Venus comes into the room & every single time she sees something even resembling a cat (like say, a goat at the zoo).  She has invented some of her own signs too that we are just trying to figure out.  And although they aren't signs per se, she has mastered nodding for yes and shaking her head for no.  For example, she will get something from the cabinet and bring it to you nodding as if to say "yes, I want you to open this so I can eat it."  Similarly, she shakes her head when she knows something is a no-no, like she will head up the stairs all the while shaking her head "no, no, no" or reach for the coffee and shake "no".  

And just like that we have a preschooler and a toddler. In a couple of months we will have a kindergartener and a toddler. (Gasp!)

Swinging, Montessori-Style

Josie learned how to swing all by herself - start to finish. Once she mastered this feat (and put us out of a job) she was very eager to show her teacher Kim. Josie attends a montessori school where independence is valued, and Josie knew her teacher would be proud.  Leave it to Josie to figure out that the best way to show Kim was to take a video and put it on the blog. Hysterical.

So, for Kim and for all of you, here's Josie swinging 'the montessori way' as she calls it.

Listed

So...here's some crazy news. We put our house on the market today.  A long set of inter-woven reasons brought us to this decision. And we'll just have to see how this goes. Funny thing is, we have absolutely no idea where we are going next. One step at a time, one step at a time.  So, send some quick sale and peace of mind vibes to the Schneiders and we promise to keep everyone posted.  

Rainbow Child

There was a huge, gorgeous double rainbow at Lou's parents' house on Friday. Between the rainbows, pizza, homemade sundaes, bingo, popcorn and movie Josie decided it was the best night ever! Thanks Fifi and Bop...and sweet cousin Katrina. Xo!

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