Happy 1st.

Zora Jane turned 1 today.  

I struggled with what to do for her birthday.  First, she's 1, so she doesn't really care.  But I care.  Finally, I decided that we'd just have a nice day for Zora, which meant that she played all morning, then took a nap when she was tired.  After her nap, we had lunch then went to the park because she likes to swing and slide.  I figured that what she really wanted was for someone to actually play nicely with her, so we did.  Unfortunately, the park was hot and the slides burned our buns.  Zora enjoyed her first few runs on the slide, but then fell off the towel she was sliding on and touched the actual slide, then she was done.  Greg and I took her down a few more times, but she was mostly ready to go home.  So we went home and had popsicles.  She enjoyed that.  

Everyone played on the swings with Zora Jane.

Then it was nap time again.  I figured she probably just wanted to nap when she was tired.  After her nap, we had dinner--chicken nuggets, blueberries, strawberries, and boxed mac-n-cheese--and then filled up the kiddie pool, and although it was freezing, the kids had a good time.  A thunderstorm rolled in so we headed inside for presents and cake. And then, of course, bed.

Zora getting ready for dinner.

It's her party, she can cry if she wants to.

Zora played on the couch with the trash while the kids played with her toys.

 Happy Birthday Baby!

Overall, it's been a rough year.  Zora Jane was not an easy baby.  She cried nearly constantly for the first 3 months, then she refused to sleep until she was about 8 months.  I was so tired.  In December, we moved her out of our bed/her swing and into an actual crib.  In January, I discovered that Zora likes really dark rooms.  And then she was wonderful.  She's always been sweet, but all the crying and lack of sleeping nearly overcame that.  Now she's mostly just sweet.  She crawls around the house getting into stuff--mostly the trash.  She also really likes to just sit on the couch and play with one toy.  She does not love her siblings.  Mostly she cries when they come near her.  Probably because they either steal her toys, or try to pick her up and drop her, or try to get her dressed and get her stuck in her clothes.  Can't say I blame her.

Part of our birthday tradition is telling our favorite memories of the birthday girl:

Henry: didn't have one.

Alice: also didn't say one.

Rex: He likes taking all the cushions off the couch for Zora to play on.

Heather: I enjoyed sleeping with and cuddling with Zora for a few months, until she started making my back hurt.

Greg: Reminisced about Zora's birth and how he refused to believe that my water had broken because she was 8 days early, and 2 weeks before we really believed she'd arrived.

Noah: (who is visiting) remembered just a few days ago when Zora was fusing in her bed after her nap and he went to get her and she pretended to be asleep again then she fused again when he left.  Silly girl.