Shelley Eliah Turns One

Shelley Eliah turned ONE on May 7th! We had a fantastic day! I really cannot believe my baby is one! This year has flown by so quickly!

We started the day off with some yummy homemade banana/oatmeal waffles.

Shelley opened her present from all of us - some new Little People. Shelley was really into this small flag and Jorgen pretty much took over the entire amusement park. Shelley is great at sharing;). She now loves to play with the rest of the park, maybe because the flag is MIA. She loves to put cars and trains down the slide.

After we opened her present, we did what we do most days in the morning, we played with trains. I think Shells will follow in Jorgen's train obsession steps because that is what she prefers to play with all the time. Granted, she usually just puts them in her mouth and occasionally rolls them on the ground, but I still think she will be Jorgen's best train playmate in years to come. A beautiful smile from a beautiful birthday girl!We played outside a lot during the day and Shelley loves to play in the sand and on climb up the slide steps and hang out on the top of the landing - she's still working on going down the slide by herself...so far she just gives me this, "um, ok, i think that was fun" look.

Later that evening, Grandma Dixie and Grandpa Tom (Siena's parents) came over for dinner and dessert. We love them so much! They are so much fun and the kids just love seeing them!! The second Shelley sat in her chair, she looked at Tom and started playing this long version of peek-a-boo. It was so funny. She thinks she's so sneaky when she hides behind stuff. Little does she know that we can still see some of her eyes. Fun girl!

After dinner, we brought out the birthday cake! Shelley loves fruit and so we thought it would be fun to make her a watermelon ice cream cake. She had soy ice cream the other day and loved it so I knew she would love ice cream! And she did! Look at that tongue sticking out in anticipation.

The only downer with making an ice cream cake for your child's first birthday, we did not get any fun frosting-all-over-the-face pictures. I do think this picture is funny though, a danty little finger touching the cold ice cream.

Justin and I LOVE this watermelon bombe. It is the yummiest, most refreshing dessert! And it is pretty easy to make. A great idea for a summer party - check it out here. Of course mine does not look as fabulous as Martha Stewarts but it still tasted great (and I did not use the sponge cake part but I am sure that addition adds to the bombe).

After cake came presents. Shelley had fun opening presents and got lots of help from Jorgen.

Happy birthday girl!Showing off her standing up skills. Our funny Shelleybean thinks she is so funny when she stands up over and over and over again. I think she takes after me with how she laughs at herself. We think we are quite funny!

My birthday girl and me! O how I love her!

A happy foursome!

Shelley letting us know she is ready for bed! Thumb in mouth!

A cute picture Justin took of Tom and Dixie reading Jorgen a book before he went to bed.
The day was a blast and I am so glad Shelley had a special day! She is growing up too fast and I wanted to record some of the things she is up to at this age:

Shelley loves to dance! Whether we put on fun songs on the ipod or just hum a simple tune, she is bobbling her head and shaking her body. She cannot get enough of moving and jamming!

Shelley loves to climb the stairs. She has not learned how to go down them yet so I keep a gate up but whenever we go upstairs I let her crawl up them and she is quite fast now. Whenever I head for the stairs, she starts crawling so fast she is panting because she does not want to miss the opportunity to climb up them.

Shelley loves to suck her thumb! It helps a lot with self-soothing and she looks darling when she does it but I am already thinking that in a year from now I might have to help her break the habit:)

Our little darling is doing great with her contacts. Well, to be honest, this month has been harder than the past few months but I am sure it will get better again. Her eyes are doing well and they are pretty similar powers which is a HUGE blessing! They started out different and so we had to patch a lot each day and then the weaker eye caught up to the stronger eye and we have not had to patch for a few months. She has started protesting when we put in and take out the contacts but she still lets us, just making sure we know she would really rather not have us touch her eyes! At some point, the doctor says she will most likely wear glasses in addition to her contacts. So far, she does not need them but I think she will be darling if she ever needs to wear them.

Shelley loves to say 'daddy.' She calls Justin by name but still will not say my name consistently. O well, she loves me to hold her and often will grab onto my arm so tightly when I try to give her to others. And she is the cuddliest girl ever - so that makes up for not saying my name. Shells also says Jorgens name consistenly, pronouced 'jhejhe'. It sounds so cute!

I try to manage feeding her new pureed veggies often but this girl loves to just feed herself. For some reason, I do not think it is a good idea for her to self-feed pureed beets or carrots, so I am glad she lets me sneak in bites in between whatever she is feeding herself.

Shelley loves to bang toys on the train table, especially loud trains. She just bobbles her head to the tune she is making while banging the trains. I think she will have her Dadu's musical abilities when she grows up.

Shelley loves to copy other's actions. If you move your head to the side, she will move hers; if you move it back, she follows; this continues on and on and she will crack a smile to let you know she thinks it is a funny game.

Shelley has eleven teeth! Her molars have all poked through and are almost all the way in. Lots of teeth for a gorgeous toothy grin. Which reminds me, Shells loves to scrunch her nose when she smiles and breaths in and out really fast through her nose. Like a wee little bull;)

Jorgen is Shelley's best friend. She follows him around and says, "jhe jhe" when she wants him or when she cannot see him. She puts up with a lot because Jorgen can be quite intense these days!

Shelley loves to give fives! She makes this little grunt when she gives powerful fives - it is so funny!

Jorgen was a big smiler when he was younger, he still is. He would smile at whomever, all you needed to do was look at him. Shelley, however, makes you earn your smiles. She gives them freely and regularly at home but amongst others they are much less frequent. It makes me happy though because when you do get a smile, you are IN!

I cannot get enough of Shelley's cuddles. She loves to nuzzle up and suck her thumb and cuddle me. I just love it. She rests her head on my shoulder all the time and loves to be close. At the same time, she is very active and loves to explore. But when she's tired, I can always expect a good cuddle and loves.

We think Shelley is a good mix of us. She definitely has Justin's nose and cheeks (those wonderful Hansen cheek bones are so stunning!) and we think she has my eyes and maybe lips. She definitely looks like Jorgen's sister and we think she is just such a charmer!

We love you, miss Shelley! We are so glad you are ours!

Happy 1st Birthday!!!