It was a fun little party. Daniel's mom was here (his dad had to work), and 2 families from church who are like family to us were here, too. Betsy is my "church-mom" and I've decided that Alyssa gets the fun role of being my "church-sister" :)
I made 2 big pizzas - 1 "Meat Lover's Supreme" with hamburger, sausage, bacon, pepperoni, onions, peppers and black olives (and of course sauce and lots of cheese!), and 1 Chicken and Shrimp (with homemade alfredo sauce), and then we also had fruit on the side.
I decided to keep Susannah's birthday cake simple this year, and I made her a cat cake. If you know how much she likes cats, you'll know this was perfect for her :)
Fitting with the "cat theme" (lol), I brought our in-house cat family out from under Susannah's dresser for people to see. I'd originally only brought out the kittens, but they were protesting quite loudly and the Mama cat came and climbed right into the basket with her babies and they shushed right up! She is such a good mama cat! We joked that the kittens were the party favors :)
After the party, Susannah was tired but wired. She had a hard time going down for her nap Saturday afternoon. I was plumb tuckered out from a crazy, crazy week and too many short nights so I was in sore need of an afternoon nap. Daniel was wonderful and took care of Susannah's needs while I rested. It was a good, fun day. I know Susannah won't remember it aside from pictures, but we wanted to do something fun for her first birthday :)
*****
On another note, fitting with Susannah's first birthday, would be the "stats" from her 1 year checkup. She is:
20lbs. 11oz. (50th percentile)
30" tall (75th percentile)
The Dr. strongly hinted at wanting her core motor skills to improve by her 15 month visit, since she isn't crawling (she scoots - which IS normal), walking, cruising furniture or pulling up. Since then she has sat up by herself once (one moment she was on her tummy and the next time I turned around she was sitting!), and after showing her how to pull up on a (very heavy) portable file box, she loves to do that! She is still very unstable on her feet if she's not being supported, but she's making progress. She hasn't figured out how to pull up from being on her tummy, but she has it down pat going from sitting to pulling up.
After the checkup I was a little anxious about "what if she doesn't improve like he wants?" but in all reality, I am positive that she is just doing it her way. She is SOOOO laid back, just like her Daddy (and I'm not high-strung, either), and has taken her good time in everything she's learned so far. She's just now starting to sign "all done" with some consistency. She was "late" in learning how to roll over, and in learning how to scoot forwards on her tummy. She's VERY smart. She has great dexterity - she can take her finger and poke it straight up my nose and not miss! - and I just don't think that her core motor skills being "behind the normal" is unusual for HER. We'll just have to show that Dr. a thing or two when we go back :)
6 comments:
I wouldn't worry at all. Most of Mom's babies were way behind the "normal" for these things so it would be normal for Susannah to not be the first out of the gate. Besides, it isn't a race!
LOVE the cat cake! That's an idea for my daughter's 2nd birthday...she loves her kitties.
I wouldn't sweat it about Susannah's motor development. Our daughter's motor development has been on schedule, but her verbal development is way behind, and not in a way that worries us. She clearly understands us and communicates with us nonverbally (and with a few words), but mostly she's just taking things at her own pace.
I wouldn't worry too much. My daughter didn't crawl until she was 10 months old and didn't walk on her own until she was 14 months old. Now she's going to be 5 and run EVERYWHERE!!! Enjoy this phase while it lasts. :)
I think it's neat that you took the time and trouble to have a nice party, even though you were exhausted. I'm also tickled that you are already using your new addition! Great!
I just remembered how Paul didn't say a single word until he turned 2 years old (I don't think he even said Ma-ma or Da-da). Every doctor's visit, they encouraged me to read to him, talk to him, sing to him, etc., and I knew I was doing lots and lots of that. Then, when he turned 2, he erupted with speaking words like a volcano. And, he hasn't stopped. So don't worry. I guess the doctors do have to keep up with kids who never do develop, and then try to figure out what is wrong, but I'm sure Susannah will come along just fine.
Your birthday party looks PERFECT for a first birthday - so sweet! And yay for husbands who step in when their wives are about to collapse; Jeff did that for me on Sunday, and it was wonderful!
Oh, Miriam, I feel your pain with the doctor's warning. You have no idea how much anxiety I dealt with when we lived in Israel and Josiah wasn't developing "normally." Well, OK, maybe you DO have some idea. ;-) Josiah didn't crawl (or move around in any way) until he was 16 months, and didn't walk until 18 months. So I had a 15 month old who just SAT there like a bump on a log, and everyone tried to give me lots of advice about what to do to "fix" him. But in the end, he was diagnosed with a simple case of hypotonia (low muscle tone) which he would outgrow. Sure enough, he did. ;-)
Rachel's comment was interesting about your mom's babies being behind. I do think there's a hereditary link. I didn't know, until after the fact, that Jeff didn't walk until he was 18 months either; but that knowledge reassured me.
Now we've got Shav who has been scooting since he was 11 months, but who is now 20 months, and still doesn't walk independently!!! He's taken a few steps, but will not launch out and go. Someday... :)
@Davene Grace Davene, you don't KNOW how much of a comfort it is to read about your boys' progress on your blog and know that Susannah is not alone! When I see 8mo. olds crawling, or 10mo. olds pulling up and standing, or 1 yr. olds walking, around the nursery at church; when Susannah is the only 1y.o. in the "infants" nursery b/c you don't move to the "toddlers" section until you're walking... it can be overwhelming. But I *always* think "but Davene's boys have been the same way and they are perfectly normal." So... even though it's not your doing, I'm glad your boys are just the way they are, because it is comforting to not be "the only one"!
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