One last birthday video--ending the evening with some dancing and "talki...

Birthday Itsy Bitsy Spider--probably made AnnCarter's year!

So after dinner, we had the idea to sing AnnCarter's favorite song as a group.  She loved it! She's never seen that many people singing her favorite song all at once--what a treat for her.  (You can also kind of see the evidence of icing in her hair.)

Flirting with Scottie

Our friend Scottie was in town from college on AnnCarter's birthday, so he was able to join us for dinner. It was so cute watching Carter flirt with him the entire time! (I caught this video at the tail end of her doing it.) Scottie helped us move from Oregon to Tennessee, so AnnCarter got to know him during that time (and saw him around Christmas too).  It was amazing to realize she remembered him, and fun to watch her faces at him. She was one excited girl that night!

Happy Birthday to you...

Here's the long version of singing Happy Birthday and AnnCarter checking out her cake (you can see the hints of tiredness :-)

The Party

 

The cake (decorated with paper :-) The top tier was for AnnCarter.

 

Aunt Kathleen surprised the family and came in town, so we were excited she was able to be there for dinner celebration.

 

Cake time. She looks excited here...

 

But really, she was not too impressed (I love the pursed lips). I think she was a bit too tired at this point to be very interested in the cake, despite all of the sugar in it.

 

Present time

 

Foam puzzles!

 

Happy Birthday AnnCarter!

We had a great time celebrating AnnCarter's birthday with the Teague side of the family.  We missed the Whitmires (my family) and our friends in Oregon! But here's a bit of a snapshot of the evening. AnnCarter had such a fun time. I realize she had no idea we were celebrating her birthday, but from the way she acted it would've made you wonder if she had a bit of an idea. But knowing her personality, I think she was just thrilled to be around so many people that she knows and loves.  The entire Teague family was there (expect Jesse who's on a backpacking trip), and Scottie Webb and Mark Currin just happened to be in town, so they were able to join us too.  We ate dinner together and then sang Happy Birthday to AnnCarter.  (I will post a video of this soon.) She was not too interested in the cake. By then she was pretty tired (she missed her second nap), but she managed to get a lot of icing in her hair.  Marshall decided that was to ensure that she'd get to take a birthday bath (baths being one of her favorite activities now), so of course we gave her one.  Then we opened some presents. To top it all off, we all sang The Itsy Bitsy Spider together (probably her favorite part of the evening!).  A fun celebration with our now one year old!

AnnCarter's First Birthday! February 15, 2013

 

One year ago we finally got to meet this sweet girl after 9 months of waiting!

 

Our first night together.

 

It's so hard to believe this stage was only a year ago!

 

Meeting her maternal grandparents :-)

 

And now, the birthday girl!

 

One year old!

Itsy Bitsy Spider--AnnCarter's Favorite Song Ever!

So the Itsy Bitsy Spider is absolutely AnnCarter's very favorite song. Since she was 5 or 6 months, we realized that if she was crying and we started to sing this song, she would immediately stop. And for as long as you could keep singing the song (which I did for many minutes at a time on some car rides!), she would stay quiet to listen.  Then, about two months ago (in December some time), we noticed she was beginning to imitate the motions. I had to get this on video--it's something that we absolutely need to remember about AnnCarter's first year of life, as this song was a big part of it :-)

Carts is also starting to say some words now (still in a somewhat baby way), but she definitely connects the meanings and gets the sounds right. We first realized this just last week (the first week of February).  She'll say hi as she enters a room filled with people (and wave her hand too).  She's always very excited to see people--especially kids she knows. She'll imitate "Dada" and "Mama" some, though this is not regular yet. She'll say "bye" very similarly to how she says "hi." And then she'll say "Night night"--as you'll see in this video. Oh, and she'll say "All done" and do the sign. She's actually been saying "all done" for a while now (maybe 3 or 4 weeks) in a sing songy kind of way, but it's beginning to sound more clear now.

It's hard to believe this time last year she was not even born yet! As parents say it does, the time has gone fast...and things change so quickly. It's also hard to believe that we were going through all of the newborn times just a little less than a year ago, and now she's almost walking and is figuring out language and so much more. 

She's a joy. Her personality is coming out increasingly and it's amazing to watch her transform from a baby into more of a toddler each day. Excited to celebrate her first birthday with her tomorrow!