Well the big day has come and gone. It was well celebrated too with friends and family in attendance. Of course, Maria was spoiled beyond belief, but loved every minute of it. On the 14th we celebrated with a quiet night at home, just Mom, Dad, some cake and a few presents.
Then came Saturday. That was the day of the big party, and what a party. We had grandparents, aunts, uncles, great-aunts and uncles, cousins, second cousins and friends over to celebrate the big day! Maria received a lot of very wonderful gifts and unlike Christmas actually seemed to genuinely enjoy opening presents. We had more food and cake (this one compliments of Auntie Erin), and by the end of the party we just plain exhausted. But it was worth it!
Maria received a variety of gifts from books and clothes (and pink cowboy boots thanks to Great-Uncle Don and Great-Aunt Diana - Aaron doesn't think they're as cute as I do), to garden toys, lawn chairs and of course "noisy" toys.
Other notes: Maria is walking more and more these days, she can go up and down stairs with confidence, and as of her first birthday weighed in at 20lbs, 7 oz, and was 31 inches long. That is a long way from the 6lbs, 4 oz, and 19 3/4" she was when she was born. She was also starting to say "dada" and "mama" a lot...although we're still trying to attach it to the right people. However, she may have a couple of words: "uh-oh" and "baby" (which I think is her first word). Only problem is that generally any toy with a face is a "baby" at the moment - but we work on getting more words to correct that.
