Saturday was Clarissa’s birthday. Abe and Ammon were at the father and sons campout until around 3pm, but until then Mary and Lydia were over-the-top excited to celebrate Clarissa. Both Mary and Lydia woke up early and wanted to wake Clarissa up to tell her it was her birthday. Lydia went so far as to open the door…and then Clarissa woke up. The girls spent an hour playing in her room, singing to her, and telling her over and over again that it was her birthday.
After breakfast, I took Clarissa, Mary, and Lydia to go pick out balloons for Clarissa. Clarissa looooooved her balloons and the girls played with them when we came home.
Then it was time for her nap. During her nap I made pizzas and baked carrot cake. I made a little smash cake for Clarissa and cupcakes for everyone else.
Around 3pm Abe, Tom, and Ammon got back from the campout. They had gone on a hike in the morning and had had a wonderful time. Ammon was cranky again and Abe had to carry him the last mile. Ammon fell asleep in his arms. Good thing Abe has been working out a ton!
When everyone was back and Clarissa was awake again, we celebrated her birthday by letting her eat pizza, singing to her, and letting her smash her cake. She appeared to enjoy that last part. We didn’t get this on camera, but at one point she leaned forward and stuck her little tongue out as if she were going to lick or bury her face in the cake, but she pulled back at the last minute and decided to stay dainty. She loooooved having everyone sing to her and kept looking around at all of us to make sure all eyes were on her. She clapped a lot for herself. It was totally adorable. In these pictures you can see her scanning the room amazed that EVERYONE is looking at her. As the fourth child, she is just not used to this level of attention. It was so cute.
Then we took cupcakes outside to share with neighbors. We got to visit with our new neighbors and Meghan from across the street. Meghan was so nice and dead-headed our petunias while our new neighbors chatted with us. They are lovely.
Then we went back inside, opened presents, cleaned up the mess, and had a pretty low-key rest of the day.
We love Clarissa so much. She is so cute and lights up our lives. Her smile and nose crinkles send us over the moon. Every day her little personality emerges a bit more, and we are enchanted. She is so self-contained and content the majority of the time, and she only fusses when she is hungry, tired, or Ammon bugs her too much. She is very adventurous and is already trying to climb the outer edge of the stairs. Even Ammon did not attempt that trick until he was a lot older!
We love you, Clarissa! Happy first birthday, sweet baby girl!!