The One Year Anniversary of... ME!

July 3 was my "first" birthday. This kind of confuses me because, though it was all kind of a blur, I seem to recall this whole "birth" thing happening about a year ago. To my knowledge, that was the first time that happened to me, so wouldn't that be my first birthday and this be my second? Have I been zero years old until now? Isn't the definition of "zero" considered a symbol that represents the absence of quantity or magnitude? I may be small, but I'm no zero! I can't wait until I can articulate questions like that verbally and ask them to Mom and Dad over and over. Others questions I plan to pose include "why is the sky blue?", "where does God live?", "why does the rest of the world not like our country?", and just plain "why?". That one will be my "go-to" question I think. You know, if asked with the right inflection, it can be quite a profound question... or statement even. Let that be your first lesson in Zen-Evieism. But for now, less questions and more me, sound good?

I'll start with the BEST part about my whole birthday experience: Mom and Dad took the week off! I got to spend the entire week with them, which is something I haven't been able to do since Christmas. We did all kinds of things. We went to the park, we went to the mall, we went swimming (in a big pool, in a little pool, and in a lake!), we slept in, and we played so much it made us want to sleep some more. We also said bye-bye to my bottles and formula since I'll pretty much eat whatever they put in front of me. Pickles have become one of my favorites, and re fried beans are really good, too. Of course the next day Mom and Dad don't seem to happy that they fed them to me, but a girl's gotta get her protein somehow. Yup, I had a blast with the folks. Pretty sure they had fun, too.

To celebrate my birthday, Fr. John Young offered to host a party at his cabin on Lake Michigan. I was so excited to see so many friends and family there, and his house was beautiful! There was a TON of food, and Grandpa Davey worked his magic on the grill. We played games, chatted up a storm, opened presents, had our cake, AND ATE IT, TOO (What a dumb expression, but I digress). Everyone was very thoughtful with their gifts; from books, to toys, to clothes, and all sorts of goodies. Paula had her mommy make me a beautiful quilt for my room...it even had a beach theme to match all of my stuff. Father John gave me a wonderful family Bible with pictures and stories. There were so many presents that Dad-oo could barely get them all in the car! What can I say, people dig me.

After the feast and the presentation of gifts, we headed down to the beach. Fortunately, Frankie and Annette weren't there breaking into silly songs and romping around with their goofball friends... I would have been annoyed. Nope, it was just us on a nice private beach. I tested the waters a little bit, but it was quite cold. Instead, I decided to build sandcastles and play in the sand. I was torn as to whether to build in an Art Deco style or Neoclassical. I'll do some pre-planning before my next beach excursion...maybe bring some blueprints. I must say that Aunt Barbara was a pretty good foreman, though. I'll have to keep her on staff.

Needless to say, by the time the day was over, I was wiped out. I was lucky enough to wake up in time for the greatest game of ladder golf ever played (tough luck Uncle John!), and then pooped out again on the ride home. Thanks to Father John for hosting us, thanks to everyone for coming, and thank goodness for sunscreen! It was a great first birthday... even though it was really my second :)