happy birthday amelia harper!

miss millie was not overly impressed with her pretty pink party dress...

 or with the fancy pearl bracelet that she finally had a reason to wear...

(thanks aunt lori!)

or with her happy birthday tiara...

or with left-over christmas presents that i disguised as birthday presents...

(really mom, more books?)

but the cake was a totally different story. this is what the fuss was all about.

what is this pretty round thing? it has my name on it. 

why is the pretty round thing on fire? why did you move the pretty round thing away from me? why are the lights turned off? and why, oh why, are you all singing that off-key song?

let her eat cake.

millie so vividly demonstrated what we've learned about her this last year - she is a little lady who makes no apologies for what she likes and dislikes. in the best of times and in the worst of times, she lets her voice be heard. life with a toddler, here we come!

happy birthday sweet girl!

all that a new year holds...

big changes around here in the new year. our baby girl is growing up.  here are a few of the ways that she was showing off as we said hello to 2011...

* good-bye bottle. 

this was millie's very last meal with her bottle. on to cow milk and sippy cups!

all gone!

* hello spoons, bowls and straws

she's working on mastering the art of the utensil. she would much rather feed herself than have somebody else shoveling food into her mouth, but she clearly needs a little bit of work! mostly, she just holds the spoon with one hand and picks up food with the other. 

* talking on the phone

millie holds just about anything up to her face (upside down and backwards!) and says "hi"... i have no idea where she possibly could have learned how to do this.

* helping... sort of.

millie really likes to take things out of baskets and buckets. she's not so great about putting them back just yet, but we're working on it. next step: teaching her how to sort and fold.