Almost one!

I've been doing a lot of pre-Ivy reminiscing lately, along the lines of "a year ago, I was doing x" or "last year at this time"... Today last year - May 31 - was my due date. And I will still very much pregnant, and would stay that way for another week. I remember two distinct things about that day - Maya wishing me "Happy Due Date!" when I arrived at IKAR, and the look on the Starbucks barista's face when I told him I was due TODAY upon his asking. In celebration of this first sort-of milestone, pre birthday, I have updated the look of blog! Maybe this will inspire me update more often. Maybe.

Ivy is quickly hurtling towards toddlerhood, and I don't just mean her age. She is really becoming a person! That sounds silly, because if you know her you know that she's always had a very distinct, magnetic personality. But recently she has started acting less like a baby and more like a kid. In other words, she has learned to fight back! She screams when you take things away from her, especially objects that do not belong to her. She bangs on the high chair tray and points at the container of puffs, going "ooooh ooooh ooooh!" and refuses to eat her meals until she has had some. No more sweet moments zipping her into jammies on the changing table...she now bucks off the table, squirming and screaming to freedom. She is quite a handful these days, but just gets cuter and sweeter so really, I can't complain!

Last night, Caron and Cliff came over to babysit...to set the stage, Ivy had a long day, didn't nap well (what else is new), and has about 3 new teeth ready to burst through, so needless to say she was not the happiest of campers. She had just woken up from a nap in the car, and was pretty confused to look up and see C & C, who are not short people. She burst into tears, ala Uncle Mark, and it was fast slide down the slope from there. We tried to get her to eat some semblance of dinner before we left - FAIL! We left and Caron tried to put her jammies - FAIL! (Yes, she slept in only a diaper.) Caron tried to give her a bottle of milk before bed - FAIL! Poor thing just wailed for an hour, while we were off eating yummy guac and sipping sangrias pre-theater. Cliff summed up the night perfectly - she's the best birth control out there. For them, clearly; and for us...Ivy will not be a big sister any time soon.

We have a big week coming up before the birthday party. I am going to be doing some serious baking in my new GIANT CUPCAKE PAN and preparing for ALL the family to come to town. I can't wait to post pictures after the big day, but here's an idea of the domestic pursuit I have in mind:

Happy Birthday, random baby!