Sophie is ONE!

My baby turned one yesterday. But she's still a baby. And I mean it.

Since we celebrated family-style last Sunday and the kiddies were with their dads, we wanted to think up something that would make Sophie's real birthday fun and special, yet not too stressful for us. We invited the babysitter, Vanessa, to bring her family for a playdate at eleven yesterday morning.

Vanessa is a wonderful babysitter. Sophie adores her. Sophie also just loves Jillian, Vanessa's baby who is seven months old. Sophie kisses and loves on her all the time. Vanessa and her husband, Tom, also have a six-year-old son, Dylan, who is sweet as can be.

They came over for about an hour to help Sophie celebrate turning one. We had lemon cupcakes, party mix, ice cream, and punch. They brought Sophie the cutest Little People First Birthday playset for a gift. Sophie has been playing with it a LOT since then. I guess that Vanessa sure knows what Sophie likes from playing with her all day every day! We did two little activities - How much can you do with a couple babies? We drew around the kids' hands and dated the drawings. We also marked their height on a printable height chart that I hung on the wall. We anticipate repeating these activities every year on Sophie's birthday so that we can see how she's grown from year to year by comparing the markings and hand drawings.

It was fun to have their family over, and Sophie was in a great mood, despite skipping her morning nap. I can tell she appreciated my idea of scheduling a play date for her birthday *wink*. And we are just so tickled to have this nice family taking care of Sophie while we are at work and to add them to our circle of friends.

After the little party, Sophie played with her new loot, then crashed for a short nap. After naps, it was time to hit the stores. She had confided in me that she wished to spend part of her birthday shopping with her Mommy. The mall parking lot was a zoo, so we headed to Lakeport Commons instead. It was a nice-ish day out, and Sophie loves to ride in her stroller, so that was right up her alley. We had some luck in Old Navy first, and then we headed to Gordmans, where we hit the jackpot. Sophie got new clothes, new toys, new books, and a new diaper bag. We also found Easter prizes for all the kids and a few cute things for the house. Many other shoppers (mostly old ladies) gushed over Sophie and how adorable she was, and she hammed it up and grinned like a fool at them. This is always a blast for me to go show her off, and she was wearing her "birthday girl" shirt, which just added to the attention-getting.

We raced home for a quick change of diaper for Soph and clothes for Mommy, then we went on a celebration date with Daddy. Mommy and Daddy figured we should celebrate raising Sophie for a whole year without breaking or ruining her. We went to Outback, where Sophie continued to be charming (and ate like a one year old - bread, animal cookies, puffs), and we enjoyed a delicious meal. I even had a couple beers.

We were all having such a fun day that we extended our date to walking around the mall. B.A. wanted to look at Barnes and Noble, so we started there. Then we spotted the Easter Bunny. Since it was Sophie's birthday, Daddy agreed to pay the outrageous price for pictures of her on the Bunny's lap. She let the silly bunny hold her without fussing, although I think she more tolerated than enjoyed it. I bought Sophie the CUTEST Carter's overall outfit at Younkers, where BA scored some clearance work clothes (and is so proud of himself for buying some handsome clothes at a handsome price). We walked around some other stores, and I bought Sophie a killer Easter frock at Sears, then we headed home.

This was truly a perfect first birthday. Sophie hardly quit grinning once all day. She looked adorable, too. I had a great time showing her off, shopping with her, and getting some quality time in with B.A. Plus, she got to have a super-fun party with her siblings and grandparents last weekend. She's a lucky little one year old!