Celebrating Phoenix!

We have had a fabulous weekend celebrating Phoenix's upcoming 1 year milestone. It is hard to believe Pheeny's birthday is tomorrow, but time does fly when you are having fun.

It has been a wonderful year. She is an absolute delight. She hates being little though. She wants to do everything that the older kids do. She goes down the big slide, climbs stairs, tries to climb ladders, etc.

 She loves to be outside and dance to music. She is also quite the talker. Although she really only discriminately says dog, when she points to the dog and nana for food, she tries to repeat words we describe to her. She continues to knee walk/run as well as stand independently without support. She still wishes to have help with walking, which is fine with me.

 For Pheeny's birthday we decided to purchase the Doug and Melissa Kitchen, with pots and pans, as well as "cans of food".

 It has been hours of fun all weekend. Here is Phoenix stirring and yelling in excitement. She has been playing with our kitchen pans, utensils and storage containers for a few months now. I think she realizes she now has a set all to herself and she no longer has to fuss about the child proof cabinets not opening for her :)

Axel loves it too. They are learning how to play together more and more. It is tough for Axel to remember she is a baby and it is tough for Phoenix to communicate with Axel, but it is very cool to see them actually starting to play together. 

 Phoenix loves to ride her bike. She is still learning how to steer, but is getting the hang of it more every day.

 Here she is with her favorite dog, Louis.

 Not to change the subject, but I wanted to include this picture. Here is Axel in action doing a 100 piece puzzle by himself. He completed this while I was on an hour or so bike ride.

On Sunday we had Auntie and Uncle Ryan over for a very low key celebration. Axel made Phoenix a card that is posted behind her

 and a birthday hat that she is wearing. He also made her a picture out of play dough that is for her room. I need to still take a picture of that. It matches her sea theme and is very cute. 

 I made an oatmeal and applesauce pancake for Phoenix for her cake. I am so grateful that she is starting to tolerate more and more foods and that I could make this for her. She actually really enjoyed it.

I made her another one today and she ate the entire thing!

 We sang happy birthday to her and when I was trying to show her how to blow the candle out she got a little more than curious and put her hand right in the "fire". I felt bad for not being quick enough to stop her, but luckily it scared her more than hurt her. We were glad to see baby Braylin and Auntie and Uncle Ryan even if it was a quick visit. We are really excited for them as they move back to Sacramento this Friday. We were grateful they made the time to come over during this very busy time for them. I love this picture of the three cousins with Auntie Shannon and I.

 I am looking forward to Phoenix's one year check up this Thursday. I can't wait to see how much she has grown. We will also be preparing Axel for his enrollment into kindergarten. He has to take his first TB test and make sure his immunizations are up to date. This all has to be done before Feb 14th, so I was really glad we were going to the doctor for Phoenix to kill two birds with one stone.

In other news; here is a picture of my clever 4 year old. While I was putting Phoenix to bed earlier this week he was becoming the rubber band super hero. You have to look closely, but you will see rubber bands on his forehead, wrists, thighs, ankles and feet. Sooo funny!

 On Friday this week, Axel had a play date at a local park after school. I tried out the double burley for this first time. The kids did great! Axel was very charming holding his sister to make sure she was safe. He had so much fun that later that day he wanted to run to the grocery store in the double burley as well. It was great for me because I got a whopping 4 or 5 miles of riding that day carting the kids around. A little exercise is better than nothing :)

 Last I leave you with sibling love. Here Phoenix is feeding Axel her noodles that I was having her try. Axel continues to do great with wheat. Phoenix ate a few, but then started getting very red cheeks. I need to try again to see if it was the noodles or some other reason I am unaware of.