Vivian was found the balloons fairly quickly once she emerged from the bedroom, but she was much more interested in Tetley and Granddaddy. Theo went straight for the presents. Vivian showed a slight interest in the contents of the bags, a strong interest in ripping paper off boxes (we wrapped only a few in paper), and very little interest in most of the contents. Her immediate favorites were the laptop (a toddler version for those of you who might be concerned) and the ball. Theo loved the reincarnations of the laptop as well, and had trouble sharing. Vivian also scored quite a few new clothes (two pairs of pants, two short sleeve shirts, a dress, and an outfit) as well as a hand-knitted hat with ear flaps and straps for tying (thanks Ciacio Kasia!). She got four new books, a new baby doll, a pop-up toy (you push different buttons and flip levers so doors pop open with animals)a shape sorter, a baking set, a peg push up toy, a purse filled with cards and keys on keychains, a Mozart music cube, a rocking chair (that we brought back into action now that space is available in the absence of the Exersaucer, but I did stick a bow on it), a fox hooded towel, a pink race car, a rainbow plush ball specifically chosen by Theo, and several cards from her great aunts and uncles, as well as the traditional dollar for her first birthday (and some college money). She ran out of steam well before the presents ran out, and just wanted to walk around and play with things that were already out. Most of those were immediately snatched by her brother, until he discovered something underneath the t-shirt one of his gift bags.
Theo got an ice cream set, four new books including one Lego building book set that includes Legos, a new t-shirt, three new trains (an engine, a passenger car, and a caboose), and two sets of train tracks (two connecting pieces in each set).
Vivian got hungry following the present run and asked for breakfast. Daddy was already en route to the bakery, and returned with two slices of cheese cake, croissants, a cream puff, a cookie, and some other sweet things I couldn't identify but were declared tasty. Vivian choose the cheese cake with berry something or another. I didn't get a great look before it got demolished. She shoved it in with both hands (but did not just stick her whole face in, which is what her brother did when presented with his first birthday treat). We stuck the 1 candle on and lit it, and Vivian put it out with her fist covered in whipped cream or icing or whatever was on the top of her cheesecake. She did not care for the way it stuck to her hands and tried to shake it off repeatedly with little effect. When she tired of cheesecake (trust me, it didn't look like anything I would want to eat at that point either), she moved on to chocolate croissant with all the chocolate bits removed. She put a pretty sizable dent in that as well.
After breakfast we spent more time exploring all the fun new stuff before exhausting her and going down for a nap. Following her morning nap, she got to spend an hour or more upstairs without any competition for toys. Vivian really enjoyed the purse, mostly taking the cards out and passing them back and forth with Granddaddy. She also got to touch the train tracks, birds from the birdhouse, and other toys that would normally send Theo into screaming fits if she looked at them too hard. (Theo went to the basement with Grandma where apparently he listened to Billy Goats Gruff ten times.)
Lunch consisted of yogurt raisins (Vivian licked the yogurt off and spit out the raisins), tomato, a slice of turkey, and tons of macaroni and cheese. More playing came next, and then an afternoon nap to restore her energy. She grazed on Cheezits with Granddaddy in the afternoon then Skyped with Dziadzius and Babcia. Then we spent almost an hour in the backyard with Theo and Grandma before heading the buffet for dinner. Vivian ate cheese, more cheese, another round of cheese, macaroni and cheese (do you see a theme here?), and followed all that with frosting from a cupcake and poking at blocks of jello (which she definitely did not find edible). We also gave her a cone with frozen yogurt and let her rip, and she enjoyed pounding it on the table ice cream side down more than she liked eating it, which she also did. She drank lemonade and water and scored a balloon ball (I don't even know how to describe so I'll depend on photos for that) from the balloon man at the restaurant in honor of the occasion.
We took giraffe photos once we got home.
You'll get a pretty good idea of Vivian's habits from the description of her day above. She still naps twice a day, once in the morning around 9:30 and in the afternoon at roughly 2. The morning one is much more flexible as she often misses it or it gets pushed back due to outings and activities, so it ranges anywhere from 15 minute power naps in the car to an hour and half. The afternoons are rarely less than an hour and half and can go up to two hours or more depending on how far behind she is on sleep. Overnight, a regular (good) night means she sleeps from about 7:30 or 8 until her first feeding around 6 a.m. and then goes back to sleep in the crib until 7 or later. A bad night, blamed on teething lately, can mean up to three additional wakings and most likely feedings (11 to 12, 2, and 4), or even most of the night spent in bed with Mama. Often she spends the last hour in bed with me anyway because I fall back to sleep while she's nursing.
In addition to the overnight feedings, Vivian is nursing before each nap and bedtime and, at the moment, as often as she likes to snack during the day, which is easily one or two more times. She is hungry pretty much right on schedule for solids at around 8, 12:30, 4, and 6, but can be bought off with extra nursing. I have started in the past three weeks to give her cow's milk in a bottle in addition to nursing because I didn't want another vat of formula that would last forever at only 6 oz of consumption a day, and our supply of frozen breastmilk was depleted. I am totally out of the pumping business and have been since late February, and that's one thing I do not miss. Cow's milk is great because we always have it on hand and I don't feel any sort of guilt or grief about pouring it down the drain if she doesn't want it. I also don't have any problems saving some until the next feeding either, so less goes down the drain anyway.
Vivian can hold her own bottle but hasn't mastered the art of tilting it yet, so she does best when laying down.
As for movement, Vivian can walk across a room if she doesn't need to turn at all and is properly motivated. She still prefers to get around holding onto one hand, but any other object seems to satisfy as well. She can stand indefinitely, and easily reach down and pick up items off the floor while holding onto a table or someone's hand. In fact, I'd say the remarkable stuff in motor skills is what she isn't doing. She still can't quite sit up on her own, so you'll never find her sitting or standing in the crib. She does not pull up on anything, so she depends entirely on someone's hands to get into a standing position. That's not 100% the case, as she can get upright by sheer force using someone sitting on the floor for leverage, but it is not pretty. If she gets onto her stomach, she gets mad and only moves backwards trying to figure out how to sit up again. And she really doesn't care for sitting at all unless it's a meal or something super interesting and novel. Those things might buy you five minutes tops.
By far her favorite activity is simply walking around, although chasing Theo and finding Tetley are very high on the list as well. There is nothing she loves more than a ball in the toy department, and she loves dogs. She can find a dog image that I would never notice and point to it. Vivian loves to take things out and put them in, and open and close containers. When eating, she wants some of whatever anyone else has, including utensils and dishes. She likes to put food in a bowl from her tray then eat it, or put it on the spoon then take it off with her hand and eat it.
Vivian has a ton of words now, enough that I know I won't get them all. She says Tetley and Mama and Dada still, as well as Grandmama and Granddaddy. She says book and blow and woofs for dogs and says kitty and balloon and bunny. She often will say one word extremely clearly multiple times over the course of one day, like she is perfecting it. Then we won't hear it again for days or even weeks. She signs milk for any liquid now, and rarely uses the water sign which she used to use for water at meals. She still signs eat and waves hi and bye like a champ. She loves to give and receive kisses, and does so by leaning over, which often results in bumped heads. She is super sweet about handing toys to Theo, and both seem to enjoy that game, as well as the "car game". That game consists of Theo standing behind her chair and dropping cars over the back and Vivian passing them back underneath the seat in the gap between the bottom of the booster and the seat of the chair itself. They both think it is a blast.
Vivian loves getting tossed into the air and turned upside down. Noble Duke of York is by far her favorite song followed closely by Trot Trot to Boston. She also loves to climb stairs and would go up and down all day if allowed. She can really swing her foot up and then uses both hands to throw herself back and leverage herself up the step. It isn't at all pretty or independent but she adores it.
Vivian has four teeth visible - the first two on the bottom, a third top right one that started coming through on May 6th, and another top left canine (so there is a gap between the two upper ones in) poking its way through as of May 12th. Vivian still has no hair - even less than Theo at this age if I recall correctly.
I will try to get Vivian's stats up shortly as well. We love you Vivian and look forward to many more years celebrating you!
1 comment:
Happy Birthday, Vivian!
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