Oh the adventures we will have...: What? What's that you say, you say I'm one year old today?

Emma is one!

It's official, we have a silly, spunky, talking, toddling one year old that keeps us very much on our toes these days. It's actually been official for well over a month now as Emma turned one at the end of June, but it's been a busy few months so you'll have to excuse my tardiness here. Yet, lucky for Emma our busy schedule meant her birthday celebrations seemed to stretch on for the better part of a month. As her actual birthday fell during a two week trip to England and Ireland she got to open some gifts before we left town and then got to enjoy a birthday party with all her friends in Zurich a week after we returned.

Enjoying opening a few of her early birthday gifts.... question is what part of the gift does she like the most?

Loves to read!

One very busy little girl

I still don't think it's hit me that we have a one year old. To say the least the last year has flown by for so many different reasons and I know that years down the road I'm going to be wishing I could have it back. It is SO AMAZING to just sit back and look at everything Emma has learned how to do in one year time. I know I am jealous of how quickly Emma is able to learn and absorb everything going on around her (if only I could have learned Swiss German that quickly). And I cannot wait everyday to see what the next thing is going to be that she learns how to do. Well, maybe I can wait because it seems that now more than ever those things she learns involve causing mischief and testing the bounds of what her little body can do in ways that usually cause me to hold my breath and cringe.

Although she didn't quite start "officially" walking until just after her first birthday (which is obviously when the real trouble making began), she did finally get her two front (bottom) teeth just in time for her birthday. Unfortunately the timing of her getting her first teeth made her birthday and the surrounding days to be pretty miserable for her. It seems that even being in London for her birthday couldn't quite make up for it, but sharing some ice cream with us did seem to help!

When there's ice cream all the way down your chin and shirt you know it must have been good.

We were very happy come her birthday celebration back in Zurich that she was feeling good. It was a beautiful summer day and we were thankful to have so many of her friends join us for a barbeque at our apartment. Although the birthday girl did nap for the first 45 minutes of her party, she made up for it by being the center of attention for several hours after that. I had fun planning a Dr. Suess with a twist themed party "Oh the places she's been, oh the places she'll go!" so we could highlight what a fun and adventurous first year Emma has had. It was a lot of fun watching our guests try to name the country (and sometimes even the city) of the 16 countries Emma has visited by looking at photos!

Lots of fun decorating!

Stats for the big day!

Monthly photos!

Oh the places she's been!

Post-nap birthday girl!

Party guests making their best guesses! A good test of our European knowledge!

My birthday girl!

Having fun at her party!

Of course one of the highlights of the afternoon was Emma eating her cake. It seemed that Emma had taken careful note of how long I had spent learning how to and making the cake, and as a result she was perhaps the most polite cake eating one year old I have ever seen. She was barely poking her finger into the frosting for quite sometime when Steve decided to grab a small spoon and try to give her some chunks of cake to try. Evidently she is really in this self-feeding phase as she grabbed the spoon to try to eat the cake!

The "smash cake"

Cake and food for the big kids

Someone's already reaching for that cake!

There she is again while we're not looking trying to dive in early!

Yay! Happy Birthday dear Emma...

Who eats cake from a spoon at their first birthday party?

Evidently Emma thought I wanted some of her cake off the spoon

Finally putting the spoon down and trying a little more for herself.

Mmmmm.... guess that was pretty good.

Emma barely made a dent in it!

It was sad to see her special day (and month) of celebrating come to an end, especially as it marked the end of a momentous first year as parents for ourselves. I would still call us new parents, although Emma has taught us many things quite quickly, if one thing's for sure just when you start feeling comfortable you realize you don't know anything at all and still have a lot to learn about being a parent. But we're quite happy to spend the rest of our lives learning how to be the best parents possible for Emma as she is without a doubt one of the best things to ever happen to us. Everyday I think of how my life is different and so much better for having her in it. That smile, that slobbery kiss, that distinct little gasp she makes every time she hears the front door open and Steve or I am coming home, her little hug as she crawls her way into my lap... this little girl of ours, she's stolen our hearts in one year's time, I cannot wait to see what she'll do in a lifetime.