Quincy's First Birthday, Part 5---The Cake

For Quincy's birthday cake I decided to actually make a cake rather than purchase one (which is kind-of a big-deal as I really don't like to cook). I ended up making a cake in the shape of an alligator. No reason other than I thought it was cute. We placed one of the fire-works candles that we brought home from China on it. The candle begins as a large, single flame and then opens to multiple lit petals while the birthday song starts playing from some portion in the middle of the candle. She was just fascinated by the whole thing and kept looking to myself and Tim and smiling. We ended up cutting a small piece for her. However, she didn't want to actually eat it; but she did love playing with it.

Quincy's First Birthday, Part 4---The Zoo

We weren't really sure how Quincy was going to enjoy to zoo since she has the attention span of a one year old. However, she LOVED it! (Side-note: She knows how to say three words --mama, dada, and doggy). As we whizzed around the zoo, Quincy kept pointing to all the animals and saying, "doggy". It didn't matter if it was an Elephant or a Lion---to her they were all doggies.



The last thing we did before we left the zoo was hop on the carousel for her first ride. She picked the manatee and was all smiles for the duration....

Quincy's First Birthday, Part 3: The Birthday Breakfast and Grocery Shopping for Birthday Cake Materials

Quincy's birthday fell on a Monday. So, Tim and I took the day off to spend with her on her special day. After all, you only turn "one" once. We all slept in until 8 a.m. and then showered, dressed , and made our way to our favorite breakfast place: Thumb's Up Diner. Side note: The waitress at the diner is our favorite waitress and we have a kind-of-special history with her. She was our waitress at another restaurant on our first date 10 years ago. Neat, huh??



At the diner, Quincy got her very first "big people's" meal at a restaurant: A scrambled egg, a sausage patty, and a biscuit. She loved it so much she cleaned the plate (and I cleaned the floor under her high-chair upon leaving....which is the first time I have ever had to do that thanks to the dogs at home...).

After breakfast we went to the grocery store to get the supplies for making her cake. Being that we were shopping on a Monday morning, the store was virtually empty of shoppers so we could let Quincy walk through all the aisles without bothering others or getting hit by carts. Several of the pillars in the store had aluminum sheeting on them so you could see your reflection. As Quincy is a toddler, and all toddlers are fascinated with mirrors, she played silly games with her reflection until Tim was finished with the shopping. One of the games was hide-and-seek with myself and Tim using the pillar as her "hiding place". Smart kid. We LOVE her!!!

Quincy's First Birthday, Part 2---Picking a Pumpkin

After the hay ride and petting zoo we walked over to pick a pumpkin. I think this is the standard photo-op for all new parents (which we most definitely are).





Unfortunately, Quincy was more interested in eating her rock than picking a pumpkin.


We ended up going home with just the pictures and some great memories. We'll just get our pumpkin at the local Whole Foods (Whole Paycheck) around the corner....



Stay tuned for pictures from The Big Day. Bye!

Quincy's First Birthday, Part 1---The Day Before

Quincy's BIG Birthday weekend actually started on Sunday, the day before her birthday (so it wasn't actually a weekend, it was more like "Quincy's Big Birthday Two Days"...). The first thing we did was turn her car seat around to a front-facing car seat. She reached the minimum weight requirement two months ago, but she had to be one year old in addition to the weight requirement in order to switch it. As you can see, she likes the new orientation! She's a big girl now (actually, at 90th percentile in height, she's always been a big girl).



After we switched her seat, we took her out to the country for a hay ride and a visit to a petting zoo. During the hay ride, she was sooo much more interested in the hay than the actual ride. For some reason this new substance called "hay" just fascinated her. We're going to get her some for Christmas....
After the hayride we stopped off at the petting zoo on the farm. Quincy loved all the animals...she called all of them "doggy". We have learned that she refers to any animal as "doggy", not just our actual dogs. To her, they are all the same. I imagine this is the same with all children just learning to speak.







I love this picture.

Changing Seasons....

Switching gears from Summer clothes to Fall/Winter clothes....

A few weeks ago was picture day at Quincy's school. This is the outfit she wore. She had a beautiful white bow in her hair when I dropped her off in the morning and beautiful macaroni-and-cheese smeared all over her pretty dress when I picked her up in the afternoon. Thankfully the photographers took the photos before lunch....




We have an old, decrepit retaining wall in the front of our house that Quincy loves to walk up and down next to and then climb the stairs. I took this picture not because of the wall or the fact that Quincy likes to walk next to it. I took it as this was the day before I cleaned out her closet and packed away all of her summer clothes. Cleaning it out was a horrible experience (Bridgit, I KNOW you can relate to this) as it was like letting go of a part of her that is so special to me. I packed away all the pretty dresses that I purchased for her in China that she will never be able to wear again. Quincy is growing up and it's bittersweet...

One of my all-time favorite students is a complete nut (as is her sister, who, coincidentally, is also one of my favorite students)! She completely was not interested in Physics in the slightest bit so she would sit in my class and knit/crochet rather than listen to me teach. This is one of the two hats that she made for Quincy....it's also my favorite hat of hers!






Just a happy day in the life of Quincy....she likes cool weather (but don't we all???).





Quincy's birthday weekend pictures will follow shortly....bye!