Big girls get cake

Back again for my once monthly post. I'm hoping now that posting will start to become more regular. We are officially in the new house as of last weekend (I was adamant that we were in before the new year) and finally starting to get settled in. Still many boxes to move around, much purging that has been done (and more to do), but all in all, it seems to be turning out.

Christmas was not as great as some years past, as I came down with the that killer cold virus mere hours after scoring my first two goals in soccer the Saturday before Christmas. I was completely down with fever, chills, aches, cough, etc., for 4 days before I felt even halfway human. By down I mean must lay down all day can't even knit sick. So I got it on Saturday, Liam got it on Christmas eve, Miss C. came down Christmas Day, Jonah had a variant of it the same time Liam did (though it didn't slow him down as much...something about the orneriness of that boy), Cliff had a variant of it the day or two after Christmas, and MIL also came down with her usual upper respiratory stuff after Christmas. We all managed to get through thanks to everyone chipping in. Needless to say, I was so sick that being in the house before Christmas wasn't going to happen. But now we're here and all is well.

The new year has been ushered in with plenty of excitement. Our little baby is not such a baby now. Our Roo turned 1 yesterday, and to celebrate, I whipped up a cake. I've only ever once before tried to make a cake from scratch, and the last cake I made was less than stellar. I thought I'd try my hand at a red velvet cake, so I scoured the internets for a decent recipe. Luckily, I had most everything on hand, though I didn't have enough red food coloring to get the truly red color. I frosted it with cream cheese frosting (yum), and here is the resulting cake...with one candle for the girl.


She seemed to enjoy the cake, even though it wasn't the best cake ever. It was good, don't get me wrong, but it wasn't fantastic. It was all about the process for me. Miss C. never did get all covered in cake, as she was very carefully eating it with one hand (and fork).

Mmmm...might have to go have a piece....

So what has our girl learned to do this year? Well...all the usual baby things like rolling over and sitting. She's been walking now since the beginning of November and has added dancing to her repertoire. Dancing involves spinning in a circle with hands outstretched while clicking her tongue. Sooooo cute. She can wave bye-bye and use her hands to tell you when she wants more. She's said mama, dada, can call for the boys, and generally gets her point across despite her limited vocabulary. She loves oatmeal and hot showers and she's not allowed to date till she's at least 20. All around she's this energetic, sweet little person that we're all growing fonder of each day.