Iris Turns 1 (for party)

Some 10 days after the actual event, we celebrated Iris’s birthday in style with a neighborhood block party, sans the neighborhood block. Preparation began a month before, when Mama D got the idea to have an underlying theme focusing on the relationship between Iris and Baggie. Plans were set in motion…

Rewind further to early June, when Dada decided to tackle 3 big projects in the home at once, partially inspired by the two week absence of both Mama D and Iris as they traveled to New York: repainting the dining room and kitchen (no more mustard & ketchup), and replacing a wall in the living room that had been ruined by water damage (repairing the leak, too, duhh!).

Fast-forward to the night before the party- Aunt Jackie and Patrick arrive from Greensboro and are immediately put to work (as usual), helping Dada put the finishing touches on all the painting, dusting, sweeping, etc. and helping Mama D prepare all of the food.

We stayed hectic as usual in the morning, but by the time people started showing up, the house looked great, a tasty variety of snacks was on the table, and the cake was displayed in all its glory – we had a party - as you can see:

The cake was Mama D’s big plan, having it sculpted at a shoppe just down the block from our house. In a way, I suppose it was a bit morbid to have Iris watch as Baggie was sliced in to pieces and doled out on plates, but she really didn’t seem to mind. The cake was really good- really really good- Iris didn’t know what to think at first but then had no problem gobbling a little piece down, which made for good video..

The party was well attended by family, friends, friends’ families, and pets. It made for a unique gathering that put people together who otherwise would never have met, united by the bond that Iris has created in all our lives!

Unfortunately, Iris was slow to pick up on all the excitement. Groggy and grumpy from taking two bad naps, she had to go down a rare third time. But all was well after she woke up and she had a ball opeining all of her presents, tearing into the paper and wearing ribbons around her neck.

In the end, the party was a roaring success- our thanks to everyone who came! Happy Birthday Iris, our little bear!

Kyle Comes to Town

For a very brief evening, we were fortunate to host our good friends Chris and Kelly and the newest addition to their family, Kyle, on their coast-to-coast journey! Chris used to work with Dada before transfering to Seattle some 3 years ago..

They arrived after Iris's bedtime, but we got to play with little immobile lovable Kyle for a few hours before he tucked it in.. The next morning, they got up early with us to spend some time with Iris on her birthday! Unfortunately, Kyle and Iris didn't get to play together much, but they'll get another chance someday!

It was great to see you guys again, and please look us up the next time you come to town! Of course we'd love to head out to the NW someday, too!

Iris Turns 1 (for real)

Today of course marks a very special day for our little bear, already one year old! Already one year since the crazy days surrounding her birth!! And so much has happened in that time, it really is a wonder what kind of beings we are!

For Iris, today was just another day- Mama and Dada had to go to work and she went to the babysitters and Mother's Day Out, etc.. But for us, today was an opportunity to privately celebrate what has become the most important and wonderful part of our life! We had no big party or activity planned, at least not today..

Last night, Mama D made cupcakes and powdered sugar frosting- ultimately she decided not to send them along with Iris to day care today, but instead bought the whole class a box of banana cookie snacks. It wasn't until tonight that Iris got her first bite of the pure, uncompromised sweetness those cupcakes had to offer... Like all new tastes, she was hesitant at first, but unlike most, she couldn't put it down after just a few bites..

After Iris went to bed, we used the new digital camcorder we just got off eBay to watch the video Aunt Jackie made of Iris's birth. This was the first time watching it since she was two weeks old, and man, did it bring back a lot of emotions and memories! Cliche perhaps, but I don't it will ever be possible to watch that without crying!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, IRIS!!

Iris in the 5th Dimension

This weekend we had a very nice visit to the Charlotte area to visit Aunt Jackie at her father's home- Iris's unofficial 5th set of grandparents.

As usual, Iris did great during the ~3 hour drive, napping and playing with her toys in the back.. When we arrived she was quick to display both her proficiency at climbing stairs and her new skills at "walking". At this point, "walking" consists of standing up, moving one leg, than falling down. But given something to support her, like a couch or someone's hands, she can walk quite well!

That night after Iris went to bed we burned the midnight oil playing games of Cribbage and Taboo...

Later on, after everyone had gone to sleep, Dada made a big mistake that lead to a very rare difficult night- Iris had woken up slightly and made a peep.. Half-asleep himself and not knowing what time it was (3AM), Dada sat up and started talking to her as he normally would following a nap.. Whereas she probably would have just drifted back off to sleep, this acknowledgment managed to do just the opposite.

For the next couple of hours we struggled with trying to balance getting her to fall back asleep with not waking everyone else up. Every time we left her in the porta-crib, regardless of whether we stayed in the room or left, she'd howl! And the damned porta-crib was so low to the ground that no matter how long we tried to rock her back to sleep, she would always wake up just as she was being laid down.. Eventually we bit the bullet and moved out to sleep on the couch as she howled for what seemed like an eternity before she expired.

To say the least we were very happy to learn the next morning that Iris's antics had not disturbed anyone else! Thank goodness for sound-proof walls!!

Before heading back home, we stopped at the big Charlotte mall with Aunt Jackie and picked up a bunch of new clothes for Iris and took some funny pictures of her in various stores and situations.. See the photo galleries for more..

Thanks Robert and Joan for the fun stay- next time we'll sleep in a different room than Iris!!