Birthday Party - 4th of July

So the post is a little late, but better.... well, you know.

We all had such a great time on the 4th, including the little Birthday Girl! Some kids shy away from the attention a first birthday party can bring, but Not my Bella! She's used to having lots of family, especially cousins, around, so this was like any other weekend party at my folks' house.

That is, until we introduced singing and CAKE! She clapped after we sang to her, and then Daddy let her into the Teddy Bear cake.

Cautious at first, it did not take her long to figure out that this tasted GOOD and she wanted MORE! We handed her a cupcake for her very own, and I will say that most of it ended up in her mouth!

Then the subsequent SUGAR HIGH! She ran around the deck laughing, with a big smile on her face. She and her icing-covered hands climbed onto my lap to share the experience... and the stickiness!

After all of that it was dark enough to start the fireworks - NOT that my law-abiding (and even law-enforcement centered) family would ever participate in the illegal activity of setting off projectile explosives. Ssshhh. At this point Bella, who was already past her bedtime but still enjoying the effects of sugar, proved that she is not to be scared by some bright lights and explosions! Rather, after each "Boom" her bright eyes fixed on the colorful display and she voiced what every American has been vocalizing for however long this great tradition has been around - " OOOOOOOO!" And she would clap her hands and sign "more" and smile!!! When she did start to whine (our fireworks engineer is somewhat less than a trained professional, and the delay between booms proved to be too long for the Birthday Girl) I picked her up to nurse her so I could still watch. Both the timing and the angle turned out to be perfect, as with the very next boom her head popped up and she was looking up at the sky to see the dark night illuminate with color. She could not seem to sign "more" quick enough!

The whole day was SO much fun. Happy Birthday Isabella Marie, my beautiful and precious Gift!