Ophelia's Baptism

Just a few photos from Ophelia's baptism weekend at the beginning of July. She talked and talked all through baptism and poor Eric had to keep getting louder to be heard over her. The water didn't bother her, although one more dousing and she would have started fussing because she wanted to be standing up. Baptism was really very nice. Almost everyone came up and stood around the baptismal font or on the stairs. It was wonderful to have so many friends and family there.

The party afterward was ridiculously hot. Ophelia spent some time in the wading pool, but even that didn't keep her happy for long. She was short on naps all weekend, but she was a trooper. Mostly, she just didn't want to miss anything so she fought sleep so she could play with everyone. Or make me lose at May I. Either way, she got to stay up.

Birthday week!

It's birthday week! I love my birthday. A lot. And I've had some really great birthdays over the years.

In junior high, I had a surprise party at a fantastic ice cream place in town. We got to do a blindfolded "guess that flavor" game. It was so much fun!

For my 16th birthday, another surprise party, this time with a scavenger hunt! My mom split my friends up in groups, rented Polaroid cameras from the library and sent everyone to find things like our last name, the number 16 and cake & ice cream. I still have the photos and they're a riot.

When I was a kid, we used to ride the ferry to Cedar Point. We didn't actually go to Cedar Point, mind you, I just liked riding the ferry. Sometimes when I was a kid, we would be on our yearly vacation to Michigan and we would ride the ferry to the Copper Harbor lighthouse instead. That was even more fun than the Cedar Point ferry. The lighthouse is so darling.

When I was very young, Grandma Helen would decorate my angel food cake as a dress and stick a Barbie doll in the center so it looked as though the doll was wearing the dress. I adored those cakes.

This year may top them all. I'm quite excited.

I love the 80s!

I love the 80s. Seriously. I listen to 80s New Wave music at work. All day. Every day. I don't find the fashion of the 80s all that terrible. If I'd been in my teens and 20s during the 80s instead of in single digits, I would have been living it up big time.

So, for my 30th birthday party this month, we're having an 80s party. And I am so loving it! I've got my outfit set (mostly). I'm working on hair and makeup now. Doug's got a good outfit going, too. And even little Phee will be rockin' a Madonna tshirt that I found at Target today. She will be adorable.

We've got lots of 80s goodies and candy ready for the party. I've got some awesome decorations planned. It's going to be amazing. I am so totally excited! Stay tuned for some photos in a couple weeks- you will not be disappointed.

A couple firsts

Ophelia created her first artwork yesterday at school. I believe they must have gone for a walk and collected some leaves. And then they all finger painted these adorable little tree scenes. As you can see, this is proudly displayed on our fridge.

On another front, Ophelia is nearly crawling. When I went to pick her up yesterday, Miss Theresa tried to get her to crawl, but in her haste to get to me, Phee just flopped on her belly. She tried again once we got home, though, and I captured some of it on my phone. The quality is lacking, but it's the best I've got right now. If you turn up your volume, you can hear her making what sounds like monkey noises.

Only a few tears

We're just about through our first week of daycare. The first two mornings, Ophelia didn't cry at all when I left. Yesterday and today, she did. I know it doesn't last long, though, and that she spends most of the day playing, chattering and learning how to do new things. Monday and Tuesday evening when I picked her up and got her home, she was a ball of energy and spent a great deal of time climbing around Doug and me on her bedroom floor. She's been sleeping great at night, too, as she wears herself out during the day!

Monday morning was much better than I expected. I sat her down with some toys and unpacked all her stuff in the classroom. She never fussed, cried or even looked for me. I said goodbye to her and all was well. I was nearly in tears as I walked down the hall, but luckily needed to stop into the office to pay for the month so I refrained from actually bawling my eyes out.

When she started the week, she still wasn't scooting or crawling or anything. She tried hard on vacation, but still didn't have it figured out. Yesterday morning, she inched her way across our bedroom floor doing a weird inchworm-army crawl hybrid. This afternoon, rumor has it that she was on her hands with her butt in the air.

Methinks crawling will commence any day now. Time to get some outlet plugs.