This past Tuesday was my little Liesl Grace’s 1st birthday. I decided to take the day off of work so I could just spend the day with her, basking in the glory of this bright, happy blessing that came into our lives 365 days ago.
We went for a run, we went to storytime at the library, and we played around at home. It was a simple day. There weren’t any big plans. There wasn’t a big party. There weren’t even any decorations. But there was giggling, and crawling around together on the floor, and putting on various hairbows that she brought to me and laughing about each of them (hence the lavender hairbow in all of the photos). And there were cuddles. Lots and lots of cuddles.
You see, Liesl’s in this super cuddly phase right now. She’ll be crawling around playing, and all of a sudden she’ll crawl up into your lap and lay her head on your shoulder, stick her thumb in her mouth, snuggle into you, and just stay there for a few seconds. Most days, I’ll enjoy the cuddles, but I’ll also be thinking of all the things that need to get done around the house, or how it’s after bedtime and she should be sleeping. And sometimes I’ll even try to maintain the cuddle while I get up to get something done (it doesn’t usually work). But on Tuesday, every time she laid her head on my shoulder, we cuddled. And cuddled. And cuddled. With no agenda and no to-do list and no guilt. It was just Liesl and mommy. Creating a memory I could hold onto forever.
Because next year, she may be too busy running around to cuddle much.
And in 5 years, she may be too busy coloring or exploring in the backyard with her brother.
And in 15 years, she may be too busy going out with her friends.
And in 25 years, she may be too busy cuddling her own baby girl.
So for now, the to-do list can wait. I want to soak up and breathe in all the cuddles I can so I can relive those moments 1 year and 5 years and 15 years down the road when she can no longer sit in my arms and melt into my chest.
Oh, how I love this little angel girl!
We did do all the fun mommy things that I wish I could do on a more regular basis – we stayed in pajamas until 8 am, then we went for a run with Ollie & Liesl in the stroller, stopping at the neighborhood pond to toss some rocks into the water get attacked by geese (they were terrifying). We ran up to a nearby construction site so Oliver could watch the “‘struction vehicles”. (His day was pretty much made.) We went to Toddler Storytime at the library. I even finally got to hang up the wall hangings I made for her room. (I bought the materials for them when I started my maternity leave last July, finally got around to starting to make them 9 months later, finished making them in about June, and didn’t hang them until Tuesday. And I wonder why I don’t craft more… 🙂 )
We had a dinner of pizza and pasta (her favorites), opened presents (including one we’d let Ollie pick out at the store the night before), had cake (smash cake!), and then inevitably had to take a bath (Ollie joining her, as the gift he’d chosen for her was some bath toys, and he had obviously been dying to play with them for the past 24 hours).
Her cake smash was hilariously anticlimactic and adorable. We put the cake in front of her, and she gingerly pinched one little dot of the frosting border between her fingers and ate it. She then, daintily and methodically, spent the next 2 1/2 minutes (I have a video to prove it) carefully picking off the frosting border one little dot at a time, like a perfect little lady. She eventually put her full hands into the frosting and licked them from top to bottom, and then, after about 5 minutes, finally got the hang of it and dug in.
I can’t blame her. It was the best, smoothest cream cheese frosting I’ve ever made. With a strawberry cake. You can get the recipe here (also great as cupcakes).
I’m so grateful that I had a day to just bask in this little girl’s sunshine. She has a brightness about her that fills you with light and happiness. I’m so grateful little LG came to this family a year ago. I’m so glad she’s mine forever.
[…] post-smash, and they’re definitely not the most appetizing. ? I’ll share them in Liesl’s birthday post later this week, because they’re just darn tootin’ cute. But for now – […]