Libby Doodle Doo Turns One Today!!!

Well first and foremost a very, very happy first birthday to my baby girl Libby Doodle Doo who turns the BIG 01!!!!!! Today.

We’re planning a low key celebration. I still need to clean up from the insanity that was yesterday. I’m letting the girls sleep in as long as they can/want to. Then we all need to take good baths/showers (Zo Peep in particular who has glitter all through her hair and on her body).

I’m going to let the girls dress in nice, comfy clothes and then take them to breakfast. Church may happen today – or maybe not. I’ll decide later this morning.

I’m going to spend the day with the girls playing (maybe out in the snow) and chillin’

Plans are still unresolved for the actual birthday celebration. My close-by siblings have been out of town on business all week. They get home today, but neither has confirmed if they are going to stop by. A friend of mine – who hasn’t met Miss Libby yet—talked about coming over with her kids and fiancee. I need to call her this morning and see if they still can/want to visit.

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Now for a recap of yesterday. The day was as hectic and crazy as predicted but did contain some very sweet moments:

*We went to a different Mandarin Class than our usual. Even though Zo Peep knew almost all of the other kids there, she became very shy and unwilling to leave my side to participate. So Libby and I ventured to the other side of the room to learn Mandarin with the class. Zo Peep followed in a heartbeat and was in the flow in a couple of minutes. I never thought of Libby Doodle Doo as possible solution to help Zo Peep overcome her shy moments – but I may have discovered a new secret weapon in that unending challenge.

*The funniest and most terrifying moment of the day came during the performance of The Little Red Hen. I don’t know if I caught it on tape or not. Zo Peep was one of the 3 Mouse Narrators of the story and stayed on stage (well it was in the Library, so not really a “stage”) for the entire play.

About halfway through the play she crossed her legs in a fashion that I immediately knew was NOT a good sign. Less than a minute later she put her hands down to hold herself. Good gosh Zo Peep had to go to the bathroom. She swayed and looked very uncomfortable. I was trying to talk her through it -- mouthing some words that she needed to hold it in her head, not “literally” hold it. Parents around me understood what was going on and were getting quite a chuckle. I was praying that she didn’t lose it – an event like that could follow a child throughout school.

But Zo Peep -- my little trooper -- got through the play. She took her bow with the class and ran from the stage with me in hot pursuit (I made spur-of-the-moment arrangements with a parent I know to watch Libby Doodle Doo for me). The Peep made it to the Ladies Room with no problem – thank God.

*The Dance Performance went well. Zo Peep did not smile or sparkle as much as she usually does during the dance (I suspect the bright lights may have eroded her confidence a little). She remembered MOST of the steps. There were some other performances that were truly outstanding. Some very talented dancers attend that school.

*The party afterwards was really great – and we almost missed it. I had packed our party clothes (I thought) early in the morning, but realized that I didn’t pack tights for Libby Doodle Doo. Plus, the Doodle spit up her formula on me right before the performance. It wasn’t much and I cleaned it up, but I could still smell it on my sweater.

So we went home first to get changed for the party. I almost decided to blow off the event, but Zo Peep really wanted to attend. Even though we didn’t get home until 10PM (oh, my), I’m glad we did.

They had a DJ and – no surprise, it is after all a dance school – everyone was dancing up a storm. We missed some of the earlier events but while we were there they had a hula hoop contest, a limbo contest, a conga line, the Macarena and a slow dance with parents and kids (well, they called it a father/daughter dance – but I went out with my girls). I’ve never gone to a dress up party with kids before – if they all are as nice as this one, I need to do it again .

I didn’t get both girls to sleep until almost 11PM. And then I went to sleep—leaving the car unpacked and the house an absolute wreck. Lots of clean-up to do today.

So we survived yesterday and today will be loads of lovely 1st birthday memories.

(a special thank you to my photographer who supplied the birthday photo from Libby Doodle Doo's first photographic session held last week. When I told him that I wanted to post a birthday photo to my blog, he was nice enough to send me one of the digital proofs. Gotta tell you cleaning that pink icing off of her feet was a real challenge.)