Aubrey's First Birthday!

Well, Aubrey is officially 1 year old! We had a nice, low-key celebration yesterday in honor of her wonderfulness.

First she got to play in a pile of balloons (12 of them, to be exact) that her Daddy blew up for her the night before.

Then we had Swedish pancakes, of course! I totally copied Maren and did a 1 for Aubrey's age as well as some other shapes. She diligently posed for the first photo.

And then she realized there was a pancake within reach...

... so she grabbed it. 

And she chowed it all down, along with an orange and some milk.

Then the day was more or less normal for a few hours.

There was playing and napping and a walk to get the mail. It was such a beautiful day! Best weather of the whole year by far. And, of course, the balloons continued to be a big hit.

Still, birthday or not, the occasional meltdown did occur.

But when Daddy came home, the real celebration began. Aubrey opened her presents from us (with some help).

The new toys were well-received. They even passed the taste test.

Aubrey also opened a sweet card from her Nana and Papa. She gave it kisses (or, you know, tried to eat it... same thing).

Then Mommy took the opportunity to have a little pre-dinner photo session with the world's cutest girl.

But Aubrey wasn't super into it, so we just took a few.

Then it was meatloaf, peas, and mashed potatoes for dinner. And again Aubrey went to town! She loves Grandma's meatloaf. And we love our little carnivore. :)

After that, we had a nice video conference call with grandparents, aunts, and cousins so that we could at least pretend everyone wasn't so far away. There were some technical difficulties, of course, but it was still very nice! Nearly everyone got to see her open presents from her grandparents and have her first taste of cake.

She liked the frosting but had a hard time with the cake. I'm going to say it's that she didn't like it on her hands and not that she doesn't like cake. 'Cause that can't be possible for my daughter. I'd have to get a DNA test.

Anyway, all that cake smashing necessitated a bath before bed.

And then Mommy was a sucker and let Aubrey play with her new toys for a few minutes before bed. Needless to say, she's a big fan. I haven't seen her play so long on her own in awhile. Here she is enjoying the toys today.

All in all, it was a good day! The year has gone by so fast, but I can say without equivocation that it has been the best year of my life! And I'm pretty sure it's been the best year of Aubrey's life too. Just sayin'... ;)