Happy Birthday to (M)Yoooouuuuuu(riel)

Muriel has made it a year on the outside, and we are proud of her for it. Was there a theme for her birthday party? There was: birds. That's it. And it wasn't exactly fully realized. There were some funny birds on her cake, a cute furry singing oriole toy, and a mylar balloon in the shape of a chick (which was probably intended for baby showers, whatever). But there was also a balloon with a dog wearing a party hat, that said, "Do I smell cake?" And a whole other cake, Mango Creme, which Jim's parents contributed to the party.

There were hamburgers and bratwursts, there was cucumber salad and German potato salad, there were cherries, there were chips, and homemade guacamole (thanks to Mr. V. for that delicious stuff!). There were two sets of grandparents, a family of old friends, and two of Jim's coworkers and the coworkers' spouse or partner.

The weather wasn't exactly fantastic for the party, but it wasn't raining, and it wasn't freezing, so we got to spend it outside, per plan.

Kid's table!

Some of the younger party guests were extremely zealous in helping Muriel unwrap her presents, to the extent that I have no idea which guests or friends sent or brought which gifts. This is going to make writing the thank you cards an exciting mental and creative challenge.

Muriel changes so much week to week. She doesn't even look like the same baby- her poofy cheeks and square, squishy head have disappeared, which is not to say that she doesn't have a head, just that she has shed her baby looks and is heading into toddler-dom. She is itching to walk- does anyone else remember reading "Sinbad the Sailor" as a kid, the part where Sinbad gives a ride on his shoulders to an old man, but the man hangs on tight and he has to carry the guy around for days or something? Our version of that is when Muriel convinces you to help her walk by letting her hold your fingers and clomp around the house. Seems like a nice thing to do at first, but she will never, ever, let you stop. Try to let go? Try to set her down? Try to pick her up? Good luck. I forget what Sinbad does to get the old guy off, but fortunately for us, Muriel is just going to start walking one of these days, and we will all be released from our bondage.

Muriel loves music- she dances even when I just sing songs to her (especially if the song is "Get Your Freak On"). She likes to pound out sounds on the piano, and drum on things, and shake things. You heard the prediction here first! Muriel will have a musical life! She has, alas, fallen out of love with baby food, which means we have entered the uncertain realm where we can't measure with satisfaction how many containers of carrots or green beans she has consumed in a given week. She is pretty good at trying foods, though. She is learning how to drink milk from a sippy cup, but she is not into it. She knows a handful of baby signs, and has just busted out with "more," which we were hoping would mean she would stop shrieking during meals, but not so far. She likes to imitate any sound anybody makes, including herself, so if someone coughs, she makes a weird coughing sound. Wacky baby. Oh, and she HAAATES lying still on the changing table. It is a wrestling match every single time. She also enjoys looking out the window, scrambling up the stairs when we are not looking, chewing on her own and others' shoes, and laughing at her sister. She is a funny, beautiful, smart, good little person. We are into Muriel!

PS- I am somehow deleting all the birthday photos I laboriously uploaded to this thing, and the files are all out of town on Mr. K's computer, so I will update with more when he returns. How can you live without seeing the globby freehand icing gel birds on Muriel's birthday cake?