Her First Car

Right around my 17th birthday my parents bought me a gently-used light blue car (Ford Escort).  Right around Becca's first birthday we bought her a gently-used light blue car, too (Little People).  We saw it in the Fisher Price catalog for $140, I think, and thought it was a bit much but that she'd love it.  It went on sale for $94, still a bit much, but we went in to check it out.  It fits her perfectly right now, and we were worried she'd grow out of it too fast.  But ToysRUs had a used one (with a new battery and charger) for $39.99.  So we snatched it up.  She can push the button on the steering wheel and drive it herself, or we can put a pole in the back and drive it for her.  That's what Rich is doing in these pictures.  In the house she drives on her own, but when we're out and about the pole is faster--she stops and starts too much . . . and she doesn't steer so well just yet.  But she sure looks great in it.

Rebecca's Kitchen

Grandmom Ellie's big birthday present was Rebecca's new kitchen, and a big present it was!  Becca uses her kitchen every day.  Sometimes she's really only interested in rooting through the drawers and cabinets (but better hers than ours) and sometimes she enjoys cooking for herself or for Daddy and Mommy.  Rich took these adorable pictures of her hard at work.

Party Season

We're officially in the thick of party season around here--it started just before Rebecca's birthday when we went to Aunt Cathy's annual bash.  And, excluding Becca's obsession with Cathy's balloon, everything went well.  Here are my favorite pictures from the party.

Then came Becca's party, then Nanny's.  Here she is with Becca, Rich, Kaitlyn, and Maureen.

And this picture of Becca and Kaitlyn, in their matching outfits, was too cute to pass up.

Then there was Thanksgiving.  I put the camera in the diaper bag, but the bag ended up in the garage because of an unfortunate bottle leaking incident, so no pictures (I was too lazy to go back out and grab it).

Happy Birthday, Rebecca

Thursday night Becca carried her Elmo balloon to bed.  Rich moved it to the closet after she fell asleep.  Friday morning when she woke up she grinned and immediately looked up at the ceiling, then turned quizzical as she asked, "Mo, Mo?"  She'd had a good birthday.  

She'd had her "big" present from us earlier in the week (a little car--that's a story for another time) and opened the rest of her presents from Mom and Dad that morning.

We had to help a little with the unwrapping, since Rich was going in to work that day--look at the pieces she was pulling off:

And she liked everything.

That evening was her party.  She had a great time and loved all her gifts.

We had a few cakes for the occasion--I made Rebecca's smash cake and one I could eat, plus we ordered a white one from ShopRite.  Overkill?  Perhaps, but if you slice them up and freeze 'em, you'll have dessert for weeks (days) to come.

The one I made was supposed to be blue with green grass, but I ran out of time and just threw it together.  Becca's frosting was a little too cold to smash up nicely, but she enjoyed her slices.

And shared, of course.

After a quick cleanup and change, she was off for more presents.

Which she loved.

And we all had a good time,

in our own way.

And as the night came to a close, Becca fell asleep to the tune of "Itsy Bitsy Spider," played on one of her favorite birthday cards (the other sings "Happy Birthday").

Baby Girl (Her First Few Weeks)

Becca had lots of visitors those first few weeks, and here are a few pictures.

Cousin Meghan

Great Aunt Maureen

Daddy

Cousin Rose

Grandpop, Uncle Brian, and Dad

Grandmom Ellie

Grandpa Pete

Grandma

In the beginning, Becca spent a good bit of time napping.  Little naps, but napping.

And a lot of time of Mommy's lap.

She loved her swing.

Daddy did most of her manicures in those early weeks.

And we spent as much time as we could together.

And probably took too many pictures,

but she was too cute not to.