ONE

She did it. She kept herself alive for an entire year. Time to celebrate with her first lick of sugar.

L to the O to the L.

Let me see, let me see ... what can I tell you about Phoebe Anika that you don't already know? Lots, I'm sure.

Simon calls her a strong independent woman because she is thee worst about getting her diaper changed and has the core strength of Xena + the Hulk combined and can wriggle out of just about any parental attempt to keep her pinned. Even when two parents are involved.

She's the most open-minded child about food (though you'd never guess ... those sad, deflated cheeks) and will eat virtually anything but once she's had enough she will stare you straight in the eye and fling the food at your face or launch it across the room without moving a facial muscle.

She's the most narrow-minded child when it comes to car rides but ... we won't get into that.

I call her Sebastian's apprentice because she gets into as much or more trouble than he did at her age. In the span of four minutes the other night while I was putting Theo to bed she emptied all of my makeup bag along with a dresser that contains far more clothing than it should, and then made her happy little way over to the dishwasher where she climbed up on the door and went to town on alllll the dirty utensils. No shame in her games, ever.

She's a real shark at hide-and-seek ...

.. where could she be?

She's gone from the very worst Patton child sleeper to a champion sleeper and always wakes up in the happiest mood which is greatly appreciated considering what rotten demeanors her siblings find themselves in post-zzz's.

She's a litttttle bit of a bully and I've had to rescue all three kids at separate times from her crazy clutches in the middle of what went from a fun-loving wrestling match to a "pin the enemy down while pulling their hair like I just don't care" session.

She will stand for hours on end but has NO interest in walking. At all.

And she will dance to just about any beat: the microwave timer, the blender, any and all music, and my blowdryer.

We celebrated last night because we had to vacate the house for a showing and I didn't know what today would hold as far as showings would go (and we did have a surprise call SO ... .2 smart points for Grace, for once) but I understand if you don't want to be dragged through the celebrations but if you DO

.... click on, clicker ...



Things got real fancy with Costco carrot cupcakes at our usual park ...

and headgear.

 I'm really starting to get this, "elaborate first birthday" gig DOWN.

only cool parents let kids dig into cupcakes (or "cutcakes" if you're Julia and Sebastian) sans bib ...

her shirt miraculously escaped unscathed but I cannot say the same for Simon's.

God bless Oxyclean.

and Happy Happy Birthday to Phoebe! Even though you have no idea why today is significant ... we promise to do something extra special tonight ... like put you to bed three minutes later than usual.

(and her birth story ... in case anyone has 7 hours to spare)