HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABY!

We've been celebrating non-stop around here! Last weekend, on the 22nd, Vanessa had her first birthday party with lots of relatives around. One great thing about having a birthday a few days prior to Christmas is your relatives are bound to be gathering already. How convenient!

Another great thing is that most people are thinking of shopping for gifts. This year, Nanners had quite the stash.

Granny Ernestine and Auntie Judi from Seattle came for the party. Cousin Dave and Theresa were hosting a big Christmas get-together at their house nearby, so Vanessa was able to celebrate with them and extended family.

Vanessa's playmate Grant stopped in. We met Grant's parents Liz and Paul in our birthing classes and we still get together. See two MIRACLE babies, here:

Great Aunt Betty and Uncle Wally, Cousin Dorothy, Abdoulah, Suna and Kenan, Cousin Mary and Mick (from Ireland), Abdoulah's cousin from Istanbul, and Theresa's friend from Viet Nam via Toronto were all on hand to party.

Nanners put on her party dress for dinner, then immediately fell asleep in my arms. We ate dinner without her - spinach lasagne (her late, great Uncle Michael's famous recipe) and Cousin Theresa's professional catering. After dinner, Vanessa woke up. Everyone donned a party hat and grabbed a noise maker, then we lit her lone birthday candle, and belted out the "Happy Birthday!" song at close range. I was so scared I couldn't get any good pictures, but Vanners just took it all in, the center of attention, and didn't cry at all.

She heard "Happy Birthday!" in four languages: English, Turkish, Japanese, and Vietnamese, although Theresa insists there's no true version in Vietnamese. Jack asked Mick to sing it in Gaelic, but Mick was a little shy about that.

Our little party girl loved being the Belle of the Ball. She got some great gifts, but was pretty much a novice when it came to opening them. We had to spread that out over the whole week!

Vanners was really into playing with her cousins. Ever the party girl. Made us wonder - again - if we should give her some siblings next birthday. This year she got her first baby doll, who makes her squeal and grin and babble a blue streak. It's quite a sight.

After the party our baby daughter slept like a stone. We got up the next morning, met half the cousins for breakfast out, then hit the road for our Christmas celebration in Modesto. Vanny must have been high, because she didn't sleep during the 4 hour drive, got a 30 minute cat nap, and was revved up all evening. Party girl indeed!

We saw Auntie Susan, Uncle Jimmy, Susan's Nana, Cousin Julia, Uncle Mike, Granny Ernestine, Auntie Judi, Cousin Matt and Cousin Adrienne. There was a rocking horse waiting for her under the tree - one that whinnies, gallops, nods its head and whips its tail. Woo hoo!

Vanny was a big hit, of course. She was addicted to the carpeted staircase that curved and had two big landings. She also loved the three yellow doggies and two elusive kitties. However she slept through our Christmas gift opening. Even party girls need their beauty sleep.

Oh yeah: Auntie Susan, Nana and Julia sang "Happy Birthday" to Van in Spanish, too. See Vanny clapping during pat-a-cake with Granny, (first time clapping - caught on film!) here:

After a Christmas Eve feast and gift exchange, and a Christmas Morning feast and gift exchange, we drove over the hill to Palo Alto for a Christmas Evening feast and gift exchange with Auntie Susan's sister Linda, her husband Mark, and Mark's mom Dottie. Their house is so beautiful and alluring to a baby. It was not really monkey-proofed, so our squirmy girl was quite the challenge. Vanny so wanted to play with the champagne flutes on the low coffee table and the icicles and crystal garland on the flocked Christmas tree. Ooo-ler-ler!

VH1 did sit still for the fantastic meal - especially to eat the roasted peppers and the leeks - and she thought being under the dining room table looking at ten pair of adult legs was pretty freakin' rad'. She giggled quite a bit at that discovery.

We didn't get to bed until 11 pm on Christmas. Vanny slept hard and long. It was good.

People keep warning Vanessa that her birthday will be forgotten, so close to Christmas. We think, however, that her birthday may become another family holiday.

And I almost forgot... last Friday, to begin celebrating our daughter's birth, Daddio baked three batches of brownies and we bundled up Van and took her to the hospital. We delivered brownies and hugs to the NICU staff, Vanessa's beloved OB, and the maternity nurses who took care of us before and after delivery. Here are two of the nurses who took the "most" care of me, Cathe and Wendy. Wendy nursed me back to life several times during my Hyperemesis Gravidarum admissions, and Cathe took care of me, Vanessa and Daddio after the c-section, last Christmas. It was a happy holiday reunion!