Poem’s First Birthday

Our little Poem is ONE YEAR OLD! We had a delicious day of fun for her, which included letting her take a nice long morning nap without any other kids making noise (they went snorkeling with dad and aunt Charity). WE MISSED HER (THIS IS JONAH IN CAPS) Then we loaded up and met a few families for a simple birthday party at the park.

The theme was POem’s POlka Dot Birthday party.

We were all supposed to wear Polka Dots, but it didn’t end up that way. I HAVE A POLKA DOT HEAD. Elsie decided the night before that she was going to be a polka dot cat.

The whiskers and tape were her own invention, and they stayed on all night! AJA WOULD'NT LET HER PAINT HER FACE SO SHE CUT THESE WHISKERS OUT OF SOME CHRISTMAS RIBBON AND THEY STAYED ON TIL THE NEXT EVENING WHEN SHE PULLED THEM OFF.

 THE BOYS DID SOME SKATING AND SAT ON THE ROOF WHEN THEY WEREN'T SKATING.  CAM IS A SKATER.  AGE DOESN'T MATTER WITH THIS GROUP.  THEY ARE THICK AS THIEVES INSTANTLY.

 HERE ARE THE INVITES AJA MADE.  SHE IS A MASTER CUTTER AND SHE IS NOT AFRAID TO SAY SO.

Here are the kids that we could coerce into standing still for the photo. We have some great new friends here on Maui, and all of their kids love little Po. She just about gets her cheeks kissed off every time we get together with any of these families. Luckily she adores the attention.

She also gets lots of love from Auntie Charity! We are so glad Charity could be here to celebrate Po’s birthday and her own half birthday.

Po was very good about just looking at the goodies and not touching. We had polka dot sugar cookies, cake pops, and a round chocolate cake that was delicious (thanks Charity for all your baking skills and help!!!).

Poem’s walking skills have really progressed—she’s nearly to the point where she exclusively walks (which makes me so happy because now she can wear dresses more often). I WILL LOVE IT AS WELL BECAUSE IT IS EASIER TO PUT HER ON THE TOILET.

Ana kindly wore the polka dot hat I made, since Po would have nothing to do with it.

I love this photo because Po looks so confused about everyone singing to her while there is a fire on the cake. She’s thinking, “What in the world?!”

Po was generously showered with gifts.

Then all the kids ran off to play in the mist that rolled in…

and Po stripped down so she could enjoy her favorite pastime—climbing stairs.

 IF THERE ARE STAIRS ANYWHERE NEARBY EVEN IF WE ARE AT THE OCEAN, SHE WILL CHOOSE THE STAIRS.

Charity relished in being out in the warm Hawaiian air, since it had been pouring rain for the last two days.

Ana and her friends made a huge CTR Heart with flowers they gathered.

After the party, we went home and and let Po blow out a candle one more time. Then she opened some presents and then, finally, she got a piece of cake! She had never had much sugar or any chocolate before and she looked at us and said, “Why have you been holding out on me!?”… but after she only slept for about 5 hours that night, we all knew why we had refrained.

We sure love our baby!! I can’t believe she’s a year old!

And to really celebrate, Jonah took me to the nicest Mama’s Fish House dinner that night since we had Charity in town to babysit. Mmmmmmmm. It was simply perfect. We haven’t been able to go on many dates this year, so it was truly a good long breath of fresh air. Mama’s makes some of the best food on the planet. PO WAS SCREAMING AT HOME WITH THE AFTER EFFECTS OF SUGAR SO IT WAS CUT A BIT SHORT.

Okay! More tomorrow!  Happy December and Merry Christmas!!!