Ellie's First Birthday

We were lucky to be able to spend Ellie's first birthday with family, including my parents from California. She was very timid with the cake, but eventually we convinced her to dig in!

It was so much fun to watch her open her presents.

Of course, Olivia got a present, too, just for being an awesome big sister.

Ellie's first year of life has definitely not been easy - for her or her parents. But she is such a sweet little girl. She loves her Mommy and is such a cuddler. She is an amazing sleeper at night (who would have thought, considering how horrible her first 9 months were!), and she even goes down easily (and so early! 7PM!). She still loves her left thumb and anything silky. And she is such a trooper with a big sister who can sometimes be bossy and pushy.

Olivia's First Haircut

In January, Olivia got her first haircut. First, a before shot:

We went to Cookie Cutters, and she got to sit in an airplane. I was worried that it would not go well, she can be pretty temperamental when it comes to people touching her hair. But she was awesome! Her hair was growing in really unevenly, so we had them cut it to match the shortest section of her hair.

Unfortunately, it made it REALLY short - so short that her curls were practically gone. But it is so much easier to comb in the morning. 

We also brought Ellie to a Pediatric Ophthalmologist. We were concerned that she is a little cross-eyed. Actually, I was never concerned about it, but people have asked me on and off since she was born if she was, and I always thought it was just the shape of her eyes since they are very almond-like. However, when a doctor mentioned it to us, we figured we should have her checked out. It turns out she is just fine. Jeremy and I kind of laughed, because the doctor told us, "she's not cross-eyed, she just looks like she is." I'm not sure what is worse, actually being cross-eyed, or just looking like you are :) Luckily, the appearance should go away as she gets older.