Lauren is 1!!!

Our baby girl is one! We can hardly believe it. What a year it has been. We love her more every day. She continues to amaze us with how much she changes, learns and grows each day. We took Lauren to the doctor for her 12-month well-baby check up and she's perfectly healthy. And Healthy she is!! She weighs 23 lbs and 14 oz (88th percentile) and she's 31 inches tall (98th percentile)!! Whew! She's saying lots of words now (mama, dada, shoes, wow, up, bye, hi, ducky, and a few more). She also knows some of her animal sounds (woof woof, moo, and neigh for the horse). She really is getting funny.

We had a busy birthday weekend! Justin and I were off work on her actual birthday, Friday June 20. We were hoping to take her to Brookfield Zoo that day, but the weather (and her nap schedule) didn't cooperate, so we enjoyed the morning playing at home. Mom and Dad and Grandpa and Grandma Rowe arrived in the afternoon and we took Lauren to the little Cosley Zoo near our house. Lauren always enjoys seeing the farm animals there. Then we went out for pizza for dinner. Uncle Mikey, Aunt Maggie, Aunt Melissa and Stephanie arrived later Friday night.

Saturday was the big party day! We had a Rubber Ducky themed birthday party with ducks everywhere! Lauren was in heaven (even without very good naps that day.) About 20+ of our family members came to help us celebrate her birthday, including her 3 Uncle Mike's, Cousin Michael and Grandpa Mike (better known as Boppa)!

Lauren got way too many presents-- everyone was so generous. Thank you to those who helped us celebrate! She is still loving playing with all of her new toys! We of course we gave her her first taste of chocolate cake! She wasn't really sure quite what to do with it and didn't really like her sticky fingers after touching the frosting. See her eating her cake here.

Lauren (and her parents) was exhausted after the weekend was over but she still loves when we sing Happy Birthday to her!

We are really looking forward to seeing how much Lauren grows and changes during the next year. Thanks for checking in! Enjoy the rest of her birthday party pictures below.

Until next time--