I tried to be cool about it, but I'm done pretending.

Okay, so I hinted a while back that a certain Oscar winner has been bringing her daughter to our music class, but I didn't want to seem all star-struck about it. Today, that is all changing. I am no longer pretending -- I AM star-struck. What changed? Well, the hubby came to class, too.

Does Charlotte know how special it is to have a Best Actress Oscar winner singing goofy songs just a few feet away? Doe she appreciate having a Grammy-winning country artist crooning "Trot Old Joe" within spitting distance (not that she would EVER spit him!)? Probably not. But I will record it in her baby book so that someday she can read it and say, "Mom, tell me again who these Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban people are? Didn't they used to be famous in the olden days?"

The best part about class today was when at the end, the instructor was commenting on how nice it was to see a daddy at class with his daughter. Nicole piped up and mentioned that "Zoey's dad" had come in the past as well. Both Zoey AND Demetri got shout-outs from Nicole Kidman! And even though Zoey wasn't even at class today and Nicole hadn't been there for nearly a month, Nicole remembered Zoey's name! I guess those cheeks are unforgettable...

[Yes, Nicole Kidman is gorgeous in person, even without much makeup at all. No, her forehead does not appear to move, but can you blame her for a little cosmetic enhancement? If my face was going to be shown in close-up on a huge movie screen, I might do the same. Yes, Keith is just as cute in person, and yes, he does have a nice voice. They both have very cool accents.]

And this is what happens when you try to take a group photo with an uncooperative 1-year-old

Walk the line

Charlotte had taken about 5-6 steps together on several occasions over the last week or so, but it wasn't until a couple of hours after her birthday party on Saturday that she suddenly had a notion to take a nice, long cruise. NanaB was the first to recover from the surprise of it all, and she grabbed her camera about 20 seconds after the journey began. Now I know she's wearing a rather odd-looking outfit. The dress on top is one that has a stain that won't come out, and we had that on her because of the aforementioned cake eating exploits. We put the plaid pants back on after the party ended because CJ was getting chilly. My irrational mom pride requires that I give this explanation as to why she looks like a ragamuffin.

One in a million shot

After watching the first video below, you might wonder exactly how it was that CJ picked up that entire cake and knocked it on the floor. Luckily, Joslyne happened to take a photo at EXACTLY that precise moment. It was a one in a million shot!



If you hadn't watched the video, you might think she was just bringing the cake up to her mouth to really get a good bite. Amazingly enough, the cake landed on the ground and made it back up onto the tray in one piece!

Cake cake and more cake - in two acts

Act I - The tragedy



Act II - The comedy

Sneak preview of the birthday party extravaganza

Today was Charlotte's official birthday party. It was so terrific that we are all partied out and will write a post about it tomorrow. Here's just a little taste of things to come!

More great photos from the birthday picnic

Courtesy of a much better photographer than me!

Presents!

Charlie Jo still isn't quite sure what's going on when we try to get her to open presents. Normally, things are taken away from her when she rips at them. Suddenly, both Mom and Dad are thrusting boxes in front of her and encouraging her to tear away! She does better ripping tissue paper out of gift bags, actually. I think that reminds her of her beloved tissue boxes.

Once she gets the present open, she has an insatiable urge to taste each gift. Somehow, we managed to keep the books out of her mouth, but a couple of the cards may have some teeth marks.

Al fresco birthday lunch

We had the perfect birthday picnic at the park courtesy of Joslyne and Zoey. They brought everything, including food, dessert AND entertainment -- a cool pinwheel and fun bubbles! First, we started with lunch. Charlotte basically ate off of Zoey's tray, because Zoey's food (which was exactly the same as Charlotte's) was apparently much tastier.



After lunch, we played in the grass. Our attempts at a "BFFs" photo failed miserably.



The boo boo on CJ's forehead is looking much better!



Just four ladies enjoying a beautiful early spring day.



The girls probably could have swung for hours if we kept pushing them.



I don't know -- do you think Zoey likes it? She looks a little ambivalent.



Zozo and CJ are going to have lots of fun days at the park this spring.



Thank you so much for such a wonderful birthday picnic! What a terrific way to turn one year old!!

SOOOOOO big!

How big is Charlotte? SOOOOOO big! (imagine me saying this in a sing-songy voice, and CJ flinging her arms up in the air and grinning)

Actually, she's not all that big -- pretty average to tell you the truth. We just came from her 12-month well baby check-up at the pediatrician's office and got the official stats. She weighs 21 pounds, 2 ounces (the 55th percentile) and is 30 inches long (the 75th percentile). Her head size has consistently been in the 75th percentile at every visit. Not bad, kid!

She got three immunization shots but didn't like them ONE BIT. It probably didn't help that we skipped the morning nap today, but the rest of the appointment went fine until that point. Charlotte was putting on a show for the doctor -- talking, waving her arms, bouncing around, pointing, and generally acting like a huge goofball. And then she did her evil dramatic chipmunk tantrum routine when the doctor had to take a tongue depressor away. You would have thought Dr. Hood ripped out one of her toenails. Oh my.

We got the green light to start the weaning process as well as giving her whole milk, honey, and every kind of table food other than nuts or shellfish. Considering she found a peanut on the floor in our neighbor's garage and chewed on it for a good five minutes (before we realized it and took it away!) without a bad reaction, I think we're okay. Dr. Hood just about choked when I told her that story. Whoops. Anyway, we will be heading to the store after lunch to get the milk and some more fig newtons (Charlotte's current favorite food).

Happy birthday, sweet girl

One year ago today, our little family grew by one. This year has been everything we ever hoped for and more.



Happy birthday, sweet girl. We love you more than you know.

More about all of today's birthday excitement later. We're pooped and need to go to bed!

Early birthday celebration at Pancho's Trivia Night

Charlie Jo has been going to Pancho's for Trivia Night every Monday since she was 3 weeks old. She went while she was in utero, too! Tonight was no exception. Here she is, about 4 milliseconds before throwing that chip on the ground.



In honor of her birthday tomorrow, we asked for the usual Pancho's birthday celebration -- lackluster funeral-like singing by the waiters ("Happy BIRTHday Panchita..."), free flan, and of course a photo op with the big obnoxious sombrero. Charlotte has seen it done many times, but wasn't so sure what was going on when it actually happened to her.



"Get this thing OFF me!"



I have no idea what Dawn was so excited about.



"Please help me Daddy!"



It doesn't look like it, but CJ was actually having a good time that night (even though the Marshalls had to miss it because Alicia thinks pneumonia is a good excuse for ditching the team).



I fed her some of the whipped cream off the top of the flan and she really liked it. Until she threw a fit and spat a bunch of it down her shirt, that is.



We won first place thanks to our knowledge of original Crayola crayon colors, the direction the jet stream runs, and the name of the talking dog in "Men In Black".

Tomorrow at 6:09 a.m., Charlotte JoAnn turns a whopping ONE YEAR OLD!