More Birthday Madness

I just found these amazing creations called Cake Pops by Bakerella. I can't wait to make them for Riley's birthday party. Not sure if I'll stick with simple round cake pops with sprinkles or if I'll try to make those cute owls. She has an excellent blog with recipes and instructions, but also just came out with a book. Can't wait to buy the book!

Birthday Party Planning

I just started planning Riley's 1st birthday party. I absolutely love planning things like this, so it's been a lot of fun coming up with creative ideas, while sticking to a tight budget.

The theme: Chocolate brown and pink polka dots

I ordered the plates and napkins from Birthday Direct. Once they arrive, I'll be able to plan more based on the pink colors.

My friend Jenn had a candy bar at her son's 1st birthday, which was a great idea. With chocolate brown as one of the party colors, I figured we could have a chocolate candy bar at the party. A variety of chocolate candy will be available along with party bags to take home some of the goodies. Some of the candies on the list: whoppers, chocolate covered raisins, candy bars, brownies, chocolate chip cookies, and chocolate fondue.

Next item on the agenda is to find a party outfit for Riley. I'd like to find a cute pink tutu for her to wear. I'm also planning to make her a fancy party hat similar to the one below.

To cut down on decoration costs, I found a great craft project...tissue paper poms...on Martha Stewart's website. I figure I'll create a few of these to hang over the food/candy table.

There is an excellent website, Polka Dot Market, who specializes in polka dot themed parties. I've got a lot of ideas from them. Instead of birthday cake, I'm planning to make some cupcakes that will be displayed on a cupcake tree. I haven't make fancy cupcakes before, so I'm hoping they turn out ok. I'm also planning to make a cute birthday sign from scrapbook paper (like the one below) and decorated with photos of Riley.

So excited and can't wait for her party!!

10 months

• Riley is crawling all over the place and standing up and cruising our furniture. Still has some practice before walking. One of her favorite things to do now is stand at the front window, looking at the cars and watching the birds.
• She loves to clap her hands when she's happy or likes a song that I sing or that she hears. Very cute! She sometimes bobs her head side to side when she hears music. She loves to point at everything while making a C sound, almost like she's saying "what's that?" I explain what everything is that she points to and once satisfied, she points to something else. When I was a baby, I used to do the same thing. My first word/s (combo of words) was "whasat"...aka what's that.
• She is excellent at sharing toys and food with others, especially the dog. He sits below her highchair, cleaning up anything she drops, which is A LOT.
• She doesn't like baby food as much and now wants to eat what I'm having. I try to give her what I'm having but we've had some issues with a possible dairy allergy. It's been a challenge because most of the foods that are easy for her to eat are dairy. She's going to the allergist in a couple weeks to see if she really has the allergy. Hoping she doesn't! She seems to eat everything I've given her but doesn't like bananas or avocados.
• She now has 8 teeth! 3 came in this month all at the same time.
• Still not a great sleeper. Waking on average 4-5 times a night and if we're lucky only 2 times. Still having trouble sleeping longer than 30-45 min. for naps as well, which leads to a tired baby by the end of the day. You would think that after a long day with little naps she would be so exhausted and sleep better at night, but no such luck. She's also a VERY light sleeper, waking at the smallest creak in the floor. We've now learned where to walk in her room and the hall so it doesn't make any noise.
• On the flip side, not a great sleeper but such a happy and excellent baby. We are so lucky! She's always smiling, talking and sometimes I think she even sings.
• My favorite part of this age...she is SUPER cuddly. She is always coming over to give me hugs and kisses and loves to cuddle. Every time she puts her head on my shoulder, my heart melts.