Esmé is One!

We had a great day celebrating Esmé and her first birthday today!
Esmé got the celebration started early by waking up before 6 so she and I went out onto the porch and played and talked and sang until around 7.
Then we came in and made banana pancakes for breakfast. The day was kind of cloudy so we spent the better part of the day inside. We made Esmé a cake during her naps. Later in the afternoon we all went swimming and played. Then Grammy and Ella got here. Big fun having them here.
Esmé had fun opening presents. She got a stuffed Ostrich ,"stretch", a monogrammed bubble outfit, a lap desk activity center, toy car keys, a shape sorter ad some markers and paper. They all seem just right and she has really played with them all.
Then she ate some dinner and it was time for cake! Ellen had brought a cute candle, then we realized we did not have any matches. I was not sure how much longer she would stay awake so I did not want to go get some. So we sang and have her cake without lighting the candle. She loved the cake. After she ate that inlet her play some more and Chris and Armen went and got the pizza. Then Ellen had the great idea to look downstairs in the owners closet to see if there was a lighter for the grill, there was, so we did it over. I am glad we did, it was fun and Chris got some great pics with te candle lot and Esmé could not believe her luck that we had put the cake back down in front of her. She grabbed a little more! Then it was off to bed, a full fledged one year old! Why a sweet baby!

I should also mention earlier in the day she said "thank you" for the first time. We were blowing up balloons and she handed me one and said "thank you" she did it several times and it was sweet.