State Fair

A very hot Semira with the famous Iowa State Fair butter cow

A stroll through the state fair sprinklers sure felt good!

Dancing with her great aunt Glennys

Semira and Mom at the wedding

Semira and I recently took a trip to Iowa to attend our cousin Gina's wedding and introduce Semira to the extended family. She was inundated with relatives, and she charmed every single one of them. She had lots of neat experiences while she was there. She attended the famous Iowa State Fair one day, where she had her first tastes of tenderloin and funnel cake and saw the butter cow. She had her first taste of fresh-picked corn on the cob. She got to dance with her great aunts at Gina's wedding reception. She entertained a whole row (maybe 2) of cousins during the wedding ceremony by playing peekaboo with them over the back of our pew. We had a nice time but it was really good to get back home.

Semira started day care last Thursday. Like most new moms, I was apprehensive about dropping her off that first day. I was sure we'd both be sobbing before I left. But she saw the other children and gladly went to her teacher so she could start playing. She loves "school," and starts squeaking every morning when she realizes that's where we're headed. School really takes it out of her. She slept 14 hrs that first night after coming home. She was back to her usual 12 hrs the next night. She's already looking tired this evening and it's only 5:30. I think it'll be an early dinner and bedtime for the baby girl.

Happy Birthday, Baby Girl

Semira celebrated her first birthday over the weekend. She discovered that birthdays are fun. People sing and clap, Mom gives you a special new food called cake, and you get to rip paper without being told NO. She got beautiful clothes and new sippy cups from my friends.

I made Semira a Winnie the Pooh cake and discovered something for myself. Decorating cakes is nowhere near as easy as the people on TV make it look. I don't think it turned out too horrible for my first attempt at cake decorating, but he was kind of a neon orange Pooh. In any case, all but the red shirt part tasted good. I need to throw out my red food coloring and try the no-taste red when I do this cake again. I don't understand how such a small amount of food coloring can turn frosting, which is mostly sugar, into a bitter atrocity.

Semira's Aunt Merritt has told me multiple times that she needs a tiara (and baby nail polish and pierced ears...). I have a very different view of what she needs at this age. But her grandma and I gave in on the least intrusive of these "needs" and found her a Birthday Girl tiara by accident one day when we were out shopping. She left it on long enough (while distracted with a big strawberry) for a couple of photos.

Posing in her new Princess Pajamas, a birthday gift from her buddy Carol.

She's standing so well now. It takes her no time at all to pull herself up to standing. Here, she's watching her doggie sisters play in the back yard during her party. It's so neat to watch her learn new things every day. Who knew a little girl could be so fascinating? Her newfound mobility is making time in the kitchen much more challenging though. She either scoots around in her walker running over my feet or tripping me, or she pulls herself up by hanging onto the back of my pants so I can't move and I can't reach her to pick her up.

The birthday girl is working on her bigger teeth now so she's been a bit cranky and clingy. I can feel bumps on her gums all the way back to where her molars are, so it's likely to be a few weeks before those pesky gums stop hurting her. It appears that after waiting until she was 11 months old to start teething, she's going to continue non-stop until all of her teeth are in. Poor kid. I think I need to buy stock in Infant Tylenol and Baby Orajel.