It came up fast, relentlessly. No matter what I did I could not slow down time. My baby girl has turned 1!! We had a whole day planned of quality time celebrating our little girl! First us girls had to get ready…
Lip gloss changes everything! Annelise is in the stage where imitation is so much fun!
Annelise’s birthday party was planned for a week after her actual birthday so all grandparents could attend! But she had received a few presents in the mail from Aunts, Uncles and Great Aunts and Uncles. We set these all out, including a gift from us.
Her Uncle David sent a Korean style first birthday gift. It included things from different areas of occupation; an infant first aid kit signifying health care, a bathtub basketball hoop signifying sports, a toy car signifying travel, coloring pencils signifying artistic and a baby doll for good measure! In Korea, whichever toy the child is drawn to first implys what she will become as an adult. I am proud to say she went for the first aid kit first! Go healthcare!
She still does her “ooh” face. Its super cute and looks like she is so interested in what she is doing! Even if its looking at the backside of her new puzzle!
We got her bathtime books, playtime books and finally filled out her baby book. Its hard to believe we haven’t had time to put anything in her baby book yet, but I think it will be a tradition for our kiddos’ first birthdays to make sure that baby book is filled out. Such a great memory keeper.
And as that last picture hinted, we were heading out to the zoo!! Annelise had been before for a playdate, but was too young and didn’t really care to look at animals. Now that she’s a bit older, she seemed to really enjoy looking at the animals. She also loved looking at all the other kids. She will wave at any and every kid that we pass, no matter where we are. No worries, plenty of adults get waves, too. We say hi to people almost everywhere we are. I love to encourage this, its really sweet and we seem to make friends where ever we are!
(We did stop for a quick photo shoot before going to the zoo, but I’m saving those pics for their own post…) 
Its important to be prepared for a day in the sun. Sunscreen and sunglasses are a must, even if they don’t last long!
It was a little hard to see the animals from so low in the stroller…
We saw deer.
And lots of fish!
Ooohh!
My pretty girl.
She [gently] pet her first snake.
The turtles didn’t move fast enough for Annelise to really take notice. I tried.
So we had her ride on one…
Love my girl.
Of course, we could not pass up a photo opp.
She found a kangaroo, hopefully we will get to visit Uncle Daniel down under and see a real one up close!
We saw some penguins.
We found a cemetary in the zoo and tried to do a serious pose, but Annelise thought it was funny…
And another random shot-me and my girl in a stagecoach!
We decided to take a little break and rock in the rocking chairs.
When did my sweet little baby grow up into this beautiful little girl?!
My 1 year old, my baby and I.
She had to check out the large alligator.
Yikes!!
She had a lot of fun watching otters swim by in the circle window.
It was a warm day, so we stopped for an ice cream break!
Give Annelise a spoonful of ice cream and she’ll want the whole scoop! 
Of course, she would need to rinse off the ice cream… Daddy took her for a run through the water fountain.
All cleaned up, she was ready for her very first carousel ride!
Or was she…?
She probably wasn’t. She spent most of the ride trying to get to Mommy!
Annelise noticed the elephants…
And giraffes…
Before we decided that we had had enough for one day!
We made it home quickly enough to endulge in a family nap! Then enjoyed a dinner at a local catfish restaurant, Catfish Sams, with Annelise’s Abuelos and Tios! A wonderful day all around! I’m not sure Annelise understood that it was her first birthday, but she did tell us many times that she was 1 year old by pointing her index finger when asked how old she was!
