The Birthday Girl!

My precious baby girl turned 1 a few days ago! Oh how the year sped by.  It certainly was not an easy year, but she is such a delight.

She appears to be our second introvert and is very shy.  It has only been in recent weeks when she would willingly go to more people.  Keeping with tradition (here, here, and here), I made our petite little princess a birthday crown.  Greta's name means 'pearl' and so it was only fitting that I incorporate some of those into her crown.  Those of you astute observers probably noticed the return of the gray felt that I used for the boys birthday shark fins...  I overestimated how much I needed and so Greta's crown took shape from some of the surplus.  I'm quite pleased with the result and hope that she soon appreciates the work of art instead of focusing primarily on the forces of gravity! :) 

Food allergies are something new to me.  She is sensitive to so much... 

I've had to refrain from dairy, eggs, oatmeal, Dijon mustard and peanuts.  Her poor system is so sensitive that when she clamored for a few bites of sweet potato two months ago, she ended up with nearly three weeks of green diarrhea.  I've heard that their gut matures with the arrival of teeth and I'm hoping that is true as she should get her first in the next couple of weeks.  

While family still gathered to celebrate, she didn't get to partake of much although I did sneak her a few bites of watermelon!  She loves her family and the beautiful outdoors, so she enjoyed herself despite her lack of table food.

This beautiful daughter of ours has reminded us of the need to pray and keep praying.  I've learned compassion as I have a new perspective towards families with food allergies and she has helped me gain the ability and confidence to cook around food allergies/intolerance's that has come in handy as I've had opportunity to entertain families experiencing challenges even greater than these.

Happy Birthday sweet Greta.  I look forward to the years to come!

Related Post:
Greta: A Birth Story