We had a beautiful day celebrating Annika's big day. Of course, we had to go out for Chinese food. The all around choice would been Pei Wei hands down, if we were in Kansas City but the second choice would have to due. It was delicious. After enjoying the good eats we enjoyed a good walk all around downtown.
There is such internal pressure to make a memorable day, well memorable. I looked on various sites to see what others had done but was torn between making it the likes of a birthday bash or something low key. My sister had made a scrapbook for Annika when she had arrived home last year. It was designed for photos of our own choosing to be added but I never really had the opportunity to focus on it. About a week ago it dawned on me that it would be a perfect backdrop to host a month-by-month visual of our daughter's first year home.
Little did I realize how much this would touch Annika's little heart. She lit up when I told her I had a present for her, only to see her continually brighten every time she turned the page and saw herself smiling back at her. She kept saying, "(re)member that"? She has continued to carry it around with her daily and has asked me to sit with her and "show me" the pictures. I wonder how much is going on in that little mind and heart of hers. Without a single picture capturing her sweet face before the age of 3, I love that she is enjoying the knowledge of how special she really is to us.
