It’s been a whole year around the sun for our dear sweet Coco. This weekend, we celebrated her first birthday with a party surrounded by some of our family and friends. She had the sweetest expression when I brought her down after her nap to see everyone ready to greet her. When it was time for her to dig into her cake, she hesitated, but then really dug in! First Birthday Party Photography is something I don’t get to do often, so of course I jumped at the opportunity to capture this special moment for our family.

Let’s recap her first year

Coco has a special place in my heart. Not only is her birthday two days before mine, but she’s also the second child to a big sister just like me. I feel like I get her – what she will experience and how she will view the world. And I love that!

Soon after she was born, we could tell she was a pretty sweet baby. I’m pretty sure the new baby love is clouding my memory of the sleepless nights, dirty diapers, and crying for no reason, but I just remember how cuddly she was. We adjusted fairly quickly to life as a family of four. Her firsts came fairly quickly. She was four days old when we first took her out to a restaurant. She was six weeks old when we went on our first road trip (Vancouver). She was my little pal and she went where I went for the first 3 months before I got back into my work (see my first wedding I photographed after Coco’s birth here!)

She is really just the sweetest thing. I don’t know how else to describe her personality. She’s pretty independent, usually because she just wants to play with her big sister’s toys. She has the sweetest little laugh and smile. She loves eating everything in sight. And currently she loves waving hello and goodbye. She steals hearts wherever she goes.

What I want to savor

I want to savor her chubby arm rolls, her fuzzy hair and her chunky cheeks. I love that at the end of the day, she will still come to me just to snuggle and lay her head on my chest. And I just let her snuggle for as long as she wants. I know these moments are fleeting, and I’ll savor every single moment of it.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Coco

I love you to the moon and back.

Love, Your mama

Her Monthly Baby Photos

I love this project to document my chidlren’s first year of life, showing the small changes from month to month. I got to do this for my first daughter, Eleanor, and I was excited to be able to do this again for Coco. Though, it was getting tough to get her to stay in one spot (to the point where I only got 3 total photos for the last month, and luckily, the first photo worked!), so a small part of me is glad that this project is over – no more chasing her around!

Enjoy these photos as much as I’ve enjoyed creating these for her!

Links:

Birthday Party – Hoops and fold spray paint/Michael’s; Flowers from Seattle Wholesale Growers Market; Cakes from Cakes of Paradise; Cake topper from BHLDN; Gold Balloons from Party City; Gold Vase from Target

Monthly Baby Photos – Letter board from Letterfolk; Doll from Hazel Village