Birthday Bash Highlights

Hi Everybody!

Happy February! Wow, it has been crazy these past few weeks since my birthday. We had a party down in L.A. with all our family and friends, then we had a party in Sacramento with our friends up here. It was busy and hectic and SO MUCH FUN.

So I thought I would share some highlights from my first birthday with all my faithful readers. Here goes:

My Abuelita Guille worked SO hard to make my party in L.A. special. She literally cooked for days so everything could be ready on my big day. She made TONS of delicious pozole, yummy fried tacos de papa, homemade salsa, and fresh horchata, jamaica and ponches to drink. And she had to make a lot, because there were about 75 guests at my party!

But she wasn't the only one who worked hard. Her co-workers Maria and Marina made really special contributions too. Maria HANDMADE my Winnie the Pooh pinata. It was SO beautiful. Pooh had a honeypot and colorful flowers and he even had a butterfly on his shoulder. She even decorated the stick to match. It was so nice that I felt bad breaking it! So when it was time, Papi helped me to give the pinata a few light taps. Then I let the bigger kids break it, and they had fun chasing after all the candy. Mami took the flowers off the pinata and saved them as a memento!

Marina made me this really pretty box. It had butterflies and flowers and said "Maya's Birthday" on it. We put all the goodie bags in it. I also used it to help me stand, and pushed it around the room so I could practice walking. We took the box home to Sacramento, and I still have it! I think I'll keep some toys in it.

Martha, who is Abuelita Guille's neighbor, made some delicious flans and gelatins for everyone to eat. One of the gelatins looked like Pooh! And my cake was too much. It was actually THREE cakes, like at a wedding: a big one, a medium one and a small one. Mami put the small one next to me and told me to go crazy. But I'm kind of a neat freak; I don't like being messy. I tasted some of the frosting and Papi fed me the rest. I didn't want to get dirty on my big day!

Next came the presents. Wow, there were LOTS. Darling dresses and cute sweaters and stylish pants and even gold earrings! I got books and dolls and blocks and lots of money! I already have a college savings account, and the money went straight into that.

Overall, it was lots of fun, even though I was very tired at the end of the night. Lots of people held me and I think I ate too much! But I got to see lots of family and friends and everybody had a good time. That's what counts!

We came back to Sacramento and had a smaller party with about 25 of our friends. The house looked very festive. We had yummy eggrolls and sandwiches and snacks, and Mami's friend Alexa made a delicious spinach dip.

There were other little kids and babies there like Ari, Eleanor and Tristan. Our house is small and it was filled with people, but I didn't mind. I just crawled around everyone and played with my toys. I like having a house full of people! At one point I needed a little space, so I crawled under the dining room table and hid. But I smiled for the camera when Mami found me!

I got lots more awesome presents and everyone loved their party favors. There was a big, delicious cake for everyone and I got my very own mini-cake. But again, I was very reluctant to get messy. I'm just not that kind of baby! It tasted yummy though.

Thanks to everyone for making my first birthday so special and memorable. I just feel like the luckiest girl in the world because I'm surrounded bo so many loving, thoughtful and generous people!

There's such a bright future ahead of me. I know the world out there has many wonderful things in store...