This past week we were beachin’ it up in San Diego with the Moores.

SO much fun & so many memories — segways, sandcastles, spelling bees, oh my!

We laughed a lot and got sunburns.

We played games, watched sunsets, and saw sharks.

We ate In & Out (some of us twice! — okay, I was the only one that ate it twice).

Good times. Thanks Barry & Julie for organizing everything, we loved it!

Here are a few photos from our Friday — including one of Penelope’s latest habit which has me contemplating a hardhat investment. Everything {and I mean everything} gets thrown over her shoulder these days (superstitious, maybe?). Blocks, books, food, milk, her babies. We’ll clean her messy face and rush out the door, just to find a few hours later that we missed a couple chunks of peanut butter sandwich stuck to the back of her head from her earlier tosses. I’ve recently dodged a few bullets  blocks, but don’t be surprised if you see me sporting a black eye — I’m sure my luck is close to running out.

Pushing her face up against the glass, waving goodbye to Daddy as he leaves to his church meetings.

Today she walked herself up to the piano and decided to play a little ditty.

We’ve got ourselves a little walker.

She had never taken even one step on her own before, but decided to freak us out yesterday by just getting up and suddenly walking half a mile across the room. It was so weird. And so funny. We couldn’t stop laughing.

Good job, baby girl!

It’s like something magically changes after the first birthday rolls around. My baby transformed into a toddler overnight. While she’s been using sign language for several months, her sign language just seems different. Older. She motions “more” and then points to what she wants. She sees me laugh, and then she laughs. Almost like we’re laughing at inside jokes. She recognizes Bryce in pictures and points, saying “dada”. She just one day started taking naps in her own crib (halle-freaking-lujah! It’s about time). When we’ve been away and then return, she squeals as we walk into the room. She upgraded to her “big girl” car seat, which has cured so many car ride crying spells — she absolutely loves it. And she eats peanut butter.

Instead of having a little baby, I now have a little buddy. And i like it.

Things last week were SO crazy in our household. All of our exciting events happened at once and it felt like we got negative hours of sleep rather than a surplus. …And…. this is why I am just now getting around to posting a few photos from Penelope’s 1st :)

And of course, a good 1st birthday can’t end without a few tears.