Bubbles and Butterflies

A Butterfly Birthday!  The Invitation 

 

 

For the cake, I made a strawberry lemonade cake (delicious!!) and I made four layers, alternating dark pink and light pink.  It turned out beautifully!

Pretty poof balls I made from tulle as decoration for the party…I also hung some in her bedroom

  

Caleb begged to open all the presents for Miriam…he knew she was too young to do it! (Notice he has had a costume change; from superhero capes with bows and arrows to the captain hook pirate costume and camoflauge)

  

It took her awhile, but she figured out how to blow at the candle…and devour the cake!

The birthday girl with Auntie Elaine

 

What is a butterfly party without butterfly nets?

 

We hung festive springy paper lanterns from the Gazebo (April is a beatiful month for a little girls’ birthday!) 

The flowers

A bib I made for the occasion, incorporating the color theme

Miriam’s very own cake

 

Awaiting the release of the butterflies 

Caleb gets zealous about the butterfly catching.  Incidentally, he was the only one that caught a butterfly.  It got away quickly though.

 

A marshmallow fight We had a bubble machine, a bubble pool (where the kids could stand inside a giant bubble!) We played with silly string, chased butterflies and had a marshmallow ‘snowball’ fight. It was loads of fun Happy first birthday little sweet potato!

 

Caleb crawled out of his crib at 16 months. He’d been trying for several months, but he just wasn’t quite tall enough until then.  Once he figured it out, we couldn’t keep him in his crib for even a second…he would just catapulted out.  So we had to move him to a big bed…at just 16 months!!  I know people who still have their 3 year olds in a crib and they’ve never attempted to crawl out!  So, we decided to be ready this time with Miriam.  For her first birthday, we decided to give her a big bed.  And while we were at it, we repainted and redecorated the room.  (it was still the same nursery from both of the boys…I was craving a  girly nursery!)  Pink and Lavender, with a few butterflies thrown in

 

Miriam’s theme has always been butterflies.  It is crazy ironic all the butterfly things that have come up!  Her nickname is ‘the screeching butterfly’.  So it’s no surprise we chose Butterflies as the theme for her first birthday.  I thought this would be the perfect time to raise butterflies from caterpillars.  I thought it was sooo much fun!  The kids really enjoyed it, but I think Aaron and I were even more fascinated!  Here are some pictures of the different stages.

 

Stage 1: We received the caterpillars when they were tiny.  They came in this little container, with all the food they need to make it to the Chrysallis stage.

 

 

Stage 2. The caterpillars didn’t stay tiny for long!  They doubled in size within a week.  Then they were ready to make cocoons.  They crawled to the top of the container and hung upside down.  Without any action on their part, the chrysallis/cocoon formed around them.

 

 

Stage 4: We then took the paper lining off of the lid of the plastic container and pinned it to the top of the butterfly tent, so they could emerge within the tent.  I thought they would be ‘asleep’ during this phase, but when we moved them, they begun swinging around like crazy, as you can see from the picture – they were so active! 

 

 

Stage 5:  After a very quiet 7-10 days, they began to emerge.  Painted Lady Butterflies!  10 of them!  they were beautiful.  They seemed to have trouble figuring out what to do do with their new bodies!  They kept tipping over and fluttered awkwardly about for a day and a half.  They have tiny bodies with huge ‘sails’ on their backs!  They eventually figured out how to fly and maneuver their way around, becoming very graceful

 

 

Stage 6:  We fed them orange slices – they suck the juice from the oranges with a little straw that remains curled up in their neck, until feeding time.  It was so fun to watch them eat!

 

 

Stage6: After about another 10 days, they started mating.  We witnessed 3 such encounters.  I hadn’t realized that they would mate in captivity.  The female lays her eggs before she dies.  But they will only lay eggs on Thistle leaves.  I rushed out to the wildflower patches on the running trail near our house, but I couldn’t find anything close.  I brought back several leaves, but they didn’t buy it.  Two of the females died shortly after mating.  It turns out that these butterflies only live for two weeks! 

 

 

The Monarch.  On her birthday, this Monarch butterfly lighted on Miriam’s head, where it remained quite content until her bedtime, a 1/2 hour later.  We put it in the butterfly tent with the others. I did some research…this is a female Monarch.  They can live as little as two months, but up to 9 months.

 

We released the butterflies at Miriams birthday party today (pictures to follow) But the Monarch was injured when one of the kids knocked over the tent.  She couldn’t fly away, so we are keeping her

We purchased the butterfly larvae at www.insectlore.com I highly recommend doing this!! It was so much fun!! Next up, lady bugs and ant farms. 

 

 

 

Miriam just turned one on Tuesday, April 17th.  She was born Palm Sunday last year   At one year, she is 16 pounds 4 ounces and 28 1/2″ long.  She has grown by 10 ” and 9 pounds since she was born last year.  Most of that growth happened in the first four months!  She is nearly the same weight as her four month checkup.

 

 

She figured out how to play the recorder. It is adorable

She is such a climber!  She pulls out this drawer and climbs into it so that she can get on top of the train table.  So clever!

Our not-so-great-Easter photo

Going for a ride with the boys 

 She started crawling the day she turned six months. She started walking around furniture at 8 months. She doesn’t seem interested in walking yet though. Crawling is so much fun! I’m in no hurry to have her walk…except for one thing; the dresses just get in the way!

 

A little angel! She started sucking her fingers at just a few months old. That little elephant has been her best friend.  The boys and I picked it out one time when we were at the Zoo; I was 7 months pregnant with Miriam at the time. When she was still only weeks old, the boys insisted on piling three stuffed animals in her bed all the time.  She picked the elephant as her favorite and looks for it first, every time I put her in bed. So cute!

My little butterfly!  We’ve decided that her theme is butterflies. We even picked it as the theme for her first birthday party! We are raising butterflies from Larvae now…more on that to follow! Ironically, a Monarch butterfly settled on her head the very day of her birthday.  It sat there for 1/2 hour, before we finally had to put Miriam to bed.  We put it in the butterfly tent with the others

She finally has enough hair to keep a bow in (yay!)

Here is a four month picture…she hasn’t changed much!

Here are the words she can say now:

Mama, Dada, bird, balloon, butterfly, poop (yes! and even in the right context!) Coco, go (she LOVES to go!), bottle, woof (when she sees a dog) eyes, hi, bye-bye (she waves consistently now – and to every passing car)  I’m sure there are others I’m forgetting…she says around 20 words now.  Way more than the boys said at this age!!  She is bright, cheerful and eager to learn.  She has loved nursing more than the boys ever did and she will be the hardest to wean.  She is very easy to correct and discipline because she has such a close bond that she hates to disappoint us.  A simple swat breaks her heart and brings her to my lap for hugs and cuddles.  And so we seldom have to discipline….a simple ‘no’ suffices! She cries if a stranger gives her even a serious look and she seems to understand an enormous amount of what we say (ie, if we start to talk about bed time, she cries and protests)  She knows much more than she can say!  We are so delighted to have had her for one wonderful year!