Last weekend we celebrated Isabelle at her one-year-old birthday party! It was really a fun little morning with a few friends and a bounce house and cupcakes (of course) and pancakes & mimosas. I am a huge fan of the casual birthday party where everyone can get together and enjoy kids running around for a bit. Also, Isabelle loved her smash cupcake and absolutely devoured it.

• Tim and I had a date night last night! We went to Joule (in the Fremont neighborhood) and it was wonderful. I highly recommend it if you’re in the Seattle area! I was a little nervous because it definitely seems more ‘meat-friendly’ than I am (since I don’t eat it at all), but I was pleasantly surprised with how flexible they were with their menu.

• Pro tip for bringing kids to a theater: don’t sit in the front row. We learned that lesson the hard way this week! I took Clara to the children’s theater with her preschool class and we sat in the front row (because that’s just how we lined up and where they sat us). Well, after a complete meltdown mid-play, we went to the lobby for a bit and calmed down, and then sat in the back after the intermission. Of course, then Clara loved the play and was very unhappy when it ended. (“But I want to see more, mama!)

• Also this week was Clara’s May Day celebration with her school. It got rained out on May 1st, and it was cloudy but nice weather for it this week! It was such a cute celebration with flower crowns and a maypole and lots of organic, gluten-free, vegan snacks (this is a super hippy-dippy aka “crunchy” school and I love it), and lots of friends and parents… I love doing holidays and festivals with my girls. Although, I’m not going to lie, it is exhausting having 2 mobile kids. As soon as I took my eyes off Isabelle she was crawling to other families’ blankets to eat all of their food! It was slightly embarrassing but whatever, at least she didn’t go hungry!

• We started giving Clara a few supplements (Glycine and Melatonin) to help her sleep.So far, so good, but I’ll update you when I know for sure if it’s the ‘magic’ cure. Her sleep challenges deserve an entire post in themselves.

• I started and finished this book (The Nightingale) and I cried.  I almost never cry during books, but this one just got to me. I highly recommend it!

We had such a busy, fun week! We also went to the toddler gym and swim lessons and preschool and a pediatrician appointment (to talk about Clara’s sleep challenges) and hosted our small group at our house and  I had a MOPS meeting (I’m on the steering committee at our local group), and I babysat a little friend for an hour or so one day, and I even managed to go boxing one time to get my sweat on!

Phew. I can’t actually believe we did all of that! It was quite wonderful and now I’m ready for the weekend!

How was your week?