It's almost birthday time again...

I can hardly believe that my little baby is going to be 2 years old in just a few days. I know it's a cliche, but the time really has just flown by.

I've spent the last week working on preparations for Lola's birthday party which we'll be having this Sunday. She's been a *little* obsessed with Mickey Mouse since our trip to Disneyland so we're throwing a Mickey Mouse themed party for her. Mickey Mouse cookies, Mickey Mouse piñata, Mickey Mouse party hats, Mickey Mouse cupcakes... All handmade, of course. The list goes on and on. I'll have lots of Mickey Mouse party goodness to share soon but in the meantime I think a look back at Lola's first year is in order.

Throughout Lola's first year I celebrated the milestone of each "month birthday" by taking a photo of her with her age spelled out with foam letters; i.e. "I am 1 month old", "I am 2 months old" etc...
I was originally inspired by this post on the Famille Summerbelle blog. I loved the idea of taking the same photo of Lola each month as she grew. Of course, babies aren't always willing participants in photo shoots - especially as they get older - so the results are quite varied throughout the photos. In the earlier photos Lola was pretty placid and happy to just lay there while I snapped away with the camera. Once she reached 5 months she wouldn't lay down for the photos so she sat for the monthly photo from then on. From 7 months onwards she wouldn't leave the letters and numbers in place. On one occasion this resulted in me putting them back in the wrong order, not noticing my spelling mistake until I'd posted the photo on Facebook! There were months when Lola needed a toy or snack to keep her still. There were months when she just cried during the whole photo shoot. Posing for Mummy can be hard work!

So here they are. A year of monthly photos chronicling Lola's growth (and gradual change from brunette to blonde!) through her first year.