Mary Caroline Is 1

Unbelievably, my tiny little niece is a year old. So Libby and I hitched a ride with Poppa Keith and Grandma Betsy and headed to Virginia for Mary Caroline's first birthday party.

I was so excited for Libby to be there. My cousin Molly and I are also a year apart, and we were inseparable from the time we were babies. To this day, 30-a-lot years later, we are the best of friends -- in fact, now that I think about it, Molly is my oldest friend. And I soooo want that for Libby and Mary Caroline. MC is the only "girl family" Libby's got -- all the others are brothers and boy cousins. I want the two of them to spend summers traveling back and forth between each other's houses. I want them to read books together. I want them to go to horse camp together (oh, the stories...) I want them to spy on their siblings together. I want them to know each other's pets. Braid each other's hair. Respect each other's blankies. Have stupid girl squabbles and make up. I want them to write letters to each other during the winters. I want them to be able to call each other one day and say, "Can you believe what my kid just did?" I want them to have the comfort of their earliest memories including each other when they're older. In short, I want them to be able to say, "Look, I was there at your first birthday party. I know you."

The weekend was so fun. Everyone was there. All the aunts. The crazy uncle. Two sets of proud grandparents. Seriously, we've had very few major holidays with this kind of attendance. MC's birthday just about trumped Christmas.

I think the birthday girl quite enjoyed herself. When people ask me to describe Mary Caroline, the only answer I can give is "shriekingly happy." And that's just when she sees the picture of the baby on the Yo-Baby yogurt at breakfast. Put that baby at a party with a ball pit, cupcakes, adoring relatives, and a bunch of little munchkins at her eye line everywhere, and she takes it to a whole new level.

All too soon the weekend was over. Libby and MC had to go their separate ways for now, but I am hopeful that this was first of a lifetime of good times for the two of them.

Happy Birthday, Mary Caroline!