Happy FIRST Birthday!

Kate is ONE.  Wow.  I am happy and sad at the same time.  This past year has flown by, and been filled with tons of firsts, with laughs, cries, and smiles, and lots of fun.  So much has changed over the past year.  We have gone from a family of 2, to a family of 3 with a newborn, and now a family of 3 with a toddler who is into everything!  And I do mean EVERYTHING.  So, with all that being said, here is Kate’s final monthly update.

Eating:
Great.  Kate wants to eat anything and everything that we are eating.  Forget baby foods.  She doesn’t want it.  The problem is that she’s not really good a chewing.  She likes to put way too much food in her mouth and doesn’t chew it well enough before she wants to shove more food in.  I saw a picture of one of my friend’s little boy.  He is a few months older than Kate and was eating a banana.  He was holding the whole thing, and was obviously chewing/biting off of it.  How I WISH that we could do that with Kate.  We can’t.  She would try to put the whole banana in her mouth, and at the very least she would take a bite that was WAY too big. (Update- in the time since I started writing this post, I tried to give Kate the whole banana.  No bueno. She definitely tried to stuff way too much in her mouth.)

It’s almost impossible for us to eat at the same time as her.  It’s not good enough for me to cut up or break up some of my food and put it on the table in front of her.  She doesn’t want it.  She still wants MY food, off of MY plate, or if there is a big piece of food (like a sandwich) she wants to bite off of the big piece. It’s like she thinks that the small, broken up pieces in front of her are not real food.  It makes eating WITH her almost impossible.  If we’re at home, and she’s in her high chair, and I’m not eating something at the same time, all is right in the world.

In the past week we switched Kate from formula to organic whole milk.  She didn’t even blink at the change, so I’m guessing that means she likes the milk.

It probably sounds like I’m complaining about all of the food difficulties.  I’m not.  I know all of this is part of the learning and growing up process.  It definitely makes meal time difficult, but it is what it is.  She’s only one!

Sleeping:
Again, great.  She still goes to bed around 8 and wakes up around 7:30.  She usually goes back to sleep right after breakfast, then takes a mid-afternoon nap, and another short nap around 5-6ish.

Walking:
Everywhere.  We had to get baby gates to contain her!

Teething:
Right now Kate has 9 teeth- 5 on top, 4 on bottom.  One of her 1-year molars just popped through in the past day and I think the others aren’t too far behind.  I’m sure teething is no fun for a baby, but she’s a trooper.

Personality:
Kate is so funny!  I love her little expressions and “tricks”.  Here are just a few things that I LOVE about her:

1. She’s getting pretty good at mimicking us.  If you ask her to blink, she’ll squint her eyes at you.  So funny. She also tries to imitate sounds and words.  So much fun.

2. She waves “hi” and “bye”.

3. She claps, especially when she hears other people clapping.

4. She’s a little dancer.  If you ask her to show you how to dance, she’ll wiggle and move her little body.

5. She says Mama very well, and will say Dada.  I’m told she has said bye, dog/doggy and Papa a few times, but I’ve yet to hear them.

6. She loves shoes.  Seriously.  A few days ago, she went in her closet and specifically pulled out a pair of MATCHING shoes.

7. She loves to share her food with me.  She’ll pick up a piece of food and hold it out to me.  If I lean down to her, she’ll put it in my mouth and grin really big.

8. If I tell her “I’m going to get you”, she’ll take off running and laughing.  Well, at this point it’s more like walking as fast as she can, but at the rate she’s going, it will probably be running pretty soon!

9.  Sometimes she walks with her arms thrown out behind her, like she thinks she’s flying or something.

10. She loves remotes, cell phones, laptops and technology in general.  We had to give her her own remote to keep her away from the real ones.  It doesn’t go to anything, but she doesn’t know that.

11. Kate is such a happy girl.  Lots and lots of smiles and laughs.  They make my day!!

           

Kate’s birthday party is TOMORROW so it will be a busy day, but check back to see Kate’s one year pictures.  We used Linsey Wilson again and she did an awesome job.  If you live in the Upstate SC area, check her out!

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