A Bee-utiful Sunday

Lance took Kate to his parents' house today for some fun in the sun and to help them move around furniture after getting new carpet.  Kate enjoyed swinging on the "Mr. Bear" swing in the backyard.

I'm surprised she has a hat on.  They're usually ripped right off!

 I can hear her yelling "Wwwwhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeee"!

Lance said after they had been out there for awhile, Dana noticed a swarm of insects suddenly approaching.  They all rushed into the house and watched from the backdoor to see what was happening.  Lance happened to have his telescope lens to his camera, and zoomed in to get a close look.  His PawPaw and his parents' backyards run into each other, and his Pawpaw has quite the garden in his backyard.  To encourage bees to come into the yard and pollinate, he has planted many patches of clover.  He was just telling Lance this morning, "I don't know where all the bees are!"  Well, be careful what you wish for...

The swarm beginning....all the specks on the house and window (in the air) are bees.

They settled on a small tree in the middle of the backyard.

Close up of the beehive being formed.  No one was stung in the process, and Kate was safely inside by this point napping.  Hopefully, not dreaming of bees.

Tea for Two and Two For Me

Kate was invited to her first ever tea party on Wednesday at Miss Patti's house.  On the guest list was grandmothers and their granddaughters.  The dress was formal and the shoes had to be fancy!  (Kate didn't want to change her clothes, thus the explanation for the casual green outfit with no shoes!)  I wasn't there to witness the magic of the tea party, but my mom expressed that Kate had a wonderful time playing with everyone and sitting on the mini bench with her new friend, Libby. 

Cup-Kate is One!

Well, we've reached the first birthday party. Lance and I were both excited and sad at the same time. How can our little one grow one year so quickly? People always say "It flies by" and they're right. Looking back at our 365 Days of Kate album and video, I see so many changes in Kate. Around day 60 is when she starts looking a little like the girl she is today. She still looks exactly like her Daddy except for the eyes. Before she was born, I wanted her to have blue eyes like Lance, but now I'm secretly happy that she has my eyes...because that's all she does have!

1st birthday milestones:
- She can crawl quickly and directly to what she wants.
- can pull up on anything, again, very fast
- can say Momma, Dada, Pop, Pawpaw, Nannie, Nanna, Ryerye (Ryan), ball, Hello, Byebye, No (her favorite), mall (yes, Miss Rebecca is my witness!), cookie, mine, Elmo, more, my baby
- loves to ride in her wagon
- can sign the word "more" (Thank you Miss Rebecca!)
- will eat anything except for babyfood green beans and broccoli
- can FINALLY drink from a cup unassisted (it was a long process)
- starting to drink her formula from a cup, occassionally
- loves to dance
- loves to hit drums, bangs on many items
- enjoys watching Sesame Street, Sprout, and Eebee videos
- can feed herself puffs, veggie cheese puff thangies, Ella's kitchen baby food
- can drink juice by herself in her carseat (although sometimes she comes out wearing more juice than went in her mouth)
- will take a nap or go to bed without crying about 9 out of 10 times
- points constantly and wants you to take her there
- loves to read books and I will find her sitting by herself just looking at them (she knows how to turn the pages and which way to hold the book...that's my girl!)

Her first birthday party was yesterday, and after many many hours of planning, it all came together exactly how I wanted. She was a perfect baby...no tantrums, no fussing. She only cried once when I made her put her birthday hat on, and then got over it and forgot it was on her head! Lance and I are so fortunate to have a happy, beautiful baby girl!

Mommy and Kate opening gifts. She did fantastic! Stayed with/around me the entire time we opened presents.

Did NOT want to wear her birthday hat!

All ready to "blow out" the candles.

Family photo opportunity

Kate's smash cake
Kate with her sitter Miss Rebecca

Mr. Drew showing off for the camera!

The cake after Kate finished with it.

The cupcakes for the guests.

Miss Caroline playing with blocks.

All the kids playing with Kate in her playroom.

Kate says, "It's hard to crawl with a dress on, Mom."

Overall, the party was a success. We only had one small mishap with Kate and the icing. We think she may be allergic to the dye in the icing, because shortly after the got it on her face, there were red splotches everywhere (just on her face). After a bath and a dose of Benadryl...all was well! We're ready to do it all again next year!

Couch Potato

Nanna and Pop bought Kate a new couch for their house. She has enjoyed sitting on it, jumping on it, pulling up on it, and trying to topple over it. I know she will enjoy this couch for awhile.

Kate and Elmo enjoying Sesame Street and ringing her "teacher" bell.
Elmo has been abandoned...she would rather watch the other one on TV.
Did I mention it turns in to a bed too?

A few candid moments with Kate

Happily playing on the closet floor while Mommy and Daddy get ready.
Laundry? This is so much fun!

Holding Baby Ryan for the first time. Ryan is the son of our sitter, Rebecca.

Reading "Lulu's Shoes" - a favorite of Kate's

Pssszzzhhhhh - this isn't that great.

10 Months Old!

Little K is officially 10 months old...which means I'm only two months from trying to organize a 1 year old's birthday party. Can we say stress?

Kate has a few new tricks up her sleeve. She can give kisses when you ask for them, and some are even lovely open mouth kisses with lots of slobber and sometimes a lick in the face. However, they are oh-so-precious, and we love them! Another new skill (which shocked the heck out of me at 3am) is Kate can pull herself from a laying down position, all the way to standing in her crib...with her sleep sack on! I've seen her pull herself up when she's already sitting, but I didn't know she was capable of doing it from laying down! I heard her fussing a little around 3am, and when I went in to check on her, she gave me a huge smile over the side of the crib as if to say, "Look what I did!" I think she was whinning because she couldn't get back down. Sweet angel:)

"SSSShhhhh, don't tell anyone my real age."
I'm going to act shy, even though I'm not.

Wooo hooo, double digits is fantastic!

Kate loves all musical instruments.

Anything to shake, beat, or move to, she's in.

We think she has some natural rhythm, and we hope she'll have that music gene!

9 months old!

Soooo big!

Karate kid - Hiiiiii yah!

"What did you say?"

This is way late considering she's about to turn 10 months in 7 days, but I wanted to keep up the traditional post. Kate went to the doctor yesterday for her scheduled visit and her are her stats:

Weight - 22 lbs, 90th percentile

Length - 27 inches (average)

Head size - 70th percentile

Kate hasn't crawled or walked yet, but she's getting really close to crawling and wanting to move. She can get on all fours, lunge herself forward, and collapse. She gets very frustrated doing this, and no matter what we encourage the crawling with (toys, food, remotes, cell phones), she remains in one spot! She can pull herself up on low things and can stand by an ottoman or couch unassisted and play. She loves to shake her head "no", say "ma-ma" and "da-da" to no one particular, wave bye-bye, and scrunch up her nose and breath really fast. Bathtime has continued to be a fun activity, and she enjoys trying to grab the water as it pours out of the cup. Thankfully, for the past month and a half, she has been sleeping consistently through the night without her swaddle. She goes to sleep around 8:00 and wakes up anywhere from 5:30-7:30. We appreciate the 7:30 mornings MUCH more! Her final achievement of the month has been feeding herself puffs with her fingers. She loves them!