Somebody's One!

This little miss had a birthday last week!

We had a little luncheon on her actual birthday with some friends from town to celebrate. We played "Pass the Cow" (basically "Hot Potato" but with a cow, because Kate likes cows, or at least the sound they make) and read The Birthday Box by Leslie Patricelli. We ate pigs-in-blankets, clementines, cheese cubes, and popcorn (the former two because they're small and the latter two because they are some of Kate's very favorite foods) and, of course, had cupcakes. Yum!

Then over the weekend, we had a little joint party with some family for Kate and her cousin who was turning two. I made Kate a block cake like I did for Maggie's first birthday. Kate liked it. We read The Birthday Box again. It is about a baby boy who gets a stuffed animal for a present, but thinks the real gift is the box the animal came in. I have decided we need to write a book about Kate called The Birthday Bag, because I think she had as much fun with her gift bags as she did with her gifts. She must get it from her sister, who was known to tote a small gift bag as her pocket-book for several months before it finally broke one day in Walmart.


We feel so lucky to have our sweet little Kate in our lives. Her ready, crinkly-nosed smile makes every day better. She has such a fun and fun-loving personality, she is always making me laugh. I love the little way she has of reaching for you to pick her up, giving a good hard snuggle, cuddling up for a moment and then turning herself around so she can see the world or be on her way. She has made a lot of friends this way. I love how active, independent and adventurous she is, except when she won't sit in her high chair, eat what I am offering her or lay down to go to sleep. She just loves to be moving and exploring and playing :). She toddles so fast on her little bowed legs. I love her easy-going nature, especially in her interchanges with her older sister :). I love watching her learn new things and grow and change. She is getting so smart. She gets excited every time we mention an animal she knows and will start making their sound. She is extremely observant and knows what lots of everyday objects are for and will pick up on what Maggie, Mike and I are doing. She is getting very good with her utensils, scribbling, combing her hair, and brushing her teeth. And she is already starting to take over Maggie's job of helping me with the laundry. Recently, she noticed Maggie was taking laundry from a pile and putting it in the washer for me, so she picked up some and brought it to the washer too.

Kate favorite foods are lasagna, popcorn, goldfish, and rice. She loves baths. She used to go crawling towards the bathroom at full-speed whenever she heard us start the water in the tub, no matter where she was in the house. One time she did it when I was starting the washer, because she got mixed up. :) She loves hugging babies, real and fake. For her birthday, we gave her her own baby doll and doll stroller, so that she and Maggie could use theirs together (Maggie wasn't too keen on sharing her baby or stroller, but she is enjoying borrowing Kate's now). Another thing Kate loves to do is sing. It started because Maggie loves to sing like Princess Ariel, "Ah-ah-aaah, ah-ah-aaah..." Kate would join in with her own "ah." Now she joins in with her "aaah" whenever she hears a song she likes and even "sings" on command. She is also quite the phone talker and loves to get ahold of the phone, press buttons, and babble.

Kate is just such a sweet girl and I'm so lucky to be her mom. Where is the time going? (Probably into laundry and cooking and cleaning and diaper changes and spoon-feeding and nursing...along with a whole lot of fun.)

I just love my Kate.