One....

It has always amazed me how much a baby changes from birth to his or her first birthday. Our kids are not exceptions. SO, today, we celebrated Kate's birthday (actually, her party is Saturday). Here's her change.... As most of you know, Kate was born a month early. We definitely had to be intentional with her feeding, sleeping, etc. at the beginning, but now, you'd obviously never know her birth story. As with all siblings, Kate has some differences from her older brother. She's MUCH more flexible with her schedule than he was/is. BUT, I would say she's louder. She's an EVEN more of a "Mama's Girl" than Luke was a "Mama's Boy." (Imagine that)....Luke's a people pleaser. I'm thinking Kate won't be as much (we'll see on that one). She's NOWHERE near walking. But, she's making progress. I thought she might be ahead of her brother, but I'm not holding my breath on that one. (For some reasons, both of our kids like to be delayed on gross motor development). The ONE THING I have really figured out very recently about Kate is that she's a "doer." She doesn't stay happy in one environment or with one toy very long. She does FABULOUS when we're out and about and doing things whereas Luke would prefer being at home. She easily gets crabby when we're stuck in one place for too long. Hmmmmmm.....is this something she inherited from her dear mother? On a completely loving and positive note, Kate gives us GREAT smiles -- especially at her dad. Kate has the most beautiful blue eyes. She's finally grown some hair for some bows; however, she likes to pull them out approximately 10 seconds after I put them in her hair. As her mother, I still admit I like to dress her in pink (again, not something I thought I'd want to do). As her mother, I get ANNOYED when people refer to her as a boy (sadly, it happens frequently despite the girly clothes). I've stopped being super nice about it. I've learned to directly say (in the most graceful way I can), "She's a girl." (And, I've quit worrying about offending somebody when I correct them). I'm slightly worried she's going to be stubborn (really -- I know that can be a positive trait -- it just will be difficult to parent). I say this because of something so simple as a sippy cup.... She FINALLY, just this week, decided that it's O.K. to use a sippy cup AND take a drink herself. I've purchased at least 5 sippy cups since she was 6 months old for her to learn. A few weeks ago, I was seriously wondering if she'd do it (knowing she doesn't have any existing sucking problems). Stubbornness, I'm relatively certain, took over on this one -- for the last six months. Now, she does pretty well....just needs to perfect it. Kate loves her older brother and is easily amused by him. Luke can do some "goofy" things sometimes that quite frankly, we don't find that funny (even as his parents). BUT, Kate laughs nearly all of the time at Luke's "goofy" things. So, who are we to discourage him? You local readers know I take walks with our kiddos nearly everyday in our double jogging stroller. Kate & Luke do well, and they seem to like riding together (though Kate is starting to intentionally annoy him sometimes)....Luke often falls asleep. Kate has this week as well. Vacation Bible School has been going on this week at church....it's worn them both out. Marc, Luke, and I LOVE this girl. Happy 1st Birthday Kate!