The Twelfth Month

Here we are - the end of the road.

So dramatic, right? 

Ok, so maybe not the end of the WHOLE road but at least the first part. We now say "goodbye" to BABY Kaitlin and say "Hello!" to TODDLER Kaitlin. Yikes.

 The twelfth month brought lots of exciting things including visiting friends/grandparents, her eighth tooth, walking and "running" (walking really fast), swimming pools and splash table fun. It also brought tears (new babysitter!), bumps and bruises. We had lots of skipped naps and our first visit to the zoo. And at the end of it all we celebrated with a birthday, some cake and a baptism (as well as my first Mother's Day). It was a busy month indeed!

Kaitlin learned how to stand up on her own this month (not holding onto anything) and it greatly improved her walking skills. She walks, walk, walks all day long - around the house, around the yard, around the playground and loves every minute of it. She still falls a lot but she quickly gets back up and is on her way. She has also started "running", which is usually just her walking really fast (and usually falling at the end because she isn't that steady) especially when you chase her. She absolutely loves being chased and playing peek-a-boo, I think she likes being surprised and the anticipation of it all.

She has also become quite the water baby. She loves being in her baby pool and playing with her splash table. Her newest "game" to play involves moving all of her toys from the pool to the splash table and then back again. Grammie bought her a whole bunch of outside balls to play with as well and she loves to carry them around and "throw" them. She loves being outside, pushing or riding her tricycle around (ie, having me push her around), playing in her pool, going for walks and playing on the playground. The more time we can spend outside with her the better. Unfortunately it is starting to get pretty hot down here so we have to get in a lot of our outdoor play in the morning before the sun and heat get to be too intense for her. I'm starting to dread the upcoming summer, when temperatures will be into the 100's, with a small and very energetic toddler at home. 

We had our first visit to the zoo, and while I don't think she completely understood it I think she had a good time. She really liked the giraffes and the flamingos, I think because they were the easiest for her to notice. Other times when I pointed out animals to look at she would look past them or be distracted by something else and not even be paying attention. We might have to hold off on the zoo for a little while longer before she get's more out of it, which is fine because it wouldn't be fun to go to in the summer heat anyway. 

Kaitlin had a great first year check up at the doctor and she said that she is doing very, very well. She was impressed with all of the walking and general busyness, and said her weight (18lbs and 11oz) and overall growth was right on track. Our pediatrician heavily suggested that we stop using the bottle as close to her first birthday as possible, as it is easier to take a bottle away from a one year old than it is a two year old. I introduced whole milk to Kaitlin a couple of weeks before she turned one. At first she wouldn't drink it at all and then she would drink a little bit if it was watered down. We finished the rest of the formula we had and then within the first week after her birthday we took away the bottle. The first night was rough, she still needs that "meal" before bed to sleep through the night, and the first straw cup with milk that I offered her she hated and refused to drink from. I ended up caving and putting the milk in a bottle, which she drank without a problem. The next night it was back to a strawcup with milk before bed, this time using a different cup. Much to my surprise (and anxiety - we had a great bedtime routine why rock the boat?!) she drank all of her milk without any problems! And since then it has been smooth sailing. We even graduated to whole milk (no added water) a couple of days later and now she LOVES drinking milk.

Kaitlin now eats about five meals a day, all of it solid food with milk and water to drink. She gets a cup of milk in the morning when she first wakes up and has breakfast soon after. Around 9-10am (depending on when she is up from her nap) she has a snack, usually fruit and cheerios, and then has lunch around 1130-12 and a cup of milk. One more snack around 3pm and then dinner at 5-530, followed by a cup of milk before bed. She is eating SO much more solid food than she was one month ago. I was really worried that she was drinking too much formula and not eating enough solids, but I didn't know how to "break" her from the bottle routine. Turns out, all you have to do is NOT give it to her. Sometimes the answer is so simple that you don't even think of it. One month ago she used to easily take 5 bottles a day, and would gladly drink more if I let her. I first took away the "snack" bottles and started replacing them with a solid food snack. It took a couple of times for her to get the idea but then she happily gobbled up some food. As most things baby related I was stressing way too much about how to handle a transition and Kaitlin handled it just fine. She is starting to become picky about what food she eats though, which is a change from when we first started solids. She definitely has her favorites and isn't afraid to let you know when she doesn't like something on her plate.

I can't believe how much our little girl has grown this past year. She went from being so tiny and helpless and completely dependent on us, to energetic and fiercely independent and her own little person in just twelve months. Of course, she still needs us for most everything, but she likes and tries to do so much stuff on her own. She is smart, strong willed and determined. She has quite the sense of humor and never fails to make us laugh all day every day. It absolutely amazing me how much she understands and comprehends. I still can't believe that this little person knows exactly what I mean when I say, "Time to eat, go to your high chair" or "Can you please give this toy to Daddy?" And watching her figure out obstacles and puzzles is equally inspiring and exciting. It really makes you realize that they really do watch and absorb every little thing that you do (and we are starting to also realize that we need to start curbing our bad behaviors around her!) This past year has, without a doubt, been the best, happiest and also most challenging year of my life. I can't wait to see what the next year brings!

Watch Me Grow - A Year in Review

It didn't take very long for our little peanut to go from this...

to this...

You can check out each individual image over on the Watch Me Grow page and I have made a quick view version below (you can click on the image to get a slightly bigger version). Fifty-two - well, probably closer to 47-48 due to vacations and such - weeks of this little bug growing like crazy in front of our eyes.

On to the next crazy super fun year ahead!

Watch Me Grow - Week Fifty Two

**Ok...I know. I know.

I know I am almost TWO WEEKS late in posting the very last photo in our Watch Me Grow series. Can I blame it on the grandparents? Can I blame it on Kaitlin skipping her naps? Can I blame it on... I actually drafted most of this post a few days after her actual birthday, so I'm going to leave that recap below. Now that Kaitlin is a year old I'm going to revise the Watch Me Grow series. While she is still growing like a weed, the changes aren't always apparent from week to week. Aannnddd I don't really have the time to post an update every week ;) So, from now on I will just be posting a monthly update, and am going to try and have a new "posed" shot so we can still track her growth. If I can get her to sit still for longer than .2 seconds I will try and put her in a chair or something...**

Once Kaitlin learned how to stand on her own she quickly progressed in her walking skills. It only took a couple of weeks to go from a few timid steps to almost running. She is still wobbly and falls down quite often, but she gets right back up and goes on her way. She LOVES to be "chased" around - all you have to do is say "I'm gonna get you!!" and she squeals with delight and "runs" away (more like walks really fast).

In addition to hanging out with Grammie and Pop-pop this week she also got a few more visitors - Grandma and Grandpa came to visit! Everyone came to town to be here for her first birthday. She is a lucky, lucky lady and has lots of love in her life! 

Kaitlin's First Birthday

I've decided to do one MEGA post about Kaitlin's first birthday rather than break it up into three parts. Call me crazy. Grab a cup of coffee (or glass of wine if you are reading this tonight) and stay a while.

Kaitlin's first birthday. I've been anticipating it for the last several months. I knew it would come, obviously we all grow older, but it is still shocking that the time is already here. What is it that they say? The days are long but the years are short. Something like that. I've always liked that quote and I am finding it quite fitting at the moment. 

I'm not sure if Kaitlin enjoyed her first birthday or not. I don't think she actually knew what was going on, but she did know that there were a lot of people staying at her house and playing with her 24/7. She knew that she had to keep putting on fancy dresses even though the temperature soared near 90* for a whole weekend. She knew that she was getting A LOT of extra attention - and she loved it!

Both sets of her grandparents came down to visit and help us celebrate. The day before her birthday we held a very, very small party at our local park. We had our family and a few friends gather at the park with bagels and cupcakes and we let the kids run around and play. It was a hot and humid day - Kaitlin's dress managed to stay on for an hour and then we stripped her down to her diaper because of the heat. Her dress was cute but not very cooling! Little Miss was so excited to have Grammie and Pop-pop and Grandma and Grandpa in town that she didn't take her morning nap, which made for a very cranky birthday girl. Add in the uncomfortable weather and she wasn't in the best of moods. She held out for most of the party but there were a few crying spells here and there. (Not to mention a choking episode or two. Suddenly after five months of amazing chewing skills she decides to shove ALL of her food in her mouth at once and try and swallow. I had her bent over my knee slapping her back to get it out. Just about damn near gave me a heart attack. Oh yeah, and she decided to do that four times in one day. Lord help me.) But overall a good time was had by all and we might have even lost a pound or two sweating in the heat!

  

Sunday marked the big day - her FIRST birthday! We had been waiting to get her baptized until our parents were in town and it just so happened that it fell on her birthday. So off we went to the church to get Kaitlin baptized. My parents and I went ahead to attend the service (the baptism was to take place afterwards) while Brian and his parents got her all dressed up. We met them after the service and found out that they didn't even have us on the list for that days baptism!! They quickly changed a few things around and squeezed us in, thankfully. There were four baptisms that day and Kaitlin was by far the oldest baby there. We all had to stand at the front facing the crowd while the minister baptized each one of them. We were second in line but that was far too long for Kaitlin to be held. Now that she is a walking/running machine she doen't like being held unless she wants to be held (which is pretty much never). We were definitely that family trying desperately to hold onto their toddler as she tried to jump out of my arms. Many cries and tears followed. The minister didn't even try to hold her to present her to the congregation, he let me take care of that. We let her walk around a little bit in front of us during the last two baptisms and we only had to chase her around a little. Thankfully the whole process only took about twenty minutes and as soon as it was over we bolted. Of course, it doesn't help that this all took place during Kaitlin's normal lunch and nap time. Are you starting to get an idea of how critical naps are to our little one's temperament??

After Kaitlin's nap we let her open presents! She took a very long nap and woke up in a little bit of a mood. She had been sweating during her nap too so she woke up looking a little crazy. She did very well during presents and loved playing with her new toys, looking at new books and admiring her new clothes. After all of the presents were opened we took her for a spin in her new wagon!

I wanted to do a Cake Smash session with her on her actual birthday, but with everything that we had been through earlier that day I knew it probably wouldn't go well. We had a couple of cupcakes left over from the party so we gave her those to try after she finished her dinner. 

Let's just say she is NOT a cake person.

(Want to see more pictures of Kaitlin HATING cake? Check out our not-so-perfect cake smash session)

Overall Kaitlin's first birthday was really, really nice. Sure, there was a bit more crying and more tears than I had anticipated, but it was so special to have our families there to help us celebrate. Kaitlin is turning into more and more of a toddler, and less of a baby, every single day. While it is so exciting to watch her grow and transform into a little person it is also super sad. While I don't wish to have the newborn days back, it would be nice to be able to hold onto these "baby" days for a little bit longer.