I am Toddler, Hear Me Roar!

I kid you not, one day after my baby turned one I got an email from Baby Center explaining the traits and qualities of my one year old.  Instead of it saying, "Your Baby," it said, "Your Toddler."

My toddler?  TODDLER?  Where did my baby go, and can't I ease into Toddler-hood and revel in the last few moments of Baby Kate-hood?  No and no.  Kate is now my toddler in all aspects of the word, according to Baby Center and all the other similar websites out there.

How can this be?  The time is flying by frighteningly fast and I'm beginning to worry that I'm missing it.  I try to stay focused on all the good things we have to look forward to, but it is hard not to miss all the baby things.

Our toddler.

Since we have just passed Kate's first birthday, I figured a thorough run down of what she is doing, how she is sleeping, her likes and dislikes, etc. was in order, so here we are!

(Sidebar: This is your warning.  The remainder of the lengthy post is all about Kate.  And I mean ALL ABOUT Kate.  If you are bored with hearing about a baby toddler, I would highly recommend that you pass on this post and go directly to the next one.  Do not pass GO, do not collect $200.)

Kate's Stats
Height: 29" (45th percentile)
Weight: 21 lbs. 3.5 oz (72nd percentile)

Kate at her 12 month check-up! 
Our toddler.

Sleeping
Kate has been successfully sleeping through the night for quite some time now.  She is given a bath around 6-6:30 pm, read a few books (most of the time it's about three) while we share in some cuddles (us and her pink blanket that we don't dare leave the house without), and gets fed one last time which usually puts her to sleep.  If she is not sleeping after her last feeding, she is laid in her crib and falls asleep on her own.  Her favorite nighttime books are Goodnight, Owl by DwellStudio, Peek-A-Moo by Marie Torres Cimarusti, Who's a Bunny by Bunnies by the Bay, and Whose Eyes Are These by Peg Hall.

Picking out a nighttime book.

Eating
We have been fortunate enough to be able to strictly breastfeed Kate for a whole year.  That was always the main goal and between pumping at work and preparing sippy cups for her school we have been successful.  I am extremely grateful and thankful that my body has allowed us to breastfeed for such a long time.  We recently started transitioning Kate to whole milk which she has had no trouble with so far.

She drinks solely out of a sippy cup at home and at school and is readily munching on toddler friendly items that we find on our very own dinner plates.  She absolutely loves all fruits.  We have yet to find a fruit that she doesn't like!  She also really likes broccoli, avocado, turkey, and hot dogs.

She mainly eats with her hands but has become interested in using utensils, so we have started offering her a spoon or fork with her food.  It still amazes me how someone so little knows what to do with a spoon and fork!  She is one smart cookie!

She looks so BIG using utensils!

Likes
Kate loves music.  She points at our kitchen radio that streams our Pandora and makes an 'ugh' sound every time the music is not on.  She loves the Gummy Bear Song and I Like to Move it, Move it from Madagascar (both of which she heard in school), in addition to Lady Gaga.  She also loves to dance!  This girl has music in her bones!  As a matter of fact, one day when I went to pick her up from school, Kate's teacher said that she thought Kate knew the words 'music' and 'gummy bears'.  These, my friends, are the keys to my heart, but, besides that, I was so intrigued I asked the teacher to go on.  This is how I found out about the Gummy Bear Song.  Music and gummy bears!

I would argue that Kate's favorite color is currently green though it was orange and/or red, and her favorite animal (based on bath toy preference) are these three little frogs that we have.  She also loves dogs and squeals in delight when she sees them out at the park or walking with their owners.

Kate loves playing with her safari puzzle, which mainly involves pulling all of the pieces off, pulling everything out of cabinets, drawers, toy boxes, and bins and putting it all back in, placing objects inside of things and dumping them all out, and exploring.

She loves, LOVES her Mommy.  I sometimes joke that she is a stage five clinger because there are times that I cannot even leave the room without a protest, even when Daddy is in plain sight.  We know this is a phase and there will be a time that she will care less if I am in the room or not, so I cherish this stage five clinger phase and will secretly mourn the moments that she doesn't notice when I'm not around.

Dislikes/Discipline
Kate is such a sweetheart, but, like any 12 month old, she does have her moments.  When things don't go her way, she bangs her head on whatever hard surface is nearest.  This has involved folding in half to bang her head on the floor while seated on the floor and throwing her head back against cabinets, walls, and crib sides while seated in their vicinity.  Her Mommy and Daddy don't like this one bit a.) because we don't want her to hurt herself, and b.) because she is making us pay attention to her because we don't want her to hurt herself and we don't want her to think that a little head banging gets her her way.  If any such behavior arises, we try the good old distraction method by completely turning her attention elsewhere.  This typically solves the problem...for now.

Kate is very independent so she does not like being constricted, especially if she would like to go somewhere/get something.  She is very curious and we have tried to allow all safe exploration of the house and things about the house as much as we can.

Mobility and Motions
Kate's primary mode of transportation is walking.  She took her first steps a few weeks ago and has been perfecting the art ever since!

She can shake her head sideways for 'no' and she is very good at pointing, waving and clapping.  We are working on the 'yes' head nod.  We realize we are only at the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Kate's physical feats.

Talking
Kate vocabulary includes the following words spoken in chronological order:

Dog (similar to 'dah' and usually accompanied with high-pitched squealing.)
Dada
Mama

She is becoming very vocal, saying 'ugh' and 'mmm' and pointing at whatever she wants.

Overall Demeanor
Kate is such a sweetheart.  She has such a pleasant demeanor and rarely cries.  We know something is really wrong when she is upset because for the most part she is such a happy baby!  She is also extremely intelligent and we are constantly getting complimented on how smart she is.  She loves to observe children and adults (and dogs) but really watches and pays attention and takes the world in.  She is our sweet angel girl and we have been, are and will continue to be over the moon with joy that she is part of our lives!

As I write this, I realize that even though time is flying by, my toddler Baby will always be my Baby - even when she is a little girl, even when she is a teenager, even when she is a grown woman - and I will revel in that thought always.  We love you, Kate.

Hallo-Baby

Today is Halloween AND Kate's first birthday!  And I must remember in the future to figure out a good schedule for said day because it was a little hectic when we got home.  Between making dinner, handing out candy, celebrating Kate's first birthday AND Halloween, we were a little tight on time.  So tight, actually, that (I'm kind of ashamed to admit this) the only photos we have of Kate in her Halloween costume are the ones that Brian took on his phone when he dropped her off at school this morning.  She was a ladybug, or as my Dad said, "a little girlie bug" this year!

There she is...

...our little girlie bug!!  xx

Believe me, they are better than nothing, but we don't even have a family Halloween photo which makes me kind of sad.  This I will get over, but believe me when I say that I will be taking more photos next Halloween/Birthday.

We celebrated tonight at home and Kate helped us pass out candy to the few trick-or-treaters that we had ring our bell.  She loved dropping the candies into the various bins and bags!  And she got to wear her birthday girl shirt!  (Another reason why we don't have more costume photos.)  We saved a few presents for her to open on her birthday and celebrated intimately with just the three of us and Jack. 

It's our Hallo-Baby!

Mommy helps with present opening!

Kate decides to grab the bow!

And is quickly interested in the farm animals!

A new puzzle!

It's fun to clap the puzzle pieces together!

While Mommy helped with Kate's bath, Daddy put all her
new toys together, so we had a little impromptu birthday play
time after bath!

If you recall, it is Jack's birthday on Halloween too!
(We joke that we're going to keep all our kids
birthdays on the same day to "keep it easy".
Clearly, that is out of our control...)

Birthday buddies!  A new toy for Jack and a
new toy for Kate!

Look at that happy birthday girl!

I must've missed the goofball memo, but this
photo of these two crack me up!

The last year has flown by.  We treasure each and every beautiful day with our 12 month old.  Life is truly amazing!

Happy 1st Birthday, Kate!

Happy 4th Birthday, Jack!

And HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!

One Year Ago Today

One year ago today we had gone to our normal OB/GYN appointment, we were 5 days past our due date, and our doctor scheduled our induction for that evening.

One year ago today we were headed to the hospital to give birth to our baby girl.

We were excited, we were nervous, we were anxious, but we were ready.  And at 3:38 am on October 31st, Kate Madeline was born.

It is so surreal thinking about that night.  Childbirth is such an amazing, incredible moment in your life.  One that you simply cannot fathom until you experience it yourself.  The last year has been hard, we've have had to learn and adjust, but it has been nothing short of amazing either, and I think I can vouch for both Brian and I when I say that we wouldn't want to have it any other way.

Being a family of three has been the most incredible journey that we have been on thus far...and it is only just beginning!

Pumpkins & Pink: Kate's 1st Birthday!

Being that Kate was born on Halloween, you'd think that having a Halloween themed birthday party would be pretty darn fitting, right?  Right.  You don't have to answer.  I will answer for you.  But it is Kate's very first birthday, so shouldn't we do a traditional first birthday?  This dilemma is what I have pondered since I started thinking about Kate's first birthday, and I'm not even going to tell you when that was.

I really wanted to do a traditional themed birthday for her for her first party***.  A part of me just wanted traditional, another part of me just wanted to celebrate her birthday, not her birthday and Halloween.  So I came up with what I thought was a good theme compromise: pumpkins and pink.  We'd capture her Halloween birthday with pumpkins and capture her girly first birthday with pink.  I was very happy with that!  And the party turned out GREAT!

My parents came into town from Canada, my grandparents came into town from Maryland, and the majority of Brian's in town family was able to make our pumpkins and pink soiree!  We all had a blast!  In the weeks leading up to Kate's birthday we made several paper pennant banners, lots of paper flowers, and a first year photo banner that highlighted the first year of Kate's life.  We started a tradition with this party that we will have to continue with every one - namely the photo banner!

We had a ton of good finger food, we made buckeyes, we had cupcakes and cake pops, and the party was a huge success!  There is no better way to put it!  Kate was an angel, as usual, and the guy that we hired to film while we tended to the party girl did a fantastic job and captured the majority of what we asked him to and included a bit extra!  More is always better when it comes to video editing!

We have some pictures that were taken from the party, but my camera was out of commish, so we'll leave you with the edited video version of Kate's first birthday!  We hope you enjoy this little snippet as much as we enjoyed preparing, celebrating, cleaning up, and editing!


Kate's 1st Birthday from Just Be Productions on Vimeo.

***A note on Kate's birthdays.  If Kate wants a Halloween themed birthday party for the rest of her life, I will gladly plan, participate, decorate, bake, film, etc. as needed and wanted.  But I just really, really wanted one traditional birthday for her (and me) because, after all, it's her very first birthday, and I kind of anticipate there will be many Halloween themed parties in the future.  :)

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!!!  WE LOVE YOU!!!

School Days

We've mentioned this before, but Kate's school is very hands on.  And I mean that literally!  They do so many different, fun pieces of art and a lot of them involve handprints and footprints!  This was one thing (among many) that we liked so much about this place, and it's really kind of fun to see all the creative things that you can do with a hand and/or footprint!  They are endless!

A sampling of Kate's art.

More on the fridge...

...And even more in our ever evolving frames.

(This isn't even all that we've received.  And, no, if you are wondering - I have not yet figured out what I am going to do with all of this artwork...)

In addition to hand and footprint art, they also celebrate the seasons and upcoming holidays.  For Halloween, for example, they've been experiencing many October activities and, fortunately, we've gotten a sneak peak at what goes on during the day with these photos that the school provided:

A little pumpkin play!

Touching the stem!

Using it as a seat!

Using it for balance!

Playing with pumpkin guts!

A great sensory exploration!

And dressing up like a mummy!

Gettin' the tp wrap!

Our little mummy!

Annnnd, that lasted all of 2 seconds.

Now it's tear the tp to shreds, I'm sure.

It makes me so happy that Kate gets to participate in all of these fun activities while she is in school.  At the very minimum, I can at least try to convince myself that she is enjoying, exploring, and socializing with peers her own age while I'm sitting at work wishing I was with her.

We are so grateful for Kate's school.

A Royal Couple

This past weekend, we had the lovely opportunity to meet up with one of Brian's good friends, Matt, and his wonderful family.  We heart these guys!  They are so easy going and so much fun to be around!  They introduced their son, Will, into the world in December of 2011, and, believe it or not, this was the very first time that Will and Kate actually met each other!


Will & Kate.

We think these two are certainly fit for royalty!

In addition to breakfast, we got to get a little morning park play in!  No one can complain about park play!

Climbing to the big slide!

Nearly there!

Waiting for Daddy to get situated to catch her at the bottom!

That face epitomizes how much Kate loves to slide!

Just waiting to slide down the tunnel slide.

Cutie patootie!

We hope to see these fine folks again soon!  Perhaps a bit of afternoon tea next time!

Flapper Girl

A photo from our first, of what I can only assume will be many, dress-up parties!

I love the necklace that doubles as a head band!

Fall Farm Fun & Pumpkins

Today we went on a little fall adventure to Leeds Farm in Ostrander, OH with Brian's parents, otherwise known as Mimi & Papaw.  We must make this place an annual tradition!  It was very similar to Saunders Farm that we visited in Ottawa.  It was slightly smaller and they only had one of those huge bouncy pillows (Saunders had four), but it was well worth our quick drive to the country!

There were activities for all ages and Kate had a blast!  We started the trip off with a stop at the hay slide.  I honestly think Kate would have been content to stay in this covered barn all day.  She went down the hay slide several times and just played in the hay!  She loved picking it up, throwing it on the ground, crawling through it, walking through it, etc.  We all left with hay in places that we didn't even know hay could get into!  There were several activities that we didn't experience this trip but I know that this is going to be a little rendezvous that Kate is going to love doing!

In addition to the hay slide/barn, we also got to feed the goats, meet Ellie May and April - the mother/daughter donkey duo, go on a hay ride, pick out some pumpkins, and enjoy some kettle corn!

Believe it or not, it was pretty warm today too.  We actually borrowed a little dollop of sunscreen for Kate from the oh-so-prepared parents in front of us.  (Mental note - we need to pack sunscreen wherever we go.)

Our farm adventure!

See you next year, Leeds!  You are on our list now!

Our Little Observer

Kate continues to amaze me!  Every day she is growing, learning, striving, and it surprises me to see how much she really does understand.

We have a pretty consistent bath time routine.  Kate gets a bath nearly every night.  I start the bath water and grab Kate's tub of toys, her towel and washcloth, and her soap while she opens up the vanity drawers and pulls things out of them and puts them on the floor.  Once I have gathered all of her things, I test the water to make sure it is just the right temp, strip her down, see if she would like to pick any toys, and plop her in the tub.  Most of the time she wants to get in the tub first and then pick toys.

Kate then gets to play in the tub with her toys for a little bit while I proceed to put away everything that was pulled out.  (Don't worry, people.  I don't leave her in the tub alone.  I am literally two feet away and if Kate stands at all, I stop what I am doing to spot her right there at the edge of the tub.)  During this time we are also talking about toys, colors, shapes, letters, etc.  Whatever Kate happens to be playing with is typically what we are talking about.

After play time, I wash Kate up.  We do face, hair, body, and then rinse.  Once I start rinsing, I also push the drain stop down to let the water from the tub start draining out.  Kate gets a bit more play time in between the water draining time while I gather her toys from the tub, give them a quick rinse, make sure there is no water left in them, and store them back in her bin.

Once the water is fully drained out of the tub, Kate plays slip 'n' slide for a little bit, or grabs the used wash cloth and puts it back in the tub or tries to wash her hair again.  We then play hide and seek with the shower curtain and then Kate gets out of the tub.  We dry off, powder up, slab a bit of butt paste on for the night, moisturize, and get a fresh dipe on.  While I am getting Kate dressed, she is once again pulling everything out of her drawer.  Once she's dressed, we both clean up (again), clean ears, and brush teeth.

That, essentially, is our bath time routine.  We both love it, and having something that consistent (I've learned) is so beneficial for Kate's age.

Recently, I have noticed that our darling girl has been observing this routine without my knowledge.  I usually "talk through" what I am doing with Kate.  (Yes, I am one of those Mom's that refers to herself in the third person.  "Mama is going to put your soap back in this drawer."  "Mama is going to wash your hair now."  Etc.)  One thing that I have not "talked through" is the time that I am gathering Kate's toys at the end of her bath and putting them back in her bath toy bin. 

BUT, that doesn't mean Kate doesn't know what is going on.  Over the last three nights, when the time comes to put toys away, Kate has been handing me her toys, one by one or sometimes one in each hand at once!  Essentially helping me put her toys away!  This completely blows me away!!

I thought it was a strange coincidence when it happened the first time a few nights ago, but this has been a common occurrence every night since then so I am convinced Kate knows what is going on and is helping me! 

It amazes me and shocks me how fast this small little girl, my Baby, is picking things up.  It feels like just yesterday that she was a little newborn baby that ate, slept, smiled, and cooed.  Now she is nearly walking, talking, understanding our routine, and helping me put her toys away!  (I have a strange feeling that my "baby" is teetering on the edge of no longer really being a "baby".)  I am completely impressed with her observations, and, of course, she gets tons of praise for helping!

We've got one very smart cookie on our hands and I am so excited to continue to watch her grow and help her learn!  Seeing her understand something that we've been doing is so rewarding!  I can only imagine how it will feel when she nails her colors, shapes, letters, animal sounds, etc!

October Baby

October.

We have entered the birth month of our baby girl.

Over the last eleven months we have seen so many unbelievable changes in her and us.  We came home from the hospital two days after we gave birth and we had absolutely no idea about anything.  All we knew was that immediately we both felt so much love and joy with our little bundle, and, in an instance, we could not at all remember what life was like before she entered our lives, nor did we want to.  We called our pediatrician several times over things that we have since learned don't necessarily need to be called on, but each and every time we were reassured and made it through.  We have been, are, and probably will continue to be overly cautious when it comes to Kate's needs, even if it means foregoing our plans.  (I'm not sure how this will play out if we are lucky enough to add Baby #2 into the family, but it is how we are now.) 

We've watched our little bundle go from eating and sleeping the majority of the day to smiling, laughing, learning, crawling, walking, and talking.  And we know that we are only witnessing the very tip of the iceberg.

Over the last eleven months, we have learned so much about ourselves, our parenting style, our baby, but most of all we have experienced a love so deep that we never even knew existed.  I am grateful, thankful, amazed, and blessed every single day to experience such an incredible reality.

We have entered the birth month of our baby girl.

I know that I continue to talk about how fast the time has gone by but it seriously amazes me every time I look up.

She is our October Baby.  ♥