Eleven Months

Dear Kate,

You are feisty. Yes, that is a good word for you. You love to yell, crawl really fast, tear through things, and you do it all with a smile on your face. Unless of course, I take something away from you (like my cell phone for the millionth time). And then… look out. You have thrown quite the tantrums this past month, arching your back or throwing yourself down on the floor in a mess of tears. I hate to think what these will be like when you are two.

I take all of this in stride, because like I have said before, you are SO MUCH FUN! You make us laugh all the time. I wish I could fully explain this yelling thing you so. It’s hilarious. Sometimes one yell will go on for ten seconds or so, and your face when you do it…oh, I can’t even write the words to imitate it. I need to post a video SOON, because this is something we will want to remember! I think it is all an attempt to keep all the attention on you! We love it!

You make the silliest faces, your newest one being this cute little scrunchy smile. My heart melts when you do this. I first saw it at four in the morning the other day. I was getting over being really sick and Daddy didn’t want to sleep in bed with me for fear of getting sick himself. So, after laying awake for hours unable to sleep, I crept into your room to get you and bring you into bed with me. You know, just for the company. The minute you hit our bed, you popped up and were ready to party! That little scrunchy smile was the first face you made, like you were so glad to see me. You and I played for a good hour, and then we settled back into sleep.

You have cut teeth flawlessly, sometimes getting a little runny nose. You have six teeth now, four on the top and two on the bottom. Your two bottoms came in first, followed by two fangs on the top (this was quite the sight!), and then your two top middle ones. You can actually chew food now, and baby food is a thing of the past. You are on to bigger and better things and we pretty much just feed you whatever we eat. You are a big fan of graham crackers (well, crackers of any sort, actually), Cheerios, and Goldfish. You love your sippy cup, and use it at all meals, and for formula twice a day. You still have a bottle in the morning and at night, which we are slowly phasing out. On that note, we are finishing up our last can of formula, and moving on to real milk. This is NOT something I will miss. It will be much cheaper and easier!! And, you know, I’m all about that!

You are still such a good little sleeper. You sleep for about ten or eleven hours each night and still take two naps, about two hours each. I’m sure you will switch to one nap soon, but I will let you tells us when. You wake up in the best moods, eager to greet us with a big grin and a grunt.

You have started taking your first steps!! The most you have taken at one time is six, but you are getting braver and braver every day. Our world is about to change, yet again! I am sure in true Kate fashion you will move to running and climbing within days of mastering the walking. No rest for the weary around here, I tell ya!

You love your Daddy fiercely, and I think prefer him to me. You wake up calling his name, and you cry when he enters a room and doesn’t pick you up. You went through a phase where you cried when he dropped you off at Miss Marilyn’s. She told me that you would even crawl to the door after you left. Daddy melted when I told him that. Now, Miss Marilyn takes you to the window and you wave bye- bye to him as he goes.

Oh, and that reminds me of all the tricks you can do (tricks… like a dog! JUST KIDDING!), one of which is bye-bye. You wave with both hands at the same time, and it’s more just opening and closing your hand, but cute nonetheless. We taught you how to sign “more” and you caught on in a day. Now, you use it while you are eating and it is adorable. You know how to brush your hair and will do it on command, whether or not you have a brush in your hand. You are working on pointing to your eyes and nose. It’s a gamble on that one… sometimes you get it and sometimes you point to the top of your head or your ear. You know how to “talk on the phone” when we say “Hello”. You play pat-a-cake and peek-a-boo. You love to be upside down and your new favorite trick is having mommy help you do a flip. You think that is the best and if you were able to say “again”, I’m sure you would. As soon as we are done, you are crawling up my legs to do it again. You make this “mean face” to everyone! The girls call it your haters look and that’s a pretty good description.

I can’t believe you will be a year old in a month. I thought I was really sad about it, but you have just gotten to be so much more fun with each passing month, that it is hard to mourn the passing time right now. Each month brings new challenges and obstacles, but more joy than we can hold in our hearts. You are the greatest blessing we have ever received. You make our everydays so much brighter. How can I do anything but look forward to the future we have as a family? I love you, Kate Rileigh. Thanks for being my girl.

Love you to the moon and back,
Mama

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Dear Kate,

As I write this you are taking your first steps towards walking. Mustering all the courage you can, you let go of our hands and toddle forward. Each step is a breakthrough as your little legs develop confidence. I am excited to see your development, but there is a basic understanding that you will never be this again.

Next month is your first birthday. Yes, that's right, next month. Not that long ago you were incapable of holding your head up. And now your favorite position is upside down. Bottles become sippy cups, spoons become fists to shovel in spaghetti, and patty cake is the game to play.

Your life is a succession of moments, passing us by day by day. In this moment you learned to crawl, and that one was "da da da da", and this one is walking, and that one is kindergarten, and this one is your first boyfriend. Kate, you fill up each and every moment and make my moments richer than I could have imagined.

Love,

Daddy

"Don't blink. Just like that you're six years old and you take a nap and you wake up and you're twenty-five and your high school sweetheart becomes your wife. Don't blink. You just might miss your babies growing like mine did, turning into moms and dads next thing you know your "better half" of fifty years is there in bed and you're praying God takes you instead. Trust me friend a hundred years goes faster than you think. So don't blink"