Kate is One

One year ago at 5:09pm Kate was born and our lives have not been the same since. 99% of those changes have been nothing but positive. The early mornings? Not so much! Nonetheless, we are so incredibly lucky to have a near-perfect daughter who continues to amaze us daily. We adore her and we cherish every minute we get to spend with her.

I thought we would start off this post with a little recap and reflect on how Kate has changed over the last year.

When she was born, Kate was 9lbs and 21 inches. At her one year check up today she weighed a whopping 26 lbs. 12 ounces and was 32.5 inches long. When her doctor walked in she said, "Well, that is the biggest one year old you are ever going to see." Message received...our baby is ginormous, but in a wonderful, healthy, strong kind of way.

Kate started eating rice cereal at 4 months, pureed fruits and veggies at 6 months, finger foods at 9 months, her first lollipop after her vaccines today, and will switch over to whole milk near the end of the week. Her favorites seem to be blueberries, peas (mainly because she can smush them), scrambled eggs, and chicken.

Kate has always been a girl on the move. She started crawling and pulling up right before her nine month birthday and is almost ready to walk. She loves to hang upside down and go for walks around the block.

We love to travel and so we have tried to take Kate on a few trips during her first year. Her first real vacation was to San Francisco to visit our Nor Cal family. She has also traveled to Phoenix and Mammoth in addition to trips to Orange County and LA to visit her grandparents. We have yet to take her on a plane, mainly because we are chicken, but I am sure we'll have to bite the bullet at some point.

There are a million things that I could tell you about Kate, but hopefully you have read our blog over the last year and have learned a little bit about what a sweet, smart, funny girl she is from our ramblings and pictures.

We had a pretty low key day today as Kate really has no idea what a birthday is, but we celebrated in style last weekend at a co-71st-birthday party for my dad and Kate (they have the same birthday).

I'll end this post and our first year of recording all things Kate with a few pics from her first birthday party.

Mommy and Kate showing off their party dresses.
Every girl needs a pretty dress for her big day.

Kate's party was at Grandma and Grandpa's house and as always Grandma Steph went above and beyond to put together an amazing party. She is the greatest party planner.

Yia Yia Debbie baked Kate a yummy cake to dive into at her party. She is usually a tidy eater but still managed to get a little whip cream on her face. She didn't quite know what to make of an entire cake just for her but managed to eat almost the whole thing.

Kate and Grandpa had a great time at their birthday party.
Here's to their 91st (80 +11) in ten years.

Kate woke up from her nap in the middle of the gift opening. She wasn't too sure what was written on the card but appreciated the sentiment. Notice the outfit change. Every birthday girl deserves to have a costume change halfway through her party.

This gift looks very interesting. I imagine that she is sitting there trying to figure out how she is going to put those wood pieces in her mouth.

This gift is incredible. Looks just like one mom had when she was a little girl.

Thank you to everyone who has shared their love with Kate this first year of her life. We are so lucky to have you all on this journey with us. We look forward to having you travel the road with us through another year.