So Long, It's Been Good to Know Ya

As of today, Kate is officially off formula forever. Yippee for saving that extra $25 a week!! Mike somehow managed to cut himself on the very last can of formula on the very last day before it was empty... Don't worry, it's minor, but seems like some kind of bad karma. He must have harmed some formula in a past life!

I'm also starting to pack up the bottles and bottle paraphernalia because I'm hoping to wean her off onto a sippy cup asap. She likes them and does better with them than Maggie did at this age, but she mostly likes to let the milk run out of her mouth onto her shirt instead of swallow it. Why?? She doesn't do that with her bottles. It cracks her up though. I guess once she gets good and thirsty, she'll stop.

I'm feeling very fortunate that Amy B. is having a baby soon because as I move through these milestones with Kate, it's helping me to feel excited and relieved instead of sad. Kate's my last baby and perhaps I should feel wistful and reluctant to let go of these baby days and baby things, but as I pack up the girls' stuff, I feel like I'm gathering it in preperation for the next baby instead of just tossing it out. It just isn't MY baby specifically. But I know these little things are not gone from my life forever and that helps me a great deal. I feel like I get to just appreciate how big she's getting and enjoy the greater freedom and independence this next year will bring instead of clinging to something lost.

Not that you have to save all this junk and use it forever, Amy!! Just toss it out when I'm not looking, OK?! Thanks.

Kate's Birthday

Here are some photos of the small family celebration we had for Kate last night. I don't really think mega 1st birthday parties are worth it, so we just had cupcakes and opened presents. Gram and Grandpa are coming for dinner and more cupcakes on Sunday, so we'll bring out some balloons and festive plates and napkins for that, but all in all still fairly low key. That's what you get when you have Thanksgiving, Christmas, and 3 birthdays within 3 months of one another (and you're too young to remember any of it)!! I think she had a good time.

Maggie sang Happy Birthday and blew out her candle for her. Then they split one chocolate and one vanilla cupcake so they could have some of each.



Look at all that frosting! Neither of them really ate much of the cake!



Not all that messy.



Maggie also graciously opened all of the presents for Kate. There was a little bit of "why are all these presents just for her" drama. Luckily, a late Christmas present from Nana and Papa arrived yesterday afternoon, so Maggie was able to have one of the gifts for herself.



After all those new toys, all Kate really wanted to do was climb on her favorite chairs and fall off on her head. C'est la vie.



As always, there are more pictures on Snapfish. Oh, and by the way, that ugly blob on her shirt in those photos is the remains of an M & M. I should've changed her shirt, but we had our hands full trying to keep Maggie from ripping through all the presents before Kate could even see them!

Kate Is One Year Old!!!

Happy Birthday, Baby Kate!

Nice and Safe

We've taken (and shared) quite a few photos of Kate with various things perched on her head. She genuinely seems to like it, and it only adds to the hilarity that her noggin is so delightfully round like a pumpkin. If you can stand a few more Buckethead videos, come right this way...

It's especially nice how you can hear us in the background encouraging her to put the bucket on her head. We're supportive parents. Here are some killer dance moves:

And here's a photo of Maggie getting in on the act:

CORRECTION!

Previously, I stated that Kate's birthday is this Thursday. That is incorrect. It isn't that I do not know the date of my youngest child's birth. It is that I am confused about what day of the week that falls on this year. Kate's birthday is January 6th, every year, and this year that date falls on Wednesday. Please adjust your celebrations so that they occur on the appropriate day.

Thank you and my sincere apologies.

:)

Auntie Amy Brandt has already collected her Eagle Eye Award prize of getting to hear Maggie perform her famous rendition of DECK! the Halls on speakerphone. Congratulations!!

For Your Entertainment

After my post about Maggie singing Deck the Halls, and just because this video is so darned funny that Mike and I keep watching it over and over and cracking up each time, here's a bonus feature of Maggie and Kate's comedy act:

Kate Puh-Tate

Kate has officially started to walk this past week. She's up on her feet zooming drunkenly around the house, terrorizing the cats, wrecking Maggie's carefully organized play, bonking herself on the head and laughing manically. She's currently got a pretty good shiner on her left cheekbone/outer eye. Being the good Dad that he is and responsible about recording major milestones even for the second-born, Mike worked hard to get this video of her movin' and shakin'. And since it's Two For the Price of One Day here at the blog, here's a video of Maggie from her first birthday - in honor of Kate's upcoming first birthday on Thursday and her new motility - walking around dragging her balloons.