Baby Kate Turns One

Oh, my sweet baby girl, how has it already been a year? Time goes faster with second children.

Zachary was so excited for Kate's birthday. The day before, he insisted on blowing up an entire package of 24 balloons for her. He said, "Baby Kate is going to love her birthday!" The night before, he could hardly sleep. During her party, he said, "This is the best party EVER!" I love that he adores her. He torments her, too, but he does in fact love this little gal to pieces.
Kate does her share of tormenting. She loves nothing more than knocking down Zachary's towers and pulling his hair.
Kate's birthday came square in the middle of our stay at Koloa Landing. We spent the day at the pool, napping, and then (finally, according to Zac) opening up gifts and eating strawberry cake.

Kate opened up sippy cups, a princess plate and a princess bowl, and thought they were grand presents. Babies are too little to realize that getting dishes for your birthday is like a 10-year-old boy getting clothes. Just something to open.

Zachary was super anxious for her to open his gift. He picked out a small doll from the store a few days before.
Her reaction to the doll did not disappoint. She was squealing!
We were so surprised when she immediately tried putting on the doll's hat, covering her with a blanket, kissing her, hugging her, and patting her back. I completely ruined the videos we have of her doing this with my own squeals of delight (cute for a baby, obnoxious for a mom).

Hooray for pink birthday cake. Hooray for looking at the clock at exactly the time of birth!
Zac had to have cake on his face, too.
Kate has charmed us from day one. She is content and easy-going, and her primary demands are for food and to be held. She loves to cuddle. She brings her soft, pink blanket up to our shoulders and curls herself into a ball. She crawls up to Zachary and lays in his lap.

She thinks it is fun to put on Zachary's shoes. She would crawl around with a binky in her mouth all day long if we let her. She wants to color with Zac during "Mommy Preschool" time. She puts anything shaped like a rectangle up to her ear and says "Hah" for "Hi."

Kate is ticklish, and doesn't get tired of me singing "Lift up your arms and let me tickle you," and giggling like crazy when I get her in the armpits. You will never see this girl more attentive than when she is tearing paper into tiny pieces. She loves to be outside. She loves going along for the ride in her stroller, backpack, or shopping cart. Her favorite place to be is the top stair of the pool or sitting in the sand.

She will not perform. Even though we know she can wave hello, clap her hands, and mimic noises, she will not do them under "pressure." She points to what she wants, and if that doesn't work, turns on the grunts until we oblige.

Oh, my sweet baby. We are officially dropping her "Baby" title and that makes me ache!