HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY KATELYN!!

Family photo with our one-year old daughter. Kate was a champ today, and it was a long, overstimulating one with lots of presents and visitors. She woke up happy and is still singing herself to sleep!

Kate enjoyed her birthday from start to finish. First, some blueberry pancakes...

a fun and special birthday outfit...

an early pick-up at daycare from Nana and Papou...

and finally, Kate checks out her new kicks from "aunt" Heather - Converse All-Stars!! and a comfy fleece vest...

Has it really been a year? ...

I ask the question, and then I look at this picture, and I can't believe my wee little baby has grown into full-blown toddler in such a short time. To think how big *I* was this day last year, and how big she is now. My gosh... it's a weird reality for a new mom, her baby's first birthday. But I don't want to get sappy about it - I'm excited we've survived, grateful for the many blessings of the last year, very thankful for her health and eagerness to explore her vast world. And on the brink of a new election, I can only hope that this "vast world" is a much better place for this little girl as she grows up... 

A big move...

Car rides with Katelyn have never been particularly ... let's say, enjoyable. So making the move to the Stage 2 car seat where she now faces forward seemed like a blessing. Perhaps she'll enjoy the ride more if she can see us and take a look at the world around her a bit more, we hoped. Too early to tell, but we've still had some meltdowns. Ironically, the change has seemed to spur a renewed interest in her OLD car seat, which she climbed into, onto, around and around for like an hour straight this weekend! (Maybe because she wasn't strapped in.) Our biggest fear was that she wouldn't be able to sleep in the new seat, since all along we've always tried to plan our travels around naptime so we wouldn't have those "bad moods" while we drove; as you can see, no problemo!

I just think it's so darn cute when Kate does things for herself, like drink from her sippy. It's such a small thing, but it makes me realize how far she's come since one year ago! (oh, and she likes to "sort" the mail when we get home every day, so that explains the mess...)

So big, yet so small...

Faces like this make me wonder where Kate learns this stuff. Like, how does she know that scrunching your nose and squinting really hard and breathing heavy is funny? Do we do that?!? She cracks us (and herself) up!

Our Blue Hen baby...

We may work for Towson, but we're blue and gold at heart!

The Faceoff...

Katelyn and Diesel (Josh & Kim's kitty) have met before. They've had a love-hate relationship. Mostly Diesel starts out by entertaining the idea of being near a baby. Soon after, he realizes this baby is a cage match waiting to happen, and he'd rather not be bothered. These days, we see little of the poor thing when we visit. Their last encounter, Diesel came out the victor - though it doesn't look like that here - as he scared the daylights out of Kate (and okay, I'll be honest, out of me) when he hissed and swatted at us from under the bed!).

Kate's newest thing is collecting items and carrying as many as she can for as long as possible. Here, she helps collect Uncle Josh's golf balls from his yard, and then seeks Daddy's assistance in organizing them.

Birthday Celebration #1...

It only made sense to throw a 1st birthday party for Kate while most of the Judy family was all together (we miss you Jas and Erica!) even though she's still got two weeks to go. She enjoyed a cupcake for the occassion, but enjoyed the chocolate icing more! (I'm clearly way too excited, and she ended up a huge mess, but that's the fun of it!)

 

Are these two related or what?

(Katelyn on top at about 3 weeks; Leah below at 9 weeks)

A day with Kate's cousins!

This weekend, we were finally able to get all the babies together for a visit. Aunt Gina and Uncle Jared were in town from Texas and brought little Leah to surprise the family. It was fun to see the "interaction" of the three babies and their various personalities at their different stages. Evan was sleepiest of all, so those little peepers are a rare shot from our time with him!

New cousins Leah (9 weeks) and Evan (2 weeks) are much less rambunctious than Katelyn, but cuties nonetheless...

Here, Katelyn checks out the little ones (we're teaching her "gentle") as she treks 'round the living room. It may look more like she's preparing for a meal, but she was pretty good with the wee ones. Yes, they're wearing matching Halloween onesies, we're cheesy like that!

Fun photos...

Isn't she lovely...

Still loving her veggies. This time straight from Daddy's plate...

Now that Katelyn's drinking real milk, she's taken to drinking it straight from the carton. How un-couth... (just kidding of course)

A rare family photo...clearly it's very hard to keep the little one still and patient for long.

Tis the season...

For playin' in the grass...

playground rompin'...

crisp fall air...

spooky Jack-o-lanterns (this awesome one courtesy of Daddy)

and bath-towel ghosts!

Quality Time with our munchkin...

Perfect fit...

Nice to meet you Cousin Evan...

The Queen of Daddy's world...

Katelyn's first football game at the "U" at Towson. She was mesmerized by the band, the music, the cheerleaders, and all the activity. She was clapping right along with the fans during team introductions, it was so cute, because she obviously had no idea what was really going on, but she was excited anyway!

Trouble maker...

Yes, I do know that is the dishwasher. And no, she shouldn't be IN the dishwasher. But what can I say? She's curious...and just recently learned how to climb on things. Turn around for one second, and these things happen. Oh, the life of a toddler... 

Daddy's thought: Hmmm, a new way to get out of giving the baby baths!

Welcome to the family Evan!

Evan Matthew Judy is our new nephew (Kate's newest cousin), born to Josh and Kimberly on Saturday, October 4th at 12:38am. He was 7.0 lbs and 20.5 inches, two weeks early, and is the cleanest, prettiest (and I mean that in a manly way, Josh!) baby I've ever seen less than a day after birth! Welcome to the family!