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February 18, 2004
February 17, 2004
A YEAR AGO AT THIS TIME...
For 2 days now, I've been walking around thinking, "A year ago at this time..." and finishing the sentence with events like us going to the hospital, my water breaking, pushing, meeting Katie for the first time...it really is surreal to think that it's already been a year. To say that it's gone by fast would be a cliche and a major understatement, but of course that's all I can think of to say. It's gone by fast, and yet the individual moments that have made up the past year seemed to go by slowly. I really feel like I was able to savor a lot of the little things over this past year, even if it did go by so fast!
This morning I heard Katie talking and went in her room. I was greeted by a smiley-faced girl saying, "Hi!" and "Dee?!" over and over again. Don't ask me what Katie means by "Dee," but we hear it a lot lately!
As I write this, I think back to a year ago and I know we were looking in awe at this wee baby, who was, and still is, such a blessing. I still look at her in awe - I don’t think that’ll ever change!
Today is also a special day for our family because it marks my mom’s one-year anniversary of being finished with cancer treatments. It’s really a full-circle kind of thing: she was diagnosed with breast cancer the day before I found out I was pregnant with Katie, and went through surgery, chemo, and radiation. She finished her radiation the very morning of Katie’s birth. So, 2/17 is a special date for more than one reason!
*****
February 18, 2004
I started writing yesterday and got sidetracked, and then thought that since she has her dr. appt. today I would just finish so I could give you her official stats.
STATS & MILESTONES
At Birth:
Weight: 7lbs, 5.5oz
Length: 19.5 in.
Head: (can’t remember if this is right) 8 cm?
One Year:
Weight: 23lbs,14.5oz
Length: 30.5 in.
Head: 19 cm
She’s aright around the 90th percentile for height and weight, and off the chart a bit for head, but her head size is following a curve so there’s no worry there. She had only one vaccine today, chicken pox, along with a TB skin test. She’ll have another 2 shots at 15 mos. and one at 18mos. She’s doing everything she is supposed to do, and we’re all happy about that.
Katie’s latest and greatest is that she’s WALKING!!!!! Better yet, we caught it on video! She did a couple of steps once or twice in the last month, but nothing on a regular basis. Friday she decided she would just do it and walked a few steps at a time. We put her on her little chair and up she sprang, and she walked a few steps to me. Then we turned on the camcorder and got her to walk some more. The kicker was when I picked up one of her socks off the floor and waved it at her - at this point she took about SIX steps to me! The girl loves her socks - it’s the funniest thing! Since then she walks at least once a day and is still hesitant, but walks a little more each time.
THE BIG PARTY!
Katie’s birthday party was on Valentine’s Day. There were over 40 people there (45 total if you count the birthday girl and her parents), and 15 of them were children (10 kids ages 2-11, 5 babies 8-13 mos.). We had it at our church fellowship hall since there were so many people, and it was a great time! I did a Snoopy theme, of course (I figure someday she will have her OWN opinion on a theme, and she may *gasp* ask for Barney or some equally horrific cartoon character that makes me want to vomit, so I put my vote in this year). The one problem being that they don’t make Snoopy party things anymore. Showers, yes, but the only way for me to get Snoopy b-day party stuff was to buy very small quantities on ebay for very high prices - wasn’t gonna do that! I found a picture of Snoopy holding balloons, and we used that for her cake (the baker made it into a rice paper design), then we just did balloons in primary colors for the rest of the decorations. She did SO WELL at the party, too! I really was wondering how it would go, since there were so many people and it wasn’t on her ‘home turf,’ but she was a champ. The only time she cried was when we sang to her! Either she didn’t like our singing or she’s just a bit emotional about turning one (like her Mommy)! Ha, ha! I had candy bars with custom wrappers to pass out as favors (a big hit! And of course they were Snoopy). I ordered the wrappers and got them and realized I very easily could have done them myself - something I will put in my head for future reference! We also had “Pin the Ear on the Snoopy” for the older kids, but other than that game they pretty much ran around.
Katie got many, many wonderful gifts. From my parents she got a radio flyer wagon with wooden sides (I’m hoping it’ll be easier to walk the dog and pull her than it is to push a stroller), and from Chris’s parents she got a Little People play set and money towards a yard swing set. She also got LOTS of toys, books, and outfits - this girl will be ‘Miss Capri Pants’ this Spring, let me tell you! We got her a walker that she’s had for a month, and a little tent-like ball pit. She LOVES it - she just sits in there and bangs the balls together, thinks it’s great fun. It’s really for 3 and up because it can be tipped, so we obviously can’t leave the room while she’s playing w/it. She was rolling it like a hamster ball last night - crawled so it went on its side and then crawled right out the top. It was pretty funny! The best part is that it folds up flat so I can easily stick it against the wall behind her toy chest when not in use. My kind of toy! Her favorite toy so far is a doll whom we’ve named “Big Face Baby.” It’s this Goldberger doll that’s got an ENORMOUS head! She loves it! You wind it up and it plays a song and the cheeks and bottle light up. The funniest part is that my almost two year-old niece picked it out. It’s really kind of a freaky looking doll and I don’t think most adults would pick it out, but babies sure do love ‘em! I keep thinking of the movie “So I Married an Axe Murderer” with the brother and the big head! So, the baby’s name alternates between Big Face Baby and Sputnik, whatever strikes our fancy! LOL!
Will write more next time about other things in life (TTC, etc), but I wanted this to be all about the big girl and her first birthday!
I’d like to close with a poem that I found on a sticker for Katie’s scrapbook, which I think really puts my feelings of awe and amazement into words, even on year later:
Dear Little One,
We never dreamed you’d be so beautiful...
In all of the times we tried to imagine
every last detail of who you would be,
Thru all of the nights we spent quietly thinking
of how we would feel
when we first looked at you,
We patiently waited
and silently wondered.
We hoped and we prayed,
and we tried to imagine...
But we never dreamed you’d be so beautiful.
- Kimberly Rinehart
God Bless,
Laura & Katie
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