1 year old

It seems so cliche to say that it just doesn't seem like a year, but sometimes when I think about it my little girl is still a helpless blob of a human instead of the budding toddler I see running around my house. On the other hand, she has changed and grown so much that it does seem feasible that a year has passed.

She's such a little person now. She says things besides "momma" and "daddy". Just the other day she brought her empty sippy cup to me, gave me the most serious face she could muster, and said "mo." She almost says book, minus the k sound, when it's time for her and daddy to sit down and read. When she wants banana, she says "nana". Occasionally you wil say something to her and it almost sounds like she says "yeah" in response.

She dances when she plays musical toys. It's a cute little bouncy move. She's getting closer to being able to run, not just walk. Almost nightly she wants daddy to chase her up and down the hallway in the house, and she just giggles like crazy as he follows behind her and says "I'm gonna get you!"

If you ask her daddy and me, she's the smartest little child ever born. I'm sure the things we find amazingly smart are just normal stepping stones in every child's life, but when your child does them for the first time you just know that they are on the cusp of brilliance. Yesterday I told her we were going to go change her diaper and she headed straight for the changing table and raised her arms so I could pick her up. When she's getting dressed now, she will lift one leg in the air so you can get her pants on and then the other. She raises her arms over her head to put on a shirt. It's little things like this, things I'm not used to her doing, that blow my mind.

Kate's obsessed with my shoes. She carries my tennis shoes, which are close to the same size she is, all over the house. One evening Nick walked into our bedroom to fetch the child and caught her trying to stick her foot into my shoe. Just yesterday I handed her my sunglasses to occupy her while we were shopping and she tried to put them on.

She makes me laugh every single day. It's so cute when she thinks she can hide from you just by covering her eyes with her hands. She giggles as I ask "where's Kate?" then she'll throw her hands in the air so I can say "peek-a-boo!"

She's slowly making friends with our dog and cat. It boggles my mind that our cat will allow Kate to pet her and will even rub up against her sometimes because the cat doesn't have anything to do with me 90% of the time.

We're having a family party tomorrow, Dr. Seuss themed of course, and I am super duper excited about the goodies I spent all day long baking yesterday.