Kate is One

 It is hard to believe it has been an entire year since Kate came into this world.  It seems like it was just yesterday.  My feelings of her birth are still close to my heart.  When you hold a new born baby it is like you are holding heaven.  For weeks after, I remember just looking down at my perfect baby and cry.  They were tears of joy and gratitude.  I could not believe this little precious baby was mine and Heavenly Father would bless me with this sweet spirit.  I love Kate more and more each day.  She makes life so fun and I am so grateful I get to be apart of her life.
 

Kate had an exciting month.  The big news of the month is Kate is a walker!  She took her first steps a week before Thanksgiving.  By the Monday after Thanksgiving, Kate preferred walking over crawling.  While my mom put up the Christmas tree, Kate walked in circles around the house.  There was a lot of falling and getting back up but Kate was determined to walk.  She did this for about an hour and could have kept going if I hadn't stopped her for a nap.  Kate maybe the shortest walker I know but she sure is the cutest little walker around.

Kate had her one year check up a day after her birthday.  She weighed in at 16lb. 5oz. (1%) and 27 inches (4%) tall.  She is just a little thing.  Two more teeth came in this month making six total teeth.  Kate seems to be a very healthy baby.  She has been really lucky in the sickness department.  I only remember her getting a fever once and a cold once.  I hope her good health sticks around.  We all know a healthy baby is a happy baby which also makes mommy happy!

As I look back at pictures of Kate this past month I can see she is looking more and more like a toddler.  My baby girl is growing up and I can see it in her face.  The facials she makes seem so grown up.  Her walking makes her seem older as well.  It is really amazing how much a baby changes over a year.  Kate went from a helpless baby who was dependent on me 24/7 to a one year old who eats table food and wants to feed herself, says a few words, walks, plays with toys, gets into everything, usually knows when she shouldn't be doing something and looks at me to see how I am going to react, loves to give kisses, has the cutest fake/courtesy laugh, loves stuffed animals and is starting to do what I ask.  I am amazed each day at what Kate is learning and how much she is growing into the cutest one year old!  

11 Months

 Kate started this month off with her top two teeth coming in at the same time.  For a week she suffered the pain of teething.  Kate's bottom two teeth didn't seem to bother her as they made there way up but her top teeth were killer and she was the grumpiest she has ever been.  It was not only rough for Kate but me as well as she wanted to be held constantly and was sleep deprived.  We were both exhausted by the end of the week and were happy when the teeth made their appearance so we could get back to our normal, happy selves.

Kate spent a lot of time with her cousin, Noah, this month.  She loved it!!  Noah not so much.  Noah isn't too good at sharing and Kate just destroys everything in her path.  They weren't a good match but Kate loved following him around the house and wanted to do everything he was doing.  I think Kate wished she had an older sibling after the fun she had with Noah.  The day after Noah left she sat at the bottom of the stairs waiting for him to come down.  It was pretty sad to watch her and know he wouldn't be coming down to play.  Kate loves to be social.  After seeing her love hanging out with Noah it has made me think we need to find some little friends for her to play with.  She is at the age where she wants to interact with other babies.

Two of Kate's cousins were born in November.  Baby Tate was born on November 7.  He lives in Missouri so we haven't met him yet.  We love Facetiming to see his cute face and Kate likes to put her mouth on the phone to give Tate kisses.  Baby Lily was born on November 16.  We met Lily this past week.  Kate wasn't too happy when I would hold Lily but she seemed to like her when she was in her bassinet.  She would try and touch her hands and face.  I think Kate thought Lily was like one of her stuffed animals or baby and wished she could have hugged and squeezed Lily like she does with her toys.  It might not be easy but we are going to have to teach her to be soft with the new babies.  We are so excited about these two little spirits who have joined the Nielson family.  Kate is going to have so much fun with these cousins in the years to come! 

I cannot believe this girl is going to be turning 1 in less than two weeks.  
This year has flown by so fast.  It is amazing how much a baby learns and changes in a year.
 I love spending my days with Kate and seeing what new things she learns!

10 Months

Time is flying by.  

Every month seems to go by faster with my baby Kate.

This past month seems like a blur and I am not even sure what new things Kate did or learned.

One new thing is for sure, when it comes to eating Kate wants to do it herself.  She has become little miss independent.  If I try and feed her she usually refuses but if I put the food into her hand she will put it right into her mouth.  She is becoming more picky by the day it seems.  She is not into the baby food these days and is not to fond of anything besides cheese, yogurt and crackers/bread.  She is good at trying new foods but will take a few bites and then brushes the rest off her tray.

Kate is still a speedy crawler.  I keep thinking she is going to start walking but with how good she gets around with crawling it might be a couple more weeks.  She has no problem with standing up onto things.  She even stands on her tiptoes, like a little ballerina, when trying to open cupboards.  It is pretty cute.  Kate does a little bit of walking around furniture but if she needs to get somewhere fast, she sits down and crawls. 

I feel like Kate has the most energy of any little baby.  She literally does not sit still.  You should see her at church.  All the other babies her age or older sit so nice on their parents laps but not Kate.  She goes back and forth between Nate, my mom and I every 30 seconds.  It is exhausting.  If she is on the ground she is getting into everyone's bags to see what fun treasures they have.  People even comment on how much energy she has.  It is almost like she is on a sugar high 24/7.  It is nice living at home so I can get a break every so often.  I thought I would get past the "sleeping when baby sleeps" phase by 10 months but I still need a nap when Kate naps. 

With all this energy comes a lot of fun, too.  Sometimes it is hard see it because I would love some quiet, cuddle time with Kate but I really wouldn't change it for anything.  Kate has so much energy and excitement for life.  Her joy for life comes through her laughs, smiles, exploring new things and baby talk.  When I hear or see those things I cannot help but be happy.  The thing that brings her the most joy right now is her family.  The life and light that comes to her face when she sees someone she loves is heartwarming.  It is one of the best feelings I have felt.  Through her face I know she loves me and it melts my heart.  Kate is a great example to me of her joy for life and I am trying each day to rub some of her joy onto myself.  I hope she always has this joy and excitement for living!

4 Months

How is my baby already 4 months old?  Sometimes it feels like she is older.  Other days I wish she were still a newborn.  When I look at pictures of Kate as a newborn I cannot even remember her looking or being as small as she was.  I am sad I cannot remember those days but I sure love the little girl she is becoming.

This past month Kate has seemed to really blossom.  She is becoming a much happier baby.  She had her first giggles this past month.  Her Uncle Derek was able to get them out of her which is quite fitting.  He is the comedian in the Nielson family.  Since then, we have gotten her to giggle a couple of times.  When we get her to giggle we will try the same thing the next time and she won't have it.  What was once funny becomes boring to her...funny girl.  We keep having to try new, crazy things to get her to laugh.  It is quite the task.

 Kate is such a mover.  It seems like she is wiggling all the time.  She used to be such a good girl and sit still when I would change her diaper.  Now she pushes her feet against my hand to move backwards when I try to put her diaper on.  She thinks she is pretty funny but it is not easy to put a diaper on a moving baby.  Kate has rolled from her tummy to her back quite a few times.  She is working on rolling from her back to her tummy.  I think it will happen any day now.  She is so close.

 Kate's new thing is to reach and grab things.  She wants to touch everything.  Her hands are now in her mouth all the time.  She loves to look at her hands and mine.  She could grab and play with my hands for hours.  She has also discovered her feet and will grab for them when I change her diaper.  She isn't obsessed with them like she is her hands but I am sure she will like them more in a few weeks time.

 Kate is the little talker/singer.  Her voice is so cute.  Kate will sometimes lay in her crib and talk to herself.  When she does this I like to hide and watch her because if she sees me she usually stops.  It is so fun to see her using her voice.  Kate will also sing along with us when we sing to her.  At church on Sunday she sang through the sacrament hymn.  I couldn't stop laughing but it was the cutest thing. 

I love this little video of Kate.  It seems she is trying to figure out how she is going to get her binky in her mouth without any hands.

I cannot wait to see what Kate learns and does next month!