Little Things

I wrote this morning about one little thing I don't want to forget about Kate's first year. I received a complimentary Birth to One Year baby journal with an order from Diapers.com (which I highly recommend, by the way) and have enjoyed making notes for each week--what new skills she was learning, what made her laugh, what made her cry... It's great having a record like that of all these little things, and on the eve of Kate's first birthday, I just want to cherish all these little details...

- How I called her “Littlefoot” in utero because of how I could feel her foot pressing out against my belly.
- How much I cried during the first few days at home, because she wouldn’t eat and because I worried she would dislike me, associating me with the stress and frustration of not being able to latch on and eat.
- How Daddy’s sneezes and the coffee grinder would startle her and make her cry.
- How she stuck her hand in her mouth all the time at first (played a part in the nursing difficulties).
- How as early as six weeks, she made a noise that sounded like “hi!” We got a kick out of it.
- How often she spit up—we never could burp her enough to avoid it!
- How many nicknames she had early on: Boo, Lil Bit, Sweet Pea, Les Enfant, Baby Bear, Baboo, Boobaloo, Boo-Bear, Barry-Bear, Kate-Bear.
- Her favorite toys in the first six months: musical fish and hanging beach ball on her play gym, her “iPod,” “Raffi” giraffe lovey.
- How awful I felt after work the day I returned from maternity leave. (That night and the second day were hard, but it got better quickly.)
- How she hated getting her schmutzy eye (or a stuffy/runny nose) wiped or picked at.
- How surprisingly great her day care experience has been. Started at 6 months. The ladies just loved her, and all the little babies (especially her “boyfriends” Killian and Kiah) love to play together.
- How good she is with new people. Day care and church people have accustomed her to meeting new people. She smiles and flirts—she’s “never met a stranger,” as they say!
- How she actually liked eating pureed prunes when she was constipated. (Yuck—looked like chocolate pudding, but we know better!)
- How “Old MacDonald” was her favorite song this whole year—she smiles, dances, and bops her head to it.
- How her major milestones seem to fall on holidays—first tooth broke through on Labor Day, first steps on Halloween (ok, the night before), first top tooth on Thanksgiving
- How she “bops” her head in a sassy little wiggle. (video of that here!) At first, I was worried she had a motor tic of some sort, but now she does it more just when she’s excited :0)
- How when she realizes we’ve left a baby gate open, she’ll look at us deviously, wave “bye” with more gusto than usual, and practically run (quick-toddle!) through the door!

We love you, Boo. A year ago tonight, we were smoking you out at Applebee's, and would soon go to the hospital in labor with you!