Sweet, Silly, & Social: Our ONE year old!

One year old dolly picture

Kendall's very first dolly picture at the hospital!

On July 15th, 2010 I decided I should buy a parenting book...I thought I had a little over a week to read up. Little did I know that the very next day we would actually BE parents!  That day literally feels like YESTERDAY. Keith and I are in SHOCK by just how fast a year has gone by. But wow, it has been seriously AMAZING! The past couple days we've had a great time "reliving" all the special moments and surprises leading up to Kendall's birth. Those memories are all still so fresh, and I hope they always feel that way. We are truly blessed by Kendall; every single day she brings us so much joy and laughter. As I've documented our feelings and milestones over the past year I know I've said over and over that each new stage has been our favorite, and as we enter the toddler world the feeling is the same. We are LOVING every minute of Kendall these days. It seems like she is absorbing so much lately, every day she has a new trick or understands something new that we say or do. It feels like she has recently turned that corner from baby to toddler. Even though her size sometimes is deceiving (she's about 17lbs and on her birthday a lady at the grocery store asked me if I was sure she was old enough to be sitting in the front part of the cart!). Here is some of the latest with Kendall...
*We think she has quite the sense of humor for a one year old. Actually, she is a riot! She knows how to ham it up and loves an audience. Her crowd favorite right now is the "intense" face with clenched fists---the more laughter she gets the more she does it! We hope she doesn't pop a blood vessel or something!
*Her all time favorite food is avocados! She screams and pounds on her high chair if she sees me with one and can literally eat an entire avocado in one sitting (too bad they are stinkin' expensive right now)! Generally she'll eat anything we give her, and so far she has no allergies. We've also made the switch from formula to whole milk and she has done pretty well, although we still need to get her to take it cold from a sippy cup.
*She is a little love bug! She has always been cuddly, but recently she learned what it means to hug and she will hug us as well as all her favorite toys. On her birthday she was hugging all her new dolls that were still in the packages! If you ask for a kiss you will probably get a slobbery, open mouth, bitting style of kiss. And she can give hi-5's and blows kisses, too.
*Kendall knows how to bust a move! She has the cutest little booty shake and anytime there is any sort of a beat she is groovin'!
*Anything can be a toy for Kendall. She likes to pull all the kleenex out of the box and rip it into tiny pieces. And she also loves to put things inside of containers or take things out. Her other favorite activities include playing with her kitty cats (she has 3 now!), and "reading" all her books. This is how we usually find her when she wakes up, reading to her kitties and binkies (she is still a great sleeper and usually wakes up super happy---unless she is teething (3 teeth in and one is almost through))! She also loves to share the things she is using (including food).
*She is on the move! She hasn't yet taken independent steps, but she is getting really brave with her cruising and loves it when we help her walk. We think she's pretty close to walking alone! She also is very quick going up and down stairs and can safely get herself off of the couches. We think we'll have a climber---but luckily she isn't tall enough to do too much of that yet!
*Our favorite thing that Kendall does is talk...and boy does she love to talk! NON STOP! She sounds like she really has something to say, but still doesn't really have any actual words beyond Mama and Dada and uh-oh. Occasionally we think she is saying Kitty, or bye-bye but it's pretty hit or miss.

A blueberry muffin birthday tradition

Hugging her dolly

She doesn't stay still for long! 

Well, there you have it! Our little love is one year old. We can't wait to see what she has in store for us on this adventure of parenthood. 

Independence day!

Great Grandpa is 98!

So it's time for another trip to California!

Kendall was helping us pack!

First we went to San Francisco's deYoung art museum. Kendall slept through most of it but was up in time to enjoy the view from the top!

Next we had a family BBQ to celebrate Great Grandpa Dave turning 98 years old.

Kendall with her second cousin Molly. They had a lot of fun together!

Kendall with Daddy before the photo shoots.

Grandpa and his kids,

 his grandkids,

and his great grand kids!

The Williams'

With Papa John

Great Grandpa enjoying a birthday muffin.

We celebrated Kendall's 1st bday a little early. She wasn't so sure about that candle.

Or the singing, clapping & laughing!

And we celebrated Colin's birthday, too! Our family likes summer birthdays...(14 between me and Keith's families!)

We spent a good amount of time at the pool (after Kendall got over her ear infection).

Gramma and Kendall splashing away!

Swimmer

Kendall and 3 of her buddies are taking swim lessons at the YMCA...they finish up tomorrow and they are all ready to graduate and become mini lifeguards now! At this age swim lessons consists of jumping of the edge into Mommy's arms, "swimming" after floating toys, dunking heads under the water, singing songs and splashing. Kendall has really enjoyed the water, and I've really enjoyed how it wears her out and she takes super long afternoon naps!

The swim team :)

Pink Eye

After the 2.5 hr Urgent Care visit, an eye drop prescription & 24 hours of staying home...she was all cleared up in no time! It didn't slow her down one bit! I just wish I had taken a picture sooner---this was after it started to get better. Another illness to add to our "firsts" list!

Father's Day

I'm a little late  on this one, but Keith is a GREAT DAD EVERYDAY so we can celebrate it on the blog on June 29th :) Kendall was just getting over Pink Eye on the real Father's Day so we laid low at home for most of the day and then went out for a family dinner at Twigs. Keith, I have LOVED watching you be a father to Kendall, the way she lights up when you come home or even just walk in the room, is priceless! You are a great provider for her in every way and you've developed with her such a playful relationship. I appreciate you and I'm so glad that Kendall is blessed to have you as her DaDa!

 Kendall's first set of clubs!

an 11 month old with a lot to say!

My calculations just aren't adding up right...suddenly, according to the calendar, my newborn baby girl is 11 months old! Sheesh! 11 months old feels awfully close to 12 months old (aka ONE YEAR OLD---yikes!!!).  I do LOVE this new stage, being Kendall's mom just keeps getting better! But I feel like I was JUST pregnant with her; the memories are still SO fresh. Alas, the time continues to pass quickly, and we have a talkative, mobile, silly, and incredibly sweet 11 month old. Kendall has many new tricks up her sleeve, but crawling, pulling up, cruising, and moving in general, seem to be her favorites. She likes to play "chase" and thinks it's so silly to take things out of drawers, or boxes (not so great at putting them back in just yet). We are enjoying her special language (that we have yet to decode), and how she clearly understands so much of what we are saying. It's fun to quiz her on things she knows, like where her head is or to put her binky in or wave "bye bye," and watch her confidently show us. She loves to dance, and sing, and TALK. So this month she is going to tell you everything you need to know about her right now. Enjoy! (sorry it's pretty long, but I just couldn't cut any of it out!)

I think what she is telling us is that she love's her Daddy! 

And that she eats just about anything we give her (as well as things we don't feed her, like cat food and books), and loves to feed herself. She sleeps from about 7:30-6:30 and usually takes 2 naps a day. She just saw her Doctor and he said she is right on track with everything! She weighs 16 lbs 10oz and is 27.5 inches long. Here are her 11 month dolly pictures:

and she's up

and she is off!

Evidence of book eating!