One Year Photos & Details

So, this is incredibly late. I think I got overly excited that my 52 week project was over and neglected to take photos of Anna Kate with her one year sticker. Anyways, you will see below in the photos why I avoided taking them. She is very much so over sitting still...

Anna Kate's One Year Stats:
Height- 29.5", 61st percentile
Weight- 19 lb 7 oz, 44th percentile
Head- 46.4 cm, 86th percentile
BMI- 15.72

So, while baby girl is still tall and thin compared to the rest of the babies her age, she is catching up on the weight end. May have something to do with the ridiculous amount she eats! Overall the doctor seemed pleased with where she was size wise, developmentally, etc.

At age one, Anna Kate is not yet walking. Post-birthday she began to take some interest and joy in walking with you holding her hands. She enjoys taking things out of boxes, baskets, bags, and sometimes enjoys putting them back in. There are few foods she does not enjoy, although she loves cheese, yogurt, bread, blueberries, bananas, "mac and trees", sweet potato, AK mainly uses "mama", "dada", and "ba" but has begun to try to expand her words/sounds. Her favorite activities are reading books, digging through her toys, and swinging.

I think you can see where this is going...

Oh you know, just eating this sticker.

"This looks like fun, but I can't quite get it off...."

Moving on to bigger and better things... making messes of the changing table cabinet!

And, if you would like a walk down memory lane:

One Month

Two Months

Three Months

Four Months

Five Months

Six Months

Seven Months

Eight Months

Nine Months

Ten Months

Eleven Months

Ball Pit!

So, despite all of the awesome new toys and books Anna Kate received for her birthday, we were still in need of a "rainy day" toy. And, because of the unpredictable weather in North Carolina, Anna Kate has become accustomed to going outside during the day and does not like it when we are cooped up all day because of rain or cold (yesterday).

I decided it would be a fun idea to order some ball-pit type balls after seeing moms making ball pits for their little ones just by throwing the balls and kid into their pack and play. Turns out, you don't even need to add the pack and play... unpack the balls into the box they arrived in, and add the kid!

This seriously provided the most long-lasting entertainment we have ever had around here!

Pure joy!

It started out all sweet-like...

Let the throwing begin!!

She was just stirring the balls around as fast as she could and they came flying out!

But seriously, money well spent.

"Thanks, Mom!"

I foresee this being a true "rainy day" activity. Lots of cleaning up was involved. Over and over again.

I wonder what happens when I do this...

Yep....

Precious mess maker.

This and That

So, we have taken another break from the camera. Must have been something about taking hundreds of photos over the past few weeks of all of the birthday fun for Anna Kate and Avery. That, and I will no longer be taking weekly photos. My goal for the project was to complete her first year in weekly photos, and I will most likely keep monthly updates going for the next year.

I also owe you a one year update. That will happen. She turned one, by the way.

Here are some photos that Rob and Laura took of AK at Avery's party...

Mommy and Anna Kate enjoying the bouncy house!

This is Anna Kate enjoying the best game of peek-a-boo in her life. There was a "stopper" at the bottom of the slide, to keep the children from flying off the bouncy house, and everyone was sitting facing it. Anna Kate thought it was amazing when she popped up to see everyone!

Oh and here are some old photos of what it is like to eat with Anna Kate. This is a typical lunch for the two of us...

For lunch this day... one cheese stick, two slices of hormone/nitrate/whatever-free turkey, half of a whole wheat english muffin with hummus, two strawberries, and a handful of blueberries. Sometimes we incorporate more veggies than fruits, but whatever she didn't have for lunch she makes up for at dinnertime.

And water. Game on. That is the face of determination.

Wrapping it up... She usually has a few bites leftover, that she will either feed to you, let you feed to her, or she will toss on the ground. So for everyone that asks... we know that she is done eating when she starts giving away her food! Although she sometimes shares with the doggies to be sweet!

Avery's Birthday Party- Part Two (the other fun!)

So, there were a few moments outside of the bouncy house. A few. And since the birthday girl was way more occupied with her friends than any of the adults, Anna Kate got plenty of loving from her Marshall grandparents... and Charger!

"Hey mom, do you see this hilarious little dog?!"

"I love Charger!"

We had to get some pictures with Gigi, since we didn't get any at AK's birthday party!

Someone had a lot of snacks... and it wasn't Ru.

How adorable is a table full of toddlers?!

Birthday candles! One, Two, THREE!

 Everyone singing to the birthday girl!

The icing is the best part, obviously.

Avery's Birthday Party- Part 1 (Bouncy House!)

Again, this will be a multi-posting event, as we took a bazillion photos at Avery's birthday party! The main event at Avery's party was a huge bouncy house that Robert and Laura rented for her. They had hoped it would be set up during nap time, but it came early and Avery was very excited to show us her bouncy castle before nap time. Fortunately, this also provided napping leverage, and Avery took a nice long nap before her party just so that she could bounce. And, oh did she bounce. After all of her friends left, Avery insisted on bouncing. Really, I think she was just concerned about getting her money's worth out of the four hour rental.

Anna Kate had a great time in the bouncy house too. She loved the free range of crawling around, and even thought it was awesome when she would tumble, fall, and face plant! She may be our little tomboy after all...

Before all the kids woke up, the big boys had to test out the bouncy house..

But seriously. The kids were napping, so the Daddies had to jump.

Then Anna Kate, Gigi, and I tested it out before all of Avery's friends arrived...

Check out that stinker smile!

Pure joy!

And once everyone left, we had at it again. Daddy had to get in there with AK. Anna Kate loved playing with her cousin Avery. AKA watching Avery jump and jump and jump. And jump.

I adore this picture!

It was so amazing that Gigi and Ru were outside the bouncy house!

"I'm gonna getcha!"

Princess of the mountain!

Down the big slide with Daddy!

New Toys!

So, as you can imagine, Anna Kate was spoiled pretty well by all of her family and friends for her birthday. She can now ride in the van in style (Thanks Nana & Grandpa for the carseat!), hunt and fish in the state of North Carolina for the rest of her life (Thanks Gigi & Ru! the short-long story of this is I complained a lot that my brothers got a lifetime sportsman license as kids and I didn't... so Avery and Anna Kate will not miss out!), be even cuter with all of her new clothes, and read and play for days! Her aunts and uncles spoiled her with some fun water toys, and the week after her birthday the temps rose above 70 so of course we got them out to play!

I'm not sure who loved the water table more... Anna Kate or Mark...

"Wait.. I am allowed to play with this water? (Unlike the dog bowl!)"

"This is awesome!"

(Since this time we haven't been home on a warm day, but the water table is also super fun inside.. with no water!)

Next up! Baby pool! Momma only blew up the first two rungs, because someone woke up from her nap!

How cute is this baby on a bucket?! And that belly button!!

(PS we have some new swimsuits now... since this one is 3-6 months!)

Snuggling up in my cute towel with my favorite pup!

Thank you aunts and uncles! I love you!