12-month stats

Although I need to save the post about Kathryn's birthday party for another time (when I have time to upload all the pictures), I will give you the updated stats on her 12-month doctor's appointment today. But, to appease those of you who crave pictures of our beautiful little girl, I included this one of her after she enjoyed her birthday cake! Our big girl is now 29.8 inches tall (73rd %tile), 20lbs 12oz (45th %tile), and her head circumference is 18.5 inches (93rd %tile!). So, we have a pretty tall, average sized, big headed girl! She's growing so much! She's close to walking, and will now walk pretty well when we hold on to just one hand. She's still unsure that she can stand by herself, although there have been several times when she's stood for about 5 seconds on her own until she realizes what she's doing and sits herself down promptly. She isn't saying any words yet, but signs eat, more, all done, milk, bye bye, hello, and sometimes please and thank you. She loves to blow kisses, but will only give actual kisses to babies/kids (both real and in pictures). She will hug almost anyone and anything. When we tell her to answer the phone and say hello, she'll hold the phone (or her hand) up to her ear and cock her head to the side, like she's talking on the phone. I wonder how she knows what talking on the phone looks like? :) She still loves to eat, and her favorite foods are crackers, Cheerios, bananas, pears, and pasta (wonder where she gets that from, too!). She's starting to sing more now, and especially loves to sing along to Jesus Loves Me, her favorite song. It's funny how at such a young age she can have a favorite song, but she clearly prefers it over the others. She also loves any songs sung by kids, and consequently we listen to her kiddie cds quite often. That's about all I can think of right now...I'm operating on little sleep, because I think she's teething, and therefore has been waking up multiple times a night. She better be teething, and I hope it's over soon, because it's been pretty rough at night! She's been waking up and crying, and after changing her diaper, and usually giving her a bottle (which in the past has put her right back to sleep), she will still scream when we put her back down. And, just as it seems she's about to settle down and go back to sleep, her screaming will start again, and she's been somehow pooping her diaper so that we have to get her back up and start the whole process over. By that time, it's been at least an hour of being up with her! Sheesh! However, each time we wake up with her, it's another reminder to be thankful for her, thankful for the fact that we have a sweet girl, our gift from God. Thankful that we can show her how much we love her by taking care of her when she needs our attention, and by trying to teach her at other times how to sleep on her own. And as we finally get back to bed and try to get back to sleep (which is really hard when it's really early in the morning and you know you have to get up soon after), we are able to pray for her as we attempt to get back to sleep. I know that although it seems like drudgery now, this too shall pass, and we will look back on these nights as difficult, yes, but somehow bittersweet too. For as quickly as this past year has gone, I know that this time will be over all too soon. And although she gets more fun and more sweet with each passing day, every day I realize she's growing up, and the time passes more quickly. It's my prayer that we will learn to savor and treasure each day, the good and the bad, and will draw closer to God as we seek to shepherd this little one entrusted to our care to having a heart that loves and serves Him as well. Ok, this blog has turned from informational to emotional, another sign that I am indeed quite tired! Stay tuned for more pictures from the birthday party that was attended by the paparazzi!