It's hard to believe that in just a few weeks Kate will celebrate her 1st birthday. The year has whirled by so quickly and she is no longer my little baby girl! This realization hit me the other day when I was shopping for some clothes for her (she is quickly growing into the next size up). As I searched the racks for 12-18 month clothing I noticed how unbaby-like they were! Instead of soft, cuddly pinks, I saw lots of denim, brown, bright, jewel colors and modern prints. While dressing Kate will always be fun (for as long as she lets me dress her), it is clear that she has passed from baby to toddler.
Her walking skills are getting better and better everyday. Just today she took two small steps on her own! It won't be long before she really will be chasing after her brother (though she does a good job of it on all fours anyway). For now she is content to walk while holding onto the furniture or her push toy, and then letting go and crawling at full-speed till she hits her destination. I haven't weighed her, but she seems to be consistently growing. I'm curious to see what her 12 month appointment will bring.
Kate loves:
pulling books off our book shelf
grabbing Ethan's toys
mommy and daddy
throwing food
wrestling with Ethan
Kate does NOT like:
people she doesn't know
her changing table
being left alone
baby food, or anything like baby food
cuddling
In other news, we have decided (for now, at least) to put tubes in her ears. Since March, she has been on eight or nine rounds of antibiotics to treat ear infections. And flu season hasn't even begun! After seeing an ear, nose and throat specialist it was clear that she would be a good candidate for this minor procedure. While David is hesitant to allow the surgery, we are also reluctant to keep treating her with antibiotics over and over again. We are scheduled for surgery on Sept 30th.
Kate did beautifully on her first day. She took a nice long nap in the sleeping room across the hall! I was worried that she would miss her morning nap on her days at school. Looks like I have nothing to worry about!
What did I do the whole three hours I had to myself? Went to my favorite coffee shop, had some good quiet time at the church, then did my grocery shopping! It was a good morning :)
My present? Dinner at one of my favorite resturants in town, Rosie's. YUM! David and I had a delicious meal, and a romantic moonlit walk on the grounds of Ewing Manor (where the Illinois Shakespeare Festival is held every summer). A day that was already filled with so many birthday wishes from friends and family through the mail, over the phone and email was topped off with a selection of petit fours from Janet's Cakes.
These are pictures from the brunch, hosted by Heather and Steve. I was surprised that the children behaved as well as they did! Anna (Ben and Colleen's daughter) was content playing in the hallway.
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Ten months old already...I can't believe how quickly time flies. Kate's personality is coming out more and more each day, and her physical abilities are increasing, too! Lately, she's been standing up mostly on her own, sometimes with the help of furniture, sometimes not! It's amazing to see her balance herself like that! She can also take a step or two as she holds on to the furniture. I guess she'll be walking before too long!
In an effort to prolong what little vacation time we have left together, we decided to spend a night at Wildlife Prairie State Park in Peoria, IL. They have several things to do there, like hiking, fishing and seeing the various wildlife they have on display there. It's more of a wildlife preserve than a zoo. This was the first time Ethan had ever gone fishing, and to be quite honest, it felt like the first time for David and me! We borrowed a friend's fishing pole, bought some bait at a nearby gas station, and tried our luck at the pond outside our cottage. We rented what they called a "double cottage", which really was two mini silos connected together.
Our little cottage had everything you could need. Mini fridge, tiny stove, sink, microwave, coffee maker, tv, and bathroom. The separate bedroom had 3 trundle beds in there!
The highlight of the trip was riding on the little train that tours parts of the park. If you know our boy, he LOVES trains.
On our way out of South Haven last year, we stopped at Van Buren State Park to do some hiking. We did the same thing this year, and I imagine this will continue to be a family tradition. The views are spectacular!
Like her big brother, she prefers french fries...
Well we made it to the beach! It certainly warmed up, but by the water it was still rather cool.
We decided to go out for dinner at our favorite Italian place here...Maria's. We then ended the evening with a long stroll down the harbor towards the lighthouse. 
