Swim Lessons and a First Birthday party!!!!!

Age of Lady Kaitlyn:  364 days :-)

Family,

400,000 calories...check.

And a good evening to you from the Queen City, where the weather has been nothing shy of GLORIOUS for the past 3 days.  Talk about an amazing week in review!  Let's start with Sunday, where Sammy the Bull made a BIG decision in his personal life.  That's right, sports fans, the day that


every one says will come finally arrived on Monday night, and Papa bear officially turned off the monitor prior to going to sleep. Now I realize that doesn't sound like that big of a deal, but you have to consider the mental shift involved in that - I am now finally comfortable that, should our daughter need us, I will be able to hear her when she cries out.  Also, I am comfortable now that she will sleep through the night.  But in the spirit of full disclosure, I must confess that the #1 reason I shut that puppy down was that Munch Munch remains one of the noisiest sleepers in the history of sleep.  Granted, the thumb sucking has slowed down and her nasal passage is clearer, but when she adjusts in the middle of the night, it is something out of the Exorcist.  Any noise she makes tends to wake me up, and as I'm then always poised for the eventual cry out, it takes me what feels like an age to fall back to sleep.  But the last week has been GREAT, and everyone in the house has slept well.  Knock on wood that continues...

Another big development milestone for the Sneetch - she's now self feeding her bottle!  I had never seen it before this week, but on Thursday morning she jus snatched the bottle from me, tipped it up, and started drinking!  I was SO excited to tell daycare, at which point Ms. Oliva drops the bomb on me that "oh yeah, she's been doing that for awhile.  We make them do that."  Classic!  But hey - it was new to me, and I was SO proud of her.  She's been a great eater really since day one, but this was a big moment, as it tells us that the transition to the sippy cup is imminent.  Now granted, JT and I need to do a better job of using sippy cups vs. bottles (and we will get there - I promise), but knowing she's comfortable holding the bottles (and knowing that she's been drinking water from a sippy cup at day care regularly) should hopefully make the transition easier.

Team Taylor, intently focused on the directions...

The first highlight of this week, however, was DEFINITELY the weekend, starting at 9:30 AM on Saturday with K's first swim lesson!!!!  Honestly, I know I say this a lot, but it was TOO CUTE!  The lesson was 30 minutes, and since Mom and Steve were in town and came along for the ride, I actually got to get in the pool with both my girls - such fun!  Now obviously it's very beginner - basically just getting the kids used to the water.  However, the tricks they teach you are neat, and it's amazing to watch how quickly the kids a) start kicking and b) start having fun and splashing around.  We started with different movements to "Wheels of the Bus" before dragging K through the water (both on her belly and back) - she really did a good job kicking once she got used to it (and discovered how tasty the rubber ducky was that she chewed on for about 27 minutes).  She definitely took in more than a few mouthfuls of water, and the "Humpty Dumpty" drill (where she was supposed to fall off the side of the pool into the water) was NOT her favorite activity of the day, but she certainly wasn't afraid of the water.  In fact, the most exciting part of us was when we got her home for her bath and she squealed in delight at the prospect of getting back into water.  SCORE!  Our little Pisces is the next Missy Franklin. :-)

Rubber ducky, you're the one...

The side note concern for us on this is her ears, as we still feel that she might have an infection in there. We'll get them checked out tomorrow, and hopefully she'll be clear enough that she won't require a) shots or b) tubes.  Only time will tell, and obviously we'll do whatever must be done.  However, we're hoping that this doesn't keep her out of the water in her youth, as we want her used to the water from a very early age.

The highlight of the weekend was next (after a 90 minute power nap from the sneetch) - K's 1st Birthday Party!!!!  Now I am not going to gush in this post about "how has it been a year," and "I can't believe how much the time has flown," and "this has all been so much more magical and wonderful than I could have ever hoped" - but I'm only holding back because I'll say all that in the next one tomorrow (on her actual 1 year birthday).  So yes - stay tuned for the emotion.  For now:  "Just the facts, ma'am.  Just the facts." :-)

No ear pain here, mommy!

The party was at our house, and we were blessed with SIMPLY AMAZING weather.  We had about 40 folks on hand, and it was an absolute BLAST!  Mom, dad, Steve, Alice, Bob, Jan, and a host of our friends came by, and we spent a good 3-4 hours enjoying the sunshine, sitting on the deck, drinking beers, and eating ourselves into oblivion.  K was, of course, the highlight of the show (as she should have been), and she was treated to her first taste of sugar!  Now a bit of back story on this, Jenny was a WARRIOR in the 36 hours leading up to this shin dig.  She actually took Friday off and baked/cooked/prepared the house from 7 AM until 8:35 PM.  And by the time the party kicked off, we had a buffalo wing dip, 48 cupcakes, loads of fresh fruit and veg, an ocean of mac 'n cheese, and the CUTEST electric pink chocolate cake you've ever seen.  Fast forward to the big day, and you've got about 22 pounds of cake sitting in front of 21 pounds of Munchkin.  K didn't know what to make of everyone singing around her, and for the first time EVER she didn't know what to make of the food in front of her.  She actually didn't eat much of it, but she did enjoy playing with the icing.  Her daddy ended up doing the lion's share of the eating (and did some more today, for the record).

And since there's no way I can possibly wedge all of these photos into the paragraphs, let's do a bit of a pictorial essay, shall we?

'Twas the night before birthday, and all through the kitchen,
Wife muffin was churning out cupcakes - a woman on a mission!

And mama with her icing, and sneetch by her side,
Thinking tomorrow I'm taking a mountain of sugar for a ride!

Adorning the candle, a single "One,"
Letting the birthday girl know she was soon in for some fun!

And then D-Day arrives, let the celebration bells ring,
As Team Taylor learns that "No gifts, please" doesn't actually mean anything...

Kaitlyn's best friend Avery showed up to celebrate the day,
And taught Kaitlyn that fingerprints on glass was the best way to play.

The Miller clan was present,
Taking care of K and keeping her in a happy Mood...

Well, except for AJ, who's only thought was
"Out of my way, woman!  I want your food!!!!

Cake's all eaten, and the party's all done,
But it's just the beginning of your adventure - we love you, little one!

"I'm on the edge...of glory...."

It was such a blast, and like so many parties it went by way too fast.  However, thanks to the efforts of our folks, most of the cleanup was done long before the last car left, meaning we could actually relax vs. spend the evening trying to restore the place to a non-Baghdad look.  Wife Muffin - let me take this opportunity to say HOW PROUD I was of you and how great everything turned out thanks to your dedication.  The day could NOT have been better.  Sneetch - your mommy was a warrior for you - even broke out the cake mixer from our wedding registry for the first time in eight years to make your little concoction.  You are a very lucky little girl.  Oh, and side note that you may or may not glean from the pictures - your theme was Sesame Street.  That's fitting, because it was also your daddy's first birthday theme (I had a Big Bird cake).  As they say in Fiddler on the Roof:  "Tradition!!!!!"

Sunday was another perfect day with weather in the 70's.  We made it count, having breakfast on the screened porch and then taking the sneetch for a walk and to the park.  She was quite "Dora the Explorer" this go around, as she wanted to crawl everywhere.  She also wanted to eat every blade of dead grass at Prosperity Park, and when she finally realized the futility of picking something up to eat it (because we kept snatching it away), she just started licking the palm of her hands mid-crawl - mud, dead grass, and all.  Her face looked like something out of a Grimm fairy tale.  It was so much fun, and we had lunch on the main lawn before heading back for her final nap.  We then closed the evening we a good feed and a much needed bath, smiling happy that a perfect weekend had concluded (and with daylight savings time in place, the extra light in the evening is WONDERFUL!).

So there you have it - self-feeding, no more monitor, the sneetch in the pool, and our little girl on the verge of toddling her way to 365 days of life.  Honestly, I said I would hold off, but seriously - does anyone ever think it's going to be this wonderful of an experience when they decide to have children?  Every smile, every laugh, the way you and your wife feel even closer and happier, the schedule and the shocks to the system, the new experiences and the wonderful moments when you can indulge in old ones - it's all just so amazing.  But I get ahead of myself - these thoughts must keep for another night.  Speak soon!

Love,

Sam and Jenny