Birthday Party!

I just love the expression on her face in this picture. She is holding a picture of Clarissa and Ryan's dog, Ryot. Maybe she is upset that Ryot didn't come to the party.


Happily surrounded by some of her cousins.


Her first chocolate and first ice cream. We had to make allowances for her 1st birthday!


She is just so beautiful and happy. What a sweetheart.




Katie's party on May 26th was very fun. We had lots of family there. Jerry was nice enough to take these pictures for me. He probably took 60-100 pictures, but these are the best.

On another note, Katie's life has changed a little since she turned one. She is now riding in a front-facing car seat, which she seems to enjoy more than the rear-facing car seat.

She has been tricked into walking 3 times, 2-3 steps each time. "Tricked" means that once she has figured out that we want her to walk, she firmly and loudly protests. I know she will walk eventually. No rush.

She is also sleeping better. Katie has slept since Tuesday night, at least from 7 or 8-ish, until 5:30 or 6-ish. Nice, since she used to wake up at about 2:30, 4:30, 6:30, 7:30, and finally 8:30. Sometimes more, sometimes less. It is nice that she sleeps practically the whole night.

Now if I could just get to bed earlier, I would get enough sleep also. Ryan and I like to spend the time together after she is asleep. We don't always get to bed as soon as we should. But we really enjoy the time that we get to pretend we are just husband and wife, not Mom and Dad. Not that we don't enjoy being parents. It is just nice to be people again.

Schedules

Katie seems to really like schedules. She is so cute when we are doing the nighttime routine. We put her in pajamas, then read scriptures, then pray, and then she nurses and goes to sleep. It is so fun to see how when the scriptures close, she immediately folds her arms and gets ready for prayer. And when I sit down in the chair to nurse her, she will give me her pacifier. And after nursing, she will point to her bed. So cute!
Also, in the middle of the night, she will stand at the corner of her crib that is the closest to the door, and wait for someone to come get her. Frequently, in the past, she would be standing on her blanket, and we would have to move her off it. Now, she will see us come in, and she will move off the blanket, and sometimes point to her pacifier. Isn't that amazing? Now I can hear some of you saying, "So, is she training you, or are you training her?" And I can truthfully answer, "I don't have any idea!"
I think it is pretty clear that she can handle routines. My question is, why in the world does she still yell and scream and throw a fit anytime I try to change her diaper or clothes? I just don't understand.

Look how long her hair is now. It has curls in the back, especially when her hair is damp. I thought she looked just adorable in this outfit and with the headband on.

She really just doesn't like me to take pictures of her. Well, I should rephrase that. She wants the camera, and I won't give it to her. I would like to think that she is waving "Hi!", but I know better. That is a "I want it, give it to me now" gesture.

Well, we decided we were actually brave enough to try and let her feed herself with something other than finger food. She enjoys her food so much more when she can feed herself. When we would give her baby food, she sometimes wouldn't eat it, unless we put the food on the spoon, and then gave her the spoon, and let her hold the spoon as we moved it into her mouth.
I guess I'm leaning towards the "She is training us" theory the more I think about it. At least we are all happy with the arrangement.

Teeth. (That's right, plural.)

Katie has had a fever for about a week, give or take. At one point she had a fever up to 102.7 degrees underarm. Of course it was in the middle of the night, so I didn't have anyone I could call for advice, besides the doctor on call. He told me that "they" don't really worry about a fever until it is 104 or 105 degrees. I don't know if I will wait that long every time, but it is good to have an idea of what needs to be taken to the emergency room or clinic. Of course, as I was going back to sleep, at 2:00 am, I realized that Mom and Dad were in Hawaii, and it was only 10:00 pm their time. Oh well.
Katie has 2 teeth now. Both on the bottom. It had been mostly fun to just cuddle and hold Katie while she has been sick, but this morning she was happy and cheerful when she woke up. And then I remembered how much fun she is when she isn't sick. She is so cute! She talks and laughs; she doesn't grimace (trying to smile, but really not feeling like it) when she is being tickled. She will play by herself, instead of me needing to hold her constantly. She is such a cheerful and pleasant child. I sure hope it lasts.

Vacations

Jerry, Irma, and Matthew went to Washington to visit Jonathan and Gillian.
Ryan and Clarissa went to Cabo Mexico for a week.
Jonathan and Gillian are coming to Utah in June.
Sheesh! According to the Bowman side, Ryan, Katie and I are pretty boring. (as far as vacations go)
And then, Mom and Dad are in Hawaii right now, and they are going on Choir Tour in June.
I'm glad that my families can have fun. I'm just a little jealous. I guess I'm going to Washington DC for my friend Hillary's wedding, and to visit Alisha. Maybe it is just Ryan and Katie that don't get exciting vacations.

Katie's first tooth finally broke through yesterday! Today, she has a little bit of a fever, and she wants to sit on my lap all day. Which is okay with me. I don't mind having an excuse to not get much done today. :)

Crocodile Tears

Katie is standing more and more, when she feels like it.
Her gums might be firming up, which means it is possible she will have teeth someday. We can see her incisor teeth the most prominently. Ryan is excited to take a picture that looks like Dracula.
The darkening curtains seem to really help in Katie's bedroom. We also put the sound machine on until we are in bed, so we don't wake her up, and then when she wakes up for her 6:30 or 7:00 feeding, I turn it on again and she will sleep for another 1/2 hour or so. It gives me time to wake up and get going before she wants to be the main focus of my attention.
She doesn't like me being in the bathroom. She will be playing in the living room, and then she will hear the door close, or the water running, and she will give a kind of closed-mouth-huh? sound, (which seems to be her way of saying "where are you?" ) and come crawling as fast as she can. When she can't get in (which is only when I'm on the toilet) she will sit outside the door and cry. Poor thing. When I come out, she will have big crocodile tears on her cheeks. Then she will lift both her arms in the air, and look up at me, sniffling, and give a small sort of smile. This is Katie lingo for "pick me up". Now who could resist that? Obviously she knows that it is very effective.