We have a walker!!

The Littlest Chiefs Fan

Kendall did find time after celebrating her birthday to cheer on Dad's beloved Chiefs. Sadly, they got spanked, and were eliminated from the playoffs.

At least she looked good that day...

A Party for our Pup

We celebrated Kendall's first birthday a few days after her actual birthday by throwing a party for our sweet girl. We chose a puppy theme because Kendall LOVES doggies, and although I could think of a million cute birthday party ideas, I wanted her birthday party to be a reflection of her at this moment in time.

Kendall had a lot of family and friends at the party...

...Papa Steve and cousins Dustin and Cati....

...and Aunt Dusty

Kendall's friend, Lily, checking things out

I tried to add special touches like this monthly photo banner that I made. It included all of the pictures that I took on her monthly "birthdays" over the past year

Kendall's friend Knox deciding which doggie to adopt

Opening presents with mom

A happy birthday girl!

A tired birthday girl

I think that the party was a huge success. I'm proud of way everything turned out, and I'm glad that I put the effort into the little personalized touches. I'm also so thankful that we have such great families and friends that were willing to travel from near and far to spend the afternoon with us. A special thanks to my friend, Stacey, who came down from San Francisco for the weekend and was a huge help with the preparation and cleanup! We have one lucky girl!

Birthday Photo Shoot

A week before Kendall's actual birthday, we took her for a little birthday photo shoot. Here is the picture that we had printed for our families:

And, here are some of the cute outtakes:

I'm 1 Year Old!!

Last Thursday, our sweet baby hit the 1-year mark. It's been an amazing year filled with highs and lows, but it's been such a treat to watch her grow and change over the past year. We started the year with a myriad of medical issues (weight loss, jaundice, severe reflux, and a pesky intolerance for milk), so it feels like a huge accomplishment that we all managed to make it through this first year! I am very excited about what the next year will bring!

We had Kendall's official one year appointment at the doctor's office yesterday and he had high praise for her growth and development. Here are her official stats:

Weight: 23 pounds, 3 ounces (84th percentile)

Height: 31.5 inches (99th percentile)

Head: 18 inches (71st percentile)

I could tell that she's gone through a major growth spurt lately as I did laundry the other night and clothes that fit her a week ago look like they shrunk in the dryer. Her feet have also caught up as she's now wearing size 4 shoes. Her 6-9 month shoes fit her on Christmas Eve.

As you can see from the above picture, we are ending her first year with additional trips to the doctor for her new fancy helmet. Although her Torticollis has gotten better, her head was still a bit misshapen, and the helmet should help to round things out ver the next 3-4 months. She was just in the range that a helmet was recommended, and she would have been fine without one, but we went ahead and decided to do it. She's tolerated it very well, and spends 23 hours a day in it. I think the only downside to it is how stinky her head gets!

At one year, Kendall has also developed quite the personality. She has no problems letting you know if she's unhappy about something, but it's usually pretty easy to figure out what that is. Most of the time she's a happy little girl who is looking to do anything that will get a laugh. She LOVES her stuffed animals, and usually has one in hand at all times, but is also pretty stoked about the new toys that she received at Christmas and on her birthday. I think the baby toys were boring her.

We did get the green light to start trying milk products, so we'll be slowing starting to move her to milk. She has had dairy at times (mac and cheese is a favorite), and it hasn't seemed to bother her, so hopefully the milk intolerance is behind us. She's still a good eater, willing to try most things, and surprising us with just how much she can eat at one sitting if she's noshing on something that she really likes. Fruit usually keeps her in the high chair for quite a while.

I don't have any pictures of her on her actual birthday, but have quite a few from her birthday party that I'll include in another post. Here's a cute picture of her enjoying her new chair the morning after her birthday:

And, here's our last look back at the past month:

48 Weeks Old

49 Weeks Old

51 Weeks Old

Our 2-day Christmas

Unfortunately, Christmas of 2010 turned out to be a 2-day affair. Most times this would be a great thing, but this Christmas will be remembered for the stomach flu that knocked me out for most of the day. I can't remember the last time I was that sick, and that's probably a good thing because it was no fun at all.

Christmas day started off OK, but I started feeling a bit queasy around breakfast time, and things quickly went downhill. I managed to get through some of the present opening, but also spent a good portion of the day lying on my parent's bathroom floor, thinking that I wouldn't wish this feeling on my worst enemy. Luckily my parents and Dan were able to entertain Kendall, and I went to bed.

Wow! Look what Santa brought!

Riding in her new wagon that MeMe and Papa Steve gave her

She loves Curious George. Thanks MeMe!!

She also loves the new car that Santa brought her

More presents from Gram and Dude

One of Dan's gifts. Best wrapping job ever!

Waiting for Dude to assemble the dragon

Playing with all of her toys

We tried it all again the next day. Pulled out the food we didn't eat the day before, turned on some Christmas music, and opened some more presents.

My own baby!

Giving baby a kiss

More toys!

Kendall had a great Christmas and now has more toys than she can play with. She's into everything, and it's neat to watch her have so much fun. I wish I had felt better for the weekend, but the important this is that Kendall had so much fun. Believe it or not, we did it all again this past weekend after Sean and Jessica returned from spending Christmas Day in Arizona with Jessica's family!

Pre-Christmas Zoo Trip

A couple of days before Christmas, Kendall and I spent the day at the zoo with Gram. We have passes, and my mom bought a pass for her and my dad, so I have a feeling that there are many more zoo and Wild Animal Park trips in our future.

It was great to see how much more into the animals Kendall was this time around. Every time we visit one of the parks, you can just tell that she sees more and is more and more interested in what the animals are doing.

Her favorite part was the petting zoo!! She LOVED being able to pet the goats and sheep, and we happened to arrive right at feeding time, which meant they were occupied enough to ignore little grabby hands.

We saw lots of other animals, including the orangutans. This was probably the highlight of the day as one came right up in front of us and started washing the window! Pretty amazing to see, and Kendall thought so too!! She just sat and stared...

Such a fun way to kick off the holiday week!