12 Month Check-Up/Day at the Beach

Last Wednesday Kendra had her 12 month well-baby check-up. Can you believe it's been a year already?

She weighed in at 18 lbs, 1oz. She's still tiny - that puts her in the 5th percentile. She has grown quite a bit, though; 4 1/2 inches in the past 3 months. She is now a whopping 28 3/4 inches tall, which puts her in the 50th percentile. Her head is still big; 75th percentile. :)

She had another round of inoculations, which did not make for a happy baby. The sugar binky helped (dipping the binky in sugar and popping it in her mouth just as she got stuck.)

The doc says she's just about caught up with a normal one year old. All in all, she's fabulous!

Saturday we spent the day at a beautiful park near here with some friends. We grilled and hung out, then got some great pics before heading home for the day. I think we all slept well after a day of sun, surf, wind and food.

Click here for the pictures of our day at Carkeek Park.

And lest you were concerned, for the first time I did not make the Harry Potter opening day. However, we have tickets (and a babysitter!!) for tomorrow night :)

First Ballgame

Thursday night we took Kendra to her first Mariners game. She had a great time waving at people, shaking peanuts to make noise, and trying to grab whatever was in sight.

The Mariners beat the first place Texas Rangers 3-1. It was a boring game with the Rangers winning 1-0 until the 8th inning. A well timed home run brought the Mariners 3 runs, and won the game. It was pretty funny to watch Kendra's face as the crowds went absolutely wild. Confusion, concern and elation at being able to screech along with 40,000 other people.

Happy July 4th

Ok, so I'm a little late in posting, but I do have a one year old to keep up with :)

Anyway, we had a wonderful 4th, and I hope you did as well! We spent the day at the beach (a major perk of living on the coast). We hooked up the baby trailer to our bikes (actually Dan's bike) and headed for a 5 mile ride to Seward Park. There is a beach just over a mile from us, but that was too easy.

Once there we set up our sun tent, got out the beach toys and relaxed. Kendra enjoyed eating the sand and splashing in the water. She even paddled around a bit, with me holding her of course. Dan and I had a turkey sandwich, while Kendra enjoyed pasta covered in grass with a bit of sand and dirt for texture. We all shared a cherry sno-cone for dessert.

We made it home by 6, rinsed all the sand off and ate some dinner. Kendra was asleep by the time the fireworks started, and surprisingly, stayed asleep through them. We didn't go anywhere to watch them, but the folks across the interstate put on quite a show.

It was a great way to spend the day.

World's Youngest Computer Disrepair Technician

Introducing your next computer disrepair technician...

You see, Daddy, I think this wire needs to plug into this plug over there...	(More)

She's got it all figured out, and she's eager to help you remove your sensitive electronics, too!

Also, here are my favorites from Kendra's first birthday season...

Outdoor Living Room

A few weeks back, Dan humored me and we bought a gazebo off of Craigslist. We've got it set up in our driveway, since we don't have a usable yard at the moment, and I love it!! (If you've never seen our house, our driveway is long. Even with the landscaping bricks and gazebo, there is plenty of room for my car.)

We have 4 chairs, 2 tables and a lounge chair in it. (Two chairs, a table and the lounger were included by the lady who sold the gazebo.) I've taken my laptop outside and lounged in the chair while working. In fact, this post is being typed outside, lounging in the chair. :) Since we've put it up, we've spent nearly every evening out here.

Yesterday I inflated Kendra's baby pool (as brightly seen here) and Kai had her splashing in it for a while. Kendra was more interested in playing in the dirt around the pool. Wet baby + dirt = huge mess. But she had fun. We'll try the pool idea again this weekend. It's supposed to be very warm here.

First Word

We have our first word! {insert drum roll please...} DADDY!

We've been hearing sounds for months that are 'daddy', 'ball', doggie' - but she didn't seem to actively link the sounds she made to the thing they represented. Until last night. Dan came home from work, and Kendra and I were upstairs. She crawled to the baby gate and was looking down. As soon as she saw him, her face lit up and she said "daddy!"

Although words are slow in coming, we are amazed at how much she understands. If you ask her questions she will answer you with little sounds that mean yes or no. She's also learned to point to what she wants, which is a tremendous help in figuring out what she's after.

We also, officially, have four teeth. The second top one has been giving her trouble for weeks, and it finally broke through yesterday. Yay! Four down, 22 more to go.

The First Birthday Party

We celebrated Kendra's first birthday today, with about 25 of our friends. We had rented some picnic tables in the park, decorated with lots of balloons, and had a great time. The area was perfect as there was a playground right next to us for the older kids to occupy themselves with.

The weather was a gorgeous mid-70's day, with lots of sunshine. (See Dan's sunburned head as proof). We BBQd some brats and burgers, and topped it off with a yummy white cake filled with strawberry mousse.

Dan gave Kendra a beautiful dress to wear (she's opening it in the above picture) that he picked out himself. I was pretty impressed! I gave her the "It's my birthday" crown that she actually wore, for a few minutes anyway. Mostly she crawled around, ate things off the ground and watched the bigger kids play on the playground.

Click here for all the pics from the party.

Of course, since Kendra didn't actually want to take the time to eat at her party, she's now starving. She's already eaten a hamburger, some veggie stick chips, blueberries and she's working on cherries while trying to convince Dan to give her some pizza.