11 Down, 1 To Go

My heart is officially is in a million little pieces, and I'm hoping this will be the longest month of my life. All because this is Cate's last month as a true baby. SAD! I'm in denial, I think. I still see her as my little 5 pounder I just brought home from the hospital. The baby who made it against all odds. I'm might be a tad bit sentimental and nostalgic these days, but I want to hang onto her being a baby as long as I can. I want to keep her like this forever and never, ever let her grow up! In three short weeks (since I'm a week late on this post) she'll be a year old. And it's killing me!! I was looking back at pictures from when she was so tiny....

Her hands were so small she couldn't even wrap them around my finger....

And whenever she's sitting or laying down she still crosses her sweet little feet like this...

The truth is that no matter how little I want her to stay, she's growing up before my very eyes faster than I like to admit. She's talking more and more now....Dada, dog, uh oh (most notably when she intentionally throws food off of her high chair and likes to pretend it's an accident), thank you, and in the last few days she's started saying Towns. She's still a crawler, although she can walk like a champ when she's got her hands on something to keep her balance. She loves to feed herself and can really show her temper if you try to do it for her. And she loves to be right in the middle of any action she can find! She might be small, but she can definitely hold her own. The other day at the bookstore she and Towns were playing at the train table when a group of older boys came up and tried to take over. Towns backed away and let them play, but not Cate. She made her way right to the center of the group, tried to knock them out of her way from the table with her arms, and gave them a good talkng to with that voice of hers that's her way of letting you know she means business (I swear we haven't taught her any of this, I guess it's just her nature). I asked J why he thought she acted that way. He (jokingly) said "she's Cate McClendon, that's why". And that's pretty much my Cate Bug in a nutshell. She's no joke! HA! In the 11 months she's been with us she's definitely livened up our lives. But for every ounce of sass in her, she's just as sweet!

The only bright side to my baby growing up is planning her 1st party! I'm a planner by nature, and planning parties is my fave! Towns' 1st birthday party was balloon central because she was obsessed with balloons. I've yet to live that one down....

We had balloons in the front of the house...

(Not sure why the pictures is so tiny)

Balloons all the way down the side of the house leading into the back yard...

Balloons on the fountain and in every other available spot....

Balloons on every table...

And after it was all over with, this is what my house looked like...

The balloons were fun, but I want to do something different for Cate. I'm thinking bubbles. Bubbles and dogs are the two things that really get her going, and I'm not having a yard full of dogs.....SO, let the party planning begin!