October's Final Days

We had a few big happenings towards the end of October.   In addition to Kate’s birthday, we also have our big neighborhood garage sale (ok, it has NO business being mentioned in this particular posting, but we found some really good deals this year!), Copper’s birthday and our wedding anniversary.  So happy birthday to Mr. Kunitz, and happy two year anniversary to the most wonderful guy that I know!

-- Birthday boy. --

-- Two happy years in the books, and many more to come! --

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Our blog posts usually focus on Kate and her milestones (and occasionally on Copper, since he was our first baby), but it’s important that we acknowledge the achievements of one of the grown-up Snyders too.  Brandon has his first semester of grad school completed and on the books!  After being out of school for almost 10 years (YIKES!), he started a graduate program with SUNY Maritime in August.  He jumped right in and took two classes his first semester, and ended up with an A in both courses!  Kate, Copper, and I couldn’t be prouder of him!

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And finally, it was Halloween!  We had a pretty strong weather front move through the area that dumped a lot of rain on us, so our trick-or-treater numbers weren't as good as last year.  We got Kate into her costume for about 15 minutes before she had a melt-down, so we didn't get very many good pictures.  Poor little bug was so tired that while she was in the tub, I started to let the water out and turned around to get her towel...when I turned back to her, she was curled up on the bottom of the tub in the bubbles, almost asleep.  It seems that someone had too much Halloween fun at school.

-- I showed my Halloween spirit in the jack 'o lantern onesie that Uncle Sean got for me. --

-- Busy bee. --

-- I'm tired and I just want to go to sleep! --

-- Why fly when you can ride on your buggy? --

-- Sampling the candy (or at least trying to). --

-- Trying to take a group picture.  It was not successful. --

-- But this one was! --

Thanks for reading!  Until next time...

Pumpkins!

We were excited to carve pumpkins with Kate this year.  She seemed to enjoy exploring the pumpkin they had at the Fall Festival, so we thought she might like the chance to do it again.  Luckily, we’ve had a few days of unseasonably warm temperatures, and we were able to set up shop in the garage.  It took a little while for her to warm up to the idea, but eventually, Kate was digging around in the pumpkin guts.  She had her own little pumpkin scoop that she carried around with her the whole time, and she even tried using it to help hallow her pumpkin out.  Once we finished and were taking pictures she was still tapping that scoop on the top of the pumpkin.  I guess you can never scrape out enough pumpkin guts.  Kate ended up with pumpkin insides in her hair and seeds stuck to her bottom (she stepped in a pile of seeds and her feet slipped right out from under her—like a banana peel in the cartoons—and ended up flat on her back), and I think she had fun.  We carved her pumpkin with a grin like hers…two teeth on the bottom and two little teeth popping through on the top.

-- Waiting for Daddy to get home so we can start. --

-- Come on, let's go! --

-- I've got my pumpkin tutu and my pumpkin hat and I'm ready to go! --

-- I'll open the package. --

-- Helping. --

-- Supervising. --

-- GUTS! --

-- Those guts are slippery. --

-- Good thing I practiced digging in the pumpkin at my Fall Carnival. --

-- Helping Mommy carve. --

-- Finished product! --

-- My pumpkin smiles like me! --

-- Daddy breaks out the power tools for his pumpkin. --

-- Mommy does hers the old fashioned way. --

-- Our family pumpkins. --

12 Month Checkup

We took Kate for her 12 month well baby check-up almost a week after her birthday.  Our appointment started out pretty normal, with the nurse taking Kate’s height and weight and measuring her head size.  Next Dr. Garrison came in and started her physical exam.  He noticed that her spleen seemed a little enlarged, so he asked us to take her to Children’s Hospital (which we’re quickly becoming familiar with!) for an ultrasound to ensure there was nothing to be alarmed about.  It was a little unexpected, and a little scary, but we were happy that Dr. Garrison wanted to be safe.  He finished her exam with no other issues and she got a few shots, then we packed up and headed to Children’s for her ultrasound.  We were, yet again, so impressed with St. Louis Children’s Hospital.  The staff is so friendly and helpful, and they always move us through efficiently, while still making us feel like Kate’s care is important to them.  Kate was a perfect little bug during her ultrasound, and she was very still and watched TV while the ultrasound tech worked.  Thankfully, the ultrasound showed that there was nothing to be concerned about.  We left the hospital happy, but not before Kate somehow managed to pee on the floor.  There really never is a dull moment!

Here’s a little comparison to see how Miss Kate has grown in the last year.  She is currently in the 15th percentile for her weight, and the 25th percentile for both head size and height.  We like to say that she’s still a peanut, but she’s gone from a one-seater nut to a three-seater. 

	1 Month Checkup	12 Month Checkup
Weight	8.6 lbs	18.8 lbs
Length	20.5 in	28.5 in
Head	14.5 in	17.5 in

Fall Carnival

Two weeks before her birthday, we received a notice that Kate would be moving into the Pre-Toddler room at the CDC.  At the time, I was still in denial that my baby was about to turn 1 so the notification was a bit of a reality check for me.  Kate’s wonderful teachers in the infant room assured us that she had the skills (like walking and drinking from a sippy cup) and the spunk to get by in the new room, even though she’d be, at least for a little while, the youngest and the smallest kiddo in the new room.  The CDC did a good job of slowly transitioning her into her new classroom.  Over the course of the week, she spent more and more time in the new room, ending the week by spending the whole day in her new environment.  This week marked the start of Kate’s third week in the PT room and she seems to finally be getting comfortable.  When we pick her up each day she’s usually covered in dirt, or marker, or sand, or berries from some of the day’s activities—and boy, are there a lot of activities.  Her new teachers are great and they do a good job of keeping us updated on how she’s doing.  Best of all, she’s started napping!  This is a MAJOR breakthrough for us.  Although she naps well on the weekends, she was still fighting sleep while at school.  However, they have a set naptime in her new room, and the combination of activities and the providing a quiet time with a little cot and a blanket has proven to be too much for our Little Bug.  She can no longer resist the call of the nap.  And we LOVE it.  She’s much more pleasant in the evenings, and we don’t have to scramble to get her into bed as soon as we get home to try to recover from the day’s sleep deficit.  Now we’re able to relax and play for a while before we have to start the bedtime process.

The CDC puts on a Fall Festival each year and this year, it fell on my day off so I was able to attend with Kate.  There were lots of exciting activities for her to participate in and we enjoyed the sunshine and the chance to play together during the day.  Her new teachers do a really good job of planning lots of hands on activities for the kids, and the Festival was no different.  There was face painting, a pumpkin to dig in, mini gourds to play with, leaves to jump in, and other outside activities.  Kate really enjoyed digging in the pumpkin guts.  She’s so little that she had a hard time reaching all the way to the bottom of the pumpkin to scoop up a good handful of seeds, but that didn’t stop her from trying.

-- This pumpkin is almost as big as me! --

-- Digging in pumpkin guts. --

-- Me and Mommy. --

-- You're going to do what? --

-- Painting a pumpkin! --

-- Finished product! --

-- Checking out some Kate-sized pumpkins. --

Happy Bee-Day Little Bug!

Well, it’s happened.  As much as I tried to will the time to slow down, our little Bug has gone and turned one.  I almost cannot believe it.  Gone are the days of buying new clothes every three months.  Gone are the days of going to the Infant Room at daycare to pick her up.  Our little lady is now rocking her 12 month clothes in the Pre-Toddler room.  I knew it was bound to happen, but I’m still a little sad.

We were lucky enough to celebrate Kate’s day with many of our family and friends.  Even though I started the party-planning process  by swearing that I would never be one of  “those” parents—you know, the over-the-top/invite-50-people/fully-catered/bounce-house-rented/blue-angel-fly-over type of party planning parent—and I think I managed to keep it somewhat in check.  We decided on a bumble bee theme for the party (since Kate is the Little Bug) and I found some cute items on Etsy and Pinterest that I bought/made.  One was a little banner that we used to display each of her monthly photos.  It was really fun to be able to see, side by side, how she’s grown and changed each month.  I also put together a little chalk board of first year milestones and we displayed that with her cake.   For food we had a build-your-own taco bar and some fruit and veggies.  We put all of the family to work the day before the party and they helped with chopping and organizing, and everything ran really smoothly.  The weather was a little chilly but the sun was shining brightly, so the kids split their time between ball pit and (newly acquired) slide in the basement, and swinging outside on the playset.   Everyone seemed to have a nice time and we enjoyed visiting with some folks we don’t have the chance to see very often. 

-- Mommy made this "Happy 1st Bee-Day" banner for me. --

-- We had bees and pink all over! --

-- Mommy and Daddy hung this banner with all of my birthday pictures so everyone could see how I've grown. --

-- Buzzzz. --

-- My cake! --

-- Everything you could ever want to know about Kate! --

Among our guests for Kate’s birthday weekend were Joma and Grandma Petey, Auntie Boo and her boyfriend Jesse, Grandma Brenda and Papa John, and Aunt Tara, Uncle Erik and Max and Kye.  We also had a quick visit from Aunt Debbie and Aunt Vivian.

-- I'm the queen today. --

-- All the dads. --

-- Everyone into the ball pit! --

-- We even hired a photographer.  He works for cupcakes. --

Kate made out like a bandit with all of her birthday gifts.  She got lots of books, which made us all very happy, a talking tea set, a pint-sized hutch for her play kitchen, two beautiful bracelets from her Joma (one of them Joma wore when she was a baby!), the slide for the ball pit, a bee costume for Halloween, and LOTS of other goodies.

-- Opening presents. --

-- Can you find Kate amongst all the loot? --

After gifts, we dove into the cake.  I decided, after much research and blog-reading (by the way, I would advise any new mom to skip reading the blogs about first birthday cakes, unless you want to feel like the worse mom ever for not providing your child with a gluten-free, dairy free, naturally sweetened birthday cake...sounds delicious, right?) I decided to make the cake, rather than buy one from one of our local bakeries.  I ended up making Martha Stewart's Versatile Vanilla Cake, and it was pretty good, even though it ended up a little dense.  I decided on a whipped cream cheese frosting (take THAT all you dairy-free mommy bloggers) and reduced the sugar by half, and it was delicious!  Kate's experiences feeding herself (there's a little plug for baby led weaning) made it so that she didn't waste much.  She had quite a bit of cake and frosting on her face, but there was virtually nothing on the floor or in her seat--it all went in her belly!!

Here are a few more shots from the day...

-- Aunt Tara and Uncle Erik take a break for cake. --

-- Auntie Boo styles me up while Jesse looks on. --

And finally, a little step back in time to compare to a picture from the weekend....

Four generations...

November 2012                             October 2013

It means so much to us to know how loved Kate is.  She is so lucky to have family and friends who love her.  Thank you to everyone who made the trip, and to those of you who were here in spirit!