Katarina's 1st Birthday

On Katarina's birthday, we had a small celebration here at the house with Lolo and Lola. As she'll be 13 months old tomorrow, this party was a month ago.

At her one-year check-up, Katarina weighed 16 lbs 15 oz (only 2nd percentile!), measured 28 inches tall (18th%), and had a head circumference of 17 inches (32nd%). Kati never did like baby food, and I had drastically cut her nursing when she started biting, so I'm not surprised by her growth; however, the doctor was concerned about her growth and development. Not only had she dropped to the 2nd percentile, but she could sit and scoot and that's about it. She couldn't get up from lying down, she refused to support her weight with her legs even when held "standing", and she hadn't tried to pull up, let alone cruise or take steps. She also wasn't saying any words or using signs to communicate, though she did point.

In the past month, Katarina has learned to sit up from lying down, pull up to standing, cruise around furniture and take steps with her walker (this Pooh train), and climb into our laps or onto toys. She explores everywhere now. We have also seen an effort at communication with some signs and attempted words. She eats well feeding herself table food, and although she prefers water to whole milk, she will drink whole chocolate milk. She certainly seems to be developing quickly now.

On our visit to Denver last week, Patrick (Annabelle's godfather) was laughing at me for calling Katarina "the baby" instead of using her name. She even responds to "Baby" but doesn't recognize her own name. I have been working on calling her Katarina or Kati or Kati-Lily this week. I like Kati-Lily because it includes her middle name, which I love.