Hayley and Kate Minter

I think we can officially say that our Kate is walking now.

She has been walking more and more over the last few weeks, but she was still crawling more than walking until about last Thursday (Nov. 15).

Wade went to Dallas for the annual LISA conference, so my parents volunteered to keep Kate for a few days. Since Hayley was out of school last Monday, we went up to VA Sunday and spent the night with the grandparents, to help Kate with the transition of staying there by herself. I needn’t have worried. There was no incessant wailing or inconsolability about her. My mom said she asked for “mama” often and always thought it was me whenever the phone rang or the door opened. Kate “gave” me kisses with a big “mmwaa” sound whenever I talked to her on the phone.

Kate absolutely LOVES going outside, and I left a pair of shoes for her so she could walk around outdoors. Apparently, she learned that bringing her shoes to Grandma meant a trip outside…that is, until she brought shoes to Grandma every few minutes. My mom said she eventually just left the shoes on Kate, even when they were indoors. Oh, and after Kate returned home, she thinks bringing her shoes to Mommy will result in a trip outside. Well, Mommy doesn’t play that game. I take her out when I can, but it’s not nearly as often as she wants to go.

So Kate returned home last Thursday, seeming a little unconvinced at first that she was really home and really seeing Hayley and me. She didn’t cling to me like my mom thought she would, but she may have been like Hayley used to be when she was little and stayed away from home–she was a little angry with me when I first got her back, kind of like, Why did you leave me for so long, Mama? even if it was only for a couple of days.

Ever since Kate came back home, she was definitely been walking more than crawling. She still falls down a lot, but she usually gets back up and tries to walk again rather than giving up and crawling. I even saw today that she squatted down to get a toy, then stood back up without falling on her butt. I warned Hayley that it won’t be long before Kate is running after her, trying to follow her everywhere. Our baby is getting to be so big!

Since Kate’s 1st birthday fell on a Thursday this year, we kept things low-key on that day. Mommy videotaped portions of her daily activities (eating, playing, eating, did I mention eating?) and we made impressions of her hand and foot for a special frame we got her.

We celebrated Kate’s birthday on Saturday, November 3. Scheduling conflicts prevented some of our immediate family from joining us, but Grandma and Granddaddy Estes, Nana, Grandpa, and Lele were all here to wish our little girl a happy 1st.

Kate had a good party. She played with balloons, opened presents, ate the frosting off her cupcake, and spent a good portion of the time entertaining her guests. She loves to grin and make others smile with her. She’s turning out to be as big a ham as the rest of the family.

On Monday, Nov. 5, I took the girls to Sears for Kate’s one-year portraits and also got a few poses of Hayley and Kate together. We got some very cute shots, though it took a lot of coaxing to get a smile out of Kate. She just didn’t seem to know what to think of the photographer at first, but by the time I was looking at the images to select portraits for purchase, she was sitting in the photographer’s lap and playing with her.

Kate experienced her first Halloween last Wednesday. We dressed her as a kangaroo (because we call her “Kate-a-Roo,” a nickname my mom started). Hayley was Batgirl.

The kids in our neighborhood start trick-or-treating around 6 pm so I got Kate dressed in her costume and took her out shortly after 6. I only took her to about 4 houses before she started to get squirmy. She wasn’t really interested in getting candy from people and I think she was hot and uncomfortable in her costume (it was in the mid 70s before the sun set). So we headed back home for bath and bed.

Wade had gotten Hayley ready and he took her around the neighborhood while I sat on the porch handing out candy to the kids. Hayley definitely had a great time and got way too much candy. Fortunately, though, she only likes a few types of candy, so Mommy and Daddy get about 2/3 of her haul. Heehee.

So Kate’s first Halloween was a bit low-key but we got some cute pictures of her.