Over the weekend, we stopped by Vacaville Outlets on the way home from spending the weekend in San Francisco to celebrate Yogi’s brother and sister’s birthdays also in August. We picked up a few items from Baby Gap for Katie and did some shopping for ourselves at Banana Republic. Yogi and I switched off bodyguarding Katie while the other shopped. Come my turn, I like to let her out of the stroller and walk around on her own. Have her touch and feel the clothes and get her familiar with being out in stores; although, I didn’t mean for her to be destructive while explorering. She quickly found her way to the accessories and the necklaces were too shiny not to at least give it a touch and feel. A quick thought shot through my mind thinking if the worst was to happen, the necklaces shouldn’t break that easy. My dream really was that Katie would stroke the necklaces and be fascinated with the sparkles than move on. Boy, did that turn into a nightmare! She stroked them once and stroked them twice, then before I knew it one broke and the beads shattered to the ground rolling in all directions. I was completely stunned and speechless. Another shooting thought told me to RUN but wait somebody must have seen what happened. I took a quick glance around the room for a sales associate and noticed a couple people in line were staring at us with a stern ‘does that woman know what she’s doing with the baby?’ look. For the most part, the store was not very busy but since we were at the front of the store, impossible not to feel embarassed.
Not the exact necklace.
I picked up the remaining pieces of the necklace and found a sales associate folding men’s sweaters. I told her remorsefully that my daughter accidentally broke this and I would pay for it if I have to. She generously said, don’t worry about it and preceded to the pickup the remaining pieces. I helped her track down what pieces I could find with Katie in my other arm and went to find Yogi so we can leave. I didn’t feel too bad afterwards b/c we spent a significant amount of money on a new coat for me and sweater and shirt for Yogi. What an embarrassing Mommy moment?! I came to work and told my co-worker on Monday morning and she says her boys embarrass her constantly these days. They are not shy to speak their mines about other people in public out LOUD. Thanks for the heads up Cheryl!
We also let Katie explore her girlie side and sent her on a shopping spree thanks to all the generous gift cards from family and friends. Plus, it was a nice place to stay cool without having to pay for it…directly anyway. Katie picked out an airplane toy she can push or ride. My sister later took a picture of her riding it with her arms behind her as if to push herself at the same time. Silly girl… After shopping, we did some bowling with Auntie Annie and her bf then back home for dinner with the rest of my family.
Of course, we picked up a cake from Freeport Bakery. This time, we actually let the birthday girl have at the cake. The first few dips were questionable but once she got the hang of the sweetness, there was no stopping her. 
Once we were done with cake, we had Katie play a traditional future telling game. We lined up a few symbolic items to represent what she may become as a profession when she grows up. We had items such as a ball for an athlete, a keyboard for a computer programmer, calculator for accountant, etc. As you can see from the picture, she picked up a bottle of pills…hmmm…so maybe a doctor, pharmacists or drug dealer?!...haha…but then, her second choice was a book and she kissed a picture of babies inside it. So most likely a Pediatrician!! Let’s revisit this in twenty-five years and see how accurate this game is :o)
Throughout the day, I couldn’t help but reminisce about our day exactly a year ago. What the whole ordeal was like, what happened in the hours following, the challenges, all the questions, the doctors who gave different instructions, etc. It was a tough learning curve but we did it and we couldn’t be more proud of ourselves. And the reminiscing continues…a year ago today, I was home enjoying the company of my baby. Today I’m at work and would like to be home except maybe she doesn’t need my company. She is officially a toddler and on her way to becoming her own little person :oD
Katie enjoyed it as much as she could. Yogi was able to get her to nap for about thirty minutes before the party. She started the party fine roaming around the clubhouse and enjoying the attention from family. Then, as the guests started to arrive in waves, she got a little overwhelmed and wanted Mommy and while Mommy was busy, she was ok with Daddy or Grandpa.
We’ve been training her to blow her own birthday candle but as expected she freaked out with all eyes on her and got a little help from Daddy. She didn’t get her own cake but she did attempt to eat her own slice. She started devouring a piece of chocolate from the top of the cake which proved to be a very challenging mess and that was the end of it. We cleaned her off and suited her up for a dip in the pool. After 3-4hrs, Katie was ready for her nap so a dip was exactly all she wanted.
It was a busy day for us but we enjoyed every minute of it. There were quite a few people Katie met for the very first time! Hope we can reconnect with you soon and do some serious catching up. Thank you all for being patient with us and Katie. We’re sorry if we didn’t entertain you much but we know you were there and hope you enjoyed yourselves as much as you could!! Special thanks to our family and friends for helping out with the party.
This was truly a special party. A year ago, we were stressed with the biggest challenge thus far in our lives, learning how to be parents with no right answers. We’re happy to have arrived to our 1 year point and be somewhat confident that we’re doing a passing job thus far. Katie is happy, healthy, and improving in her skills every day. There were moments in the past year that may have appeared longer than others but realistically we all live by the same clock and speed. Once the sun sets, that day is over so best to make the most out of the good ones and for the bad ones, at least that bad day is over. Year 2, here we come!!
About a week ago, Katie caught her first yucky bug that gave her diarrhea. She was also teething, 4 protruding from the top all at the same time so the fever joined us as well. All liquids went in and out constantly. The wetness formed a bad rash and she was very uncomfortable come Friday, the day we left for Yosemite for a 2-night camping trip with Yogi’s family. It was furlough Friday so I was able to stay home to help her find some comfort in her food and bottom. I rinsed her bottom after each go with water and let her air dry naked around the house which she seem to enjoy. By the time, Uncle Derek (Yogi’s bro) came to pick us up for the 3.5 hr drive, Katie was doing better with her butt. She did well half way through the drive; then, as the sunset she grew irritably sleepy. We stopped once for dinner and another time to change her diaper. Afterwards, she pretty much cried herself to sleep for the remainder of the drive. Once we arrived at the campsite, it took a few tries to get Katie settled into the tent. Obviously, her new bedroom was not what she remembered it to be.
Finally, morning came and she was awake and alert like she would be at home. We kept her on solids the rest of the weekend which kept the runs away. She loved being outdoors so being able to just step outside of the tent was an awesome treat. She enjoyed every minute of exploring the campsite on her own, getting her clothes dirty, talking to and chasing after squirrels, pushing her cousin Tyrus around in his stroller, having breakfast next to him, playing in the tent with all the cousins, and even got her feet wet in the chilly Yosemite waters. This was our first camping trip with Yogi’s family and it was the most relaxing…we ate, napped, played and even threw in a short hike to happy isles to see Vernal Falls from the bridge. Nonetheless, come Sunday morning, we were all ready to pack up and go home to our own showers and beds.
Katie’s butt is doing much better and recovering nicely. We’re continuing her on her solids and will probably introduce her to regular milk soon as she will be turning 1 in just 8 more days!! This time last year, I was sitting on the exercise ball watching Michael Phelps find gold after gold after gold. Now that the year is over, it sure seem as though it went by fast but when we were living it (the first few months at least), it felt like this day will never come. It’s all worth celebrating this Saturday and Katie is ready for it while Mommy and Daddy have a list to get started on!! Have a nice rest of the week :o)
Seeing the ocean for the first time and touching salt water 7/27/09.
Diaper change by Auntie Linda who she hasn't seen since Thanksgiving! 7/27/09.
Weekly bowling with Mommy and Daddy 8/2/09.
Making a run for the lanes every chance she gets 8/2/09.