Happy Birthday Kate!!!

Dear Kate,

You are ONE!  I just can't believe it, because this...

...seems like just yesterday.

All babies change and grow so much during their first year of life, and you are changing and growing faster than I can keep up.  You were a very early walker - starting at 9 or 10 months old.  I loved watching your face when you were beginning to walk, because you were just so tickled with yourself.  "Look at me go!" you seemed to say.  

You are such a good girl.  You're a great sleeper (a very important quality in a baby) and a wonderful eater!  You LOVE food.  I think you get that from me.  You have such a sunny personality, and a big smile for everyone you see. 

My favorite part of the last year, other than all the snuggles you and I have enjoyed, has been watching your mom and dad become parents. You really lucked out, kiddo, because they are amazing.  I always knew they would be.  They love you so much, and they are doing such a great job.  I'll tell you what, though. it's been kind of weird watching my baby sister, who I played dolls with growing up, have a real baby of her very own.  I'm sure she felt the same way about me with your cousins.  I hope someday they'll give you a sister so that you'll know exactly what I mean.  Sisters are cool.

Meanwhile, though, you have your cousins.  You and Claire have a really special relationship.  She and I came up to visit once without the others, and you two really bonded.  Maybe it's because you look alike, or maybe it's because she saved you from going down the stairs in your walker, but you two have a special connection that is so cool to witness.

Claire's 5 years older than you, just like I'm 5 years older than your mommy.

When I think about how much the world has changed in the 37 years I've been in it, and then I try to imagine what the future will be like for you and your cousins when you're my age, I get a little dizzy.  Some things will never change though - your family will always love you, and we'll always be in your corner to support you and guide you and help you become the amazing person that you were born to be. Even if we end up with flying cars, a colony on Mars, and Google enabled contact lenses in the next 35 years or so, many fundamental things will remain constant - love, family, kindness, connection, compassion - those are the things that really matter and always will.

I have this checklist that I fill out for my kids on their birthdays, and your mom emailed me to say she filled it out for you.  I'm going to do it, too, and we'll see how many answers I get right.  Maybe she'll post her answers in a comment.

Your favorite toy for playing is: Tupperware, your walker, your dogs

Your favorite toy for snuggling is: Biscuit Jr., the stuffed cat I bought you after you fell in love with Biscuit Sr., who belongs to Claire

Your favorite food is:  all of them, but your mom told me that you're a really big fan of the Gerber Wagon Wheels - which are these giant, dry cereal wheels

Your favorite book is: hopefully the one I recorded for you!  Ha ha!

Your favorite activity is: walking!

Your favorite place to go is: work with Mom and Dad

Your best friend is: Julie, your babysitter, and your cousin Elise

Something new that you're doing: walking!  

Something you've mastered: wrapping people around your little finger

Something people say about you: "She's so pretty!"

Something that you're saying is:  Mama and Dada

Something I am proud of you for:  you're fearless and strong

Something surprising about you: you have blue eyes!  I got really used to brown eyed babies before you were born.

What you want to be when you grow up: hmmm...  I'm going to have to guess because you haven't said anything about this issue yet...  you'll probably start by setting tables, then you'll be a server at Aberdeen when you're old enough, then a bartender when you turn 21, then maybe a chef for a while before you take over for your folks and they retire.

Happy first birthday, sweet girl!  Auntie Amy and Uncle BJ, and all of your cousins love you SO much!  See you at your party on Sunday.

Love,

Aunt Amy

Speech

Jack learned the phrase "I want" yesterday, and at bedtime we were talking about all the things one can "want."  After a few minutes we settled down, and I thought he was falling asleep.  Then out of nowhere he said, "I want baby."

"You want a baby?"

"Ha Mama," ha means yes.

"Do you want Mommy to have a baby?"

"Ha."

"You want a brother?"

"Ha."

"What would we call him?" I laughed.

"Bobo."

Where on earth did he come up with that?

Determined to Run

Hey, remember the other day when I told you about Jen and Ricky and how he needs to raise money for charity to run the Chicago Marathon?  I texted with Jen this morning, and they're not going to let what happened in Boston stop them from running.  In fact, they're more determined than ever to run it, even though I totally tried to talk her out of it because I am a big chicken.

Jen and Ricky are both cops - they're the kind of people who run toward danger every day.  They're the helpers that Mr. Rogers told us to look for at times like these.

Today I'm grateful that my cousin Jill, who was standing in between the two explosions with her boyfriend, cheering on her friends, is safe.  I'm grateful that Kate, my cousin Bridget's daughter who also lives in Boston, is safe.

And I'm grateful for the helpers.

Cream of Soup

I learned something new the other day...

BJ hates mushrooms.  He makes gagging noises if I even cook them in the house.  This puts a real damper on casseroles because every single one in the history of the world uses cream of mushroom soup.  Every.  Casserole.  Ever.

I didn't understand casseroles before I had kids.  Why would you cook everything once, assemble it, and then cook it again?  Why not just have chicken, vegetables, and pasta instead of chicken vegetable pasta casserole?  Two words:  Nap time.

Casseroles allow you to make dinner while the kids are asleep or having "quiet time" after lunch, and then put it up so that you can make it at dinner time.  The casserole alleviates a lot of evening-time stress.

So I've been bumming for years (um...  16 of them this summer, to be exact.  Wow!) that I can't cook with cream of mushroom soup.

Cream of chicken works for some recipes, but not for beefy recipes.  Cream of celery has a very off-putting greenish tinge that depresses me.  But last week I discovered that Campbell's makes a cream of ONION soup.

Boom.  Problem solved.

Apparently it's been right there in the store all along, and I have never seen it.  My sister Megan didn't know it existed, either.  So if you've been stymied, like me, by a family member's hatred of mushrooms, pick yourself up a can or two and thank me later.

Who knew?

Mommy's Little Helper

(Nobody paid me anything to write this post.  I'm just stupidly excited about soup tonight for some reason.)

The Chicago Marathon

No, no, I will not be running the Chicago Marathon - are you insane?  I can't even run around the block without leaving moderately-vital organs in my wake.  But my friend Jen and her boyfriend Ricky and 44,998 of their closest friends will be!

Jen and Ricky running a 5K

Apparently people are just dying to run this thing, and the spots sold out in a day.  After that they went to a lottery system.  Jen got a spot but Ricky didn't.  But he found a charity that will give him a spot if he raises $750 for cancer research.

Piece of cake.  Everybody hates cancer, right?

So Jen had the great idea to ask people to donate a dollar a mile - or $26.20 - to help fight cancer and get him a spot in the marathon.  Your donation to the American Institute for Cancer Research is tax deductible.

Jen and Ricky are awesome people.  Jen doesn't want me to enumerate all the ways that they're awesome, because she's modest, but they totally are.  She and I have been friends for over 20 years.  And honestly, if someone awesome wants to run farther than I'm willing to drive in Chicago, I think that we should help make that happen!

Please go to this page and make a donation - any small amount will help!  And thanks, in advance, for supporting my friends!