Birthday Party!

 Kaitlyn's birthday was on a Tuesday this year, so we decided to have her very first birthday party the Saturday before. We had quite a few guests, and luckily the weather was nice enough for us to have people in our beautiful backyard!

Kaitlyn did well for her first birthday party, considering her lack of a nap that morning. She got a little overwhelmed at times, with so many family and friend, and new traditions to take part in. But overall it was a success!

She was really excited to get a balloon! She points to balloons every time we are in a store. Mommy promised her she would get her own for her birthday, and Daddy went and bought it for her!

After everyone arrived, and had some snacks, we all gathered out back to sing Happy Birthday and give Kaitlyn her very first piece of cake! It had a Minnie Mouse shape to it, with pink frosting. Everyone else had cupcakes.

This being Kaitlyn's first encounter with cake AND frosting, she was a bit suspicious of this new treat. After some coaxing, she did eventually dig in. The next several pictures are of her attempts to enjoy it:

She's so ladylike....ya, right.

After cake we opened presents. At this point lack of sleep was getting to her, so we opened about 2/3 of the gifts before she descended into tears and needed a break.

After the party was over, we were able to get her to take a bit of a nap, and she was refreshed enough to finish opening gifts and go outside to play.

Of course, the tomboy in her meant she wanted to go play with the rocks in our pathway.

We were so happy to have all of our family and friends with us for her birthday celebration!

Memorial Day Weekend Festivities

Memorial Day Weekend was a four-day weekend for us. Friday was our 5th wedding anniversary, and so we decided to spend it at the beach with Kaitlyn!

The morning was off to a good start; Kaitlyn awoke happy and babbling. She usually is pretty happy in the mornings.

After breakfast, we made our way to First Landing State Park. They have a pretty nice beach; it is on the Chesapeake Bay so the waves are light. You are right at the mouth of the Bay so you can see the container ships as they come in.

Kaitlyn hadn't been to the beach since her October visit. This time, she had her new bathing suit on, ready to play in the surf.

It took her a few minutes to get used to the chilly water, and the waves coming and going.

Daddy and Kaitlyn stopped for a quick pose before resuming play in the water.

One of the many ships entering the Bay from the Atlantic Ocean.

At the shoreline, Kaitlyn was very interested in the various pebbles on the beach, washed down here from various locations farther up the Bay.

After examining several, she decided to taste them. Luckily she spit them out right away.

Here she has a mischievous look, thinking about trying another pebble...

It was pretty warm that day, so we made sure to stay hydrated. Kaitlyn loves her straw cup!

Playing in the sand with Daddy!

And of course, what is a holiday weekend at the beach without a plane carrying an advertisement?

There is always something interesting to spot at the beach here. We love it; there isn't a huge crowd like at the Oceanfront. And because it is on the Bay, there is so much activity on the water.

And there's always cool rocks, shells, and the occasional driftwood to admire.

It was a great day!

That afternoon, Kaitlyn tried out her new pool. She really liked it! Hopefully this will be a great way to cool off this summer. It's already scorching this early in the season!

On Sunday, we visited the Virginia Zoo. We haven't been in several years. This April the zoo opened a new area, Trail of the Tiger. We were excited to see it, and to see how Kaitlyn would react to the animals on her first zoo visit!

She was really excited to see the many kids in the zoo, and tended to focus more on them than the animals. But she did notice the larger animals as they moved about their enclosures.

The orangutans are pretty shy creatures; they sat with blankets over their heads. Hopefully in time they will warm up to their new home. We don't think Kaitlyn really noticed them.

The red panda, however, is not a shy guy. He laid in one of the trees, hanging right above the path! He's not a jumper, so he won't be escaping via the trail.

Of course Kaitlyn had to try out the water fountains. She loves water! She and her Papa splashed in them for several minutes.

 Kaitlyn did notice the giraffes; they are hard to miss!

Another new member to the zoo is a giant tortoise. This guy relaxed under the tree, eating the grass.

Kaitlyn was so excited to see all of the animals (and people!) that she finally passed out late in the day.

She missed the prairie dogs because of this, but we were able to view (and Aw!) the new babies in their habitat.

When she did finally wake up for her nap, we were able to get a picture of her with her Grandma and Papa and a giant tortoise statue.

We had a really good weekend!

Next up: Kaitlyn turns 1!

May 2011-11 months old!

Kaitlyn received a swing from Grandma and Papa for Easter. Daddy hung it on the tree in the backyard. Kaitlyn loves it! She will swing and swing, sometimes 20 minutes at a time!

Grammy and Grandpa Joe came up for a visit Mother's Day Weekend.

Kaitlyn had a great time with them. We went to the Botanical Gardens, and of course had breakfast at our favorite breakfast spot. Grandma and Papa also joined us, so it was one big Mother's Day breakfast!

Our cool little girl is getting closer and closer to the big "1"!

She can stand and pull up on objects. Not yet brave enough to let go...

Grandma and Mommy took Kaitlyn strawberry picking. There are wonderful local pick-your-own strawberry fields nearby. Kaitlyn did a little "quality control" (squishing berries) while we picked.

After picking 9lbs, Mommy washed off one for Kaitlyn to try. She liked it, warm and sweet from the sun.

Once they were cleaned and refrigerated, she didn't want anything to do with them. Sigh.

Another fun event in May is Greek Festival! The Greek Orthodox Church puts on a huge festival, with food and music. It was a bit hot this year, and crowded. But we still enjoyed the food and music! Kaitlyn poses with her grandparents:

She loves to play around with us now. She'll roll all over us, and be silly. It's a lot of fun!

Rough-housing with Daddy!

Here she is, again, practicing her standing!

Another entertaining thing Kaitlyn does now is dance! When certain music plays, namely Sesame Street theme, she will bounce up and down on her knees. It's very cute! Here's a sample of her skills:

April 2011-Sunny Days and Easter Fun!

With the nice springtime weather settling in, Kaitlyn was ready to go out and enjoy the world!

On a beautiful Sunday, we stopped at a local park, Mt. Trashmore. This was once a landfill, covered with a protective barrier and grass planted on top. From the interstate it looks like a strange hill in a relatively flat land.

A few very interesting kites were flying that day. The size of the hill makes it a great place to fly a kite!

Family photo op time!

We had a few days over 80 degrees in April. Grandma and Mommy decided to take Kaitlyn to a playground. Even though she can't enjoy slides and other such things yet, she can enjoy the swings. And she loves them!

We did let her try out some of the playground equipment, with assistance of course.

Here she is at another playground, enjoying more swinging!

During that early spring heat wave, Kaitlyn got to enjoy another wonderful thing about summer's approach: water fun! Grandma, Papa, Mommy, and Kaitlyn splashed around in the water fountains at the Botanical Gardens' kids area.

Here she is wearing the top part of her new two-piece bathing suit, with some long pants to keep her legs from getting scratched on the rough surface.

She REALLY likes the water. Which is a good thing, since we live close to the beach!

Kaitlyn celebrated her first Easter in April! Despite Mommy's fears of Kaitlyn's first encounter with the Easter Bunny, all went well! She couldn't get enough of him; she kept smiling up at him and touching his hand.

Afterwards, Mommy and Kaitlyn had lunch with Daddy at Chili's (it was Daddy's lunch break)

On Easter Morning, we woke to find that Mr. Easter Bunny had indeed arrived!

We dyed Easter Eggs the night before at Grandma and Papa's house. Kaitlyn even had her own egg!

She did eat a little of the boiled egg, but not much of the yolk. It's an acquired taste.

Here she is all dressed up for Easter Egg hunting!

Well, the headband came off fast. But, she did manage to crawl over to a few Easter Eggs in the front yard!

Our baby is growing up fast...very soon she will be a one-year-old! Eek!