Kaitlyn's 1st Year Revisited

Today is Kaitlyn's first birthday and looking back, she has had quite a year. It seems like just yesterday that she was born. I remember waiting patiently in the hospital room for Kaitlyn to make her appearance and when the moment arrived, it was truly amazing. She was a slimy mess, but she was the most beautiful slimy mess I had ever seen. After I cut the umbilical cord, I followed the nurses around as they performed the standard tests and one of the first things I noticed was that Katilyn had my dimples. After I excitedly told Shawnna the good news (she was still getting cleaned up) she said, "Great, but does she have 10 fingers and toes?" In all the excitement, I forgot to look and had to confirm that all digits were accounted for - they were.

Two days later, Shawnna was discharged from the hospital and we came home with our little bundle of joy. It was a fun and frightening moment the first time we stood in our house all alone with Kaitlyn. No longer did we have the nurses around to ask, "Is that normal?" We were on our own to figure out how to care for a helpless baby. We certainly had our share of sleepless nights, but it was such and exciting time that we gladly adapted.

The past year has gone by in a blur, just like everyone says. So much has changed from those first, anxious moments as parents through the present time when we feel we have a pretty good handle on things that it's amazing to look at all the "firsts" that have happened and see how far we've come. I know this is still just the beginning, but if the rest of the years go by as fast as the first one, we'll be sending Kaitlyn off to college in no time. She continues to amaze me with her new talents every day and she is truly the "cutiest pie ever."

Here's a consolidated list of the first year firsts with links to the original blog posts:

• 1st Month (July 1-31, 2007)
• First immunization shots
• First Bath
• 2nd Month (August 1-31, 2007)
• First time rolling over
• Started sleeping through the night
• 3rd Month (September 1-30, 2007)
• First overnight trip away from home - Seascape Resort
• 4th Month (October 1-31, 2007)
• Started going to daycare
• First time getting sick
• 5th Month (November 1-30, 2007)
• First Halloween
• First Thanksgiving
• 6th Month (December 1-31, 2007)
• First "soft" solid food
• First Christmas
• First playdate
• 7th Month (January 1-31, 2008)
• First time scooting and clapping
• 8th Month (February 1-29, 2008)
• First Sharks hockey game
• 9th Month (March 1-31, 2008)
• First time blowing raspberries
• First time crawling
• First x-ray
• 10th Month (April 1-30, 2008)
• First bruise
• First bath in the big tub
• 11th Month (May 1-31, 2008)
• First time pulling herself up
• First time cruising and walking with a walker
• First "hard" solid food
• First time climbing the stairs
• First word - "Up" (after mama and dada)
• First trip to the zoo
• 12th Month (June 1-30, 2008)
• First tooth coming in
• First trip to the beach and Monterey Bay Aquarium
• First Birthday Party
• First time walking unassisted