Priceless!
Kate's getting more and more fun every day. She's very good at climbing the stairs, and has even gone down a couple. She's eating lots of solid foods (green beans, crackers, cheese sandwiches, bagels). Soon she'll be walking, we think. She's a very happy baby, smiling often, and laughing lots at us, the dog, the cat, her daycare friends, etc. She also likes to growl at stuffed animals. It started with a bear she got for Christmas, but has moved on to include most of her fuzzies. We think she's starting to associate the "Dddduh" sound with her daddy and "mmmuh" with her mommy. And a "huh" when she waves hello. She's definitely giving hugs, and presses her mouth against our cheeks in what we figure to be a kiss.
Her first birthday is less than a month away. Seeing all this makes us miss Corey (what doesn't?). We often think about what she'd be doing, what her giggle would sound like, how much hair would she have. Maybe she'd be walking now. God only knows, literally. We're thinking that as we buy gifts for Kate's birthday, we're going to keep track of how much we spend, then put an equal amount into a check to First Candle as Corey's present.
Work's been pretty stressful lately, but seeing Kate's smile in the morning (photo above) and picking her up from daycare in the afternoon makes all that stress vanish (ok, mostly!). But losing Corey has definitely put things into perspective for us. Whatever project we've got going at work is just not worth staying late or working weekends when you've got a little girl who wants her mommy and daddy.
