Lil’ Miss K turned fifteen months old yesterday! I think she’s grown a lot since last month – what do you think? She doesn’t stand still nearly as well now, and she was talking and shaking her arms in the second photo. 🙂 I’m glad I continued these photos past one year since she still seems to be changing so quickly.
I’ve loved every stage of Lil’ Miss K’s life so far, but I’m really savoring this time. I can see the wheels turning as she thinks, learns, and explores more every day. She repeats words we recite to her all the time now. My favorites are “cracker” and “magnet” and “owl”. I’ve been taking her to the park near our house almost daily, but it has mulch, so it’s not easy for her to run around and play freely. (She likes to sit down and attempt to eat the wood chips.) The playground at the zoo however, is paradise. She had a blast! The slide is her favorite.
We recently made our first trip of the season to the zoo! We went first thing on a rainy, dreary Friday morning, thinking it wouldn’t be crowded at all. We were wrong! There were tons of school groups there. But we still enjoyed ourselves – spring and fall are by far the best times to visit the zoo. The animals were so active! We got to see two monkeys jumping furiously from branch to branch chasing each other for several minutes, and my favorite moment was when Lil’ Miss K walked up to the glass at the penguin exhibit and the penguins immediately hopped out of the water and waddled over to check her out. We have season passes to the zoo, so we’ll be back several times this year.
These photos turned out pretty decent, despite the fact that we shot them right before bed, and she was diagnosed with bronchitis today (poor baby). Lil’ Miss K is a trooper in my book!
My daughter’s daycare does “school” photos twice a year. I sent her to school with her Easter dress, hoping to buy a cute pose for the grandparents to hang on their wall. We ended up with four proofs – the one everyone liked the most was the one with a giant tear in her eye. She cried the entire time! So, I set up a sheet and had an impromptu photo shoot in the middle of our dining room right while we were all trying to get our Easter meal together. (The light was good!) Luckily my family expects no less of me – they were patient and supportive and kept cooking right around us. Lil’ Miss K wasn’t very smiley since I was delaying her lunch and nap, but I still got a few cute shots.
We had a beautiful day celebrating Easter with family! Little Miss K was only about 6-7 weeks old last Easter, so it was fun to see her enjoying her Easter basket and eggs. 
Spring has sprung (at least for now) in Kansas City! After getting a bike trailer for Christmas and a bike helmet for Lil’ Miss K’s first birthday, we were anxious to take her out on her first bike ride. Snacks and water in hand, she seemed quite excited to try something new. She giggled for several minutes as we took off down the path. Forty minutes later, she had about had enough, but it was a successful first ride! She’ll be doing Bike Across Kansas in no time.
Last weekend we were snowed/ice in (or at least we were advised by family not to make the 3-hour drive to visit during poor road conditions). It was a blessing in disguise. Lil’ Miss K was sick with her fifth ear infection, so I was glad we were home rather than on the road. And it was a rare treat to get an entire weekend to play at home. It’s fun watching her explore and learn. I can just see those little wheels in her brain turning. As an added bonus: snow on the ground = bright outside = nice indoor lighting!
(By the way, she will be getting tubes in the near future. If anyone has any advice or words of wisdom about tubes, please let me know. I’ve heard nothing but good things about them.)
Baby K had a great time devouring her first birthday cake! It took her a bit of time to figure out what to do, and the cake was a little too dense for her to make big mess, but she definitely enjoyed each bite!
A big thank you to my friend Mandy for taking my camera and doing a fantastic job capturing these priceless memories.
Happy Valentine’s Day! Baby K is celebrating her last first holiday. In fact, today is her big birthday party! Sunday she’ll graduate from Baby K to Lil’ Miss K. *Sigh* What a year it’s been! (Year in review photos to come.)
Photographic Rhodes 