Tribute to Kaylee

My parents sometimes tell time in number of children they had at the time. So they will say something like, "Well Casey was a baby then so it must have been such and such year." You get the idea. I guess that just goes to show the influence your children have in your life. Though I have no children of my own, in some ways I feel as if I already do that with my niece Kaylee. We are blessed to have 2 nieces but I was not here for the pregnancy or birth of my first niece so in many ways I feel as if Kaylee is the first. This weekend is her birthday weekend, and as I think back on the year I think about how much she has changed and how much as changed in general. A lot can happen in a year. I was living in Topeka when she was born and waited the entire day at work to find out that she had been born. We finally got the call around 5 pm, and quickly got to the hospital to see her. Having a baby around reinforces the fact that I don't know much about kids, like who knew they couldn't have meat until they were one? The first thing I remember about seeing her was that her skin was so pale, I mean she was WHITE and she was so long, and she had this amazing full head of black hair! She was perfect. I feel so lucky to have gotten to be there right after she was born. A lot has changed since then but she is still perfect. She can walk now, feed herself, loves to climb over stuff, loves to be held mostly just by her mom and dad (hopefully that phase ends soon), she has teeth, and my personal favorite is the fact that she will tottle over to you arms out stretched with a grin on her face wanting to be picked up and if you don't she'll latch onto your legs. Every time we go home, which hasn't been as often as we would like, we are truly amazed at how much she has grown and changed. It has been an awesome experience to watch her progress. We are truly blessed to be able to be aunts and have an influence on the lives of such amazing little girls. Happy Birthday, Kaylee!