Birthday cousins

Katie (June 20), Cooper (July 3), Molli (July 11), Brooke (July 15)

It wasn't on purpose, but my sister Melane and I spaced out our kids almost perfectly. Brooke was first, and Cooper was a year later. They have grown to be great friends. Three years later came Molli, Katie a year later. In less than one month, all four cousins celebrate a birthday.

Happy 4th!

It's a lazy day at the Damm house. We're recovering from a great weekend of houseguests and Cooper's fifth birthday party. Of course, there are dozens of photos, but I'm too tired to edit them now. This one is from Jim & Betty, taken after Cooper's party.

On her own two feet

Katie has been practicing standing on her own for a few days now. Today she has been amazingly steady on her feet, standing for up to 30 seconds before gracefully falling.

Today she's modeling the dress Grandma sewed for her. The colors are perfect for her complexion and personality!

Katie and Cooper before church this morning

Sweet celebration

We celebrated Katie's birthday a few days early with a small tea party. (Cooper's first birthday was a beach party in his grandparents' back yard with about 50 people. It was great fun but a little overwhelming, and I have trouble remembering everything that happened!)

Melissa often creates cakes for Damm birthdays, but she wasn't able to attend this year, so Steve & I tackled the cakes. I did the easy part -- baking. He did an amazing job decorating a teapot cake and a coordinating small square cake just for his girl.


Katie played with her friends Adam and Conor and brother Cooper before eating cake for the first time. We expected her to dive in with both fists like Cooper, but she was much too dainty for that. She politely waited for me to cut a piece of cake and serve it to her before taking tiny bites.

She was less interested in opening gifts, though she has enjoyed all her toys and books since.

A few photos are below. As usual, you'll find even more here.

She looks so full of mischief here.

Julie created beautiful floral arrangements for the party.

Andy, Adam & Julie helped Katie celebrate.

Katie loves Liz's jewelry. (We missed Noe, who was home sick.)

Katie loves her Papa and Grandma.

One of their gifts for her was this beautiful dress.

Grandma also sewed a darling dress for Katie, which will appear in a future post.

Katie is fascinated by Conor, here with his daddy, Will (Katie's godfather). Godmother Holly was at a work conference out of town.

Little treasures

The theme of our VBS this year is Adventures of the Treasure Seekers. The volunteers have made it so fun for the kids, including Cooper, who comes home singing new songs every day.

I'm the official photographer for the week, compiling photos for the closing service Friday. Here are a couple of Katie & Cooper.

The kids were sheep during storytime Monday.

The same day, they decorated cupcakes to look like sheep.

Katie spends some of the morning on the playground.

(Becca, the girl in green, is one of Katie's favorite church friends.)

Happy Birthday, Katie!

Our sweet Baby Katie turned 1 today. (I think I'll keep calling her Baby Katie, though.) She's had a rough day -- she woke up with a swollen eye, which was diagnosed this afternoon as pink eye. She also has an ear infection and a fever.

We spent the morning at church for VBS, and she spent much of that time on my hip. And she's been asleep most of the afternoon. Thankfully, she was happy and healthy for her small afternoon tea party Saturday. I'll post photos soon.

A day of beauty

After the haircut

(Can someone please teach me how to rearrange photos on Blogger?)

During the haircut

Before the haircut

Katie's first haircut was this week with Ms. Sylvia at Cool Cuts 4 Kids. (Sylvia has cut Cooper's hair for about three years now -- she is gentle and patient with his thick head of hair.)

Katie sat quietly for about 15 minutes and fussed only at the end. She sat in a yellow taxi cab and watched Barney for the first time. Sylvia trimmed Katie's wispy locks and saved them for us in a little folder. With some of the weight off her hair, it sometimes sticks up on top again -- a very stylish look.

Ack! It's mid-June!

Look at those cheeks!

Katie is actually getting slimmer as she's moving around more.

But people -- strangers, even -- still want to pinch her cheeks.

Cooper wears Daddy's boots

while standing next to an alphabet tower he constructed.

(A cutline I would never have written for a newspaper!)

I haven't posted in a couple of weeks. We were out of town for a few days and have since been busy with summer camp at church and swimming lessons. I'm also in a bit of denial, maybe, about Katie's upcoming birthday.

I'm getting wistful in the baby aisles at stores. I can't bear to clean out her closet -- too many precious, tiny outfits she can no longer wear.

There's no denying her mobility, though. She cruises and crawls anywhere she wants to go. A favorite destination is the piano. She pulls up, pounds the keys and bobs up and down.

I have so many more photos to share -- Sasha's graduation party, visit with the Stogsdill/Tarun family, dinner with the Pry/Beckas, playing with little Adam, other adventures. And stay tuned for photos from Katie's first haircut!

Final installment of vacation photos

I didn't discover how much I love the beach until my mid-20s, when Matthew & Gretchen moved to Sarasota, Fla. During our frequent visits, we would spend hours on the Gulf Coast, swimming, picnicking, eating, reading, napping. When I feel extraordinarily stressed, I visualize the beach and that feeling of peace that it brings.

So, a trip to the beach was a must during our Pennsylvania/Massachusetts adventure. I did a lot of reading and chose Good Harbor on Cape Ann. It apparently gets crowded in the summer, and I can see why: soft sand, room to run, clear water. Sigh. In early May, though, it's not a destination spot because the water is too cold (38 degrees the morning we were there).

Cooper loved wading into the water (even falling on his bottom a couple of times), running up and down the shore, trying to outrun the waves. Katie was amused by the wind and watching her big brother.

Later that morning we walked around Gloucester. We were interested in the town after reading and seeing The Perfect Storm. The folks were friendly, and the seafood was tasty.

I regret that I don't have better photos from Noel & Bonnie's wedding. Layne does, and I'll post those soon, I hope. The few I have are here, along with more from the beach and Gloucester.

Happy 11 months!