Happy Birthday, Katie!!

Today our baby is 20 years old. Wow! The years have flown by, but I can still see her in my mind from the moment she arrived until now. Born at 10:50 AM on a Friday, she looked just like Erica had--thick black hair and close to 9 pounds. We named her Katelyn Nicole, but she soon became Katie Patatie. She was a smiley, cheerful baby, even though she had me up every night of her first year. She had Fred's blue eyes, and by two, her hair had transformed to curly blond ringlets. She didn't talk until she was 3, but quickly made up for lost time.
In the kindergarten play she was a bear, wearing a costume made by grandma. We cut her long hair, and she "graduated" with perfect attendance. Throughout her elementary years, the teachers' consistent comment at conferences was that "Katie talks too much."
The night before her 7th birthday, she was mad at me for some reason and "punished" me by cutting her bangs to within an inch of her hairline. Another time she packed her little suitcase with mismatched clothes and a bunch of fruit snacks to run away from home. She went as far as the corner at our Westboro house before coming back. At the cabin, she found a fuzzy brown and black caterpillar and named him Isaac. He didn't survive the trip home, but it wasn't from lack of love. Katie has a heart for animals of all kinds, growing up with bunches of dogs and cats and volunteering at the Humane Association.
Over the years, her "big loves" were Justin Timberlake, Leonardo DiCaprio, Paul Walker, and Christian Bale. She loves music--except the kind where she had to practice her clarinet for band! She and I went to two concerts together during junior high, Smashmouth and Good Charlotte.
In high school, with Erica away at college and Fred often gone for work, she and I were the Gilmore Girls--minus the witty dialogue and cool soundtrack. I did most of the behind-the-wheel driving practice with her, and we nearly took out several mailboxes before she lost her fear of the center line. She got her license on the first try, and a bigger smile has never been seen! She's had or still has jobs in fast food, retail, and hotel housekeeping--pretty ironic for the girl whose bedroom always looked like the aftermath of a tornado.
High school graduation came all too soon (for me) and we took her to St. Cloud for her first year of college. Leaving her there was harder than I imagined, and I cried half the way back to Wisconsin. After a year there and a second, now, in Eau Claire, she is spreading her wings. She got a taste of travel from our San Diego trip last month, and yesterday found out that she's been accepted to study in Ireland for spring semester next year. She'll turn 21 surrounded by pubs!!
Have a great birthday, Patatie! Make the most of the next 20, and always know how much you're loved.