13 Months

Dear Annie,

You have already finished the first month of your 2nd year, and it was a big one, as usual! We took our first big family vacation, and you loved the sand and the sun and the pool, and spending a whole week with some of your favorite people - Fruncle Nate, Frauntie Molly and Mia! We have been busy pretty much this whole month with visits to various friends and relatives - we like to keep you on your toes, baby girl.

Sometimes I start to think that you aren't developing fast enough, or doing enough things, and then I actually write it all out and I realize just how much you have changed in a month, and how much you are doing every day! So I'm sorry if sometimes I don't seem excited enough for what you are doing right now, or if I seem like I want you to be doing anything more. That is something I'm trying to get better about, and I want you to know - whatever you are doing right now is perfect!

Here is a little bit about what you have been up to this month. You love to bop around to music - you wiggle your hips back and forth when you're sitting, and bounce up and down if you're standing. You also love to make your own music with your maracas, or by pounding anything on a table or floor. Any toy that makes music you push buttons again! and again! to make the songs start.

If you aren't paying attention, you will stand up on your own. Until you realize that you aren't holding on, and you slowly lower yourself to the ground! I've seen you stand by yourself for 20-30 seconds, so you are definitely improving your balance! You are also almost to getting yourself to standing on your own. You get up to kneeling on one knee with one foot out and get a little stuck there so far. You've become a climber this month - you love your new chair and climb in and out, and in and out. You also have been trying to climb up higher things like the couch and your high chair but thankfully you haven't figured that out just yet. When in your chair, you like to make sure you have a few toys in your hands before you get up - usually your baby doll's spoon and bowl that you stir around and pretend to eat.

You walk around furniture pretty quickly now, and will walk with a push toy. Unfortunately, we don't have one of those for you and even if we did, there's not many places for you to push it around in our tiny house, so you'll just have to practice that one elsewhere! You are getting a lot better about walking between furniture without sitting down first.

We are loving that you are becoming so much more interactive - sometimes you will try to mimic our sounds and movement. We still play peek-a-boo, and you love to clap and will sometimes clap your cheeks too when you get really excited. You love to mimic when I make kissy sounds, and are also starting to get more affectionate with open mouth kisses and even some hugs! You hug your stuffed animals and dolls more than us so far, though :)

While you don't stick your pointer finger out, you gesture to everything all the time, and usually exclaim "Doh!" or "Digga!" while doing it - it is getting a little easier to understand what you want because you clearly reach toward it, however sometimes we can't give you those things, like my glasses, or the glass spice bottles. You then get more than a little frustrated! It seems like you are getting more frustrated by your inability to communicate exactly what you want this month.

You still babble up a storm, and still have a few word-like sounds, but nothing very consistent yet. The closest thing to a word I've heard is still hi and bye bye. You have lots of inflection and make many different noises which are always entertaining to us!

In the past few months, you've started really recognizing friends and family members, which I know they all love! You break out in a HUGE grin when you see your grandparents, aunts and uncles and close friends - especially Fruncle Nate and Frauntie Molly - you literally SCREAM with delight when we are walking up to their house and will bounce around uncontrollably when we go into their house. This is no shock since Mia does have all the cool toys and you love to play with them!

You are still pretty laid back about playing. If another kid takes something from you, you don't mind at all, you just quickly move on to something else. It's when an adult takes something that you aren't supposed to have, like a phone, when you might get upset!

Just in the past few weeks, you've been laying down a lot on the floor as if you are going to bed. You'll sometimes do it when we ask if you're going night night, or if there is a pillow around. Just today I saw you throw yourself to the ground tantrum-like for the first time. Not so cute!!

Books are starting to get more interesting to you - you will hand your dad and I a book, especially your favorites Kisses and Tails. Other than those 2, you might listen to 2-3 pages of the book before you're on to something else. I usually keep reading just in case :)

All month long, your sleep has still been broken up with some crying, usually 1-2 times a night. We still aren't sure why, but I hope you grow out of that soon! You still sleep from 7pm-7am, and take one nap from 1-3pm. Sometimes that schedule varies a little, but that seems to be what you prefer!

We stopped nursing completely this month, just a week ago. This was a harder change on me than it was on you! I will so miss that time we had to cuddle before work and before you went to bed. I did love holding you close and feeling your soft skin and hair. Sometimes you will allow me to cuddle you for a minute here and there now, but it's not the same! You didn't seem to mind at all, and within a few days started drinking much more whole milk from your sippy cup, which you have with meals. You've definitely done great, and haven't seemed to miss your bedtime nursing session at all, and in fact seem even more excited to go to bed than you did when we were nursing - you won't even listen to Goodnight Moon anymore, and are instead whining and REACHING for the crib as soon as we walk in there!

You did get one more tooth this month, bringing your total to 7 -4 on the top, 3 on the bottom. There's still tons of drool going on, so I'm thinking more are on the way.

Not that your lack of teeth hold you back from eating at all - you LOVE food. It is your favorite thing. When you are cranky, a snack is a pretty surefire way of calming you down. If you see a snack cup, you have it in your hands and NOTHING inspires your wrath more than if someone dares to take it away from you! Your dad and I get a huge kick out of watching you eat something you love - you shovel food in your mouth so fast, as if we might take it away. You grab a huge handful, and try to get it all in, and go back for more super fast. You will try anything, and if you don't like it, you just open your mouth and let it fall out, like you did with some horseradish carrots and honeydew melon this past weekend. You also love to feed your dad and I - if we come close to you, you'll hold out some food for us and feed us. It's a conflict for you if it's something you really like, such as cheese - sometimes you will put it in our mouth, then take it out and eat it yourself :) We've started giving you a spoon or fork with meals, and you're pretty good with them - it takes you a super long time, but you've figured out how to poke at things with the fork and get it to your mouth - getting it off the fork is a bit tougher for you, but you've done it a few times now. You still far prefer your hands though.

We're still trying to figure out your personality - you're usually pretty content, but you have your moments of crankiness, that's for sure! You can be laid back, but also very stubborn and independent. On the whole, you are a barrel of fun - almost always happy and you really just get cuter every day. One thing is for sure - we do just love being your parents, every step of the way!

Love, Mom