13 Months

Time seems to be moving at warp speed. The days go by in a flash and the nights seem to move even quicker.

At 13 months, you are growing by leaps and bounds each day. Your vocabulary is starting to blossom and you surprise me with all that you understand and with your sweet attempts at forming words with lips that are so brand new.

Chick,

You are our determined, independent, strong-willed little girl. You know what you want, when you want it and from whom you want it. You are so much like your Mama in that you don't have patience once you have decided that you want something that is not within your reach. Daddy will teach you how to have patience because we all know that this isn't going to be something you learn from me. You are beginning to stand up for yourself when Pea tries to take a toy away from you and you have developed strategies to cope with those times he succeeds. When Pea takes something away from you, you simply go to the toy bin and begin playing happily with something you know might draw Pea toward you and the new toy. When he takes this toy away from you, you head back to the original toy Pea has now left and you continue your play. Smart little girl. You get this from me.
Physically, you have much more hair than your brother and it curls in ringlets at the back and sides. You are half an inch taller than Pea and have longer legs. At this point, you have six teeth in sight (two central incisors on the bottom and two central incisors and two lateral incisors on the top). You, like your brother, have discovered biting and though you don't bite nearly as hard as your brother, your potential is growing. We discourage this. You are losing your baby fat quickly as your activity level increases and your food intake levels off. I will miss your leg rolls when they are gone, but for now, I will continue to squeeze and kiss them all over.
You are signing so many words now and I love that you know you can communicate with us so easily. I wish I always knew what you wanted "more" of, but most of the time I can figure it out.
Some of the words that you are able to say and mean:
Mama
Dada
baw (ball)
nana (banana)
mi (milk)
map (nap)
kakaw (cracker)
gahgos (bubbles)
chay (chair)
syee (outside)
kaw (car)
wata (water)
ma-ow (more)
ca (cat)
maw (you say this with inflection when I ask you what sound a cow makes)

You understand SO much and we have to be very careful of what we say around you.  If we ask you if you need your diaper changed, you walk toward the change table.  You know what it means when we say bath time, bed time, nap time, etc.  We can ask you to go get something and bring it back to us and you will.  It sometimes takes a while, but you figure it out eventually.  You like to help put away all the bath toys by handing them to me one by one.  Your language development is amazing to watch.

Dancing is still one of your most beloved past times.  Specifically, you are drawn to the theme song of Toopy and Binoo, Elmo's Song and Elmo's Duck Song.  Mommy and Daddy drop into bed almost every night with one of those songs stuck in our heads.

You dislike (to put it mildly) having your hair washed, having your hair rinsed, having your diaper changed, getting into your car seat, waiting for anything, and *gasp* chocolate.  In fact, chocolate is the only food we have given you that you have spit out consistently.  I have made chocolate pudding, chocolate zucchini muffins, etc. and you have turned your nose up at all of it.

When it comes right down to it, you are a fun little soul to have around.  You make me smile and laugh, you make me drop to my knees to dance with you when the urge takes us, and you make me a better person every single day just by being alive.


Pea,
You are our gentle, loving, cuddly, rough-and-tumble boy.  If you could be held by someone all day, you would choose to be held by someone ALL day.  I sometimes put you in the Ergo simply because you are happy just being pressed against me while I cook or while I clean the house.
You can take a hit (hard ones, too) and it barely fazes you.  You've had your fair share of scrapes and bruises and have the remnants to prove it.  You are calm and patient (your Daddy is much like you) and you love to make us laugh.  If you do something that makes me giggle, you will continue to do it and enjoy the reaction you get.  It's the cutest thing.  You love to play with anything that Chick has and this makes her so frustrated with you.  You love, Chick, though and every time I bring her downstairs from her nap, you tremble with excitement to see her.  You love playing together and can make each other laugh with your antics.  Adventurous, you love to figure things out and to explore.  You are not afraid of heights, of big slides and of getting dirty in your pursuit of fun.
Physically, you are solid as a rock and heavy.  Every single person who has ever lifted you cannot believe how sturdy you feel.  We all feel that you are going to be quite a big boy as you grow.  Your voice is strong as well and you make your presence known when you are frustrated or scared.  You have a little bit of straight, honey coloured hair on your head and I love smoothing it when we are cuddling on the couch.  You have a total of eight teeth in sight (two upper and lower incisors, two upper and lower lateral incisors) and one just beneath the surface (your right lower molar/first bicuspid).  You have finally figured out that biting hurts and rarely bite anyone any longer.  Daddy and I (and some of our friends and friends' children) have scars to prove that you once didn't realize that biting causes damage.  We are happy that you are over that for now.

You are signing as well, but the signs we see the most are for cookie, milk, water and more.  Like your sister, you can say and mean a variety of words (almost identical to Chick's list of words):
Mama
Da (Dada)
Ca (cat)
Ma (milk)
Map (nap)
Caw (car)
Sy (outside)
Mow (more)
meh (meow; you say this when we ask you what sound a cat makes)
meh (moo; you say this when we ask you what sound a cow makes)
cheh (chair)
Jeh (cheese)

You are very good at following directions and love to retrieve things for us.  We will often ask you to bring us something from your toy bin or something that has fallen on the floor and you will proudly hand it to us.  You, like Chick, understand so much more than you can say and I love seeing this part of your language develop.  All I have to do is say, "Who wants to go upstairs?" or "Who wants to go outside?" and yours are the first little steps I hear running toward me.

You are my "selective" eater and will only try new things by sticking out your tongue like a frog to taste it first.  If you don't approve, you turn your head and purse your lips.  So cute.  I never worry about how much food you are eating (or not eating) because I know that someday in the near future, you will be eating your weight in food every day.

You love to push things around the house:  chairs, toy buses, lawn mowers, cats in boxes, your sister on a blanket, etc.  It's like you were built to haul.  You love it!  You are trying to dance like Chick, but my son, it's not getting better.  You might want to take a class or two when you get older...

You dislike new foods, not getting the toy that Chick has, and, for the life of me, I can't think of anything else you dislike.  You're a pretty easygoing kid and I love you for it.  

I love you so much it scares me.  You are my sweet sunshine and the face I wake up to almost every morning.  You make me laugh, you give the sweetest hugs and you are so loving and sensitive.  I want you to stay this way forever.
You've changed a lot in just 13 months...

Left:  September 16, 2009 - Right September 2010