Your birthday month has come and gone now, and we are officially past the year-old finish line! 13-months old today, and even in this last month, we've seen so many new developments! Mostly, your language is starting to take off! You are mimicking and copying our words as best you can, and we are loving your little expressions. My favorite is "I did it!" (which sounds more like "Didit!") after you finish a pouch or do something fabulous. :) You put your hands over your heart to show "love," and you do your impression of a "roar" whenever you see dinosaurs or tigers or crocodiles... anything vicious and you say (or gurgle) "Awwwhhhh" - okay, I have no idea how to spell what sound it is you make, but it's almost as if you are saying the latter part of "roar" without being able to say the /r/ sound. Hard to explain this sound, but it's from the very back of your throat and it's intentionally made each time - to copy your brothers' sounds they make when "roaring." You continue to clearly say "bye-bye," "hi," "muh" (more), "heh" (here), "uh" (up), and "bah" (ball). You have started saying "mama" more, but mostly in mimicking me. You attempt pretty much any word we say, with a long pause before we hear anything from you - you're processing the sound and figuring out how to make it. Sometimes it comes out just right, other times (more often than not), it mimics the syllable length but not the same word. Impressively, you are already tying two words together: "Hi, Dada!"
You are crystal clear in your communication skills - eyeing what you want, whining wildly until we give you your milk or your toothbrush or your water cup. If you could have ONE thing that will always keep you happy, it would be the remote controls. I'm so damn sick of hiding, grabbing, negotiating, stealing the remote from you. If there is ONE place you are most happy, it's sneaking into a drawer of cups or bowls that is supposed to be closed. If there is ONE thing you hate, it's laying still for diaper changes - or maybe having your snotty nose wiped... hmm, that one's a tie. And the ONE thing your brothers hate that you do, it's turning off the Xbox in the middle of a game!
You currently have pink eye and are in the middle of a cold. You're drippy - with snot and watery eyes and drool. Your eyes were goopy the other day with green slime, and Dr. B expected you to have an ear infection, but nope; ears were clear and we decided pink eye was the reason for the swollen eyelids, green gunk, and red eyes. Because of the cold, you're not eating as much as usual. And, you want to be held a lot, but otherwise, you're your typical happy-go-lucky self.
The things that I just adore: your dancing... especially when you want so badly to copy Quinn's breakdancing moves he calls the "Super Spin" when he twirls around on his bottom. The way you pat us on the back when you hug us! Trying to give hugs to people who are upset (when Quinn cries, you try to make him feel better even if he doesn't let you near him). Your anger- I know, I'm mean... but it's the cutest thing - that rage that overcomes you when your brothers take something or try to soothe you when you're already upset - it's like you yell at them "Back off!" with your intense yell "UHH!" and sometimes even a hand up in their face. Your down dog pose you make anytime, anywhere - forehead on the ground, tush in the air, legs fully extended, and eyes peeking underneath you.
We have not dropped the bottle yet, but we did drop one a day from your previous routine. Now, you have a bottle in the morning, a bottle at night, and one in the middle of the day some time. You much prefer milk from a bottle, but you'll take it in a cup (although not very much, and it doesn't seem to satisfy you at all). We tried fish and raspberries this month, but you haven't seemed to really eat any of the fish, and the raspberries were only a one-day deal because you threw up that evening and we nixed the raspberries to be sure the throw up was mucus-induced from your cold and not an allergic thing. We'll try again soon and be sure!
Knoxy, lately things have been hectic around the house. We've had two weeks of various spring breaks, lots of homework and practices and learning to ride bikes and losing teeth and cleaning up after play dates and guests over and birthday celebrations ... there's always something going on! It's all great stuff, but it keeps us busy and quite often I feel that you are just shuffled in with all the chaos. Some times you take advantage of that chaos and quietly make your way to the accidentally-left-open gate and climb up the stairs to get ahold of your brothers' Xbox remotes. You don't get a lot of down time to just play with toys by yourself or for Mommy and Daddy to just chill and play with only you. You don't seem to mind, but it's not what I want for you. There are days when I feel you and I didn't interact other than diaper changes, bottles, and getting in and out of a carseat or high chair. Maybe that's because you've been sick and just want to be held or maybe it's because you are just so "go with the flow," or maybe it's because you are easily entertained by your brothers and the drama that's always going on around you. I'm hoping things will settle a bit after spring break and we can reconnect on a normal schedule. It's not that I don't feel connected to you... it's that you deserve more time and more one-on-one than you get!
But, don't think I don't notice you. I see you. I hear you. I watch you in amazement and awe as you meander around the house figuring out what you can get into, seeing what everyone else is up to, planning your next move to capture the remote, and making sense of this family and your world. Time has already been flying by; I'm pretty sure it's about to get a lot faster in the coming months as you grow and learn at a rapid rate!
Here's to another great month, Baby Love!
Happy 13-months!
Love,
Mommy
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| Typical bath time with the big brothers |
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| Typical post dinner bombardment - they just love you! |
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| Cheek to cheek with Grandma |
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| Over spring break, the boys spent the night out, so you got some alone time with me! We both LOVED it! |
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