One year + one month

Would you just look at this thriving thirteen month old?!



Baby B has been growing quickly lately, it's almost unbelievable. (And yes, his new favorite play place is the oven drawer; in the last week kitchen towels, my water bottle, and multiple books have found their way into the drawer. Hopefully everything is heat resistant!!)

Walking - within the last week he started taking a series of 5 or 6 steps at a time instead of only 2 or 3. When we put him down on the floor after holding him now, he always wants to stand instead of sit, and when we let go he's able to hold his balance most of the time. I see this as evidence that he's feeling more stable on his feet. I wouldn't say that he's walking yet, but he's getting closer and closer.

Eating - we are in the middle of weaning him from breastfeeding! We started this after getting home from our Colorado trip a couple weeks ago. We're down to 3 feedings from Mommy a day, and I'm progressively shortening their length so that hopefully when we stop completely it won't be an abrupt change for him (or me!). He's taking to his sippy cup and cow's milk pretty well. When we first started using the cup, he wasn't used to having that much liquid enter his mouth at once so a lot of it dribbled out. He's definitely moved past that challenge. Now we need to get him to tilt the cup up on his own. If we let go of the cup now, he just holds it right back to us like, "Come on now parent, help me out here please!" We'll keep working at it...

Baby sign language - we taught him the sign for "more" a couple weeks ago and now he uses it all the time. Almost anytime we are in the kitchen he signs for more, even if it's not meal time and no one is eating. He is somewhat of a bottomless pit though...I thought that wasn't supposed to kick in for another 12 or 13 years!! He's even made the more sign while we're on his changing table (more what Baby B? Clean behinds? Yes, Mommy is in favor of that too!). Next up are the signs for please and thank you. He's going to be such a polite little man:)

Teeth - Baby B's teeth are taking their sweet time coming in. I think the tooth that peeked through around Christmas time still hasn't completely come up, and his second tooth seems to be stuck barely above the gum line the way the first one was for a couple weeks. Nevertheless, we bought his first toothbrush this weekend! He's not quite sure what to make of it, but he should catch on quick. After all, who wouldn't want to brush their teeth with a Clifford the Big Red Dog toothbrush?!

But growing up isn't all fun and games, especially for Mommy and Daddy. Hubby T and I have both started experiencing some of the frustrations of parenthood lately. Hubby T is struggling to get Baby B to stop grabbing his glasses off his face every time he picks him up. I don't blame him, finger smudges on glasses are not cool, nor are broken glasses if Baby B gets to enthusiastic! I am struggling with Baby B's new habit of throwing food on the floor when he is eating. I am trying to not take this action as an insult to my cooking and cleaning skills, I know that's not why he does it, but it's hard sometimes. We are trying to teach him that those aren't acceptable behaviors, but the message isn't getting through, at least not yet. I'm not sure when we're going to have a breakthrough in this area. I have heard that saying no in a consistent manner (same tone of voice, facial expression, etc.) is important but I will freely admit we're not very good at that. It is really hard not to smile, even when we're frustrated, with a face like this...