Thirteen!

Luc!

My goodness, your month birthday really snuck up on me this time... we were sitting at the table coloring earlier this afternoon (coloring!) and when you had finished your picture, I wrote your name at the top, then stopped to think about the date... and (gasp!) I realized that yes, you are in fact thirteen months old today!

You are getting so big. You just had your "twelve month" doctor's appointment and you weighed in at 22 pounds (30th%) and measured 30 3/4 inches long (75th%)! I'm simply amazed at how much you've grown.

Sometimes I wonder how in the world you are growing at all, now that you've begun to eat like a toddler. Some days you eat everything in sight, you'll devour half a banana, a full serving of yogurt and almost an entire half a bagel all at once! Then the next week, you'll consume the exact same amount spread out over two full days. Right now you aren't really interested in eating at all, what with the toys to play with and dog to chase and trouble to get into, but we keep trying...

And you've had lots of new food experiences this month. We introduced you to wheat products (organic, sprouted grain bread and whole wheat pasta and pretzels and the like) and it's greatly increased our choices. You love melted cheese or cream cheese on bread or bagels, though you're not so fond of fruit spread. Oh, and you like turkey and cheese sandwiches- since you're actually eating turkey now! We also introduced you to french fries (organic, salt free), but you didn't like them. And I fed you eggs by accident, and you did like them (go figure). And milk (whole fat organic cow's milk), and you absolutely HATE that! But I expect you only hate it in comparison to mama's milk, which you get about 6 times a day now (2-3 times during the day, bedtime, morning, and 1-2 times at night). You still love mama's milk and I don't see any indication that you'll want to stop nursing anytime soon. Fine by me. Recently, you've started to let me know with great urgency when you want to nurse. If I'm standing up, you'll hug onto my legs and just about climb me to get to the milk. If I'm holding you or already sitting down, you tug at my shirt, pat me, and on rare occasions, you even make the hand sign for milk (hooray!). I'm not pumping anymore (cue the happy music) so you are finishing up the last of our freezer stash of breast milk when you're with Granny and Daddy. These will be your last bottles too. Or that's the plan anyway...

This month you've also had cinnamon apples, apple and apricot sauce, dried strawberries, apple cinnamon teddy puffs, whole wheat bunnies, edamame, lima beans, spinach (yum!), mashed potatoes (rejected!), and have perfected eating from your "snack trap" which you love to do, especially when we're out for a walk, and especially when it's filled with Puffins. You are also learning to feed yourself- modeling us by holding a spoon and tapping it gently on your plate. You haven't figured out yet how to get food onto the spoon, but you'll get there eventually.

At the end of this month, you started talking! You don't always get the right sound, but you do get the idea. And it absolutely floors me! If I say a word, Pop Pop for instance, you'll think about it, then say tada. And you know exactly what you're saying too- you have a lift-the-flap book with a picture of an old guy on a tractor and I told you it was Pop Pop, so now everytime you pick up that book you lift that flap and say tada! You also recognize dada when you see his picture on my cell phone display (tada and dada look similar, but each have a very unique sound). When we were trying to practice blowing bubbles for swim lessons I asked you to one two three, foo (blow)! and you said na na na na, foo. Okay, so you can't count, but I still think it's pretty darn amazing.

You also say: mama and dada and yeahyee (Kelly), mega (possibly Meggan?), nan nan, hi, eho (hello), wa (woof), whee, uh oh, yum, dah (dog). And you've said some other things in the past few days that I wouldn't have believed, had I not heard you with my own ears: nana (banana), ees (ears), nah (nose), duk (stuck), tung (tongue).

You love to read. We still read to you every night at bedtime and you are beginning to really get into books. Every morning while I'm in the shower, you sit in your pack 'n play reading, flipping through the pages, lifting the flaps and jabbering to yourself. It is absolutely adorable! Of course, one morning I discovered that you'd been munching the corner of a pointy flap in one of your newer books, but mostly you are reading. You also like to read books on the potty, in the car, pretty much anytime, anywhere. And I think that's really cool.

Your seventh tooth breached the gumline at the beginning of this month, but it's taking it's sweet time to emerge the rest of the way. And speaking of teeth- you went through a brief period this month of grinding your teeth. Thankfully you stopped (shuuudddder). And another toothy thing- Granny and Daddy have both told me that you chomped on them recently, in frustration. What a hot little temper! You haven't done it to me yet. I have seen you come at me with your mouth open a few times, but you always stop to think about it first (how smart you are!) and decide against it. You do pull my hair though, grabbing just a few strands at a time and yanking as hard as you can (which really hurts, by the way). And you only seem to do it with me.

You have insisted on putting absolutely everything in your mouth lately... waaaay more than usual. I have no idea why, but it's resulted in some really icky things going into your mouth, like food off the floor, dirty shoes, Kelly's toys... You even put your mouth on the grocery cart handle the other day (more than once). And unfortunately I didn't bring the Clean Shopper into the store with us that day. Gross!

You are learning and understanding so many new things these days! You recognize and remember what things are used for- you'll pick up a hairbrush and brush your hair, you know that a toothbrush goes in your mouth (okay, occasionally that goes in your hair too), shoes go on your feet, hats go on your head, arms go into shirt sleeves and legs go into pants. And you've figured out what things are the right height for you to sit on- like the stairs, a shelf, a cardboard box, my lap (if I'm seated on the floor), or Daddy's knee. You'll eye the spot, then get very excited as you back up and sit down, beaming with pride as your bottom hits it's mark. It's really cute (I bet you already knew I was going to say that)!

You also like to look for things. If we ask where is mama's phone? (for instance), you'll look around, then crouch down and look under the table, and sometimes get on your hands and knees and check under a piece of low furniture. It's hilarious. You had Paw Paw in stitches the other day looking for his keys! I wish I could say that we don't on occasion send you on a search just for fun. But oh, it is just so much fun!

Another thing you love to do- I'm guessing Daddy is going to claim this one- cleaning! You'll ball up little pieces of paper towel or toilet paper and wipe things with them (your tray, the bathroom scale). And you love the vaccum- just like Daddy! You like to take the floor attachment and push it around, pretending to vaccum. And when Daddy is vaccuming, you always want to help- holding on to the hose while he pushes it around.

And, (I forgot to write about this last month) we started you in swim lessons just before your first birthday- the class is called Aqua Tots 1! Daddy and I were really excited about it because we've always talked about teaching you to swim early (even before you were born we talked about it). But on the first day, when the instructor dunked you under, you came up screaming mad! I think it was all a bit too fast and that your feelings were hurt because she did it without a lot of warning. I think it also had something to do with the fact that the only class available when we signed up was at 5pm- not the best time of day for pushing the limits of a toddler. So, that pretty much set the course for the remainder of the 6 week session: splashing, kicking, singing songs as we bob around in a circle, learning how to climb out for safety, plunking back in, floating on your back, blowing bubbles (which you refuse to do- still), walking around the shallow end, reaching for toys, and screaming bloody murder each and every time water touched your face! It was very discouraging for all of us. But once that class was over (try, try again), we signed you up for another one. It's the same class, but this time it's early on Saturday mornings and with a new instructor... and I'm happy to report that it's been a fantastic experience! The new instructor takes a bit more time to explain things and told us to always use a signal (ours is 1-2-3-go!) before we put you in the pool or under the water. And now you do all of the above things with a smile on your face, including being dunked under (except for the initial sputter and look of shock when you first emerge- which seems to occur with all of your classmates too)! You are a rockstar Aqua Tot! It's awesome!

You've had some rough nights lately and I think you must be going through the dreaded "13 month sleep regression". You toss and turn and have a lot of trouble falling into a deep sleep at bedtime. And when you wake up at night (sooner, rather than later), you cry the saddest cry I've ever heard. The only good part about this is that I can look back on what we went through when you were 8-9 months old and know that 1. this "regression" cannot possibly be worse than that one and 2. it is just a phase that too will pass, thankfully. In fact, I just had to take a short break from writing this letter because you woke up crying. Poor thing!

And speaking of sleep... you are all over the place when you sleep in your crib, sometimes with our legs scrunched underneath you and your bum up in the air, other times flat on your back with arms and legs spread out in every direction. Usually you are much more content when you're in our bed, but sometimes... you like to sleep on my head. I've heard people say that about their cats, but I never really understood what it meant- until now. You'll snuggle up to my shoulder, then throw your arm across my neck, and climb/wiggle just slightly until you are pretty much sleeping on my head. It usually happens when you are first trying to fall asleep, so I wait until you are drifting off before I move you. It's just too funny, and also kind of sweet.

You've started to run a bit more this month. You're still working on it, but are picking up speed every day. You're also very agile, and have started to come down the stairs forwards, one foot in front of the other, holding on tight to the railing (your pediatrician said that this is very early). I still carry you up and down often (for the sake of convenience), but sometimes you simply want to do it yourself. So I stand on the steps below and down you come- wobbly but confident, forward facing and fearless. And you're having a lot of fun with it!

So, to spoil your fun (as parents are known to do) we installed gates at the top and bottom of the stairs. You helped Daddy with the drill and the screws, then screamed in displeasure when you realized what he was doing. We were very satisfied with ourselves, however you had something else in mind. Refusing to be outsmarted by the gates (as babies toddlers are known to do), about 30 minutes after we had installed the one at the top of the stairs, you figured out that you can squeeze through the banister posts! I was in your room folding diapers and you walked out into the hall. After a few minutes of relative quiet, I knew I needed to check on you- and I think my heart stopped for a moment when I saw that you were standing in the small space between the upstairs railing and the stair handrail! You see, your dog was standing on the top step and the gate was preventing you from getting to her. And that just wouldn't do! You are one determined little boy (you get that from both of us).

I love you, punky!

Love,
Mama