the wrights: 13 Months

Henry, I feel like I blinked and all of a sudden you're 13 months old! I wasn't planning on doing a 13 month post but, I wanted to write some of the new things you're doing because I'm already finding myself going back to see what you were up to throughout this past year that I've already forgotten!

You have said 'up' and 'do' so far. The first time you said 'up' was Saturday, May 7th and you were on your tip toes wanting to get onto Granddaddy's lap. You had your arms up in the air and clearly and sweetly said "up". We were all in shock and so happy! The next day you repeated "do" after I had read a phrase that ended in "do" in your "God Bless" book. You say the last part of Rouge's name any time you see a dog. You have had a love for dogs since you were so little. A couple of weeks ago you saw Grandmother and Granddaddy's cat, Oreo, and without any prompting made a 'K' sound for cat or kitty. Kitty was my first word. Last night Daddy was reading to you about Mike Mulligan and his steam shovel before bed and you had picked up another book called "Where is my Mother" and when you came to the page in your book about the angry snort (steam shovel) you looked up at Daddy's book and said "shh" for shovel. Its so fun to see you start putting things together!

You get yourself so revved up these days. You love to wave your arms up and down or bounce up and down on your feet and make noise while gritting your teeth. You love to bang with both hands on any surface- couch, tables, etc. You like to give sloppy kisses. Today they've ended in a slight bite....and you bit my finger really hard. You aren't doing it because you're mad (yet...) but its still a no-no. You hear 'no' so much now that you shake your head no when you hear it.

You are into stacking everything. You find our basket of shoes next to the door and take them out to stack them. You stack blocks and puzzle pieces. You love to take toys out of a container and throw them behind you one by one. You love to get into your dresser drawers and throw all the clothes behind you. A few days ago you were watching Daddy try to learn to juggle with some balls and you started to gather all of your balls in your lap so you could be like him. Every time you hear me laugh you start to laugh as well. Melts my heart.

You are cruising faster and crawling really fast. You like to ride in your wagon and be outside playing. You love to pull grass up. You love to watch bubbles and try to put the bubble wand back into the tiny slot at the top of the no-spill bubble tumbler. You are trying to go underneath a lot of chairs, tables, legs, etc. the only thing is that the furniture is a couple of inches off the floor so you're learning where you can fit or not.

You don't like to be in the carseat or stroller for very long anymore. You will tolerate it for a little bit before you are ready to be out and moving again. You don't like to have to stop to have your diaper changed. You have more times lately where you will get upset because you can't verbalize what you want or don't want. We encourage you to sign for things and sometimes that will work. We're learning to practice more patience with you!

You love taking magnets off the refrigerator. You like to pull up on your highchair and grab your sippy cup to drink it. You have to be strapped into the highchair now because you've figured out how to stand in it. You love to go through the kitchen cabinets (the ones you're allowed to go through of course)

You don't like to hear the word no and you know exactly what things you're not supposed to do and will test us over and over again. You have started kicking your legs and crying out when we tell you 'no'. You like to bite a toy and crawl with it like Rouge. You will throw a ball or block and think it's funny when I say 'boing'. Even though you are very loud you don't like it when others are loud. You get concerned and startled if anyone coughs or clears their throat.

You play with books more than you play with toys. You would play with books all day long if you could! You have had Goldfish crackers and like them. You've tried a dill pickle and didn't even notice you had it. You eat so fast now its like you're a machine. You have been into dropping everything to get a reaction for a long time, but I don't believe I've written about it yet. You clap and wave all the time now.