My sweet baby boy – you are 13 months old.  After you hit one year, time seems to be slowing down just a tad bit.  Well, maybe not slowing down, but I don’t feel the same panic of time passing us by too quickly as I did before.  I was dreading that one year mark, I really was.  Now that it’s passed, it’s freeing.  We can just go on with life, enjoying the milestones as they arrive.

You are really full of fun these days, despite your serious face in all the photos!  You’re walking so well.  I love watching you toddle all over the house, pivoting and turning smoothly to change direction.  You throw your arms up in the air with elbows bent at a 90 degree angle for balance, and you usually have a huge smile on your face as if to say, “Look at me, Mama!”.  You love taking your walker out on the road – all around the neighborhood, in fact – but you really wish it had off-road tires.  You’re constantly trying to push it across the neighbor’s lawns, or into the woods, and get really impatient when it won’t GO.  Today, you kept pushing the walker aside and just taking off without it, so I think you’ll be cruising the neighborhood on your own pretty soon.

You love climbing stairs – you’ll do it all day long if I let you.  We taught you how to climb down backwards and you can go up and down (with Mama close by in case you fall) all by yourself!

I scored a bike trailer off Crai.gs.list and I’m pretty psyched to start taking you on rides on our local trails.  So far, we’ve only ridden it around the cul-de-sac a few times, but I’m hoping we get some real riding in this weekend.

You love to move so much now, that sitting still is torture.  You scream bloody murder for diaper changes and nail cutting, causing your Mimi to come running every time, thinking you’ve fallen and bonked your head.  You will sit in your chair for breakfast and dinner, but for lunch we have to feed you on the go.  I follow you around the house and shovel bites of food in your mouth as often as you’ll let me.  Or you’ll walk over and grab a few pieces of cheese and toddle on your merry way, coming back a few minutes later when you’re ready for another bite.  You are a really independent little guy when it comes to eating.  You want to feed yourself – even your yogurt.  I’ve figured out the perfect solution – yogurt in a cup!  Filled half full, you can slurp it up all by yourself!  You tend to eat two or three times as much food when you get to feed yourself, so Mama is happy to oblige.

You’re still nursing when you wake up in the morning, before your two naps, and before bedtime.  Lately, you’ve only been waking up once a night to nurse, and I sure am glad for all the extra sleep :).  Occasionally, we’ll nurse when you fall down or bump into something, or when you’re just plain grumpy from all those teeth coming in (you’ve got one new one and 7 more on the way!), and it never fails to bring a smile to your face after only a couple minutes in Mama’s arms.

You understand so much now, that I am constantly amazed.  You have a play cell phone that you hold up to your ear when we say “hello?” (You also do it with my cell phone when you get your hands on it).  You recognize doggies and say “woof” (or ‘oof) when you see them.  You can yell for more food, although it usually sounds like “mo mo” (and boy are you impatient).  The berries on our mulberry tree are ripening – you point up to the branches every time we walk underneath it and ask for “mo mo”.  I wonder how I’ll explain why there’s no yummy berries in a couple weeks when they’re all gone?  You can say Dada and Mama, and are finally starting to connect those words to us.  When I hand you a clean diaper, you instantly push it down between your legs – you know where it goes!  You definitely understand the word “no”, and you’re getting pretty good at obeying without too much fussing.  You don’t even attempt to climb out the doggy door anymore (whew!), although you insist on dumping the doggy’s water dishes over the second before I can get over there to stop you.

You got a new drum yesterday, and you love playing it and carrying the drumsticks around.  Your Auntie had a real drum set in her apartment and you got to play them last week, so you were pretty psyched to beat on your little play drum.  You are such a musical little guy – you absolutely love strumming Daddy’s guitar, and you get really excited when music comes on.  Your favorite song right now is “Barbara Ann” by the Beach Boys.  As soon as I walk over to turn the CD on, you start jumping up and down with excitement.  You can sing along pretty well – “Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba” – and you clap your hands and roll around on the floor with glee every time you hear it.  You also love the American Idol theme song, but I blame your Mimi for that one 😉 …

You’re such a big boy now!  I’m finally getting used to seeing you with your hair shorter, although I may have shed a tear or two when looking at old photos.  It may be a while before anyone convinces me to cut your hair again…

I love you little man, and look forward to everything this next month will bring!