Update: 13 months

Dear Lily,

You are now 13 months old! You seem less like a baby and more like a toddler every day. You understand everything we say. Daddy was playing with your doctor kit this morning and you learned where your heart is located. You pat your heart when we say "thump thump, where's your heart?" Your ability to learn is astonishing. You have mastered your shape sorter and can even complete simple puzzles! You are happiest when Mommy or Daddy are teaching you something. You are starting to say more words. Your spontaneous words productions are: Bow/Bowie, Sca/Scout, moo, up, mo/more, meaw/meow, bye-bye. Every time you see a cat you say "meaw" and blow it kisses. You say "mama" and "daddy" but you still don't use our names to call us. You are very good at nodding your head "yes" and "no" to communicate your wants. I can ask you a question and you almost always answer appropriately. Like "do you want to go the playground" ALWAYS gets a yes and "do you want some more food" almost always gets a no. You are also signing the word "more" all the time. If Mommy or Daddy do anything funny you immediately sign more. I can tell when you really like something because of the way you ask for more. It's precious.

I wish I could report that you were doing just as well with walking and eating. You are still not walking. You like to stand up but will NOT let go. I think you probably could walk but you just don't seem to want to. You have to be very sure and confident before you do something and you are just very uncertain about the whole walking thing. As for eating, you have become extremely picky. You will not eat any fresh vegetable or fruit. Some days you will eat pasta and other days you totally refuse it. You seem to have some problems with food texture. You will almost always eat baby food but you can't eat that forever. You will rarely try anything new. If I try to hide a veggie in a bite of mac and cheese, you skillfully swallow the mac and cheese and spit out the veggie. I'm trying to not make a big deal of what you eat. I offer fruits and veggies at every meal but I am really hoping this is just a phase. You transitioned well to cow's milk but lately you don't even want much of that. Too bad you can't live off of goldfish crackers forever.

Your personality is really becoming apparent now, and it's clear you are your father's daughter. You are very serious in new situations. You observe your surroundings and take a long time to warm up. We went to the Please Touch Museum (Children's Museum) for Mother's day. We had fun exploring all the toys and riding the carousel but it took you a while to show you were having fun. Thank you for a great mother's day. You are a blast to be around. Here are some pictures of that day:

Driving a race car:

You loved ringing this doorbell and opening this tiny door:

Crawling through a tunnel in outer space:

You don't quite get the idea to put your hands down for this one:

Riding the carousel with Daddy:

You and Daddy make that face you both make:

You were watching the carousel while waiting for your turn to ride. When it stopped you promptly signed "more":

Sitting on a swan:

Re-enacting the movie Big:

Having a cow:

Pretending you are a potato farmer. You loaded each potato in your wagon then pushed it around. You got a little distracted by another kid pushing the doorbell on the tiny door:

Today the weather is perfect and we are off to enjoy a Union game.

Love,

Mommy