13 Months

Dear R,

Your 13th month has been one of the most exciting of your life. After your birthday, you started trying to walk, and when Grandma and Grandpa came to visit this month, you really picked up the pace! Seeing you practice walking, especially when you walk towards me and give me a huge bear hug when you finally get to me, has been amazing.

You've become much more affectionate towards everyone--and I do mean everyone. Everyone is your best friend. You love people and brighten up when you see someone. You hug all of your stuffed animals. Sometimes you even hug pieces of laundry. You say "hi" all the time, at random intervals. When talking to Grammie and Grampie on the webcam the other day, you said "hi" FIVE HUNDRED times in a row, waving all the while. We laughed. A lot.

You've learned about talking on the phone, and when Daddy is on the phone, you want it. When we ask you to say hi to the person on the other end, you wave. Sometimes you also say "hi", but you usually wave for awhile first, so we have to translate to the person on the other end: "She's waving." You have a toy phone you love to carry on your shoulder, but it doesn't fool you when we're trying to distract you from wanting the real phone.

Your world of communication has started opening up, especially where food is concerned. You sign "more," "eat," "please," and "milk." You ask for food by signing "more," although you also ask frequently for "more" video (watching videos of yourself on this blog is the only way Daddy calms you down enough to clip your fingernails!) or "more" anything we have that you want. Sometimes it seems like "more" is your way of saying "gimme," but other times it seems you really understand the concept. When you're hungry, you sign "food." When we come get you in the mornings, you sign "light" after we turn your light on. You sign and say "hi" all the time and blow kisses when you say goodnight to Daddy.

Our cats--M.E. and Fireball--make your face light up whenever you see them. Only Fireball lets you get close enough to pet her, and even then, she's usually smart enough to get out of the way. You let out these high-pitched shrieks when you notice she's close by, and when she hears that, she bolts. One of these days you'll learn that the way to get into a cat's affections is quietly. You chase Fireball throughout the house, laughing and shrieking all the way. When they come into your view while you're eating, you laugh and laugh and laugh.

That's probably the best thing of all this month: you laugh more and more, at the hundreds of new things you experience every day.

I love you so much,
Mommy