Andrew @ 13 months

My little boy isn't so little anymore!! Can't believe how big he looks everytime I see him.

Any communication issues I was worried about have gone as Andrew is yammering all the time now. Though he still doesn't really say many words, he says all kinds of syllables. He has also started pointing at things he wants. He is starting to imitate more actions, well, like talking on the phone-- he will hold a remote or toy phone to his ear and say either "hey!" or "'lo". Very funny!

He is so close to walking. He can walk holding on to me with just one hand. He has taken a couple steps on his own, but not really on a regular basis. He does stand still on his own quite a bit now (although when he realizes he's not holding on to anything, it kind of surprises him). Leah loves to hold on to his hands and walk him all around the room. (Wish you could see his curly hair in the picture below. It definately curls in the back when it's wet.)

Instead of weaning to eat less, he is actually eating more milk now. He still nurses usually 3 times a day (although sometimes I'll give him a bottle of formula at lunch-- it's so much easier just to hand him the bottle and it keeps him busy a good 10 minutes), and now I've added a bottle at dinner. He always seems so fussy right around 5:00, and I think it's because he's really hungry. I'll give him snacks twice a day (in addition to the Stage 2 baby food at each meal, of course) and sometimes right before dinner, too, but he still seems so fussy, and the bottle seems to content him. We're working on the sippy cup-- he takes juice just fine but still not milk. I'm going to try to eliminate the night time nursing soon, because really I think that's more just for comfort now than anything.

I think he really is ready for more solid foods, but seeing as how he still only has the one tooth, I feel we're somewhat limited. He has started to like graham crackers, dry toast, cookies, big pieces of cold melon or other fruits. He loves his "Safe Feeder"-- a small netted bag on a ring handle in which you can put any kind of hard fruit or other food he may choke on (I usually put in apple or peach slices or, frozen yogurt pops).

He generally sleeps now until about 7 a.m. but he will usually wake up between 5 and 6. Sometimes he wants to eat, sometimes he just needs his paci to go back to sleep. He seems to have dropped his morning nap (esp. if he sleeps till 7), but will sometimes still sleep if we are in the car out & about. His afternoon naps are very unpredictable. If it's an hour I'm usually very surprised but lately they've been a little longer, maybe from the dropping of the morning nap. Usually his naps are a total of about 1 1/2 -2 hours.

He loves bath time with his sister now. He especially loves to splash!

And Leah's bed is one of his favorite places to play. He climbs up himself and throws his body all around, burying his head in her pillows. Falling off head first is the best part for him!



When Daddy's home, everyone wants to be with him! I made a face to get everyone to laugh in this picture. It only took 4 tries to get this: