13 Months Old!

Today you turned 13 months old!  I don't have any pictures ready to add to this post yet, nor do I expect to have them in the foreseeable future, so we're just going to keep this short (hopefully) and sweet.

You are obsessed with books right now.  You bring us books over and over all day wanting us to read them to you.  Even if we've just read one, you might pick up that same one again anyway.  Daddy and I joke about the book Doggies that you seem to be particularly fond of right now.  We both hate reading that book but you still want to hear it over and over.  We threaten to hide it from you, but neither of us has the heart to do it.

Over the past couple of weeks it has become apparent that you now know your bedtime routine.  I didn't even realize it at first but one day after your bath and lotion and once we got your pj's on, you walked back to the bedroom and waited for me by the rocking chair.  I didn't think much of it and then remembered something I needed to do and started to walk back out of the room and you got very upset.  Since then I've been paying more attention and it is clear that you know what is coming next.  You even bring me the pj's after I get the bathroom cleaned up some days.

You like to help with the laundry.  No matter where you are in the apartment, if you hear me open the dryer to load it, you are there in a hurry.  You like to stand at the dryer while I put the clothes in and try to help close the door when I'm done.  You also do your best to help put things away.

One day after folding a load of laundry I told you it was time to put things away.  I picked up the first stack of clothes and carried it to the bedroom.  When I turned around to go get more there you were carrying what was once a neatly folded stack of your clothes.  When I came back to get the rest they had all been toppled over and needed re-folding, but it was much too cute to be mad.

You have started giving us kisses.  They are open mouth and very wet and messy, but we love them anyway.

You like to play with your basketball goal that we got for your birthday.  It helps if we play with you and chant "dunk it, dunk it, dunk it" as you carry the ball toward the rim.

You like to eat chips when we are willing to give you a taste (Daddy is always willing to give you a taste).

You have always liked to bounce.  Now you even try to bounce a little yourself to get us going again if we stop.

I'm a little late on reporting this, but we pretty much decided that you were definitely saying "mama" by your birthday.  It was a tough call because you made those noises for so long but we never had definitive proof that you knew what it meant.  But over time it became more apparent that you were calling me and we decided that it counts.  You still generally only say it when you're upset and not very often.  I try to get you to say "dada" but haven't made much progress on that.  Right now your newest babble sounds a little like "doggie" but we think it's a coincidence and not necessarily related to the aforementioned book.

You experienced your first earthquake the day after your birthday on March 17.  Grandpa and Grandma were here and the 4 of us were in the living room.  It wasn't much, but I was on my feet and ready to grab you if needed.  Daddy was still in bed and didn't even know it was an earthquake.

Your got a new tooth on the lower left side on March 21.  That makes 8.

And you stood up without holding on to anything for the first time on March 25.