13 Months

(Madilyn is wearing a beautiful dress she got for her birthday from her Aunt Pam.)

My baby is now 13 months old. She has so many new things she’s doing it’s hard to keep up.

• When you ask her if she wants her diaper changed, she’ll shake her head “yes” or “no.” In fact, she shakes her head “no” about a lot of things. She seems to understand so much of what we say, it amazes us.

• She and the dog are total pals. She mostly hugs the dogs, then pokes her; the dog mostly lays there and takes it.

• She is still showing left-hand dominance. She even hauled a toy across two pews in church the other day. She is very social at church and goes to lots of friends for hugs. Sometimes she spots Mommy on the stage and waves at her. Mommy can’t help but beam with pride.

• She got some building blocks, like giant Leggos, for her birthday and she’s able to stack them and put them together. That amazes me. She also has a zebra horse for riding and she gets on and off of it with no problem.

• She is eating more table food than baby food now, and enjoys a sippy cup of “apple water” (half apple juice, half water) once a day. She uses a cup with a straw and it soaks her clothes.

• She is walking better and faster and getting more sure with her steps. She has some new dance moves she’s been entertaining us with too.

• She successfully sleeps through the night in her pack-n-play next to our bed. We rarely have her in our bed even for naps because she can do some damage when she’s flopping about.

• Her most dominant word is “baba” and this can mean anything from “baby,” as in herself; “baby,” as in another baby; “picture,” because she thinks anyone in a picture is a baby; “bottle”; or just anything she wants to get her hands on.

• She busts a gut laughing whenever Macey plays with something she’s given her, like a sock. Did I mention they are great pals?

On a separate note, I got a call from a reporter for PARENTS magazine today. She found me through this blog. She’s doing a piece on the costs of raising a baby, and I gave her an earful.

Little Bunny’s Bedtime

This is how Madilyn fell asleep last night and I’m not even kidding. How cute is that? Mommy and Daddy were reading their books in the bed, so we gave her a book as well. She read her book a while and fell fast asleep while holding it. Priceless.

This is Madilyn this morning, leaning against the dog under the kitchen table — one of her new favorite activities.