13 Months

13 Months: 09/19/13

We've got a hybrid toddy on our hands.
That's right.
A mix between a toddler and baby.

Little miss toddlekins is at an in-between phase currently.

She is actually crawling.
I nearly cried when I saw it the first time.
Exactly one week after her first birthday.

My sweet little late bloomer.

But she finally got it down.
She crawls from room to room.
And pulls up.
And cruises.
And gets into everything.

She actually gets quite mad when she realizes she can't walk.
But she's just not quite strong enough for walking yet.
Which makes for one frustrated toddy.

She doesn't sit still these days.
Especially when I'm trying to change her diaper or clothes.
It's like a completely different little person.
Whom I couldn't even get to pose for her 13 Month Shoot.

This is the best I could get:

I was horrible at taking pictures this month.

Mostly because Beans is on the move.
All the time.
And I can't keep up.

Plus, we're too busy having fun to think about whipping out the phone!

Here are some of my favorite stand-outs from this month.

• One word: crawling. 

• Someone learned to point. A couple days before your first birthday actually. You point at everything - people, dogs, toys, your bookshelf. In fact, that's the very first thing you do every.single.morning. You wake up, sit up with your curly bed-head, and groggily point at the bookshelf on your wall and say boook. You also point to the pictures in your books. Adorbs. 

• You have become quite the Chatty Cathy this month. The words you say most frequently are dat, dshh, and bop. Most everything is a bop. But you did add hi, dog, and uh-oh to your real word vocabulary repertoire. Your favorite and most frequently used word is book. You beg for books all day long. Makes Mommy's teacher heart burst with happies.

• You are obsessed with tags. On everything. Towels, clothes, burp rags, stuffed animals. I guess they soothe you. You could be in the middle of an all-out meltdown, but the moment you find a tag, you're peachy. Your dad and I laugh because you have all these fun, bright, interactive toys. But you always go straight for the tag. 

• We completely weaned breastfeeding this month. {More info on this later}. We had a few little road bumps along the way, but all is well now. You have completely switched to whole milk and drink from a sippie with a straw. No more bottles!! Big.Girl. 

• I've mentioned this before. But it is so.so.so. weird shopping for you. And by weird I mean fun. *But also a little weird.* Because I now shop in the toddler section. I actually have the hardest time shopping. I never know what size to get you. You're a teeny gal who still wears a lot of 9 month clothing. But I've been buying 12-18 or 18 month stuff for fall and winter. I seriously stand staring at the same outfit for at least 15 minutes battling over the size. Enough room to grow in? Too much room? Oh the pressure. But girlfriend, I wish your fall wardrobe came in my size. 

• You have started "sharing". It all started when you were eating your peas, and you decided to give one to Grams. So cute. Now, you love to "share" everything. I say "share" because you often reach out like you want to share, but then you retract and take it back. Seems like someone needs a lesson in gift-giving. 

• I really think you're going to be musical. When you hear music, you immediately stop what you're doing and start dancing. And when I sing to you, you start humming your own little tune. And you have pretty good rhythm. It's pretty much the cutest thing I've ever seen or heard. I wouldn't mind a singing ballerina. ;)

• You have a new game. It's called the Uh-Oh Game. I'll give you one guess how it works. This happens all.day.long. You drop and/or hide something and look at us and say, uh-oh in a sweet little sing-songy voice. I want to be stern and tell you "No. We do not drop things." Instead, I drop things too. To hear you say uh-oh. 

• This month you became the biggest snuggler ever. This came out of nowhere. But it's my most favorite thing of all time. Every night after I give you your milk, you curl up in a tiny ball and lie on my chest while I rock you. Just like when you were a newborn. I...can't. 

• You've been into baby yoga. Or maybe Baby de Solei. Regardless, you've got some serious flexibility. Teach me your moves, Ly. 

• Your favorite things this month are: your thumb, Ellie (your silkie elephant), books, and your zoo magnets. **You take your zoo magnets quite seriously. When we're getting ready in the mornings, we get out your zoo magnets and say, "Lyla, do your job." And you go to town pulling them out, talking to them, sharing them with us and the dogs, and putting them back in their box. Like it's your job. 

Oh my word. 

Such a fun stage.