13 Month update (pictures coming soon)

(Up until now I've written all Nate's monthly updates in his baby book, however, it only goes through the first year. I'm sure I won't type up such a lengthy update each month but there's so much happening at this point that I don't want to forget. Enjoy your Nate fix!)

Nate is now 13 months old and we are amazed at his progress every day. He crawls at lightning-fast speeds, he cruises around the entire perimeter of the apartment (along couches, tables, chairs, baby gates, doors, walls), and he can easily walk a good ten feet without falling over. Speaking of falling over, he has finally learned to properly fall on his behind or with outstretched arms instead of falling over like a chopped tree. Thank goodness! I was ready to buy him a helmet.

What else?....Nate still loves ceiling fans, strings of any variety (wires, ropes, leashes), going on walks, swinging at the park (or at Mormor and PopPop's), listening to music, Sesame St. (particularly Elmo), being read to, torturing Piper by pulling her ears and tail, bath time, horsing around with Daddy, and dancing with Mommy. He likes to watch me vacuum and likes to pull himself up on the vacuum and click the on and off switch again and again and again. We're working on patty cake (pat a cake?) but he only has the clapping part down. No rolling or patting yet. We're also working on pointing to facial features (nose, eyes, mouth), but we're not quite there yet.

Words! Nate has lots of words that he knows and uses including fish (when he wants to eat goldfish, pronounced "ish"), key, kix (as in the cereal, which he sometimes eats for breakfast), leash, clock, kitty, and tree. He mimics words all the time (jeans, top, shirt, scout), although doesn't know what the words mean. He understands and follows directions without gestures. For example, if I say "clap your hands", he'll clap his hands, or "go get your ball", he'll go and get it. He loves flags and desperately reaches for them when we're out walking. It seems many of our neighbors have flags out. Perhaps they left them up after Memorial Day. Nate will love the Fourth of July. Nate has the book "Corduroy's Fourth of July" and if I ask him to point to the flag in the illustration, he can. Although when I say point, he's not yet pointing with his index finger, it's more of a whole hand point.

Our once okay/good eater is now a terrible eater. I don't know what happened. He refuses to try most new foods, or even foods he used to enjoy. He will not eat meat or veggies, he'll eat some fruits, and he refuses most of the purees that he used to love. His diet is probably 90% milk mixed in with apple bits, goldfish, cheerios, kix, and ritz crackers. Terrible, I know. Nate's iron count was low at his one year check up so the doctor wanted me to get him to eat beans, chickpeas, beef, tofu, etc, but this is a child who won't even eat things like ice cream, cake, grilled cheese, and hot dogs. Here is what my mom wrote in MY baby book..."At 13 months almost all food is and UN-favorite. Eggs, cheese, and juice are about the only things I can count on her to eat." Like mother, like son.

Here are some things Nate dislikes...having his finger and toe nails cut, having his diaper changed (three arms would be helpful--one to hold up his legs, one to hold down his arms and hands, and one to wipe), and having his teeth brushed. We are really struggling with the last one. He purses his lips tight and i have to stick my finger in his mouth to pry open his lips. I fear I'll lose a finger one of these days. Fortunately they're just baby teeth so if they rot it's not the end of the world. Hopefully by the time he has his permanent teeth he'll be more agreeable to brushing. And speaking of teeth, his four molars are all up through the gums, thank goodness. It was a rough couple of weeks when they were coming through. Come to think of it, I think that's when his eating habits started changing.

Sleep...Nate's bedtime naturally moved back from 7 to 7:30pm. He had been sleeping through the night really well for a couple months but the last few weeks he's started getting up a couple times a night. It's kind of strange, I'll hear him crying, go into his room, and he's often wildly crawling or rolling around his crib but he's really not fully awake. I pick him up and he stops immediately and then I can put him down and he's fine (well unless it happens a few hours later). Hopefully this is just a strange little phase that will pass. Nate wakes up anywhere from 6:15 to 7:15 am (usually around 6:30). He either takes two shorter naps a day (30mins to an hour) or one "long" nap a day. Today was a long nap, and by long I mean 1 hr 20 mins. This child never truly takes a long nap.

I don't think I ever posted Nate's one year stats, not that anyone cares, but here they are:
Weight 21lbs 8oz (25th%)
Height 30 inches (50th%)
Head circumference 49cm (95th%)

Overall Nate is happy and healthy and becoming more of a toddler and less of a baby every day. He is so much fun to be with and I'm so blessed to be able to stay home with him every single day.