Thirteen Months is Magical

We have passed the one year mark yet we still speak in months for age. 13 months. Not, just over a year or one, but 13 months. We definitely turned a bit of a corner at 1. Her wonderful personality is coming out more and more. I mean, she continues to be so fun and scrumptious. It is just so fun to see that she is a legit person. Of course, right!? Let's be honest, I can't describe what I'm trying to because clearly she's always been a person. It's just that she does more than eat, sleep and potty. She's communicating, she has preferences, she responds and reacts to her world. This month has been fun!

our family photo shoot
- She ate her first Thanksgiving meal and I know she loved it all...the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, broccoli casserole and even pie. It's one of my favorite meals too.

- She got to hang out with her aunts, uncles and cousins over Thanksgiving. They all loved on her and she had so much fun.

Charis and her cousin, Andre
- She has two little teeth (teefers is what I like to call them) breaking through her bottom gums.

- She is more comfortable walking with assistance. She loves to walk behind her little radio flyer walker. She walks around furniture and anything else she can pull up on. Today at Staples she walked along the counter sideways like she was on a ledge. I'm not really in a hurry for her to walk b/c then she'll really be all over the place.

- She got her picture taken with Santa again this year. It was so fun to compare this year's picture to last year's. So much has changed in a year.

here she is in her little Christmas dress
- She's a little problem solver. When she's using her little walker thing she will back up and do a 3 point turn when she runs into something. The other day she was crawling with a book (it's amazing what she is able to crawl with) and she got to the doorway that she couldn't slide the book over so she stopped and lifted the book over then began crawling with it again. I guess it's kind of hard to describe, but it's really fun to watch her figure things out.

helping daddy cook
- She is babbling more and more. She mimics a ton. Sometimes she makes the same sounds as we do. So, what words is she saying? This part is always tricky to me. I can only tell a few words because she points to the object and says it even though it doesn't totally sound like it. "ba" for ball and "do" for dollie. All the other sounds she is making could totally be words and I'm just not paying close attention.

- We decorated our Christmas Tree and she helped by carrying around the felt garland. She loves putting things over her head.


wearing holiday garland
- She's such a big girl and is growing fast. Since we don't go to the doctor I don't know her official weight, but it's probably around 23 pounds. She's wearing 12-18 months clothes and my favorite outfit on her is leggings because I can squeeze her yummy legs.

having potty time
- She's doing a little sign language..."more" and "all gone" mostly. I'm trying to teach her "please", "thank you", "ball", and "book."

- She loves to read. She loves to turn the pages of the book too. Some of our favorite books to read are "I love you Stinky Face", "The Going to Bed Book", "Red Shirt Green Shirt" and any touch & feel books.


reading with daddy!
I love me some baby girl. She is such a blast. We are realizing that we have start with the whole discipline thing. She can be feisty and is definitely determined. She sometimes seems to know what "no" means but that doesn't mean she stops the behavior. Oh, I'm so not looking forward to discipline, but I'm aware of the need to be consistent starting now. I continue to be so blown away by her. She is seriously the funnest little girl ever. Sometimes I just want to squeeze her. Today I wanted to crawl into her crib with her and cuddle with her. I'm crazy about her. And I'm incredibly thankful that she is our daughter. There are days I still can't believe it...she is our little girl.


she loves her dollie and her thumb. Who doesn't want to cuddle with this sweetness?!