13 Months

So last Friday was the 13th and I almost didn't blink an eye that I used to count each month of Ben's life on the 13th - once we got to his one year birthday I guess my brain shut off on that a bit. Once it did hit me later in the day though I felt sentimental and a bit sad that the first year was over. sniff. I would still like to continue to reflect on how much he changes month by month because right now he is in the amazing stage of seeming like he is learning new things every single day.

Here is my darling 13 month old..

Funny story with this bear and these outfits. Before Ben was born my mom and I were shopping in Hallmark and found this adorable overalls outfit - it seemed perfect because my husband is Mr. Fix-it. So of course Grandma HAD to buy it for her soon to arrive grandson. The outfit said 6-9 months or something. So of course that seemed a loooooong way off. It hung in the closet for several months while Ben was born and growing. Then I moved it to hang on the doorknob to remind myself that I needed to snap a picture of Ben with this outfit. I kept thinking it looked HUGE and figured I had lots of time. I then had to remind myself that on several occasions I thought outfits looked ginormous for my tiny little baby and then would fit him almost perfectly (can we say denial?) so I figured well I better put it on him and get some pictures even if it is a little big.....it.was.too.small. :( :( I got some pictures but Jon could barely slide the legs down his side. I was devastated because it was one of the outfits I was most looking forward to putting him in and getting pictures. So I had an emotional breakdown that only fellow hormonal mothers who are mourning the growing up of their teeny tiny baby would understand. I then scoured the internet to find the same outfit to get it in a bigger size. My mom then thought of the brilliant idea of putting the smaller one on a bear which we figured would make an even cuter photoshoot someday. Well, this new outfit was sized 12-18 months and I seriously almost did it again! The snaps at the diaper area were coming unpopped while I was getting pictures of him and he couldn't sit down. Plus he had no interest in holding the adorable matching bear and his now mobile legs were carrying him all over the lawn which made it very difficult to get a non blurry picture. Oh well, we got a few, and hopefully I have finally learned my lesson to put on outfits even if they do seem twice his size.

Okay, sorry, back to 13 months!

-Ben is now officially a walker! He took his first steps before his 1st birthday but still mainly crawled until just before 13 months.

-He has 7 teeth with one on the way!

-He does seem to be trying hard to talk and is starting to try to imitate some of the sounds when you say words for him - especially (I think) when it seems like sounds he is familier with - for example yesterday he saw a picture of an owl and I said "that's an owl" and he repeated "ow". He does say moo, meow, and roars. Not always at the appropriate time - he roared a pig the other day at the farm, haha. But usually if he sees a cat, cow, or lion then he usually imitates the appropriate sound. He is starting to say "d" and some version of "woof" more often when we see dogs. The other cute thing he does is inside one of his animal books there is a picture of a gorilla and when I was naming that one for him I pounded my chest with one fist and said "gorilla" so now he whacks the picture of the gorilla whenever he sees it.

-He has said mama a few times which seemed intentional but it has been few and far between and hasn't been repeated for a few weeks. One was when I was having a really stressful day, so I said, I'll take it! *Although, I just had to pause this post because he was in his crib going "MA!MA!MA!MAAAA!MA!" because he had thrown his binkies and blankets out and I am assuming wanted me to come in and rescue them. So it does seem like he knows "mama" it just only gets used when he is really desperate apparently, haha.

-He understands lots of words even if he doesn't say them - he knows breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and if I ask "are you hungry for/ready for, etc. _______ (insert meal name here)?" he walks over to the doors of our family room (which are usually shut) and whines for me to open them to get him into his highchair. He for the most part dances and claps on cue. He knows how to sign "more" and "all done" but is just now starting to do it more often.

-He is starting to share, especially food, even when it has been partially chewed - yum.

-He is definitely much more aware of all of his and our body parts and for the most part points to my nose when I say "where's mommy's nose?"

-His favorite food is blueberries. He could eat a whole container by himself in one sitting if I let him. He also loves chicken apple sausage from Trader Joes (that is one of his staples) and cheese.  He seems to like most foods we give him, but those are definite favorites. Some new foods that he is enjoying are mango, hummus, and cream cheese.

-Our house feels a bit like a toy shop after his birthday but it has been fun to watch him explore all of his toys and see his new abilities of being able to push buttons and maneuver things that mommy and daddy used to have to do for him. He also knows for the most part which pieces and toys belong together and is in the beginning stages of helping to put things away (they just don't always stay in their container for long once he puts them there).

-Even with all of the new toys he still loves his books! He will sit and listen to me read them for a little while, but mainly he wants to turn the pages and explore it himself.

-He is now definitely fascinated with airplanes and knows their sound. He points to the sky and does his new Ben-ism of pointing and saying "oooooh!" whenever he hears one. We can hear them pretty loudly from inside as well so even if we are in the house he points up. Actually, he is pretty familiar with a lot of sounds now.  He knows the front door opening means Daddy's home and knows the garbage truck that we frequently run out to watch drive down the street.

I'm sure there are things I am forgetting but that's a glimpse of some of the new stuff that has been going on!

He is getting faster and faster each day so it gets harder for mommy to get pictures in focus or with all body parts - but I still love this shot.