13 months

Notice the new set up for her monthly picture--a little more informal. And Lily's new chair, that she loves and loves to use it as stepping stool to get into things.

Another month for the history books. Parenting a toddler is so much different than a baby. It's a lot less watching and a lot more doing. Once she hits the hay between 7:30 and 8 I hit the couch to decompress for a little while. It makes keeping the house picked up during the week very challenging.

Lily often seems more like a typical little boy than the typical little girl. She's not very dainty, although sometimes she'll grab the ends of a dress she's wearing and turn side to side a mix between a curtsy and a twirl. Until she pulls her dress up over her face to play peekaboo. She's a climber. She's a sneak. She's a jumper and a tumbler. She's wild in the pool and bathtub. She throws her body as wildly as she can and splashes. But at least she doesn't mind getting her face wet. She's starting swimming lessons in about 2 weeks and I know she's going to love it.

We can also see glimpses of what Lily will be like as a teenager. Even now, she talks all.the.time. Never stops. Most of it isn't words yet but she's always talking, talking, talking. In fact, silence is a pretty good indicator that she's either sleeping or getting into something, usually getting into something. She's also beginning to try and repeat what we're saying to practice talking. A few days ago she was stepping up onto a box and then down, we'd say "up" and "down" as she stepped up and down. After a few times she started saying it with us. Another day I was talking to her about how she was happy that day and she was trying to say happy with me ("hap-e").

Milestones
-Wears 18 months, 24 months or 2T clothes. She wears smaller sizes in pants and larger sizes in t-shirts and onesies. She's very long-waisted.
-Wears a size 5.5 shoe. She got her first pair of real shoes this month a Stride Rite. They measured her little foot and she tested them on in the store. Hot pink of course!
-Wears a size 5 diaper. We're considering adding some cloth diapers in while we're at home. We're feeling the guilt of the cases and cases of diapers we have contributed to the landfill.
-An exclusive walker. If she's tired now, she just refuses to walk and makes us carry her.
-Obsessed with her tricycle and Cozy Coupe walking toy. If she sees them she MUST have them.
-Loves her bunny, Charlie. She can open his cage and let him out to play. She also knows where his treats are and gets them out. She can't get a treat out on her own so she gives him the whole bag--he doesn't mind! If you hand her a treat she likes to give them to him though. He's so gentle with her.
-Loves puppets.
-Loves interactive books ("Where's the bone?" where you hide the bone somewhere on each page and "Where's baby?" where you lift up a flap on each page to find the baby, she's particularly fond of the page where baby's feet are behind the cat).
-Knows signs for: milk, all done, baby, good job, hello, bye bye
-Learning new words but it's still unclear if she knows their meaning completely. She knows "mama" (or "mom-mom" sometimes) , "dada", and "hi" (or "hi-ya") for sure. Seems to understand "up" and "down".
-Makes a dog sound when she sees dogs "woof" but sometimes woofs for other animals too. Makes an elephant sound and puts up her arm like an elephant when she sees one.
-Loves to read. Loves to be read to and will "read" through books on her own too.

Look a bird! In the aviary at the zoo.

Swimming in the pool in Bauby & Grandpa's backyard.

Throwing herself back into the water in the pool.

Playing with Uncle Gary & Aunt Cat at Bauby & Grandpa's house.

Getting too big for her crib.

Watching a cow at the farm. She notices pictures of cows everywhere, on milk cartons, painted on the wall at Trader Joe's. She loves cows.

Signing "baby"

Read this book

Riding in her Cozy Coupe at Bauby and Grandpa's house in San Diego.

She always has to see what I'm looking at lately--especially the camera and my cell phone.