Soccer Dad

13 months

At 1:15 this morning she turned 57 weeks old.

There must have been a lot of changes going on that we couldn't sense. So much is now coming together in incredible ways.

Her language skills are improving. In addition to naming a few people in the family, she seemingly says "door", "hello" and "bye-bye." She will hold a phone to her mouth and talk into it. (More likely into a broken phone when no one's on the other line than when there's someone actually there to talk to.)

She is very playful and plays a number of games. 5 years ago when her sister was the same age I'd say "Ugly face" and her sister would puff out her lips. She does that too. She responds to the words "happy birthday" by putting her hand in her hair. (Something we try to discourage when she's eating.)

Now she can not only go up the stairs, but can descend them too, backwards, as someone who can't walk and hold onto the railing must do. And her balance is much improved. She can walk holding onto someone's hands but doesn't seem much interested in that. Her preference is to scoot in the sitting position, moving quickly across the floor with her legs and one arm or simply crawling.

Her demeanor is very pleasant and she laughs a lot. She loves the blanket her grandmother made for her and always passes it to us before we take her out of the crib. Though she can be independent she still loves being held. And she hates being alone.

It just gets better and better.

Previous related posts: One month, two months, three months, four months and five months, six months,seven months,eight months, 9 months, 10 months, 11 months, One year.