13 months old

dear miles,

yesterday you turned 13 months old. you are the sweetest boy i know! right now i'm excited to get to stay home with you all summer. here's a little bit about what you are like right now.

eat

you eat breakfast around 9am. some fave breakfasts are rice cereal mixed with baby food fruit or fresh bananas, blueberries, and a waffle. and of course milk, you love your milk! you usually drink organic HEB central market whole milk from a spill proof cup with a straw. you always push the cup out of your way onto the floor when you are through with it, though your auntie jen is trying very hard to teach you how to put it in the cupholder. for lunch you usually enjoy cheese and veggie crackers (colby jack is your favorite, you also like american and cheddar). you also love mandarin oranges and lil' crunchies. i usually offer you turkey as well but you are not so fond of meat. for dinner you sometimes eat lil' entrees or pasta pickups, or whatever we are eating. the other night i put some pasta we were having on your tray and you looked at me like there was no way you were going to eat that stuff. but then you gave it a try and loved it. depending on your nap schedule, you sometimes have a late afternoon snack as well. you still like drinking water, but we have been giving you lots more milk per your doctor, and you are not complaining about that one bit!

sleep

i'm not entirely sure what time you wake up to be honest. but you have a ball, blanket, bear, and a book in your crib. you entertain yourself with these things and looking at the shadows from the window blinds until i come to get you around 8am. occasionally you sleep (or fall back asleep?) until 10am!! you are usually good for a morning nap from 10.30-12 and an afternoon nap from 3-5. if you sleep in or miss your morning nap you will squeeze in two afternoon naps. we usually give you your bath and the rest of your bedtime routine between 7-8.30pm, depending on how things are going. you have started sleeping on your side, still sucking your fingers and holding onto your little blue blanket. you are a great sleeper!

words!

yes that's right, this month we can say that you have some words! there is no doubt of your favorite word..."ball". there is no doubt because you say it all. the. time. like a question. ball? baaaalll? ballll? until some says "ball" back and then you are so happy. you crawl around your playroom finding all the balls (there are lots!) and push them around with your hand and saying "ball."

another word is "da". you call your dad "da" and it is so cute. you also use "da" to refer to other people and even me sometimes. i'm still waiting to hear your sweet little voice say mama!

you also say "car" and can go find a toy car if we say "where's the car?"

earlier this month you would say "be de" for brady. but recently you have figured out the "r" sound and when you see him you very carefully say "brrrrrrre". so you have the "r" but then can't put it together with the "d" sound. on the bright side, you will have no trouble with your aunt bree's name!

you also have a word for book. i'm not sure how to describe it, it's something like "booa." but most often you affectionately refer to them as "be be".

what we did

after your birthday we had a second bday party for you in college station while we were there with family celebrating auntie jen's graduation from a&m. auntie jen is living with us this summer while she is working in austin, so you have had lots of great bonding time with her. we joined the ymca and you have gotten to go swimming there and use the splashpad, which you absolutely loved. we also have gone swimming a few times at a friends' apartment pool. your mom mom came and stayed for a week with you while i was recovering from having my wisdom teeth removed. you had so much fun with her, especially since she took you to the splashpad for the very first time. we also made a a day trip to cstat to meet your very first cousin! you didn't get to actually meet him but you stood on the door outside the nicu and talked very loudly to him.

things you love and do

-when you get excited you squeal and clap your hands together. it is absolutely adorable and i hope you never stop, though i'm sure you will.

-if i say "can you give me a kiss" you open your mouth wide and give a great kiss. sometimes. other times you laugh and laugh and start pushing my face away.

-you army crawl all over the place and can pull yourself up to standing if someone is sitting near you.

-you are cruisin' like crazy! you move up and down the futon in your playroom and can let go of one thing and reach for another. you can also bend down to pick things up while you are standing and holding onto something. however you don't seem very interested in standing alone. if i try to get you to stand, you just start giggling like CRAZY and fall over reaching for me.

-you love for me to read books to you. you climb up in my lap and turn the pages, occasionally looking up at me as i read. i LOVE reading books with you. you also read books to yourself, which i love to see you crawl over to them and flip through the pages "reading" them with funny baby sounds.

-you love fresh fruit, your puppies, the cat, your dad, your dad's ps3 controller, phones, laptops (in fact you have your own cell phone and laptop with the batteries removed because you love them so much), balls, cars, teeth, baths, swimming, other babies and young children, glasses (i had to go back to wearing contacts), and music ( you are still quite the dancer!)

i love you SO MUCH. i have so much fun playing and reading with you. i love to hear you laugh and see your sweet smile every day. you're the best!