Not a baby anymore

So when I read a friend's blog update about her son, it reminded me that I haven't written one lately about the Munchkin, in fact I haven't written about her milestones in 3 months.  And especially for those friends and family who read this and live far from us, you've missed a lot!

She is now 13 and a half months old. Today I bought The Happiest Toddler on the Block, because we certainly do not have a baby in the house.  She started taking a few steps right after her birthday, but in the last 2 weeks her confidence as a walker has just taken off.  She doesn't crawl anymore and is handling changes in floor textures a lot better.  She has no problem going off to explore other parts of the house while you're in a different room and reaches a lot more things.

At the doctor last week she weighed just under 21 pounds.  We got her convertible car seat and she's much happier in it, as long as the car's moving.  She likes to become either a limp noodle or stiff rod, depending on which is more challenging to her parents that are trying to get her in her seat.  The CDs of kid songs are played frequently while we run errands now.

Mealtimes are getting more interesting.  She still has 6 teeth, but I think she's working on more because she's been pretty drooly for the last couple of weeks.  L really likes to feed herself and is getting pickier about what she wants; this changes daily, one day she'll like something, the next day she won't eat it.  We're working on putting her food on a plate and not tipping the plate over or throwing the food on the floor.  One interesting habit is putting the food in her mouth, chewing on it a little, then spitting it out.  Her favorites right now are graham crackers, cheese, and fruit.

L is quite the talker, though I have no idea what she's saying.  My mom thinks she says, "this" but I'm not sure if it's on purpose or not.  Mama and Dada are said often, though not really in context.  "Num num" is said when there's food that she wants more of.  I've been practicing some signs with her but she doesn't do them back, except for milk every once in awhile.  She does like to wave, point, and clap.  Her favorite sound right now is the kiss sound and she makes a great face to go along with it.

She's sleeping well still (knock on wood!), usually 2 naps a day and sleeps through the night, about once a week waking us up once during the night.  Her favorite toys are the laundry basket, a Peruvian rattle my mom gave her, utensils from the dishwasher, and any paper that's in reach.

I understand what people say about this experience going so fast.  When I look back at pictures of her from a year ago I just can't believe that she was so little.  We are just loving how she is turning into her own person and her curiosity about the things around her.