Life with Holden: 13 Months

Stats:



Weight:18 pounds, 4 ounces (on our home scale which is always wrong)


Length: 30.25 inches (as measured at home)

Diaper: Size 3 in disposables (Huggies Little Movers) & mid-rise, 2nd snap setting in our cloth.

Clothing: He completely in 12 month & 6-12 month clothing now. I just cleaned out all of the 9 month stuff, FINALLY. =)

Shoes: He's currently wearing his size 4.5 Wide Stride Rites when he wears shoes (which is still pretty rarely). Thankfully, we have a lot more shoes that will be passed down from brother in the next few sizes up.

Milestones:

10/25: First trip to the Pumpkin Patch! I know I blogged about this already, but so much fun. =)

10/28: Started standing solo more & walking more with his push-toy walker.

10/29: First steps. Took 3-4 solo steps. =)

10/31: First trunk or treat! He didn't think it was that exciting, but boy was he adorable in his giraffe costume.

Nursing:

Nursing is going very well most days. He is DEFINITELY still nursing on demand right now & nurses about every 3 hours *most of the time*, but can go as long as 5 hours when he gets distracted or takes a long nap. On average he probably still nurses about 5 times daily & once overnight. He has also branched out a bit & will now nurse in the living room with interruptions (ie his brother, daddy, the tv, the dog, ect) & even in the car without issues so that has been nice.

Solids:

He's doing great! He loves food in general & is willing to try just about anything & everything we put in front of him. His favorites currently are goldfish crackers & grapes! He has no issues feeding himself & will get REALLY mad at us if we even try to feed him anymore unless it's something like ice cream or yogurt. He has started to show some interest in using a fork or spoon & we've been letting him go with that a bit, although it tends to be quite messy. He also still prefers to drink from a regular cup & just started trying to drink from a straw. The only sippy cups he likes are the kind that are like a real cup & can be sipped from. When he actually wants a drink he can handle the sippy cup pretty well, otherwise he just LOVES to dump all the water out & play with it. We've started practicing with the snack cups as well, but he doesn't quite get the concept yet & usually just grabs as many crackers out as he can or shakes the cup until they all fly out. Either way it just results in a huge mess. He thus far has only had water & cow's milk for drinks, but he still isn't the BIGGEST fan of milk just yet. He IS STILL toothless at this point, but can manage all types of food in pretty decent sized bites. He has had honey that was in the glaze on a meatloaf & didn't have any troubles with that, so now nothing is truly off-limits other then the obvious foods like raw carrots or popcorn.

Sleep:

Sleep has totally gone down the tubes again this past couple of weeks with the exception of STTN once (from 8:30PM-5:30AM). I guess I would consider that his birth day present to me. He is still going down for night around 7:30-8PM most nights & waking for the day around 7:30/8AM. His sleep schedule is so erratic right now I can't even pin down a pattern. He is napping without problems most days & has been taking either one or two naps daily. I'd like to transition him to one nap eventually, but I am not going to push it & we will just continue to do what he needs for the time being. He generally likes to nurse before going to sleep & he actually has started falling asleep more often just after. Regardless,  he still usually goes down drowsy, but awake for both naps & bedtime. He is still taking a paci to sleep & as well as other times during the day. We have no plans to take it away anytime soon, but I do plan to start only letting him have it during certain times of the day & not making it accessible at all times. He also really likes to cuddle with blankets while he's sleeping or getting ready to go to sleep, but does not have a particular favorite lovey at the moment. He's been sleeping in his crib every night, all night. He will ONLY sleep in his crib, the PNP (if at someone else's house) or in the car...he is definitely not a fall asleep anywhere kid (but neither was C at his age).

Health:

The day after Halloween H came down with a cold & I caught it as well. It sucked! Especially
 since K left that day to head out of town for a week on business. It was super exciting for me...
Other then that, teething was in full effect, but with no result since H is still toothless. STILL.

Social:

I think that for his personality, one was the magical number. It seems like he's been a lot happier in general & is able to entertain himself a lot better lately or it could partly be contributed to the fact that we now have a loose schedule that we follow during the week & that he actually thrives with more structure. Whatever the case may be, I am not complaining. He definitely still seems to do better on days where we are out & about/around other people, but I think that is just part of keeping things exciting & new. I stand by my believe that he just gets bored easily & definitely likes to switch things up. He really is an independent little man & gets super frustrated when he can't accomplish something that he thinks he should be able to on his own. He is a total flirt & loves to make eyes/smile at pretty girls. He also loves to wave & say "Hi" or "Bye" to everyone that he sees (or even to just no one.)He also really likes being around other kids/babies & animals. He still thinks his brother is pretty cool, but is starting to get old enough to the point where they can start ACTUALLY fighting over toys. He also is starting to throw mini tantrums, which is pretty normal for this age, but the throwing himself of the floor crying thing isn't exactly an exciting new development. He is also still enamored with our dog & gets super excited anytime the dog pays him any mind what-so-ever. He likes to throw food on the floor during mealtimes for him as well. Ugh. He still babbles a fair bit, but he can also now say Carter, Jack, kids, doggie & a few other things in addition to Mama, Dada, & hi. He occasionally says things that sound like other words, but I think it's just coincidental at this point. He is still not exactly what I would call a "cuddle baby", but he does like to lounge on me on the couch these days while watching Mickey. Speaking of, he doesn't really like to watch cartoons like his brother does, but he LOVES Mickey Mouse Clubhouse & get SUPER excited anytime it comes on. It's pretty adorable actually. He is STILL a HUGE momma's boy & has had A LOT of separation anxiety this last month. He will NOT stay in the nursery at church & if I leave the room while we are at someone's house & he notices I'm missing he freaks out. We finally got Skype & he loves to talk with my parents & interact with them over the computer. It's so cute how much he loves that he can see their faces, it really helps with the whole being 6+ hours away thing.

Physical:

He's definitely my little explorer right now & he is ALL ABOUT cause & effect at the moment. He loves crawling around the house & seeing what kind of trouble he can get into. He is also cruising & wall/furniture surfing like mad. He walks holding onto one hand & has taken up to 6-7 solo steps between people or between pieces of furniture. He still seems a little bit wary of the whole walking things just yet, but I am betting that he is a full-on walker by Christmas at the latest. He doesn't have a lot of interest right now in standing up by himself & will often sit down if we try to make him. He still really enjoys being outside, but it has been so cold lately that we haven't been out as much as previously. He LOVES swinging more then anything else, but he just really enjoys being at the park in general. He also really likes to crawl around in the grass & try to taste different things (grass, rocks, leaves). Oi! He points to things all of the time now, but especially likes pointing to body parts (usually our faces) or our teeth & will give high-fives on demand. He is my little adventurer for sure & tries to climb on EVERYTHING. Lately his favorite things to climb (besides onto the treadmill) have been onto his brother's train table & onto his little stand-up piano. He doesn't care if it's safe or not & often ends up hurting himself, but even when he does he doesn't seem to care much & will just get right back up & do it again. His favorite toys currently are his little push-toy walker, his brother's magnetic drawing board & this little pull-toy doggie that we have.

 Likes: Bath time, being nakey, climbing, being in the little stroller, Jack, Momma, nursing (yay!), drinking from a cup, chewing on everything, Daddy, his brother, snuggly blankets, his paci, other kids & Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

Dislikes: Diaper changes (THIS x 10), being unable to do things by himself, having to wait for ANYTHING, the sun in his eyes, having to get dressed, having his hands/face washed/wiped after meals, standing without support, long car rides.