Olivia Layne - 13 Months

 Wow, Livi! It's been a whole month since you turned 1. That was one FAST month. And a good one, too. Each day seems to get easier and more wonderful. You are growing up so much. I'm always amazed at how much you can understand and do. It seems like you understand pretty much everything we say to you. You can give us things when we ask. You look for things when they are hidden. You know the signs for "more," "please," "eat," "all done," and even taught us one for "binky" by putting your finger in your mouth. Sometimes you get confused, and sometimes I think you sign "more" when you simply want something, but it is really cool to see you learning and communicating. We went to the pet store last night and you saw a bird and got all excited, did your grunting excited voice and signed the bird sign! I was in awe! I didn't even know you knew it, but I guess you learned it from all the times we've read Brown Bear. You don't seem interested in repeating sounds or words, but I did ask you what a doggie says and you got a big smile and made a high pitched squeak. Clearly exactly right!

You got your eighth tooth this month! You still love to clap when music comes on, but you also do a little booty dance sometimes if you are standing up at the couch. You wear shoes everyday to get used to them and hopefully that will make it easier when you start walking. You can climb up the whole staircase by yourself and are slowly learning how to go downstairs backwards, although it's still tricky. I had to go buy you some new pants because lots of yours are getting too small and I couldn't deny it anymore when the skin on your legs was showing between your pants and socks. Your hair is getting long enough to be in your eyes if you don't have a bow in. You seem to keep the bows in for the most part now, which is nice. I don't want to trim a millimeter off of your pretty hair yet. I bought hair ties but it is impossible for me to put them in. Hopefully someday I will master the task.

You LOVE to go to the park and be outside. You get really excited when you see the chickies and can't wait to go play with them. Suprisingly enough they really don't seem to mind you and even Bella doesn't run away from you. You still love your pal Clarence, although he's becoming less attached to you, I think. He's still near most of the time, but not near enough to snuggle at all times. You are so funny because you usually try to butt heads with him :) You are getting more snuggly and at the end of the day when you are a little tired you will come up and put your head on my lap or give me a hug. You think it's great fun to snuggle and hug pillows and soft stuffed animals and to wrestle and fall all over soft things.

We have expanded your diapers to the biggest snap size up and down, but you still have a lot of width left. Your love affair with tomatoes has been put on hold by mama because your bottom turns too red and you even get a little splotchy rash on your legs. But you still enjoy turkey, puffs and pears a lot. You are also drinking milk in your bottles like a champ. I didn't need to worry about switching from forumla after all. I should have known! Your naps seem to be getting a little shorter even with Nayelle, so maybe it's a transition because of your age. You hardly nap at all at home unless I hold you the whole time, which I'm learning to cherish more. Your nighttime sleeping is all over the place with you waking up every 2 hours sometimes to only waking up 3 times other nights. Some nights you wake up 30 minutes after you go down, sometimes an hour and sometimes 3 hours. Silly girl. You usually caress your hair as you fall asleep, it is precious.

You LOVE to brush your teeth with our toothbrushes probably because you can taste the toothpaste on them. Hey, it works for me.

I feel like I have to much to catch up on after a month! No matter what I'm forgetting, I'll never forget how much joy you bring us or how much we love being your parents!