Okay, so I thought at 1 year I would probably stop writing monthly updates about Mason. Why? I guess because I have always thought it was weird to say your child is "13 months". When people ask me I say, he is 1. But the reality is that nothing has changed. Last month he was 12 months old and I wanted to write down everything new, exciting, and interesting that had happened that month, and I still want to do that now. So even though Mason is 13 months, or 1, or 1.0833333 years old, I still want to keep writing down all of these little details until I get tired of doing it. I don't think I will ever regret writing down too much. So anyways, here is what our little boy has been up to.
21.5 pounds 34% (birth: 8lbs .3oz)
Length:
29.5 inches 17% (birth: 21 inches)
Size 3 daytime and Size 4 nighttime.
The biggest change this month regarding food is really just that Mason loves to use his fork. He is not great at it, of course, but he loves using it to stab his food and feed himself. I also noticed that he uses his right hand 90% of the time, but still tries out his left hand occasionally. Definitely exciting to have an eager child. However, with that, Mason has started to become a little more picky about what he eats. Mostly this is just a product of exposure. As we have given Mason more types of food, i.e. what we are eating as opposed to bland baby food with low salt, butter, etc. he has become a little more fickle with what he eats. We have definitely figured out that we have to give him the veggies and meat before the dairy, fruit, or bread/pasta or else he will refuse them and want more of the latter.
Mason now has 6 teeth, 4 up top and 2 below and he loves using his teeth to bite his food, especially crackers, cheerios, etc.
We have definitely been struggling with how much to feed Mason. Some days, no lie, he eats more than I do. We have been told that as long as he is eating healthy and getting enough fat in his diet that we shouldn't restrict his intake. However, there is something to be said for a 21.5 pound baby eating more than his mom, and I like food. So we laugh about it, but we also find ourselves a little concerned about his Buddah belly at the end of the day.
At this point, the nap thing is a little hit and miss. This is the first time we have not really been able to predict Mason's nap schedule. Some days he really needs 2, and some days he will only take 1 but have to put him to bed early because he is exhausted. I have a feeling this next month Mason will transition himself to just 1 nap.
Personality:
Mason makes us laugh nonstop. He is really starting to think of things on his own. What I mean by that is, most of the time he is replicating something we have shown him or he has seen a friend do, but lately he has started creating ways to play on his own and we just can't stop laughing and smiling at his curiosity and excitement.
I was the nerdy kid growing up that loved to read books. Even as an adult I love to read more than most. My sister and brother use to pick on me when we were growing up. Everyone always tells you to start reading to your children at a young age and I remember feeling weird reading to Mason when he was tiny, but it amazes me how much he loves to read books. He really only sits still for a few things during the day: food, books, and bath. There is not much better than seeing your child pick out a book, bring it over to you, and crawl in your lap on their own. Melts my heart.
Mason has really started to show us his personality these last few months. He loves all things bubble related, cars, trains, animals, food and still has zero interest in watching TV. Lately his newest little quirks include walking on his toes, drinking out of his cup with no hands, playing with everyone's shoes and trying to put them on, shaking his head no, and blowing big bubbles with his mouth. This kid cracks me up and is definitely keeping me young!
Development:
Mason's biggest development this month has been his "talking" and his "climbing".
Even though he is super shy and rarely says much around others, Mason just talks and talks and talks around me and Chris. His vocabulary now includes: Mama, Dada, Dutty (Dusty), Dog, Ball, Bubble, Bye Bye, Bu (Bird). Some days he is incredibly vocal just talking up a storm and some days he rarely talks.
And now that he has the walking and running down, Mason is really into climbing. He loves to go to the playground, but lately he is wanting to climb everything at our house: the couch, the dining chairs, his play table, the walker, even his little people safari jungle. His favorite thing to do is act like our house is an obstacle course. He will climb on top of boxes and stomp on them (with supervision of course). Luckily for us he is still pretty short, so we do not foresee him crawling out of his crib anytime soon, but wouldn't be surprised in the least if he figures it out.
13 months is such a fun age. Mason is really a happy, interactive and curious kid. He hasn't really started to question us yet even though he will shake his head no when we ask him to do things sometimes, but he is still young enough to be sweet and old enough to be interacting with us. We think this is such a fun age and feel so blessed to have such a healthy, outgoing child.
