Lucky 13

Miss Evelynn is 13 months old today!  She weighs in at 23 lbs (73rd percentile) and 30.5 inches (86th percentile). 

This month she really has blossomed as a toddler with all it's joys, heart ache and temper tantrums.  She can run and climb and scale stairs and furniture. Mobility is not much of an issue with this one. She speaks all the time but true words are scarce. "Bah-Bah" means just about everything. However, she has mastered vocal inflection. We hear whole "Bah-Bah-Bah" conversations and know what she is saying is VERY important. If only we spoke "Bah-Bah" too. Alas. Occasionally, when prompted, she does say "Da!" or "Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma" or even "GAH!".  

Her sign language, on the other hand, is consistent and clear. She can sign, Mommy (yay! She finally got it!), Daddy,  More, All Done, Hi, Bye-Bye, High (which is the same as "hi" but done while on the swing), and Wet.   Additionally, on command she can: Clap, Dance, Break it down (a little foot stomping maneuver that cracks me up), Walk backwards, look for and/or bring you objects, give kisses, blow kisses, sit, stand, show you her toes, hair and belly, run to her bedroom door if her diaper is wet, jump, and Ta-Da!

Ta-Da!!

Little Smarty Pants. She is very strong willed and prone to throwing fits when she doesn't get her way or the object of her desire.  Such a difficult place. As a parent you don't want to give into the tantrum or worse, reward that behavior with a treat of food or toys. But, you want to distract her from the "No" and stop the screaming, particularly in public. We're still working the kinks out on that one. I tend to ask her to think about why she is crying, tell her she has nothing to gain by it, and tell her Mommy only understands talking and showing, but not crying.  We'll see how that goes.  

Evelynn now has two loveys.  Bunny goes everywhere with her:

Evie and Bunny at the Tulsa Zoo

Evie and Bunny in her 1 year portraits

Evie feeding Bunny her Tabouli

Evie and Bunny on the swingset

Evie and Bunny on her 13 month birthday

And just in the past couple weeks she has developed quite an affection for her pink and brown blankie.  Here she is with both Bunny and Blankie first thing this morning.

Evie had her first visit to the doctor for other than a routine well check up this month.  She had a diaper rash that just wouldn't quit but after some prescription cream it cleared up in about 3 days and all was well. We are very lucky to have such a healthy baby. 

Her favorite things to do right now are play on her swingset and in her kiddie pool. She gets so excited and jumps up and down when you mention going outside. She brings us shoes all the time to tell us she wants to go out and play. She also LOVES reading her books. She will drag them all out and sit and flip through the pages by herself. She also loves to bring the books to us to read them for her.   She is also very determined to figure out all the shapes in her different shape sorters. She has the round one down pat and the square is almost there. The star is a little more tricky. But she's very diligent about problem solving and trying new ways to fit them in.  She is the same way with her puzzles. She seems to have figured out where the pieces go, but not exactly how to turn them just the right way yet. 

I know according to the books, toddlers still view others as objects but Evie does seem to have some empathy. When I cut my toe and took her with me to get stitches she cried when I cried (don't judge.) When we went to the vet for the cats to get shots and the kitties were VERY bad and hissed and growled at the doctor, Evie seemed upset for them and when they got shots she positively screamed! I suppose she could have just thought those needles were for her. Or she could just be sensitive to the emotions in the room. 

Here are a few more photos from her 1 year portraits by Bishop's Studio.