13 Months

One of my favorite things about this age is seeing Christopher's little personality emerge and become more defined. And, of course, I compare him to Clare. We went to story time at the library a few weeks ago, and while Clare was hesitant and wanted to sit on my lap, Christopher had no such hesitations. He crawled all over, looking at all the kids and all the books. When the librarian brought out a puppet, he barged his way to the front of the room and tried to grab it. Clare would never have done this, even when she was Christopher's age. She has always been reserved. Christopher is not. One of the other moms turned to me and said, "Well, he's the life of the party, isn't he?"

He sure is. My mother-in-law, aunt-in-law and a friend came over for lunch last week. Christopher spent the whole time making eyes at all the ladies, turning his head, batting his lashes, grinning. He was also demanding, requesting more water and more food and more more more. The ladies were only too happy to oblige.

He has started experimenting with crying to get what he wants. I can tell when he is faking it, though, and if I ignore him he usually gives up pretty fast. He cries when I leave, but gets over it the second I am out of sight.

He still loves to snuggle, and I'll take every second of snuggling I can get. I'll be in the kitchen or putting away clothes and feel a little tugging on my jeans. Christopher is there, thumb in his mouth. I give him a hug, and he goes back to playing. He just needs to check in once in awhile.

He can stand on his own for about 30 seconds. My prediction is he will be walking by Christmas.

He has made it known he has had it with food cut into small pieces, or any kind of substitute dinner. He will take the main entree, if you please. I need to work with him on using utensils - I think Clare could manage a spoon on her own by this point. Christopher knows what its for, but I wouldn't say he has any sort of control over it. He also knows what the remote to the TV is for. He holds it up and points it at the TV. I am sure he will be operating it before too long.

He still has the most kissable checks in the world. I plan to kiss them about 1,000 times a day until he doesn't let me do it any more.

You'll be shocked to learn that it is hard to get a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old to pose for a picture together.

Eh, not much better.