So much has changed in the last month with our Hannah girl. She is TOTALLY a toddler in every way, shape and form. We are having a blast with her but daaang this girl knows what she wants and she’s not afraid to make demands to get it.
Hannah’s stats:
- Weight: at her 12-month check up she was 23 pounds 3 ounces {90th percentile}
- Length: around 29 inches give or take
- Clothing size: 12-18 month but she’s starting to outgrow pants & PJs already
- Shoe size: baby size 2 or 3, depends on brand
- Number of teeth: SIX!
- Eye color: bluish turquoise – seems like her gorgeous eye color will be permanent!
- Words: dada, Ben, mama, yeah, hello, banana, uh oh, no, water, cracker, hi, Jackson, all done
- Favorite foods: strawberries, watermelon, pasta, smoothies, ham, bananas, bread, blueberries, crackers
- Least favorite foods: this really depends on the moment these days
The most exciting thing that Hannah has worked on this last month has been standing up on her own. She did it a couple times before she turned one and then as the days and weeks went on she was standing up more and more on her own, working on balance and strength. There were so many times when we swore she’d take her first step. She is just waiting until she is good and ready…. any day now!
This last month it seems like some things clicked and she became a little more patient and a little less demanding, though she started the month being extremely loud and demanding, so much so I considered ear plugs at dinner a few times. We’ve been working more and more on sign language with her and it’s definitely helping her ask nicely when she wants something.
Hannah has been pointing to things and signing quite a bit to convey her requests. It’s been really helpful to have her be able to communicate more and more with us. Just the other day she was mimicking Alex say “cracker” and that was the first time I’ve heard her try to repeat a word in that way.
As a very new toddler, Hannah is extremely independent. At certain times of the day she wants to be held but she is also totally okay with playing solo on the ground with her toys.
Hannah is in a very exploratory phase right now. She loves checking out what’s behind or under things, she especially loves lifting the toilet seat up {and splashing in the toilet}, and her favorite toy-free activity is pulling the toilet paper off of the roll.
It has been really fun to see Hannah start to model what other people are doing. She loves to help rub sunscreen on her body, put on her own hat and use a wipe to wipe her arm or leg or the wall next to her changing table. She also likes to try to put sunglasses on her face all by herself. She has been practicing using a fork at mealtimes and has so much pride when she feeds herself.
We love watching Hannah model what her brother is doing, too. She loves to push around Ben’s toy cars and trucks, just like he does. We have a pretend kitchen at The Lodge and she’s been having SO much fun playing with that, particularly the pretend cookies. She loves to put them on the cookie sheet and pull them off and put them in the little cookie tube. Hannah has started throwing the ball for Jackson and gets so excited when he gets it after she throws it.
Undoubtedly, though, Hannah’s favorite toy right now is the water table. She points to it repeatedly throughout the day, suggesting we go out and play.
Hannah LOVES water and we’ve had such a blast playing in the pool and at the beach this summer. Pretty much every day is filled with water fun for Miss Hannah.
There are a few things that Hannah absolutely HATES right now. The biggest one is getting her diaper changed. We joke that it’s like wrestling an alligator trying to get her to lay down on her back without flipping over and flailing her arms and legs. Diaper changes typically take 5+ minutes these days and are filled with negotiations and concessions – usually on my part. Additionally, getting in the car seat is a major struggle, though we’ve found it to be rather successful if we give her a cracker before we put her in that she’ll sit nicely for us to buckle her. Otherwise it’s another 5+ minute struggle.
Sleep this last month has quite possibly been the most challenging of her life to date. We’ve had a lot of stretches where she’s slept through the night consistently but then we’d have these short periods where she’d be up for hourrrssss at night, or she’d wake up every hour, which she didn’t even do as a newborn. Hannah seems to be a lighter sleeper and often at this point if she wakes during the night it’s a 2-hour affair to get her back to sleep.
She is still showing that she needs two naps per day. They don’t have to be long and man she can rally if she doesn’t get any naps, but if it were up to her she’d have a 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. nap every day.
Nursing is something Hannah and I have really enjoyed during her 13 months. We’ve been working for a while to phase it out. She has really taken to whole milk, though at this point doesn’t show enough interest in it to get the recommended amount each day. Currently I’m still nursing Hannah before bed most nights, but not all. Alex is putting her to sleep now and that has been going really well.
We have a lot to look forward to with our 13-month old as we round the corner to fall. This developmental period is rather busy but it is so much fun as life starts to look a little different when explored on foot.
Ben at 13 months – I can’t believe how darn similar Ben and Hannah are as 13-month olds!