Thirteen and fourteen months!

Thirteen months (or so) - January 5, 2015

Fourteen months - January 29, 2015

I'm writing this over breakfast, Sam, a week past your 14 month birthday, a month and a week past your 13 month birthday.

You are eating Cheerios off of your tray. You just finished a big bowl of oatmeal and yogurt. During breakfast, you've been practicing your baby signs, which you just figured out in the last couple weeks. You signed "more, please" when you wanted another bite. You signed "milk" when you wanted your cup, even though it's a cup of water and we just started working on the sign for "water" today. You said "all done" when the bowl was empty, and signed "eat" when you wanted some post-oatmeal Cheerios to munch on. We practiced signs for "bathtime" and "sleep" and "kitty" and "mama" and "daddy." You love saying "da-da" like you mean it, but you can't quite get your hand up to your forehead to make the "daddy" sign. Instead, you make the sign right by your ear, so it looks like a moose!

You ate your breakfast with you almost-eight teeth. Four full teeth on bottom, two full teeth on top, two almost-all-the-way-in teeth on top. You still have taken teething like a champ. I'm so proud of you.

Your little legs are dangling underneath your high chair, and they have shoes on them, because when we go out today, you are going to get restless in your stroller and want to WALK instead! Yes, you are walking! You took a few first independent steps in the big hospital waiting room while we were all together in Grandpa's last days. But then in New Jersey, visiting Grammy and Pop right after Christmas, you started getting more courageous. You really wanted to chase Lucy the dog around, I think, but for whatever reason, it seemed like the right time to start taking more steps by yourself, not holding onto our hands anymore.

By now, you are a pro at walking. You toddle here and there, and don't ever crawl anymore unless there's a really really good reason to do so. This means that nothing in our house is safe. You particularly like to pull out the basket of remote controls and carry your favorites around the house.


We've moved into a new pattern of sleep these days, which is a good thing, but it took two weeks of horribleness to transition. It all started when you came down with a stomach bug. You had a night or two of waking up every couple hours. I could tell that you were just uncomfortable and couldn't quite settle. The stomach bug led immediately into a cold. Maybe a sore throat. And a bit of a fever. We went to the doctor, and you didn't have anything, not even an ear infection, but we got some eye drops to help your itchy, irritated eyes. That did nothing to help your sleep.

Sick baby...

Still sick baby...

In the midst of this, Matt came down with three consecutive illnesses. So he was sleeping all the time, and trying not to get you sick. You, even as you were recovering, didn't sleep. You would wake up every hour or so. It didn't matter if you were in your crib, in our bed, in the rocking chair, wherever. You would thrash and turn and struggle to stay asleep.

Finally, after a couple weeks, when Matt was feeling better, we blew up the air mattress in your room, and Matt decided to sleep in there by you, to see if you were just lonely. He returned to our room within half an hour because you had fallen so fast asleep.

That was the turning point. We created a new bedtime routine out of the rubble. Bathtime, pj's, a little playtime. Sometimes we nurse, sometimes not, and we now do it with the light on as something in the middle of the routine, rather than the end of it. Then we turn on music, snuggle in the chair with your pacifier and bunny and blanket, and we read a couple of books until you get sleepy. You get put down in your crib while you're still awake, even though we usually stay in the room until you fall asleep.

The first week of this new routine was magic. You started sleeping straight from 8:30 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. again. You've had a couple middle-of-the-night wake-ups recently, but nothing serious. It is crazy to think that we are now putting you to bed like a toddler rather than like a baby.

Speaking of toddlerhood, you are squarely in 12-18 month clothes. Your 12 month stuff is hit or miss, and you don't fit into any 9 month stuff. You are now one of the oldest kids in your daycare classroom and we are just a couple of weeks away from moving up to the next classroom!

You love playing with Duplos and making Mama and Daddy pull your pull toys around. You enjoy throwing your blocks and knocking down towers. You follow the kitties around and you love giving them hugs and kisses. You still love bath time and splashing around in the tub.

You keep growing up so fast - every day is a new adventure as you figure out more and more about how the world works. I love watching your eyes light up when you discover new things. One of these days your babbling will turn into words and you can tell us what's going on inside your head!

You are sweet and cuddly, and still love lunging at stuffed animals or loved ones for big, open-mouth kisses. You were an absolute light and joy during this first Christmas season without Grandpa around. Sweet and adorable and full of love. Thanks for being you, dear Sam. You are my favorite! :)