Happy 13 Months, Raegan!

Raegan is 13 Months Old!

Fun, fun month!  

One of the biggest things I’ve noticed this past month is how quickly Raegan is learning. In the past, she definitely caught on, but not as quickly as she is now. Not only that, she also started to do things this past month that we’ve been showing her for a while. It’s like everything has started to “click”.

Ok, new stuff: 

• Is in her big girl carseat. She loves it. It has lots more room.
• Has transitioned to one nap a day. Our awesome schedule we had before has officially ended. They have a true naptime in her new class at school. Reluctantly, we’ve adopted the same scheduled naptime at home. It was silly to even try not to.
• Points to peoples' eyes and says "eye!"  I don't know what she loves about eyes...We can't seem to get her interested in nose and mouth or even head, shoulders, knees, and toes.  It's all "eye!"
• If she sees a flower on a page in a book, she holds it up to her face really close and smells it.
• Holds her arms/hands up in the “I don’t know” position when she has a question. This is one of my favorite things from this past month. I think I showed her how to do this once, and now-she does it ALL THE TIME. I don’t know why, but it’s the cutest thing ever.

"Where's that document I was working on earlier?"

• Signs “all done”, “more”, “milk”, and “eat”.
• Loves drinking from mommy and daddy’s cups of water. Makes her feel like a big girl. Slurps, big time.
• Still LOOOOVES the grocery store. She flirts it up with all of the people there; The workers love her.
• Has gotten super clingy. Still goes to everyone and anyone, but there are definitely times that she wants mommy or daddy. She is still a GREAT sleeper, but the clinginess has caused her to not be as easy to “get down”. I used to be able to just lay her down and walk out the door. She now cries for a few minutes before going to sleep. I hope this is just a phase.
• On the same note, she cries more than ever when I drop her off at school. It does break my heart. But, Chuck does a great job at reminding me that it’s good for her. Besides, Ms Cynthia (her awesome teacher) says that she forgets about me 5 seconds after I walk out the door. Nice. :)
• Can pop up from a sitting to standing in 2 seconds flat. How do babies do this without holding onto anything? I need to work my quads because I can’t even do this.

Working on her Bend and Snap

(And, yes, that is a snot bubble coming out of her nose. 

Another talent, just as impressive)

• Points at everything.  And, of course, we search relentlously for what she wants.  This will likely delay some speech development.  Like Pop Pop says, why talk when she doesn't have to?  Ha!
• Now notices that hair tickles if it gets in her face. Of course, I take full advantage of this and shake my stringy locks in her face as much as possible. She belly laughs each time. Loves it.
• Her new favorite toy is a deck of cards. Chuck brought these out one night and the obsession began. I can’t really put it into words. You have to witness it yourself.

• Her other new favorite toy is her daddy's golf club.  Not kidding.  Again, see yourself:

• It’s becoming almost impossible to bathe her, change her diaper, or change her clothes. She stands in the bathtub. It’s all she wants to do. Stand and play. She is beyond a wiggler when you change her. It has actually become a process that I COMPLETELY dread. She hates it. She literally screams at the top of her lungs every time. I hand her a toy, she throws it. I sing to her, she screams louder. I try to distract her, she doesn’t fall for it. Now, I just kick it into turbo speed and get it accomplished as quickly as I can. Wear me out.
• Still has the chubbiest, cutest cheeks.  I know that's not something new.  I guess it's more of a surprise than anything.  I, for some reason, thought that they would slim down by now.  To my surprise, they continue to grace us with their precious presence.  I could squeeze them all day long.

Totally squeezable, right?

• Weaned down to 2 nursings a day through Month 12. By Month 13-since we are really already there :)-she’s completely weaned and doing great on whole milk!
• Loves to make a sound like a horse.  They easy thing to teach her would have been "nay nay".  Instead, we opted for the more obnoxious horse sound...you know...the one where he blows through his nose while he shakes his head?  Yeah.  Thanks, Chuck. :)  Here's Rae's version:

• Walking-wise. It is so fun to watch the progression of this! I, undoubtedly, have all major milestones within this realm documented. Here’s what we’ve got so far: After consistently taking 1-2 steps here and there and standing without holding onto anything for long periods of time, she took four steps on April 23rd. After conquering that over and over, she took 8 steps on may 2nd and then 9 steps on May 4th. That’s where she has stayed. To date, she’s not taken more than 9 steps. It’s so funny because just when I think, “Ok, here she goes, she is going to take off”, she inevitably takes 9 steps, exactly, and then plops down on her bottom. It’s like she’s not interested…it’s a means to an end for her. Stay tuned on more updates around this super fun milestone!:) 

No, we don't feed her twinkies. :)

100 calorie packs are another toy fave

• Is teething like crazy. If I had to guess, I would say that 4 plus are on their way in…soon. She’s always been a major drooler (since DAY 1), but this is like nothing I’ve ever seen. Her clothes are soaked every day, she’s super fussy, and the low grade fever is almost constant. Bless her little heart.
• Is so sweet. So sweet. I can’t even explain. She does all of these little things. She loves to take both of her arms and wrap them around one of ours, hug tight, and lay her head on it. She has the sweetest disposition that I hope never ever goes away. 

"See, Aunt D?  This is the monkey you brought to the hospital when I was born.  I love it."

Loving on her 'favor' from Ainsley's birthday party

Like I said before, such a fun month!  She is a blast to play with these days!  We are still loving every minute. 

Swinging

Playing with Cali and Colman (aka "Uncle Bubba")

Mary Colman and me with our toys--spoons!

whhheeeeeeee!

Playing peek-a-boo with daddy

Funny girl!

Happy 13 Months, Rae!

We love you!