Lucky 13
Dear P,
You’re 13 months old today!
We turned your carseat around this week and you seem quite pleased to now be looking at the same things as the rest of us. When I reach around and grab your feet or pat your leg, you grin and show me all seven of your widely spaced teeth. I miss your gummy little smile but those funny little teeth are awfully cute, as is the rest of you. In fact, you’re quite the charmer when we’re out and about; making women everywhere swoon over your long lashes and flirty ways.
These days you’re into everything and nothing is safe from your curious little hands. The trash can in the kitchen is one of your favorite haunts, as is the dishwasher, the toilet and our cabinet full of vinyl albums. Anything on the edge of a surface is sure to be pulled down and dismantled, crinkled or broken and the cordless phone MUST be unplugged a minimum of 3 times daily or your day is not complete.
Some of your favorite items include coffee cups, my Vicks inhaler, my lipstick (top on, top off, top on, top off), my wallet, and anything on my desk that can be thrown to the floor. Your toys, however, are safely tucked away in the bottom of the hall closet where you can get at them with relative ease which insures you will have no interest in them whatsoever. *sigh*
Your separation anxiety really peaked this past month and was beginning to drive Mommy fricken bonkers. Fortunately, it seems to be declining now and has resulted in much better sleeping for you. Lately, you don’t protest at all when I lay you in your crib and you fall right to sleep. I can’t tell you what a nice change this is and frankly, it’s one I thought it would never happen.
You still love Bootsy kitty as much as ever and you still do the same thing you did as a teeny baby where you affectionately rub your head on him. It’s beyond cute. Also really cute are your wet, slobbery open mouth kisses and when you play peek-a-boo with me. You’ve been doing that for a while now but I never get tired of it and apparently you don’t either as you seem willing to play for as long as I’ll engage you.
You’re walking almost all the time now and even though you still fall a lot and clunk your head at least once a day, you never get discouraged. You stand up and pick up right where you left off. And you’re fast! It always amazes me how quickly you can get into the bathroom when you notice that the door has been left open.
Hat, outside, what’s that? (wassat?) Dada, Mama, sissy and kitty are the staples of your verbal repertoire. I’m sure there more that I can’t decipher. “Hat” is your newest word and goes along with your penchant for putting everything on top of your head. “Outside” is your favorite and you say it as a response to pretty much everything while gesturing to the window or backyard.
You’re eating anything a mostly toothless person can eat and Stonyfield Farms Yo-Baby yogurt makes you deliriously happy. You have an appetite that gives new meaning to the term “bottomless pit” and will follow me around making little grunty noises and tugging on my leg to give you a bite of whatever I’m eating. I’m fairly certain this is how moms really lose their baby weight.
You weigh 24.11 lbs and you’re 31.25 inches tall (75th percentile for both). Frankly, you feel like you weigh a hell of a lot more and I would have bet a kidney that you weighed at least 25 lbs. Your head is still really big and as I like to tell your also large-headed sister…it’s full of big, smart brains.
You’re still napping twice a day, thank God, but this schedule makes going out and doing any baby-friendly activities almost impossible. I must confess that in some ways, I am relieved that I have this excuse. You see, when your sister was 13 months, I was an eager first-time mother and highly motivated by the fear that I would somehow ruin her or stunt her development if we just hung around the house all day.
Unfortunately for you, I completely wore myself out keeping her entertained, educated and well-rounded for the past five years and I now know better. Thus, you’ve inherited a much mellower and lazier mom who is not even remotely interested in attending Kindermusik or Gymboree classes or making small talk and arranging playdates with other moms. I apologize in advance for whatever harm may come to you from not being properly socialized.
I love you, my baby Noogs. *smooch*
Love,
Mama
oxoxo
My goal is to do one of these every month since I’ve been a total slacker mom and haven’t done your baby book or kept a journal or really done anything to chronicle your first year other than photograph you like you’re a huge celebrity. I hope those 50,000 photos that live in my computer will suffice :)
Oh do I miss that stage. I look forward to getting to the second time around to be a mellower mama. Happy 13 month birthday P!
You know, tomorrow is Georges 1st birthday, and I have to say, I laughed quite a bit reading this because as you know, my other son is 5 years older than George, and I too, have been a slacker mom in the same way. Maybe I’ll try to do a monthly newsletter too- it’s never too late to start. but then Izzy, if we do monthly newsletters for our babies, do we need to do them for the 5/6 year olds too?
Oh what a great tribute! 13 months is far too often overlooked. Our kids seem separated at birth in many ways. Although if only she could say mama, she’d make this mama very happy.
Great letter and good idea to do one every month-ish. A mellower mom must be a good thing. unfortunately for my son,he has an overly paranoid, gung-ho neurotic mom.
Lisa
What a beautiful tribute to your wee one…
I give books to my daughter in which I chronicle why I gave it to her and what she was interested in at the time…
So her Green Eggs and Ham has a tribute in it… as does Polar Express (That I purchased when I was pregnant)
And I figure when she has kids of her own… I will give it to them from us…
At present, I have just completed my tribute in the book of The Journey of Edward Tulane(My daughter is 8 now and she loved this book…)
You’re no slacker. Have I taken my ONE child to the pool even once this summer? Uhm, nooooo. If you’re a slacker, then I’m a vegetable. Couch potatoes are vegetables, aren’t they?
Oh, I don’t have baby books for either kid, not even the first! And I didn’t even do the class/ mommy&me/playdate thing with the first one either.
What a sweet letter, and a sweet boy!!
I think P and CJ would get along famously, especially their mutual love of “outside”. It’s gotten such that I can’t say that word or she sprints to the nearest door. Perhaps she is part dog.
Happy 13 months to P!!!
Suh-weet post! Makes me wistful for the days when mine were little.
I mean…word girl
total sweetness. can’t wait to see you woman!
That’s great that you are doing these letters. He will treasure them when he gets older.
P.S. My little guy loves the trash too. Ew. And he loves pulling knives out of our dishwasher. Gah.
I love your site! And I absolutely adore this post. I’ve always wanted to do posts like these, but have suffered from the same slacker affliction. Fortunately, like you, we have a million photos of the rugrats to suffice.
He’s still taking 2 naps a day? Oh, you are a lucky woman! And his vocabulary is awesome - Cordy uses “sky” to indicate anything outside the house, much like P uses “outside”, I’d guess.
awww I so love the letters!
Oh, how beautiful that post was…Anne
I love this. And I’m glad I’m not the only one who has a kid that’s more interested in wooden spoons than the thousands of dollars worth of colourful toys sitting in the playroom.
I love this idea. You rock. I totally need to do this.
Happy 13 months!!!
I totally need to do this, too. I’m losing track of all of the details, the moments. A shame. Shame on ME. Thanks for inspiring.
Happy 13 months P! What a great letter!
Happy 13 months P! What a great letter!
Happy 13 months P! What a great letter!
Happy 13 months P! What a great letter!
Happy 13 months P! What a great letter!
Ahhh, that’s so sweet!! This is such a great idea to pay tribute monthly to P! My poor 3rd child’s baby journal are pretty much blank. Your writing is so eloquently descriptive that I actually feel like I can reach out and pinch P’s chubby cheeks! ;-)
Happy 13 months! I need to keep doing these monthly updates myself. I’ve been slacking since my daughter’s birthday, and since I haven’t finished her baby book (by a long shot and she’s my first!) I thank you for the motivation. Although, I think you just wrote this month’s entry: Trash - check. Terror and mayhem - check. Bottomless pit - check!
Aww, what a sweet tribute to P! When Kaitlyn was born, I was going to do a monthly tribute like Dooce does for Leta, but I haven’t. I haven’t kept baby books either. Photos will just have to suffice.
In ten days I will be sitting in the Hyatt San Jose lounge! Can’t wait to meet you there!
This was SUCH a sweet post. Loved it!
Sometime before my kids graduate from high school I hope to have started and finished their baby books. It’s on the list, OK? Very sweet tribute to your very cute son.
Documenting each week is such a nice idea. I’ve been wretched at baby books, scrapbooks, albums etc. All my pictures are in rubbermaid containers too. But I have to say I’ve spent time with her rather than obsessing about documenting it. This was a really sweet post….you’ve inspired me. (even though I’m 9 years late! :)
Too cute! I’m sure of two things: That 50,000 pictures will be more than enough, and, when i’m a parent, that I too will actually have 50,000 pictures of my kids.
Each week? That’s a typo right? lol
Izzy, I’m a FIRST-TIME MOM and I suck at the socializing/etc. Maybe I had a grip of kids in a former life?
sigh.
i, too, feel inspired
I love this Izzy! His personality just oozes out of this post, and is so adorable. I am also a lazy slacker Mom who is burned out on Gymboree classes, etc. I figure she’s getting socialization from her big sister. It seems to be working out just fine, and I’m sure it will for you as well. Glad to hear there are other big-headed kids out there! Mine have never been below the 90th percentile for hc. Big brains indeed!
How cool!
My wife and I had “grand dreams” of baby books, but never got around to it…
Everything I have is on the blog (if you can call that documenting…) and on iPhoto.
Nice post! Your little one sounds adorable :) It is such a comfort to hear from yourself and the others that I no longer have to hang my head in shame for doing such a lousy job of documenting my kids lives. Too bad I spent so much damn money in useless scrapbooking supplies…
Ohhh… your little lucky 13 monther sounds as adorable as he looks. What personality! Babies are such amazing little people. Wet, slobbery open mouth baby kisses are the best!
Awwww, this is so sweet. They grow up so fast, don’t they??
Be there or be square, sister!
It seems like the older ones don’t change so quickly so I’m thinking maybe every 3 months for my soon-to-be 6 yr old.
That’s an awesome idea! I still remember special books like that that my Grandma inscribed and gave to me. Sadly, I don’t know what happened to them.
lol…we could never say “walk” around our dog and P does perk up when he hears the ‘o’ word.
lol….it’s on my list, too. I’ve actually thought of paying someone to scrapbook my kid’s lives and I’ll just dictate what the pages should say.
I loved this! I haven’t done the baby books or anything either.
Damn beeeyotch, you got a lot of readers and commenters. Good for you. I’m so excited to hear that your little girl is doing so well! Mine is a bottomless pit too. I have to get her her own bagel now when I go to the bagel store and she eats the whole damn thing. She’s getting downright chubby. And I LOVE it!
How sweet ! I feel guilty a lot about what I havent done for BT with him being the last of the kids. I dont believe the poor little guy even owns a baby book :( Im sure he will require years of therapy or become a comedian or something and tell horrible mom stories
There is something to be said for kids that have to entertain themselves. They may become more creative and self motivated. Just a theory.
Your baby boy sounds adorable:)
What a beautiful letter. Great idea too (why didn’t i think of that…)
Happy Birthday P.
I’m pretty bad at the baby book too….The blog and pictures will also have to suffice. Now I just need to get them backed up and saved somewhere so we don’t loose them.