13 Months

Justin has added a lot to his bag of tricks this month. He is officially walking everywhere. We thought he was getting into everything before, but now we know he has reached yet another level of mischief. His new found mobility allows him to more effectively chase Norah in a loop through the house. Their preferred route is through the entry, to the living room, through the kitchen, then the dining room, over and over again. He prefers to hold our fingers for better balance and greater speed. Norah will slow down somewhat to allow him to make things fair. He will almost catch her, at which point she will shriek and fly off into the next room causing Justin to cackle with glee.

Dancing is another of his newly refined motorskills. Before he could walk he would sit down and rock back and forth or bounce to music. Now that he can walk he can really boogie as evidenced by the video on our previous post.

Justin doesn't say very many words, but he is a man of many sounds. Sort of. He enjoys responding to our daily quizzes on animal sounds, but does so with a slight twist. In Justin's world- ALL animals roar like lions or growl like bears. He puts great effort and flair into his growls and projects his voice to be as loud and "menacing" as possible, which is always good for a laugh.

He makes some form of noise wherever he goes. He commonly will make a popping sound with his lips, or buzz his lips like a motor boat. This often turns into a 2 person game as he will climb onto somebody nearby and blow on whatever exposed skin he can find. He likes to blow on our arms and legs, but for a real "laughter" he loves to lift up your shirt and blow on your belly. He gets a tickle out of this and will often break out into crazy laughter at the sound.

Food remains a very big part of our little boy's life. He loves food and is a very opportunistic feeder. He's never met a food he didn't like in big quantities. There are only two difficulties when feeding Justin. It's annoying having to retrieve his food encrusted sippy cup, which he enthusiastically flings to the floor from his high chair. He then generally watches to see how many times it bounces and skips, then says "Uh-oh" as if an accident has occurred. The newest annoyance is his insistence that he is going to feed himself with silverware no matter what. He feels he's outgrown Mommy or Daddy spoon feeding him. Even if offered a spoonful of something he really likes when he's really hungry, he will scrunch up his face, scream loudly, rub his hands across his face rapidly, and turn his head to divert the unwanted babying.

Jeff and I have to agree that the funniest thing he does right now is his dramatic crying. He's actually done it for a long time, but it's funnier and more pitiful now that he can actually walk to us. He cries dramatically when he decides he wants us to hold him (which is often) and we can't pick him up at the time. He sits on the floor with his arms outstretched towards us, and waves his hands. When he is not immediately picked up he will start to cry, and then fall forward onto the ground sobbing, arms still outstretched. He will lift his head back up and try again, and will repeat the motion if unsuccessful . What makes this so funny is that we can sit as close as 12 inches from him when we offer to hold him, but if we don't move to get him, he still won't come to us and will continue to sob as though his little heart is broken. Silly baby, he knows how much we love him!