Asher: thirteen months

Growth/ development

Asher is big! He's like a tank, and his chubby thighs are just irresistibly sweet! No official height or weight this month, but his shoe size is 5 and he wears 12-18 month clothing. He STILL only has five teeth! I can't believe how long it's been since he last got a tooth! 

He can stand on his own, and walk while pushing a toy. He isn't too interested in walking, though, because crawling is soooooo much faster. Our boy is really growing in the communication realm lately, babbling to himself and making all sorts of sounds and noises and gestures to get his point across. He's also started to use some baby sign language, which is awesome. 

This month Asher cut down on his bottles a lot! He drinks 2-3 bottles of milk a day; it's mostly whole cow's milk with some pumped breastmilk mixed in. I would say his total milk intake is between 15-18 ounces (with only 4-8 ounces being breastmilk) -- personally, I wish he didn't drink so much cow's milk because our diet has a fair amount of dairy in it and I don't want to overload his system with dairy. It's something I will continue to work on-- giving him lots of healthy meals to fill his belly with a well-rounded diet enough that he doesn't ask for milk bottles as often. He doesn't seem bothered by the milk at all, his system is handling it just fine. We'll see what the next month is like. 

Sleep/ schedule

Though he consistently wakes up too early for our liking, Asher has settled into life as a pretty good sleeper. He almost always sleeps from 7ish till 6ish. His naps are regular and almost always 1.5 hours each (morning roughly 8-9:30, adjusted based on his wake up time that day and afternoon roughly 1:15-2:45pm). 

Every once in a while Asher stirs or cries in the night but he usually puts himself back to sleep quickly. If he's woken up in the 4-5am range, though, he doesn't settle back easily even though he's exhausted. We often give him a small bottle of milk to help him relax and he will go back to sleep for a few more hours- this usually happens once or twice a month. 

Communication

Says: Dada, hiii, hot, dog 

Signs: more, all done, thank you 

Also points (and grunts!! Loudly! Until we understand him!), waves hello/ goodbye, gives high fives, and blows kisses (the most adorable thing on the planet!). Hilariously, his motion for signing "thank you" is the same as his motion for blowing kisses. Makes me giggle :) 

Food

Eats three meals and at least two snacks a day. Just started using a loaded fork and spoon this month! He loves eating this way, must feel proud to be such a big boy. 

Likes black and kidney beans, smoothies, quiche, frozen peas, corn on the cob, anything sweet (banana or zucchini muffins), pasta, pizza, shredded pork, and whole fruit (don't even think about cutting up that pear, banana, or apple! He wants the whole dang thing to gnaw on!). 

Doesn't like cut up fruit, whole pieces of chicken or beef, and chickpeas. 

Activity

Asher loves being outside. He will be completely miserable, clingy, and fussy, but then we take him out into the yard and he's a total peach. He also loves exploring, climbing, and taking things out/ putting them back in. He likes to read books, play with cars, ride in the stroller, climb onto Charlotte's kitchen stool, open cabinet doors, and feel various textures. 

Asher adores his big sister and is really starting to be quite a Daddy's boy. He is snuggly and silly and our family just can't get enough of his sweet little self. Happy 13 months, baby boy! We love you so much!