13 months old

So, I bet many of you thought I’d be done sharing my monthly Taylor-tot updates now that she’s the big O-N-E. You’re wrong. Let’s just plan on the tenth of each month being dedicated to my daughter and all of her cuteness. Mark it on the calendars - Taylor Day. And I guess since today is technically MY day, and every other mother on this planet’s day, my daughter and I will share the tenth this month. Just like we’ll share an ice cream sundae tonight.

And if I do ever miss a month, just assume that either, A) I finally invented a time machine to stop her from aging at turbo-speed, or B) The exhaustion of motherhood finally took it’s toll. The only thing that will change with the monthly updates is I’m deciding to nix the date-placard. Mostly because I was running out of crafty ways to display it without her shoving it in her mouth or bursting into hysterics.

I can say, without a doubt, that the best part of her twelfth month of life was having her Uncle Ryan staying with us. She has enjoyed having Ryan here about as much as eating birthday cake. Not only is he another person to watch cartoons with, chase and tickle her, but he can make her laugh just by looking at her.

And he apparently doubles as a teething charm, as Taylor has cut three teeth since Ryan’s been here. Her mouth is twice as full as it was a month ago with six teeth. Which makes her look more like a little girl than my little baby. And one day the teething pain was so bad that we had to take an emergency trip through the Sonic drive-thru to get her an apple juice slushie. And she was so excited by her new treat she danced around the room. Until she got brain-freeze and spiked the cup on the floor.

Other big one-year milestones that we passed this month were ditching the formula for cow’s milk, which she loves, and turning the carseat around so she can look out the front. Which has made my car-time much more enjoyable as I’m frequently turning around at stops to grab her thunder-thighs and make silly faces.

She found a new toy-love this month with a baby doll that my friend Chele gave her for her birthday. I must say, Taylor’s an equal opportunity employer when it comes to her dolls, as she still give lots of love to her other baby. She pretty much has one of them attached to her at all times, which is cute, but also makes it hard to click her into her carseat, bathe or feed her without dislodging her baby de jour.

We worked a lot on name recognition with her this past month. It’s amazing how much she already know – At night, when we’re ready for bed, I’ll say, Taylor, let’s go UPSTAIRS. And she’ll totally bee-line for the stairs. She clearly recognizes her name, Momma, Daddy, Ruby, Baby, Book, Kisses, Hugs and a few more. And we can now include Belly and Nose. We’ll say, Taylor, where’s your BELLY? And she’ll stop, pull up her shirt and slap her tummy. It’s about the cutest thing in the whole world. Especially the other day when she was wearing a onesie and couldn’t find her tummy. Panic.

So my little baby is practically a toddler. Even Ryan is shocked by how much she’s changed in the past month that’s he’s been here. Month 12 was one that brought lots of growing, learning, teeth, personality and new faces. Miss Taylor put together enough new expressions to fill a book last month. Some that make you shake your head -

And some that make you laugh out loud –

And some that melt your heart -