13 going on 30

Today my sweet little girl is 13 months old.  It's not a very significant day, but I have still been thinking about her a lot today.  I love her.  13 months is what I live for after I have a baby.  This is when all the fun starts.  And this little miss is definitely fun.  Actually, today, she was the only fun thing in my life.  It seems that when they reach the ages of three and six, things can get annoying rather quickly. . .especially when you're a lone parent (today was a hard day).  But not this one.  The worst she can do is refuse to nap, which she doesn't do very often anymore- we're back on a great schedule again!  I just adore everything about my little thirteen month old baby!  Here's just a few tidbits of what she can do.

• She can say lots of words, mostly double words like mama, dada, poo poo, bye bye, night night, etc..   She can also say woa!  wow! and uh-oh.  Those three are my favorite.  There's something about seeing her mouth go into that little o sound that I love so much.  She sounds so grown up!  

• We taught her to sign "more", which she's been doing for awhile now, but she's started to say "mo" along with it.  It is pretty much the cutest thing I've ever seen.  I never taught my others to sign, which is kind of funny since sign language was a big part of my life at one time, but at least I did one word with one!  This is not to say that she doesn't still scream crazy-loud when she wants more.  She still totally does that, unless we remind her.  

• She doesn't only scream for more food.  She screams a lot, just for no reason.  It's mostly happy screaming, just to make herself known to those around her.  I get lots of comments each week at church about how people love hearing her shrill little voice during sacrament meeting.  I have to admit, I do not love this as much as they do.  Plus, when you're holding her and she does this, it hurts!  I might suffer permanent hearing loss due to this kid.

• Along with saying a few words, she can understand quite a lot.  She can understand souci (her pacifier), milk, drink, nose, eyes, McKay, Ellery, baby, no, kisses, spider, and various other song titles.  

• I can't decide if I should admit this or not, but I am having a hard time giving up that last feeding of the day.  I still nurse her once before she goes to bed, and I'm not ready to stop. . .but I am. . .but I'm not.  I don't know how to explain it very well, but I feel like both of us need that connection right now.  It feels like the right thing for us.  Plus, I think about how this might be the last time I get to do this, so that's a small factor as well.  Either way, I love it and she loves it and it makes us happy and I'm giving myself a few more weeks.  

• She is still the most annoying baby when it comes to food.  I never know what she will accept from me on any given day, at any given meal.  So far, she is totally bi-polar when it comes to fruits and veggies- they're just a total gamble.  Her favorite things are cheese, crackers, bread and yogurt.  Those four are pretty much always acceptable.  Since she loves yogurt so much I've started sneaking the veggies she spits out into her yogurt bites.  She gobbles them right up!  Nothing like yogurt and peas.

• When she doesn't like something, she gives a huge, exaggerated spit.  It's like it's own word now.  I hate it because it means she is refusing something, but I love to see how passionately she communicates this feeling.  

• Awhile back I noticed that one of her eyes looked kind of funny.  Her right eye is a little cross-eyed when she tries to look certain directions.  We have an appointment with a pediatric optometrist next month.  

• Her favorite thing is climbing up our bottom set of stairs- which is only three stairs high.  She loves to use the banister and go up and down.  She doesn't really know how to go down the right way every time, and has fallen quite a few times.  I use baby gates almost all the time, but sometimes I let her explore those three all by herself.  She loves it.

• This baby definitely has breath-holding syndrome.  She "passed out" twice this week and none of them were from getting hurt.  No, this girl only cries hard enough to pass out when her feelings are hurt.  And the thing that hurts her feelings the most severely is when I leave the room and she wants to be held.  At this point, McKay doesn't even care and will just casually say, "Layla's having a seizure."  which she isn't, but it looks like it.  I still hate it, but can handle it okay now.

• Layla has surprised me.  I know that she can still develop some separation anxiety in the coming months, but so far she does not mind strangers.  As my friends and neighbors have been helping me the last few weeks, she's been passed around more than ever and she does totally fine.  I'm always surprised by this.  

• Even though she has hardly seen Brian the last two months, she still knows her daddy.  Tonight she skyped with him and it was like they were old friends.  She seems to remember him and know that he's daddy.  I think they'll pick off right where they left off.  I think it's killing Brian to not see her learn and do new things each week.  It brings tears to my eyes thinking about how both of their faces lit up when they talked to each other tonight.  She made her daddy smile bigger than anyone and she was loving it.  

I could go on and on about this little girl.  I love her so much.  Our family is so blessed to have her be a part of it.  I've just been thinking about how grateful I am that she came into our lives.
So, so happy to be her momma and get to kiss this little face.