13 Months

Dear Jack B'Hat,

Yesterday you were 13 months old! I didn't get this post out because, like buildings no longer have 13th floors for luck reasons (they skip from 12 to 14), I decided that your 13th month post should go up on the next day. ... Ok. Fine. You got me. I forgot what day it was. You'll find, as you get older, that Momma never knows what day it is in the summer. I get stuck in the "how many days has it been over 100!?" routine, and lose all other sense of time. So here I am at 1:00 AM writing your post. Who says I don't love you enough!?

Here's some stuff that happened this month:

* You are EVERYWHERE and you grab EVERYTHING. Plus, it turns out you are very tall compared to other babies your age which means that their parents didn't have to move everything off of the tables and counters until much later. I didn't think the house could be much more baby-proofed, but it turns out I was sorely mistaken.

* You are starting to run. (!) BUT you are still wobbly and take balance checks..very fast ones. It looks like you are in some sort of digital feed that pauses every couple of steps to stream. You don't fall as often, but you freak Momma out a lot.

* We survived an entire week by ourselves. Daddy left to go to training and we held down the fort. I was afraid to do this. Usually there is someone within calling distance, but not this time. All of my contacts were out of town, and so it was just you and me and the poison control number on the fridge. Overall, we did great and only had a few mishaps, none of which I will share here, and some of which I'm counting on your lack of long term memory to erase before you get to your therapy years. We did have lots of fun adventures!!

* The TV went out. That's not really about you, but it sort of is seeing as you were the one who liked to push every button on the console. The new TV has no buttons on the front. Coincidence? Hmmm.

* You can now put shapes into the right hole. That sounds weird. What I mean is you put the right shape (hexagon, flower, heart, etc.) into the right cut out for that shape on your toys. I am very proud!!

* Your new word for the month is "oops," though it comes out, "umph! umph!" It's in a book we read about a turkey who doesn't know how to put his clothes on. You carry the book over to me and repeat,"umph! umph UMPH!" until I read it to you. So, your vocabulary consists of the following:

umph=oops
momma=momma
dada=everything that is not momma
uh-oh= what to say just before you throw things.

Sometimes I think you're saying "Jack" when you point at yourself and say "ak," but maybe not. Also you point at the cat and make a t sound.

* You smile at everyone. This sounds like you are friendly, but I know that people are a little bit confused by the smile. It isn't a friendly one. What I mean is, from nowhere, you flash this "cheeeeese!" expression at passersby. As quickly as it comes, it goes. This leaves people confused. They continue past us thinking, "Did that baby just smile at me or did I imagine it?" or "I think he's mocking me.." or "Gremlin!"

* You've been called a she three times this week. It's time to cut your hair. Your dad is so disappointed..

I'm certain I'm leaving a ton of things out - like, for exaple, your love affair with static guard-, but for the love of God, it's now 1:30 in the morning! Despite what the date on this post may suggest, I LOVE you very much, Jack. You are a constant tap of love for me, and joy, and wonder, and all things gorgeous!!! Happy 13th..er early 14th month, Baby!!

Momma