James is 13 Months Old! 2012

I don't think I'm going to do these updates every single month since James has passed the 1-year mark, but I noticed some things worth mentioning this month so here goes. He has 9 teeth, the 8 center ones and a molar on the bottom left. His walking and running is much better and he doesn't fall as often.  He will carefully step onto the sidewalk from the grass or vice versa. He can even navigate small hills.

James at 13 Months, May 20

James seems to understand a lot more, and is more willing to copy what we do or say.  He knows the words: mama, dada, no, and maybe "leche."  The other day he said "no" back to me.  We were watching Two and Half Men the other day (which Kevin does not approve of) and when they sang "Men..." between segments, James trying to sing back, "meh...."

He points to things he thinks are interesting.  I think he's copying what I do, more or less, because I'll point to things and say, "What's that?" and then tell him what it is. So now he points to things to get me to ask him and then tell him. And sometimes he points to copy us.

Pointing at fish at the Discovery Center in Charlotte, NC

He no longer just pushes down blocks and takes apart legos. Sometimes, if you watch him carefully, you see him stack some blocks, assemble legos, or play in some other advanced way.

He pretends to eat and drink from his stacking cups. He also pretends to feed me or Kevin. He'll take his spoon and some cup-like item and dip the spoon in, then try to shove the spoon in my mouth. Fighting it is not the best plan, so I usually accept and say "thank you" or "gracias."  He sometimes grabs a large container of some kind and tries to wear it as hat even though he hates real hats. My child is officially pretending. How awesome.

We taught him to raise his arms when we ask "How big are you?" just like Owen did at his age.  He's still very temperamental about when he will comply, and refused to do it the entire time we were visiting the Vonderhaars.

Showing all of Charleston, SC how big he is. 

He's done high fives for a long time, but he's finally starting to wave hello and goodbye now.  He's also a little spotty on this.

He loves music and enjoys his music box, a drum from Ash, and other children's musical toys. We need to get him a xylophone because he was really banging on Carter's when we visited the Padgets.  He also likes modern dance music, much to Kevin's chagrin. He is particularly a fan of Nicki Minaj.  But his favorite song is still "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and he's starting to do the hand signals in an almost recognizable way.