13 months: blowing kisses

You learnt how to blow kisses today! Sooo cute :)

The carers at daycare said you did great today. You especially loved storytime and wanted to touch the finger puppet in the story.

You also enjoyed playing in the ballpit. 

13 month sticker photos and video

Now that you're more active, I can't keep you sitting on the couch anymore to take the monthly photos. So I'm trying out this new set with your cute armchair against our new shutters. I'm going to need new props (ie. toys) to keep you occupied now as you keep wanting to slide off the armchair and go off to explore. It's quite cute the way you try to get off the armchair - you can see it in the video. You love looking through books, so I gave one to you today that kept you in the chair for a little while.  It was a great photo session today, I got so many smiley, cheeky photos that I had a hard time culling it down!

Sleep regression

Since a few weeks ago, you've regressed in your sleep.  Whenever we put you down for a nap or to sleep for the night, you would pull yourself to standing and cry and scream at the top of your lungs. I was worried you would sleep standing up and fall back and hit your head, so we would go in and put you on your back. Within seconds, you'll pull yourself back up again and cry even louder. Eventually, I would have no choice but to breastfeed you until you fall asleep.

Then you started waking up every 2-3 hours at night. When I put you down, you would pull yourself up and cry rather than go to sleep like you used to do. This happened every night without fail. I got so tired, eventually I would take you to our bed to co-sleep around 3-4am. Finally in frustration, I googled '12 month sleep problems'. I was surprised that it is actually quite common and is termed the 13-month regression. It coincides with your next development milestone of learning to walk and talk. You need more comfort and security because there is so much going on in your head. So based on internet advice, we have to do whatever works for you to get you to sleep, ie. nursing to sleep, co-sleeping, and definitely no crying it out. 

Apparently, this could go on for weeks. We'll just have to tough it out and hope that you'll be happy to fall asleep on your own again soon.

Anyway, I was going through my phone to delete some old photos and videos (I'm always running out of space because I take so many photos and videos of you) and couldn't believe how chubby you were at the 7-9 month mark!

And a video at 37 weeks (8 months) -

More playing with Daddy

The weather was gorgeous last weekend so I took you outside to the backyard to enjoy the sunshine while Daddy did some gardening.

Daddy came to play with you after some weeding. You tried to pick his nose lol

Feeding yourself

A couple weeks ago we noticed you were refusing your food. I tried so many different foods but you just refused to open your mouth or would only take a couple of bites. I was getting worried, especially since we weighed you at your 12 month immunisation and found out you weigh less than you did at 6 months. Finally, I decided to let you feed yourself with some diced veges. It worked! You loved picking up the little cubes of veges. So while you did that, I would prepare your main meal. It was cute watching you pick certain veges to eat first. You especially like carrots.

Lately you also like to play peekaboo. I ask, "Where's Lucas?" and you will pick up the nearest thing and hide your face behind it. Here's a video combining all the new things you've learnt: Where's Lucas? clapping your hands, picking up food with the pincer grip.

It is such a mess after your meals, with splatters of food on the floor, chewed up food falling beneath the tray and squished into your seat, not to mention the bits and pieces in your hair and even your ears! We have to give you a good scrub in the bath after dinner. I'm glad we've reached the next milestone in your development. Your appetite has returned, you love sampling different fruits and veges. Daddy mentioned the other day you look like you've gained weight in the last week.

Some pics of your messy face:

Playing in the backyard with Grandma

The afternoon was nice so Grandma took you to the backyard to play. You don't like the feel of the spiky grass so you try to avoid it as much as possible. Your ball rolled outside the mat and we thought it would be funny to see what you would do. This is what happened:

It was so funny watching you crab crawl on the grass to avoid touching it. Still, it was too spiky and you crawled back to the mat before reaching the ball. So you decided to ask Grandma to get the ball for you. Smart boy!

Blue steel

Yummy pasta!

You refuse to eat unless you feed yourself now. You fed yourself  bread, biscuits, fruit and pasta today. You are really asserting your independence. We can see your stubborn streak coming through!

Here's a video of you feeding yourself pasta, I love how you laugh!