Ethan - 13 months

I feel like Ethan has grown so much in the last month. He seems so much more grown up in some ways. He just had his 1-year check up recently, so here's the update:

Weight     23.9 lbs        61%tile
Height     30.25 in        58%tile
Head       18.7 in          77%tile

Ethan is very healthy and I didn't really have any concerns for the pediatrician now that he has learned to crawl and cruise along furniture. He has basically caught up in his gross motor skills. Because he was so late in learning how to get from his tummy to sitting and learning to crawl we decided to have him evaluated by a physical therapist just to be safe. Fortunately, from the time I made the call to the time he was evaluated he had made tremendous progress. The therapist did report that he has mild low muscle tone which is probably what caused the delay, but I'm not concerned anymore. Ethan has no problems getting around our condo, and he can even stand on his own for about 10 seconds if he's distracted and doesn't remember that he's not holding on to anything.

Waving to me with his sippy cup

After our doctor's appointment I started giving Ethan some of the foods I had been holding off on. One of those foods was peanut butter. I only gave it to him twice and he broke out with red blotches around his mouth both times. Unfortunately, it looks like we'll have to hold off on the nuts for the near future.


His new skills include waving to people and actually connecting it to the meaning. It's fun to have him wave to us and wait for us to wave back. If we say "High Five" instead of "Hi" then he raises his hand and holds it still so we can slap it with our hand. He loves it!

Ethan also likes to stand and push kitchen chairs or the garbage can around the living room but gets frustrated when it gets stuck and he can't push it anymore. Similarly he likes to keep an object under his hand and push it around on the floor while he crawls. He slides things like books, flip flops, lotion bottles, or cars all around the condo, usually to wherever I am. :)

Ethan verbalizes a decent amount, but it's hard to pick out anything that really has a meaning. I think he says mama sometimes when he's crawling around looking for me, but it's hard to tell still. I keep trying to help him work on forming words. He does seem to be picking up more receptive language like "Come here" or "Go get." He's also pointing to a lot of things and waits for us to tell him what it is.

Pushing kitchen chairs around the floor

He has also recently recognized the iPad for the cool device that it is. I bought an app called "Peekaboo Barn" that he really likes. He basically just touches the screen to open and close the barn door to reveal a new animal that makes a noise. It's amazing how quickly he caught on to the idea of touching the screen to make something happen.

Another major change is that I finished weaning him completely and he now gets all of his milk from a sippy cup. The transition went pretty smoothly but there were times we were both pretty sad about it. In some ways it is kind of sad to recognize that he's growing up and that this phase of his life is over. I'm glad that breastfeeding him was such a positive experience for both of us and hope that I will be able to do it again in the future.

Playing Peekaboo Barn

Walking around the park

Getting into trouble :)

Swinging at the park