Calton Corner: Dear Brennan,

My darling little boy, you are 13 months old! I kiss you and hug you so many times each day and ask you to please never get too old for my kisses and hugs! Sometimes I still try to cradle you like a baby, but unless you are super sleepy, you are getting too big for that. :( I guess you have to grow up!

You are still wearing 12-18 months clothes. At your one-year checkup, you were 22 pounds 8 ounces (40th percentile) and 29 inches (30th percentile). You are still wearing size 3 diapers during the day and size 4 overnight diapers at night. You don't really wear shoes yet since you aren't walking.

We have now started Tot School. So far it hasn't required much planning on my end. I just try to make sure you and I are interacting with your toys and that I am talking to you about colors, letters, and numbers. You are a very smart boy and it doesn't take you long at all to figure stuff out. You and I just made a trip to The Dollar Tree yesterday and bought some new things to use for Tot School. That place is a gold mine for containers that we'll be able to use!

You haven't become mobile yet. You are able to turn in a circle while seated, which is a new talent. You have learned to say "I don't know" with your hands. You turn both of them up and shrug your shoulders. It's super cute. You will do it when you put a ball into a toy and you can't see it anymore. Mommy still reads to you a ton each day. Sometimes I will finish and book and you'll immediately sign "more" so I'll read it again. This will go on about five or six times before we can move to a new book.

You are usually a good eater. You have a seventh tooth coming in (yep, you've gotten 3 in the past month) and I think that might be bothering you because you haven't eaten much the past few days. It's so funny how kids go through stages with food. You used to eat an entire hotdog at a meal and now you won't even take a bite of one. You still LOVE pasta with sauce. Mommy and daddy probably need to try and expand your palette a little.

You've added one new sign to your vocabulary: "fish", but I haven't really taught you any new ones other than that. You are saying "Momma" occasionally, which makes me very happy! You have also said "Adah" a few times. I'm also happy about that once since we will see her next week!

You are a whiny little guy for sure. You don't like to be away from Mommy or Daddy. You were doing so well during independent playtime and now you are back to crying during it. I have been trying to stick with it and it seems to be getting a little better again. You cry in the church nursery right now. I guess I should be flattered because you love me SO much! Oh and all of a sudden you hate to have your teeth brushed! You have always loved getting them brushed. That may have to do with you getting some new teeth too!

You're about to go on your longest car trip ever; 10 hours to Williamsburg, VA! Thankfully we are going with our friends Amanda and Parker, so they will keep us company.

I love you so so so much! Daddy and I are trying to cherish this time while you are still non-mobile because we know it won't last forever. Thanks for being such a sweet baby. I love your kisses and your laugh. XOXO!

Love,

Mommy

Brennan back at 12 months