Desmond is 13 Months Old!

And boy has the last month been eventful! Since his first birthday, Desmond has:

• Gotten another tooth! That makes six total.  And they're uneven (center 2 on the top and bottom, then the next one over on the left on the top and the right on the bottom).  It makes for the most adorable crooked little smile. 
• Learned to sign!  His first sign is "bath."  We're not entirely sure how he learned this one, since we haven't been teaching it to him and neither has daycare.  But he definitely knows it.  We have been working on "more" and "eat," at least a little, so hopefully he'll pick those up soon.
• Found his tummy!  He's been able to point to it for a couple of weeks, but last night he was lifting his shirt and sticking his giant post-dinner belly out for everyone to see when Tootsie asked him where his tummy was.  He also knows "nose" but is still a bit unclear on whose nose is whose - asking him "Where's your nose?" inevitably leads to his grabbing YOUR nose. 
• Learned what a lion says!  For the record, a lion makes a "roar" sound, complete with bear claws.  I guess the lion has reared up on his hind legs to roar and claw at you?  I don't know.  In any case, that's our mistake, because we probably used the claws not really thinking lion vs. bear.  I'm confident he won't be confused for life.
• Gotten his first haircut!  He looked SO CUTE afterward!  Of course, he really looked SO CUTE beforehand, too.  He also looked a full year older afterward, which was pretty sad and awesome all at the same time.  We've come to the realization that we aren't good at this, so we took him to the "real" kid haircut place - conveniently enough, it is next door to daycare.

In other news...

Desmond is not a huge eater.  And he still won't completely give up the bottle. (He still gets one before bed and usually before nap.)  His favorite foods seem to be starches and vegetables. He loves gnawing away at a waffle (frozen or heated - he isn't picky), a pizza crust, a breadstick, a piece of toast, a piece of pita bread... you get the idea.  He also loves cooked carrots and green beans, plus peas and even corn.  He seems to want to use his fork, but the poor kid just can't figure out how to load it.  Give him a preloaded fork, though, and he is a very happy baby. Least favorite foods are fruits.  He'll eat a banana if he's hungry, but he won't go out of his way for it or anything.  I think we get enough fruit in him to keep him nutritionally balanced, but a kid who doesn't love fruit is pretty different from what we are used to around here.  (Vive la difference!) 

As for talking, Desmond isn't talking.  Well, that's not true.  Desmond is talking A LOT!  He just isn't using any words that any of us can understand.  He repeated "red" after us a few times for a couple of days a few weeks ago, but it hasn't really caught on yet.  But it's clear that he really wants to talk, so we aren't too concerned yet.

Desmond has been sleeping better for the last couple of weeks.  Things were getting pretty bad about a month ago, and Desmond's Mom took a bold chance on Ferber.  It was a rough few days for all of us, but it worked.  Everyone sleeps blissfully through the night.   Thanks to its being winter and all, Desmond also has a humidifier in his room, which is doubling nicely as a white noise machine. I think that is helping some, too. 

If I had to pick Desmond's least-favorite thing, I guess it would be socks.  At least, I guess he hates them. He doesn't complain when you put them on, but he is constantly taking them off.  He's also not a big fan of diaper changes. :)

Bathtime is still Desmond's favorite thing, unless we start it too late, in which he very clearly communicates a general thought that must be something like, "I am FREAKING TIRED, lady!  I do NOT want to take a bath! I want my bottle and I want to go to sleep, and I want to do it RIGHT NOW!" Poor kiddo.  In other bath news, he turns out the light and closes the pocket door after his bath every night. (It is really cute. Just sayin'.)

Desmond's new favorite thing is riding the ride-on toys. It's a good thing Dexter got so many for his first birthday, because they both use the heck out of them.  Desmond is finally big/tall/strong enough to get on, zoom around, and get off all by himself.  He likes to put his feet up on the "hood," if you will, of them, too.

Other likes: doing "cheers" at mealtimes, watching movies with his big brother, chewing on things, eating play-doh, storytime (we've just introduced Millie Moo into the mix), and playing in Dexter's room. Playing chase is moving up the list very quickly, too.

So, there you have it.  Desmond is a happy, healthy, perfectly normal 13 month old boy who plays and runs and rides a toy fire truck and shows you his tummy.