Yep, she’s hit the 13 month mark now. At 13 months we are:

Walking occasionally, when she’s occupying herself and only when there is a camera nowhere in sight. Her balance is quite good as she can stand on her own forever and even bend over (or squat down) to grab a dropped object without losing her balance.

Teething, I believe she’s getting her third set of top teeth. Still only has 2 bottom teeth.

Nursing like crazy, especially since the teething is happening. We nurse when I wake up, before naps, bedtime and on demand for comfort, skipped meals or teething pain relief.

Speaking of nursing… I just got an awesome nursing top that is used with your existing nursing bra from Undercover Mama and I love it! After over a year in just nursing tank tops the “girls” are beginning to need some wrangling.

While I have two nursing bras I seldom wear them because I don’t have many tops that are as nursing friendly as my nursing tank tops. The Undercover Mama nursing shirt is the best of both worlds. Works like a nursing tank top but combos with the support of your nursing bra. Yay! You know you wanna click on their site and check out the demo video. Cool product!

Everly is also eating everything. The only thing she’s not been introduced to at this point is honey. We’ve had peanut butter & jelly, cows milk in foods like yogurt, mac & cheese, ice cream and whipped cream. Also breads, meats, beans, grains, eggs, vegetables, fruits and the usual stuff are still going down without a hitch.

She did have a possible a reaction to her jelly last weekend. It was the first time she’s had high fructose corn syrup, we didn’t realized it until after the fact. She was super cranky, sleepless and inconsolable for about 24 hours afterward. Other than that no other issues with foods have come up.

She enjoys talking up a storm, even with real words! She’s had “dada” down pat forever and has mastered “hi”, “that” and “mama”. She’s also doing baby talk versions of “nana”, “cat”, “dog”, “danger” and “hello”. She’s more expressive with her body language and faces than she is with real words.

For example, she’s picked up on patting her chest when she has a cough or when a food piece goes down rough at meal time. This is what I would do to her when she was just learning to eat solids and had minor coughing fits. Now she pats her chest to show me when she’s got a throat tickle or a cough.

She’s also picked up on raking her hands down her face to express things, she does this for frustration sometimes. Another variation is, she will hide behind her hands if she’s trying to be cute or bashful. Here she is doing a silly smile that is exactly the same “eye” smile my brother, Gary, would do as a young boy.

The exploring of her body has begun, as in nose picking, trying to somersault, biting her toes, removing her own diaper…

Oh, about the biting. She’s not chomped down on me since I last told you but now she is biting various toys and objects in frustration. Like tonight in the tub she was trying to hang her cow loofa on the drain lever but couldn’t quite get it to stay. She was clearly frustrated and was whining when she just grabbed the toy, put it in her mouth and proceed to dramatically gnaw on it as if she was “getting it” for not doing what she wanted.

Kind of made me laugh and also feel a bit better about her tendency to chow down when frustrated.

She’s a big, smart girl and we are still in awe of how fast she’s grown up and how much she’s absorbed by just witnessing everyday life.