The Harvey Family: Blake

Blake:

has been wanting to climb on more things. He always has to throw his knee up to see if he can get up on things. Most things are too high for him but I assume he'll get the hang of it soon.
loves to imitate us doing things. He'll take the tv remote and hold it up high like we do (so we can reach the sensor over his baby gates), he tips his hands like I do when I'm pouring my milk and cereal in the morning, and he will stand behind me while I'm vacuuming and move his hand back and forth and point.
went to the doctor for his 12 month well visit and he measured in at 30.5" (~75%) and 23lb (~75%). He has quite a large head which measured in at 47.5cm (~90%) and perhaps that's part of the reason we have to get shirts so big for him. He's right on track for just about everything except he isn't saying very many words. I think he's been focusing on walking a lot lately and I assume the verbal will start happening once he doesn't have to focus on the walking anymore. If it's anything like his walking, a switch will flip and he'll start picking up words left and right. He has a really good understanding of words since he'll point tons of things out when we ask him where they are.
got his first pair of shoes! He's been playing around outside a lot lately and his socks collect quite a bunch of leaves and pollen so it was time to get him some shoes. We waited long enough for him to get more comfortable walking so we could get the Stride Rite Step 3 shoes which are more rigid on the bottom and they come in extra wide. This time when we put them on he didn't scream... instead he just started walking around in them and didn't mind them at all.
will give hugs on demand. I'm trying not to take advantage of this but it's just so darn sweet! I figure I'll get as many as I can before that's not "cool" anymore.
has started using his teeth to tear or take bites of food. I'm sure it'll be even easier once he gets his front 2 top teeth though. I'll give him a strip of toast that looks like a french fry and he'll take bites of it.
has been slowly getting better at sleeping but he hasn't gotten completely comfortable with it yet. He doesn't wake up quite as often anymore, usually once just after we got to bed or in the morning a few hours before he's supposed to get up. We added some blankets and stuffed animals to his bed to try and make it more comfortable and it seems to have helped. We made a pillow by folding up a soft blanket and he likes to use it for his head, and sometimes he'll lie his body across it. He also has a soft teddy bear that he has to keep near his head and play with before he goes to sleep.
likes his electronic toys on Spanish mode. His tables and laptop keep ending up in Spanish mode even when I turn them to a different mode. He'll play with the number buttons a lot when they're in Spanish but isn't quite as interested when it's just English. Hopefully it doesn't confuse him too much.
all of a sudden decided he didn't want to cooperate with putting on his PJs after the bath. We used to be able to get him dried, lotioned up, diaper on, and PJs on while he was lying on the floor. Now he won't even go on the floor. Needless to say, it is quite difficult to put on a diaper and lotion him up while he's running around the bathroom trying to open all the drawers. It takes a lot of singing to occupy him enough to hold relatively still.
recently became obsessed with books. He wants to read the same ones over and over all day long. If we don't read them immediately, lots of whining ensues.
has been sticking fingers in his mouth and playing with his tongue a lot lately. I keep thinking we'll see more teeth pop through but so far no luck. He's been drooling like a maniac lately as well. He almost needs a bib like he used to many months ago.
uses his dog Scout like an iPod. He loves to have noise in the background, but mostly music. He'll push one of his paws until he finds a song he likes and then go about his business with the music playing in the background.
likes bananas and chicken lately as his favorite foods. He also would drink unlimited water if we let him too, sadly I think it's ruining his appetite.

13 Month Pics:

Playing with his "stick" (I think it came off a palm tree).

He loved this thing and would carry it around everyday until we lost it or he broke it.

"Lumos!"

Stick!

We took a shopping spree and got a bunch of cool new stuff with Blake's bday money. Thanks everyone!

Playing with Daddy. I think Blake was pointing at his mouth.

Love his messy bed head.

More exploring with his favorite stick.

Oh fun, drums!

Thanks couch for holding up my book.

Our fun new toy, the Alphabet Train.

This one had a good black and white feel.

Walk/running toward me.

He decided to empty an entire case of water bottles. It kept him busy for a good 10 minutes.

He LOVES his bottle and drinking tons of water out of it. We're still trying to get him switched over to another cup but he just isn't taking to it yet.