I haven't done an update on either of my girls for awhile, so I thought I'd start with Kendall because she is changing so quickly! I was able to capture some cute pictures of her, but just disregard the fact that they were in Avery's chair, haha. She loves watching and copying Avery, and has the time of her life when she is able to play with Avery in her room.
Kendall turned 13 months old on December 30th, and the biggest update is that she started taking her first steps during the week between Christmas and New Year's Day. She is fearless when it comes to walking, and she was falling a lot at first, but it didn't phase her at all. She just gets back up and continues along like nothing happened. She is so proud of herself when she's walking, and we often catch her laughing while she is walking. She will still drop down and crawl if she wants to go further than 10-12 steps or so. I am noticing in the last day or two that she's starting to choose walking over crawling in more and more cases.
Another thing Kendall loves to do is climb....climb anything - the stairs, chairs, small tables, furniture, etc. This girl is a climber!! If I leave the bottom gate open for any reason, she is up the stairs within seconds. Luckily, we are pretty good about following her, and keeping the gate closed. I also taught her how to climb down the stairs backwards, feet first, on her stomach. She does that pretty well (with supervision.) She's now applied the same technique to getting off the furniture on her own, which is actually pretty great for me. She will actually turn around (facing the couch) and put her feet down first in order to get off the couch herself. With Avery, I was always worried about her falling off the furniture, and I don't think I gave her the chance to learn how to climb off herself at this age.
Kendall is saying quite a few words. Avery was only saying about one or two at the same age, so I am amazed by how much Kendall talks and communicates. Her favorite word at this point is definitely "mama." I know I should be pleased, and I am, but normally she says it in a wining voice like this "mamamamamama.' She says it about a million times a day right now, and is always looking for me. It was her first word and continues to be her favorite. When she's happy, she really likes to say "dada," and I'm only a little jealous. She also says "hi," "done," "yeah," and "poop." Yes...you read that correctly. A few times now when she has actually pooped, she's been able to tell me. She makes a few animal sounds - like quacking and honking for ducks and geese, and also a deer "grunt" which Travis taught her. She makes lots of other sounds, and really tries to mimic our sounds. I've been trying to teach her to say her name "Kendall" and she is pretty close. She does make a few hand gestures, like waving "hi" and "bye", pointing, clapping, and she just recently started blowing kisses. She gives the best real kisses too...little baby kisses are the best! She's also been playing peek-a-boo like a champ for several months now, where she'll cover her own face with her hands or a blanket, and then peek herself.
If you can't tell by these pictures, we definitely have a teether on our hands. She got her first teeth around 8 months, and the two top middle and two bottom middle are completely in. She has several more that are breaking through right now, and I can see many of them. She definitely gets fussy from her mouth hurting. I can tell when she's about to get a tooth because she is fussy for about 5-7 days before it comes through. She does this thing when she's angry where she bangs her head...either on the floor if she's sitting, or on the wall, or furniture (or me) if she's standing. It can be a little rough.
Luckily, it hasn't affected her nighttime sleep, but it sometimes affects her naps. Speaking of sleep, she sleeps really well, although I don't consider myself lucky. I stick to her schedule really, really consistently, which is very important for babies, and that is the reason that both of my girls have continued to be good sleepers. Until about nine months, she was sleeping 9-10 hours straight at night - going down at 8 pm and waking around 5:30 am for a feeding, then feeding, then straight back to bed until 7:30 or 8 am, for a good 11-12 hours at night. Just after nine months, she dropped the 5:30 am feeding, and she sleeps straight through the night from about 8 pm to 7:30-8 am. She's continued with two naps during the day, and I've tried to get her to go to one a few times, but we're just not there yet. Probably in the next few months she go to one afternoon nap.
In terms of eating, Kendall has been successfully breastfed up until this point, and I am down to just one feeding in the morning. I plan to fully wean within the next week or so. I made it well past my goal of one year, and she likes whole milk. She also eats very well. Her favorite foods are homemade waffles, bananas, yogurt, and clementines. She is also a little carnivore, and definitely likes chicken, ground beef, and most types of meat. She will eat pasta, bread, broccoli, and peas, but goes for other things on her tray first. She also tends to eat the most in the morning - for breakfast, and there are some days when she will literally eat more than me and Travis for breakfast! She has always self-fed, which has been a fabulous experience for us, and it makes mealtimes so easy. I just hope that we don't go through a dreaded regression between 15-18 months like many kids do. Only time will tell.
As far as playing goes, my little Kendall girl loves to play with Avery, and with any of Avery's toys. She's recently been able to play with her own toys that she received for her first birthday and Christmas, but she's not too interested in them unless Avery is playing with them first. She wants to do everything her big sister is doing. Luckily, they play really well together and it's wonderful when Avery asks if they can play together in the playroom without me - I can see them from the kitchen or living room, and it gives me a chance to get something else done...like laundry or blogging! Avery and Kendall really love each other and it's great to see that bond forming.
It's been a great year that has flown by way too fast, but I am certainly enjoying seeing Kendall's personality shine. I can't wait to see what's in store in the next few months.
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