Thirteen Months!

Today, Tyler Reed is 13 months old! He is so much fun, and he seems to do something new every day. A few of his latest tricks and favorites include:

* He LOVES his two Elmo books that have buttons on the side that play music. He walks around with them and plays the songs over and over while he dances and claps. It is precious!

* Speaking of dancing, his moves are more of an up and down knee bend, but he doesn't hesitate to break it down at the slightest indication of music.

* His favorite friend is Curious George. George sleeps with Ty, goes to school with Ty, and, as of this morning, eats breakfast with Ty. Those two are inseparable.

This might have been my favorite morning to date! Ty gave George his water and pretended George was really drinking it by making slurping sounds...then, he was sharing his toast with George and saying, "Yum, yum, yum!" Once he decided he liked feeding George, I had to pretend to give George some yogurt, and, later, even medicine. It was one of the cutest things I've seen!

* He's (hopefully) finishing up his first major illness since birth, and he's handled it like a champ. He doesn't fight taking his medicine and he's not much of a complainer. All in all, he's still really fabulous even when he's sick.

* He has learned how to give kisses! He doesn't really pucker up, but if you ask him for a kiss, he'll lean forward and put his lips to yours. Adorable!

* One of Ty's favorite pastimes is emptying the recycling bin. He'll sneak into the kitchen, take an item or two from the can, and proceed to carry said items throughout the house. I find empty yogurt containers, milk jugs, cardboard boxes, and paper towel rolls in the strangest places...I'll have to commit an entire blog to that activity one of these days.

* Tyler has always loved bath time, but he now has favorite games that are reserved just for the tub. For example, he has some foam letters that spell his name, and we stick them to the shower walls, his belly, his forehead, wherever we can find a place for them to stick. He giggles and giggles about this game. One night, recently, he decided to put one of the letters in his mouth, so I bent down to take the letter from him using my mouth. At first, he looked shocked. Now, I must take letters from his mouth with my mouth a thousand times in the course of a twenty minute bath. It never seems to get old.

* The child has more toys than ought to be legal. We now have two overflowing toy boxes, and I am praying that our next house has some sort of room that can function strictly as a playroom/danger zone. I'm not sure there's a toy on Wal-Mart's shelf that we don't have.

* Finally, as if to be sure to do something big on his 13 month birthday, Tyler showed us his nose. He took that tiny pointer finger and put it right on the tip of his nose, and I couldn't have been more proud had he just graduated from an Ivy League school. We've been practicing body parts for several weeks, so it was proof that our work is paying off (that, or that I've had to wipe his nose way too often during the course of this illness he's battling...).

The first year of Tyler's life was full of growth and development, but I might like this second year a whole lot better. It's like all the little lights are turning on and he's interacting with us and his environment so much more. It's the coolest thing to watch. I'm not kidding when I say that every day brings something new. I can't wait to see what all happens this month!!

Happy 13 months, precious angel. You make me happier than any person on this earth, and I love you more than I could ever explain. Love, Mama