thirteen months new

You had grown up so much since turning a year that it was scary.

It was as if you thought that now you were one

you suddenly needed to really crack on with growing up.

You had always been really full of character

but your personality was REALLY starting to show now

and my goodness were you cheeky.

You would pull the naughtiest little smile 

whenever we said no to you

or even if you knew we were about to say no.

You would tease us at mealtimes;

pretending to share your food

only to take it away and eat it at the last minute.

Your cute little giggle 

was a regular occurence

particularly in response to us calling your name

when we were trying to keep you away from trouble.

You would laugh at your brother

like he was the funniest thing in the world

and he seemed to know all the best ways to make you laugh.

But you also rather liked tormenting him

which we suspected was a look into the future.

You loved to get messy at meal times

squishing food between your hands and generally getting very sticky.

Your brother on the other hand 

was not very good with mess at all.

And you just loved reaching over to try and grab him with your dirty fingers.

The more he squealed for you to stop

the more you did it and the more you smiled.

We had thrown you a special ice cream themed party

to celebrate turning one year old.

Despite it being a tiring day for you,

you had a lovely time

and enjoyed being the centre of attention,

and you most definitely enjoyed all the cake and ice cream that you got to eat.

You were saying more and more words

that were definite, actual, proper words.

Your first real word 

(aside from the "mama"s and "dada"s you had been throwing around) 

was "cat" 

said to your furry friend Wentworth.

He had always loved you to pieces 

so it seemed appropriate somehow.

You said "Yes" and "Yeah" a lot

sometimes with very comical timing.

You said something that sounded suspiciously like "What's that?"

and it was generally said in context

while you were pointing at something.

You were an incredible mimic of words

and would listen and watch our mouths intently when we spoke

and then try and copy the words and sounds.

You even tried singing along to The Alphabet Song with your brother.

We were so loving watching you come out of your shell more and more

and showing us what a little character you were going to be.

We could already tell that you had a strong character

that you had a great sense of fun

and that you were totally mad about your family.

Which was good, because we were all crazy about you!