Mary Ellen at 13 Months

Some of my favorite things about Mary Ellen right now:

1. She pats my back every time I give her a hug.

2. She loves to walk. This is great for several reason. It's entertaining to watch her walk in circles around our love seat or pace in the hall. It's really convenient when I'm leaving the room and she just follows me rather than being upset that I'm leaving her. Also, the fronts of all her shirts & dresses aren't getting any more stains from having them dragged all over the floor (she never learned to crawl on her knees - just army crawled everywhere).

3. She only nurses once, first thing in the morning, and drinks cow's milk the rest of the day. I feel so.. free! Yet I can still have that one precious time where she lays still in my arms. We'll probably stop this in the next couple of weeks, but for now...

4. She gives great hugs and kisses to me & her daddy, & her "Baby," & the nursery workers ...

5. She's a pro at peek-a-boo.

6. She's a good eater & eats a lot of what we eat - I just have to cut it up into really tiny pieces.

7. She has learned pretty well to obey the command "Don't touch." It's like she doesn't even see the guitar or the coffee table books or the Kleenex box anymore. And it transfers easily to new objects.

8. She hasn't dropped her morning nap. She takes about a 2-hour nap in the morning and another 2-hour one in the afternoon, and sleeps from about 8:00 pm to 7:30 or 8:00 am.

9. I could go on..