13 Months

This past month, the most significant development for Xander is his ability to purposefully use the sign language that we have been teaching him. His ASL vocabulary now includes the following words:
- eat
- sleep
- bath
- ball
- more
- all done/finish
- water
- thank you
- please
- bye bye
It makes us so super duper proud to see him communicating with us with his hand signs. Not to mention how much less frustration we all feel when he can clearly communicate what he wants. I am desperately learning more new signs to show him so that his communication skills can continue to grow. I feel like I can't keep up with him because he learns so much faster than I do!

He also says 'duck'! It's his favorite word now because of the many many ducks that live on the lake in front of our apartment. We take a walk along the lake almost everyday and he gets to watch them float along the water. It is so super fascinating for him and so precious for me to watch :) I can sense his hesitation when it comes to actually saying words, like he doesn't want to say it unless he is sure that he can definitely do it properly. So all of the 'd' sound words like diaper and daddy and duck are good, but anything other than that he's not too sure of. Because of this, I am even more grateful for our decision to use sign language with him :)

This month he also learned to point with purpose. It's like something clicked in his mind and he realised that he can simply point at something and we would understand what he wants. Oh and he learned how to nod his head to say yes. SUPER CUTE. He knows when you are asking him a question and he nods enthusiastically. I can't get enough of it :)

His level of comprehension has sky-rocketed as well. He understands when you tell him to lie down, or when it's diaper time, or when we ask him to squat so we can wash his bum. He has been fully capable of helping us put on his shirts by putting his hands through the sleeves for many months now (since about 7 months I think?) and now he understands the process of putting on his pants, legwarmers, socks, and shoes.

Potty learning unfortunately has taken a back seat... he is simply more interested in playing and running around and sitting on the potty is too boring for him. So without the patience to sit for long enough to poop or pee, we've only managed to catch the occasional poop and pee. But that's okay, because I know his sensitive period for potty learning is coming up - from 18 to 24 months, and I'll be prepared to fully make use of his natural sensitivity for elimination and awareness to get him at least partially out of diapers. Fingers crossed! For now, I'm just happy to have him familiar with the potty.

Summer has arrived in full force, so it's the season for wonderfully yummy fruits like peaches, strawberries and nectarines, which Xander LOVES.

This past month Xander also visited the beach for the first time on Christmas Day, we went to the open-range zoo where he saw those animals we often talk to him about in real life for the first time, we went on a mini road trip to Arthur's Seat and visited some farm animals at the maze gardens. Most of all, he spent lots and lots of time with papa, who was on holiday for about 1.5 weeks and he totally soaked up the love and attention.

6am on Christmas Day - his favorite kind of morning, where daddy is home to read him storybooks :)

The Beach on Christmas Day

Werribee Open Range Zoo

Arthur's Seat and Enchanted Maze Garden

Some of my favorite photos and videos of Xander this month

 He is such a book lover... and mommy is such a diaper lover! :p

 Completely mesmerized by those lashes and the most perfect set of lips EVER. Thank you daddy ;)

 <3 <3 <3

I am so stealing this outfit for any future baby girl I might have - replacing the pink t-shirt with the frilliest pink tutu ;)

13 months on, we finally get a shot of this kid holding a milk bottle ;) he just thinks it's a toy and super hilarious that water comes out of it! 

Baby sleeping at mommy's chest after feed.  

Hey there little one, 


You are such a precious little person and I am so happy to watch you become the boy you are becoming. There's so much awaiting you on the road ahead, and I'm cherishing every moment of the journey with you :) 


Love, 
Mommy