Walking and Playing Piano

Today I am 13 months old. I'm not walking on my own yet and you can't make me. I know Thomas was already walking by now and I don't care. I'll do it when I'm good and ready! So there!! I do enjoy walking everywhere as long as I can hold one of Mommy's fingers. When I want to walk somewhere, I'll look at her and hold my hand up and grunt. And if she doesn't immediately comply, I get mad. Sometimes she even tries to trick me by letting go of my hand while we're walking, but I'm too smart for her. I stop walking and sit down the second she lets go.

I really enjoy playing our piano. I like to sit on Mommy's lap and we play together. Whenever she tries to play a song, I help her by adding a few banging notes of my own. But there is one song I really like. We call it Grandpa's Song around here because Mommy's Grandpa used to play it all the time and he taught it to her. Thomas loves it too and from the time he was about my age, he'd clap his hands as Mommy played that song. I don't clap my hands but I do sit quietly while she's playing it and don't play any of my own notes. And then when the song is over, I give one regal nod of my head. Good job Mommy.

I Love My Bruh!

I know I've talked about him before but I really do love my brother. I can't say his name yet, but I can say "bruh" so that's what I call him. I don't even say Mommy or Daddy yet, but I say Bruh. Don't get me wrong, I can say mamamamama and dadadadada, but I just don't choose to call them those names yet. Kind of like I won't wave bye bye. I CAN do it, I just choose not to.

The last week or so at school, when Thomas gets out of the car at drop-off, I cry. I miss him when he's not with us.

In the morning, when Mommy says it's time to go wake my brother up for school, I say, "Bruh!" and point the way upstairs. And when we get up there, Mommy puts me on Thomas' bed and I crawl all over him until he opens his eyes, smiles, and give me a big hug and a kiss. But don't tell him I told you that part. It might embarrass him.

This weekend, Thomas is staying over at Grandma and Grandpa's house. When Mommy and I got in the car last night after dropping him off, I pointed to his booster seat and said, "Bruh!" I was trying to tell my mommy we forgot him.

Earlier this afternoon, Grandpa and Thomas kept me so Mommy and Grandma could go to the movie. When we pulled into their driveway, Mommy asked me if I knew where we were. I started looking around trying to discern our location. When Mommy told me we were at Grandma and Grandpa's house, I started smiling. Then she said we would see Thomas and I said, "Bruh!" See, I told you I know his name.

Baby Einstein Car Video

I told you how much I enjoyed watching Baby Einstein on the way to Lubbock. I forgot that my mommy took this video of me that day with her cell phone. Enjoy!

I'm One!!

I am ONE! Woo hoo!! This picture was taken on my actual birthday, December 28th. I was standing with my grandma's help, but now I can do it all by myself. That is until I realize what I'm doing and then I sit down. I can also walk really well...as long as I'm holding one of your fingers. I just don't have the confidence yet to let go. But it won't be long.

Want to see a slide show of my party? Click here. It was very hard selecting background music but after working on it for over an hour, I got tired and decided to just post it as is. So if you don't like the music I selected, turn it down.

I had a great time at both of my birthday parties. I had one in Lubbock with lots of family members and a smaller one here at home with a few friends and family members. I loved opening presents and figured it out pretty quickly. I liked taking the tissue paper out of the gift sack and putting it back in. Sometimes I even forgot to see what was inside before putting the tissue paper back.

If you watch the slide show, you'll see that I did not like my smash cake. Thomas loved his when he turned one and got cake and icing all over himself. Me, not so much. I didn't like the feeling of icing on my fingers and I didn't want to get that dirty. I kept sucking on my fingers because I was uncomfortable so Daddy thought if I got cake on those fingers, I'd like it and dig in. But that made me mad, and I started sucking on the fingers of my other hand instead.

My parents turned my car seat around before our trip to Lubbock and I got to watch Baby Einstein while we were driving. I was SO excited about that. I kept squealing and kicking my feet all during the movie.

When we were in Lubbock, we were eating lunch at my Gma's house and I was sitting by the vertical blinds in the kitchen. They were really tempting to play with so I grabbed some and started shaking. Mommy told me they weren't a toy and to let go. So I stopped. But a few minutes later, she got up to get some dessert for us and I decided to try again. I quietly reached back, grabbed one blind, and snuck a peek at my Uncle Jerry. He slowly shook his head "no." I looked at him for a second and then let go. Darn it all.

I had my one year check-up on my actual birthday. Wasn't my Mommy mean making me get shots ON my birthday? Four shots! On my birthday!! I am a miraculous case though. The Case of the Incredible Shrinking Baby. Somehow I got shorter between my 9 month check-up and my one year. ;-) I know it's really hard to measure a wiggling baby and they must have mismeasured last time because I'm definitely 30 1/4 inches long. I am 1/4 inch longer than Thomas was and 3/4 pound lighter at this same age. I am pretty sneaky though. The doctor asked my mommy if I was saying any words yet. She said no. The doctor asked if I was standing on my own yet. She said no. We got home that afternoon with balloons for my party and I LOVE balloons. I started saying, "Ba! Ba!" and pointing at them. And then I started standing on my own. Hee hee.

Don't Leave Me Unattended!

I know you're probably waiting for me to write about my first Christmas and my first birthday, but I don't have time right now. I need to go take my morning nap. But I did want to share this picture with you that my mommy took this morning. This is what happens when you leave the diaper bag on the floor and me by myself for a few minutes. I can't be trusted, but I sure did have fun!