Pearl at 13 Months

Mischievous. Inquisitive. Observant.

Pearl at 13 months is full of energy, laughs frequently, and always wants to explores. When strangers stop to say hello or wave at her, she stares back, unsmilingly (she reserves her waves for her favourite people or when the person’s not looking). But she’ll squeal gleefully at a dog or cat and will do her best to pet and hug any dog she can. Oh yeah, she gives hugs now and it’s  one of the greatest things that’s ever happened to me.

She loves to stand up on our kitchen counter and watch the boys next door play hockey in the cul-de-sac. Again, when they wave at her, she just stares at them in return so I end up waving a lot at these little boys.

She has yet to say any words but she understands a lot. She definitely knows when she’s doing something she’s not supposed to because she gets a particular little grin on her face and then takes off running. (As much as a thirteen-month-old can run.) She’ll bark if she hears a dog or a bird and will bark at dogs and cats (including pictures). She can also moo and meow and growl.

Pearl loves carrying around baskets (or ice cream buckets because we’re classy like that) and putting things into them. Easter came at a great developmental time for her!

Her walking gets faster all the time – not quite running but she goes at full, tiny speed. Her new thing now is climbing. As she gets taller this gets easier (and harder for us to keep things out of her reach). We are working on teaching her caution but not fear. Actually, a little bit of fear might be nice; there are a lot of tumbles.

She also likes to collect things, like pine cones. She gathered these pine cones together at the park, placed them at the bottom of the slide and then climbed up to sit beside them. (Also: Peter gives me a hard time occasionally because I dress Pearl in a lot of neutrals and, since she also doesn’t have much hair, people often think she’s a boy. But on the very day, pictured above, wearing a floral romper, someone still thought she was a boy.)

More recently, Pearl’s been enjoying books even more, which obviously warms my heart. She doesn’t yet have the patience to sit still for longer than a very short story, but she loves pulling her books off the shelf and looking through the pictures. She’s interested in any magazine that comes to the house – basically anything with pictures.

Pearl has five teeth now -her most recent popping up just last week. She eats pretty much what we eat. Loves bread, cheese, peanut butter, and cucumbers. Holds her own when we go out for sushi. Wants to eat whatever I have on my plate. Loves smoothies and so that has become my trick for sneaking more fruits and veggies into her diet.

She naps like a champ these days. Still two naps a day and I’ll be sad when she gives that up but happy too, to have more of our day freed up, especially as the weather gets nicer. Her nighttime sleep is generally really good, barring vacations and teething.

Pearl loves being outside and so I’m looking forward to a summer of adventures – hiking, playing at the park, time at the beach, maybe even some camping. I feel so lucky to spend my days with her.