This past week our Olivia turned 13 months old!
At her one-year appointment, Olivia weighed 21 pounds 8 ounces (69th percentile), measured 31 inches tall (91st percentile), and had a head circumference of 18.5″ (91st percentile). As she continues to blow through her clothes, I’m not surprised that she remains in such a high height percentile.
Olivia has started dancing, so obviously, that’s one of the best things ever right now. She’ll dance when she plays a song on one of her toys or when we’re listening to music. Olivia likes to hang onto the side of her play yard or pack ‘n play and kind of bob up and down. Sometimes she’ll just be nodding along in one of her jumpers, which is so cute, too.
Olivia loves to play the classic baby game of handing someone lots of toys or passing the same toy back and forth over and over again. She’s also big on the classic baby game of throwing all of her toys out of the pack ‘n play, high chair, jumper, etc.
Olivia is standing on her own without holding onto anything for seconds at a time. She’s taken independent steps a couple of times.
Olivia has been saying the word hi all the time since she was about 10 months old. This past month, she also started saying baby. I’m sure it’s not a surprise that we talk about babies all the time these days. In addition to saying baby about Genevieve, she also talks about the baby dolls. Additionally, Olivia uses the word baby to talk about other baby items, such as baby food and baby shampoo. It’s so neat to see her put together these connections. Olivia says the word kitty as well and is big on pointing at the kitties at every opportunity possible.
A few times, Olivia has repeated very clearly other words and phrases we use often with her, including thank you and come back. She doesn’t say these words on her own yet. Olivia frequently tries to repeat lots of other words and imitate sounds (i.e., Tommy making car noises) as well.
Left on her own these days, Olivia goes right for the cat bowls, outlets, computers, etc. and wants to climb the stairs constantly. She’s too big to stay in the jumpers and pack ‘n plays for too long. So I got her a play yard for our bonus room (linked in her 12-month favorites post). It’s been a game-changer. She can play safely in a bigger space while we’re still right in the room with her, sometimes even in the play yard with her. Being able to pull up on the gates and move around while holding onto them is so good for building her mobility, too.
Olivia remains the most patient little girl. I spent tons of time every day feeding and changing Genevieve and helping Tommy with food, clothes, toys, etc. Olivia is so good with all of it. She plays in the pack ‘n play happily while I get ready each morning. After dinner, she’ll be done eating and covered in baby food. She waits while I clear away the food and whatnot for me to get her out and straight into the bath with so few complaints.
Olivia did such a good job making the transition from formula to cow’s milk. After she turned one, I started gradually adding milk to formula and then increased the amount of milk. I’ve still been adding a little formula this past month as we’ve run out our supply. But she does just fine with all milk bottles now. She’s still drinking exclusively from the bottles she’s been using for formula.
Olivia has been doing really well with eating purees. She isn’t crazy about the more savory meals, like mac and cheese. She also didn’t love one blend with a strong pumpkin flavor. But she loves the fruit and vegetable blends, the veggie combinations, and anything with oatmeal.
Olivia has made some progress eating solids the past month. She eats purees with both lunch and dinner. When I first set her up at her tray, I’ll start her with crackers or pretzels. She’s done the best with rice crackers and stick pretzels. Olivia has tried graham crackers as well, which she ate but didn’t love. Olivia still gags pretty easily on solids. But she’s had a lot more interest in eating them and has kept down almost everything the past month. We’ll try introducing a few more foods this month.
A couple of weeks ago, I pulled out Tommy’s old 18-month pajamas, as some of Olivia’s 12-month pajamas are already a little short. I went ahead and pulled his 18-month long-sleeve tops as well for her to wear while the weather is still cold. Everything already fit perfectly. I finally switched over to size 4 diapers at the end of the month. The size 3 overnight diapers with a liner are still working great, so I haven’t sized up the overnight diapers yet.
Olivia is back to flipping over constantly while you change her. She still thinks it’s fun to fight you while you try to pull clothes over her head. And she tries to grab the art above her changing table as often as possible. I’ve started moving the table away from the wall to make it a little harder for her. Instead, she stands up to grab it. I’m reluctant to change and dress her on the floor, as then she’ll just try to crawl away.
Olivia is still waking up once a night to eat. Lately, it’s been around 11 p.m. or midnight, like she just needs one more bottle for the day. About half the time, she does wake up one other time after that. I just resettle her that second time. She usually does well going back to sleep after that.
You can find all of my baby/toddler updates for all three kids as well as general family updates and other family-related posts in the family section of the blog.
