13 Months & First Day of School

Today is a big day for Charlie. Not only is it his 13 month birthday, it's also his first day of school! This morning Charlie started a Mother's Morning Out program. It is once a week from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. When I dropped him off this morning, he cried the second I put him down. But the teachers quickly got him interested in a toy and there were no more tears. He even saw me leaving! The teachers said he did great and he is "very well adjusted". I have no idea what that means in a 13 month old, but I am assuming it's a compliment. :)

The only hiccup of the day is that I forgot the plug to his sippy cup. That means the cup is no longer spill-proof. When I got home from dropping him off, I saw it sitting on the counter and realized, "uh oh". As soon as I walked in the door to pick him up, I told the teachers and they smiled and said, "um yeah, he ate a soggy lunch after pouring milk all over the table." Oops.

In addition to school, Charlie is continuing to grow and change every day. Here are a few more notes on Charlie at 13 months:

• I no longer have to roll up his pant legs, but he's still in 12 month clothes. 
• He is babbling a little more.
• He is obsessed with animals and calls them all "ga" (dog). 
• His walking is getting better. We've seen him take 10-15 steps at one time before, but crawling is still his preferred mode of transportation. He walks a lot with one of his toy golf clubs and tries to bang the toy golf balls like Daddy does.
• Charlie makes us laugh every day. A few nights ago while Kyle and I were watching TV, he was playing with the stack of diapers that we keep downstairs. He took one of the diapers and kept trying to open it and then sit on it and get it between his legs. It was so adorable. He was actually trying to put a diaper on himself!
• He is really into music now and will "dance" whenever it comes on. (As you saw in the last post, it's hysterical.)
• The allergy blood test results are in. Charlie allergic to two things: eggs and peanuts. I have to tell you this was devastating to me. Peanut butter is one of my favorite things in the whole world, not to mention an easy go-to snack for little ones. The doctor said no peanuts or peanut butter, but peanut oil is okay if we don't notice any symptoms. His allergy to egg whites is mild, meaning as long as it doesn't seem to bother him, it's okay to give him eggs. 
• When he's taking a bath, Charlie likes to have his own washcloth and his rubs his body like I do when I'm washing him. His favorite part is putting the wet washcloth on top of his head.
• We often see Charlie (on the monitor) asleep with one of his blankets over his head. I've seen him sit up, throw the blanket over his head, and then lay back down. This picture isn't very clear, but here is an example.

• Charlie likes to eat off of a real fork. He can't get the food on the fork, but he loves it when I put the food on the fork and then he eats it. I've managed to get vegetables into him three days in a row because of it!

Here are a few additional pictures.

Our new Ikea bookcases for the playroom.

At his first GT basketball game with Daddy.

Throwing balls everywhere

First time riding the train at the Mall

Waving to Mommy during the train ride

Napping with Daddy

Hanging out with his evening bottle