The Picker Family: Jace ~ 13 Months

13 months! It's crazy to think about where we were last year at this time...trying to adjust to a new baby and the kids back to school. We've all learned and grown A LOT this past year!

Since Jace turned one, he has mastered walking and waving. Guess he's ready for a parade!:) Jace knows which cabinets/drawers he's allowed into in each of the rooms upstairs and he loves to walk between the kitchen, master bathroom, mud room, and his bedroom to shuffle stuff around the house and leave a trail behind him :) We joke that he thinks it's his job. He especially likes to be in the laundry room when I'm doing laundry. He peeks in the open doors and tries to close the doors on me often :) He's also learned to stand up by himself without holding on to anything. Brent was a little surprised that this skill came after walking.

He loves all things basketball. He has one small hoop he can shoot at while sitting, another that he can dunk on while standing, and another that hangs from the top of a door that he points at with his ball and attempts to shoot. Jace also loves following us around the kitchen to close the cabinet/fridge doors we're using. He's often trying to close us into the fridge and will get crabby with us for stopping his attempts :)

When he doesn't have his pacifier in his mouth, he's very chatty...baby chatty that is...we don't understand anything he's jabbering about :) This month he did master the word "truck" and even uses it when he points to a garbage truck, etc. He had lots of fun at the homecoming parade that had lots of trucks. He will mimic us saying "uh-oh", but I don't think he understands when to use it. We're also working on him saying "up" when he wants us to pick him up. He really doesn't have any words for his family members yet. He makes ma-ma and da-da sounds but not in reference to us.

In September, he also pushed through 2 molars, one on top and one on the bottom. He has large lumps in his gums on the other side, so I'm guessing the other one year molars are coming soon. He's handled teething well with just some variation in eating and napping occasionally, but he's generally happiest with a pacifier to suck or chew on.

I think Jace officially has a favorite stuffed animal for sleeping. Brent's mom bought him a little stuffed lamb/blanket that he often brings out of his pack-n-play when he wakes up and reaches for when he goes to bed.

We celebrated Jace's birthday with two gatherings on Labor Day weekend. Pickers joined us for dinner and the first Michigan football game and the Beckmanns/Moyers joined us in Albert Lea to celebrate with my grandparents. It was a nice, low key time to spend with family. Jace and I also got to spend a day visiting my cousin, Steph, and her new bundle of joy, Otto. It's pretty awesome to share the motherhood journey with a wonderful friend and cousin.<3 nbsp="" p="">