Our big guy, Hunter

I wanted to update you guys on Hunter and what he is up to now that he is 13 months old! Gosh he is growing fast.  So, last Saturday as I was warming up Hunter's food in the microwave (leftovers) he yells out, "Hot, mom"!  (it sounded more like "hahht, maaaahm"). First, I was like was that Hunter or Daddy that said that (LOL) and where and when did my little boy learn this?! Hunter has started to actually say some words from all that blabbing.  Whenever I heat up his food, I always tell him after it comes out of the microwave that "it's hot and that we need to let cool down a little".  Also, whenever I am cooking and he wants to me to pick him up and see what's going on on the stove, I always tell him that "its hot and that its a no-no".  So, I guess all of my talking to him has paid off.  Plus, I love that he gives me compliments at the same time! Thanks, Hunty. 

Let's see...Hunter has also been walking all around and testing his foot steps of where he can put them now.  For instance, since he has gotten better balancing he will put one foot in his wagon of  blocks and his other one on the outside and try and push it at the same time (I know, silly boy).  My dad bought him a Thomas the Train Power Wheels for his 1st birthday and we finally found some time to set it up for him (amongst other things).  He loves it. He loves the fact that he can push the little button and it goes but does need to work on his multitasking of turning at the same time while he pushes.  He thinks that if he stands up while he pushes the button at the same time that that is the way to make it turn. Haha.  Then of course, I have to go chase after him in case he stops pushing the button and flies forward.  He is such a little boy and so eager to figure out things and always insists of himself doing it (not us!).  He has a very strong personality.  My mom says that he reminds her exactly of someone that she knows =) Check out this video of him.  He was a bit on the cranky side but Sean and I realized that we haven't really shown any videos since he has been walking (please ignore the mess).  Oh yeah, Hunter's new nickname is "E.T." since he walks like him.  So cute!

We are just about through with getting rid of the bottle.  He occasionally prefers one at night before bed depending on how tired he is because he likes for mommy to hold it for him (lazy butt).  Then there are times where he expects to have it so its a work in progress right now.  During the day he either has a the NUK sippy cup or the Playtex Straw one.  Since he is a "lazy butt" he prefers the ones with the handles even though the bigger Playtex ones didn't come with a lid with handles, the smaller ones do so I have to switch lids for him to put on the bigger ones.  Luckily, all of the Playtex lids fit all of their cups so it works out. 

His NUK sippy.

Here's the straw sippy cups that I switch the lid on the right to put on the sippy on the left. 

I have been told numerous times from his teachers at daycare that he is a really good eater.  This is coming from him not even really caring about food until he was around 8 months old.  He would eat here and there but wouldn't really eat more than about 5 bites of something.  I'm not sure if he just wasn't interested or it was alot of teething. Maybe a little of both.  Either way, I love it! He has a cute little "Pooh Bear" belly that me and Sean joke about now.  He eats every kind of fruit that I know of except for Papaya, even I'm not a big fan. He really loves strawberries, kiwi and mangoes.   He eats all veggies that I have given him: brocolli, peas, carrots, squash, potatoes, yuca, asparagus, beans.  He eats meats and really loves meatloaf and especially when I make a pork loin and make BBQ out of it.  Whenever I make mashed potatoes for him, he really likes it when I put some in a bowl for him and he can "try" and dip his own spoon into it to feed himself.  I guess he is eating alot more now that alot of his teeth are in.  His top and bottom 2 molars have finally arrived so I think his teething is starting to taper off. 

He is also great sleeper now!   He finally started sleeping through the night around 8-9 months but I think now since he only takes one nap a day (in the toddler room) that he is pretty exhausted by the time I get home.  On a really tired day, he can go to bed as early as 6:30 but most nights around 7.  Daddy has started to put him down to take another nap around 3 ish if he is able to so that I can spend a little more time with him but it's only about 15-20 minutes longer but I'll take it!  If not, early to bed, early to rise.  So that is why I wake up at 5:30 so that I can play with him before we have to leave for work and day care.  On weekends, he goes back and forth between 1 or 2 naps. It all depends on his day.

Hunter's latest artwork from the week at his school.

A couple of weekends ago we took Hunter to the beach (we live 10 minutes away, don't know what took us so long) and the last time we took him when he was around 7 months he wasn't such a big fan of the sand.  Yeah, nothings changed. He still didn't like the sand.  He preferred sitting near the shore in the sand rather than sitting on the dry sand.  He would just cry like what is this all over my hands and legs! Get it off! So, unless we had him in our laps on the beach, he was not having it. Hahaha. I guess now that we live more closer to the beach he will like it more and more when we go.

Not a fan of the sand, Mom.

I love the water (and Daddy), though!

"I don't like it!"

The other weekend we took Hunter to a pumpkin patch here near our house.  He loved those pumpkins. I think he thought that they were orange balls because he kept on wanting to get them to roll.  It was cute. 

Also, Hunter has become quite a little reader! He's much more interested in reading more books before bed (we still have to watch a few Gigglebellies songs before bed too =).  Here are a few of his favorites:

That's what we've been up to.  He is just a normal curious and very energetic little boy who is very interested in the world around him. Doesn't want to miss a thing! We love every minute of it and he sure keeps us on our toes!