13 months!

Emma is 13 months old today! It seems like just yesterday we were celebrating her birthday!

She is getting much quicker and starting to run. She especially likes running after dogs. She is very intrigued by dogs, but doesn't like to get too close.

We think it's funny that she has just learned how to crawl, in probably the last month or so. She likes being able to explore and get to small places or into corners that she's not supposed to get into.

She can't climb up onto the couch yet, but tries very hard every day. At this point, it's just a matter of time. Once on the couch, she makes her way to the arm to try to climb up on the end table and get the remote controls or the xbox controller.

She is a pro at climbing stairs and is relatively proficient at coming down. (We still pay close attention to coming down, but tend not to worry when she climbs up)

She is starting to talk a bit more. She says "bubble" very clearly as well as "Dora" when she wants to watch Dora the Explorer. We've also heard "book" and "cheese" in addition to yes, no, mama, and dada that she's been using for a while.

She knows what most of her toys are and will bring them to you if asked (unless of course she doesn't want to) and can point out objects in books as well as trees outside.

She is getting very opinionated on what she wants to eat when. In the morning, we offer her 3 choices for breakfast: oatmeal, cheerios and milk, or a banana. She lets us know if she wants milk or water. She also goes to either the pantry or refrigerator to pick out snacks.

She loves giving us hugs and kisses. If we ask for a kiss and she doesn't want to kiss us, she'll lean her head forward so that we can kiss her forehead.

She is growing up before our eyes! Every few days one of us will say, "Emma looks older today."