Some milestones that Hayden has reached during this past month are:

• Signing the words "all done" to tell us to stop shovelling that stuff (whatever it may be) into his face.
• Making the animal sounds for 4 of his favorite creatures: cow, fish, monkey and pig.
• Climbing to the top of the stairs, unassisted.
• Putting objects inside a bucket or other container.
• waves hi/bye at appropriate times.

Some things that Hayden likes to do now that he is 13 months old are:

• Playing peekaboo with people.
• Relocating moveable furniture.
• Screaming, for any numbers of reasons (to voice frustration, to express delight, to get your attention, just because he wants to).
• Looking through his books, especially The Farm Book, a Golden Book written and illustrated by Jan Pfloog.
• Saying "goodnight" to his pacifier and leaving it in his crib after waking up in the morning and after naps (the next step is getting rid of it entirely - stay tuned).
• Playing in the Tupperware drawer.

Some things that Hayden doesn't enjoy at this stage are:

• Getting his diaper changed.
• Having his fingernails clipped (this is still the worst form of torture).
• Being limited by his restricted mobility (he gets frustrated very easy - hence the screaming) If something that he wants is unreachable, he instantly goes crazy. We are working on instilling some patience (in Hayden AND mom and dad).
• Having his face wiped after eating.
• Brushing his teeth - he is SO over that game (that didn't last long!).

Hey, 4 out of 5 of these dislikes are hygeine related...I would say that is pretty typical.

Hayden hasn't shown any interest in feeding himself with a spoon yet. In fact, finger foods have gone by the wayside for the past few weeks since he took to dropping everything onto the floor instead of eating it. So...we will revisit that again soon (you think he'll forget about that game??)

No major effort in the walking arena yet. He is an expert "cruiser" as they say. He passes from one piece of furniture to another, and he also walks along the walls and cabinets very easily. We bought him a pair of shoes which he doesn't care for that much. So we will introduce those slowly. His doctor said that they weren't required, but that they would just give him a better platform to walk on. I have read, though, that walking barefoot on soft surfaces (carpet, grass, sand, etc) helps develop better balance and stability. Who knows...I am sure that either way is fine. He will walk when he is ready. Anytime between 9 and 18 months is considered "developmentally on track".

So even though things are a little more challenging with an almost-walking, very curious, independent-minded little boy, we are still enjoying every minute of it and looking forward to putting our running shoes on and chasing after him in the coming months to find new adventures as a family. -- mam