Soren Update: 13 Months

Soren has taken his first steps, but we can't call him a walker yet.  About two or three weeks ago, instead of plopping down on the floor when you set him down, he started to actually remain standing.  And then he advanced to pulling himself up on something and letting go.  When he first started standing unassisted, he didn't realize he was standing at first and he'd drop to the floor as soon as he realized what he was doing.  Now he's quite proud of himself. With a lot of coaxing, we've gotten him to take a few steps.  The first few days, we weren't sure if they were steps made with intention or if he was just stumbling towards mom or dad's outstretched arms.  In the last day or two, it's finally clear he's taking those few steps with purpose. 

Even if Soren isn't quite walking yet, he's proving himself to be a climber.  He's climbed out of his crib twice. The first time I was just about to leave for work when I heard a thud a floor above and dashed up to his room. Even though I knew a loud sound like that could only be made by someone falling onto the floor, I was still shocked to see Soren sitting in the middle of his bedroom floor, in his sleepsack and quietly sucking on his pacifier. Only when I burst into his room did he start crying. A week later, our nanny thought she'd heard what sounded like someone hitting the floor, but then didn't hear any crying, so she thought she imagined it. When she went to check on him, sure enough he was out of his crib and sitting on the floor quietly playing with his toys. 

Given the development of Soren's climbing skills, we're considering moving him to a twin-size mattress on the floor sooner than later. Like with Oliver, we'll keep the pack 'n' play on hand as a back-up, but I see little reason to wait until the rebellious toddler stage to start the transition to a bed.

We packed up the bottles and Soren now drinks from a sippy cup.  I got tired of the bottles crowding our kitchen island, so I reclaimed the space, cleaned out a cupboard that held yet more bottles and created a spot for sippy cups and bibs.

Soren used to be content sitting in his booster seat for as long as we would let him, but lately he's been acting more like his brother at this age and plowing through his meal in a few minutes and then not being patient enough to keep sitting. But we've learned something as parents since Oliver was at this stage. If they throw food, that means they're finished. Sometimes we're able to buy a few extra minutes of peaceful family dinner time with some fruit or his sippy cup of , but we're wise enough now that if he starts to throw food or wine, we clean him up and get him down. 

The poor kid is terrified of dogs. We were at a party where the hosts had a sprightly ten-month-old Labrador Retriever and Soren screamed any time he saw the dog come near us. I guess I would too if I were his size and saw a large out-of-control animal bounding towards me.  Even Oliver was unnerved by the onslaught of slobbery dog kisses, but Soren just clung to me for dear life.   

The amusing part though is that he's fearful of anything that looks like an animal. The Children's Museum has puppets of wild animals and I tried goofing around with the puppets, but Soren clearly believed I had a real racoon attached to my arm.

Another fear that's presenting itself is his separation anxiety, which still persists.  He still doesn't like to be held by anyone but Mom, Dad, his nanny and maybe his grandparents.  When I said goodbye to him at ECFE on Monday night to go to the parent room, he practically crawled up and over a table to get to me.  Surprisingly, less than five minutes later, he was back to his usual self playing with the teachers and other babies. 

We've embarked on another sleep transition.  Soren's morning nap has become unpredictable, and sometimes a catnap is the best we can expect.  We still try to put him down in the morning, because he's certainly tired, but if that fails, our next plan of attack is to try to put him down at 11:00 a.m. for an early nap.  However, since we also have an older child and are often out and about because of him, or at a minimum, need to drop him off and pick him up from preschool, sometimes we don't have an opportunity to put him down early.  Lucikly for us, Soren is a more flexible child and can manage until lunch time with no nap and no meltdown.