13 months...

Dearest little boy,
It seems like you learn new things everyday after you've hit your first birthday!  You still refuse to try to walk, but you would try to stand in all sorts of positions in order to kick your soccer ball, and have a great time chasing the ball all over the place (or any roundish object like an apple or orange for that matter).  You seem to be able to climb up almost all the chairs in the house.  You now attempt to comb your own hair when we give you your comb, but absolutely refuse to try combing my hair when I ask you to.

You are turning into a good imitator, and would mimic us when we pretend to sleep and snore, much to our amusement!  You sometimes repeat words after us, and get us all excited about it, but refuse to say them later, just like the other day you tried to say "Chicken!" as well as "Xiexie" (Thank you in Chinese).  You endear others to you when you give them oranges during this Chinese New Year period (but sometimes you end up throwing them around instead).

Mealtimes are still a battle with you, since you eat like a hamster, nibbling and storing all the food in your cheeks, and spitting them out later.  Though you tend to be a pretty fussy eater, you still have your favourite foods, like grapes (which you love to squish between your gums), biscuits, as well as prune juice, which you always ask for (through babbles and hand gestures).  Though you can feed yourself small pieces of food, you still like to feed half of it to the doggy (that's why the doggy always camps under your chair during meals!).

Music never fails to get you bobbing and clapping, and songs with a strong beat have you nodding your head vigorously like a rocker playing his guitar.  You babble all the time, and love to push cars and trains around.  Its just so amazing seeing how you're growing and learning all the time!

Lots of love,
Your Mama