The Culbertson Crew: Little Scooters

Happy 13 months! The girls are doing really well and are finally moving around - mostly scooting around or pushing themselves around backwards, but it's at a slow pace. In our den, we have a rug that I usually start them out on, but I'll turn my back for just a few minutes and they have already moved to the tile. They love throwing their toys onto the tile and then going to get them.

Caroline especially loves her baby. She knows the word now and when I ask her to get it, she will. She also loves the game, "Give it to me." Both she and Claire will put whatever item they are holding into my palm when I say, "Give it to me," and they grin really big and think it's so much fun.

Caroline has also discovered how to open the TV stand door, a trick that is not so cute. Their play kitchen has an oven door that says, "Open" or "Close" depending on what you do, so she loves opening and closing doors of any type now. The play kitchen also has an "On" and "Off" water spout, so as soon as I sit her up on the counter to brush her teeth, she turns the water on.

She says, "Bop" or "Bob" a lot, as well as "Dada" or "Dap." She doesn't seem in any hurry to start walking yet, but she can stand well on her own while holding onto a surface. She does like to "crawl" on her stomach now, basically pushing herself around backwards on the floor, and she grins when I ask her if she wants to crawl.

Claire, on the other hand, loves walking around with help. She can bounce up and down while she is standing and holding onto something, and she's getting faster and more sturdy while she walks and I hold her hands. She is not interested in crawling at all and cries if I put her on her stomach. I think she will just skip that phase altogether and just start walking.

She's very expressive and gets really excited about little things. We have discovered, and other nursery workers have told us, that she loves when we (or others) sing to her. She gets a big grin on her face and sometimes tilts her head and looks "bashful," but she just lights up and thinks that is the best thing ever.

Claire loves to try to keep up with Jack, and she will scoot on the floor to try to reach him. I can tell she wants to move around so badly, but just hasn't quite figured out how to do that on her own yet.