Harper’s 13th Month Update + Schedule

Finally, a Harper update! Gosh, I’m terrible at doing these, but I know you guys appreciate them so much. Instead of trying to cover these updates monthly on the blog, I may try to do them every 2 months. 2 months seems more doable. And, I should also apologize for missing months 8-12. I’m more organized these days, so let’s cross our fingers I can make these a regular thing, lol. Let me just say, Harper is an absolute DREAM. She’s always been an awesome baby, but she’s so fun now, well behaved (for the most part), adorable, and funny. Now that she’s walking, it feels like we’re best friends, which has been so awesome.

New at 13 Months

Since we’ve skipped so many months, I’m sure there’s a lot to share when it comes to new stuff. First off, she’s a walker. I think she’s been walking for a good month now. She was actually walking with our hand for what felt like months. So, she’s had a lot practice, which is probably why we get told everyday that she’s a great walker. She’s still tiny, so it’s pretty fun to see her out and about walking around. I say, she’s the tiniest walking person alive, lol. She also seems super smart. Keep in mind, I don’t really know other 13 month olds, so you know how that goes. Every parent thinks their kid is smart, lol. She understands many words and commands – sit down, throw this away, knows all her toys by name, knows the difference between the dogs by name (which not even my family can do, lol), can point out objects and animals in books, and so much more. When it’s nap time, we ask her if she’s ready to go to bed with her pacifier and her bunny and she walks straight to her crib. She dances anytime she hears music and especially loves rap (thanks to her dad). We watch a lot of basketball in the house and she recently started air dribbling when we say basketball or she sees it on tv. As 2 huge sports fans, her parents think it’s the most adorable thing. She’s also constantly trying to make everyone laugh. She is so silly and we just adore everything about her. 13 months has been our favorite so far. To think, it gets even better!!!

Naps

She’s currently on a 2 nap schedule, but we have done 1 nap a day as well. She recently started taking shorter naps, so we thought we would try 1 nap a day. Both times we tried it, it worked out wonderfully. Those 2 days she woke up later, which made this possible. She’s typically an early riser and 2 naps work best for those days still. She still gets quite tired in the morning, so I think we’ll stick to 2 naps for a little longer. Over the holidays she napped really well. We also had family here, so I think she was overstimulated a ton and she would crash hard. More recently, she stopped napping for 2 hours for both naps – it’s more like 1 to 1.5 hours and on the rare occasion she’ll do 2 full hours. She’s still going down in a sleep sack, pacifiers in her crib, with her bunny. Sometimes it will take her a little bit to fall asleep – she’ll babble and play – but we never go in once we put her down.

Bedtime

We’re less strict with Harper’s bedtime now that she’s older. Unless the day is all out of whack and she has a super late nap, her golden bedtime is between 6 and 6:30pm. We’ve tried later to help her wake up later in the morning, but it never works. That 6ish time works best for everyone. After dinner, we’ll play a little bit and every other day she’ll have a bath around 5:45pm. We do lotions, pajamas, hair drying and brushing and then we nurse. We walk around saying goodnight to various things and then she goes to bed happy as a clam.

Feeding

I recently did a blog post all about Harper’s eating. Read this post here. We’re still on the struggle bus with the variety she’s eating… I’m cutting out time every week to work on this – planning meals and getting ideas.  

Activity

Awake time with Harper has gotten so much easier since she started walking on her own. Before, she wanted to walk and hold my hand, so my back was breaking and I would have to follow her all around the house. Now that she’s walking well, we mainly hangout upstairs in her play area, where we have semi-baby proofed. She loves playing ball with the dogs, walking everywhere, reading her books, chasing Lola, watching her dad vacuum, and watching me blow dry my hair. Mike and I just talked about getting rid of some of her baby toys and getting a few new things. Other than a push walker, 2 dolls, and a baby pram, I haven’t really bought anything new in a very long time. Last night I ordered some magnets and this ride-on cow. We went to a toy store the other day and she was fascinated by a rubber ride-on donkey, so I’m hoping she’ll love this cow. I’ll keep you posted. If you have any 13 month old toy ideas, let me know.

She also just loves being out and about walking around and a good park sesh. Currently not a fan of the swing, but loves the slide.

Favorites at 13 Months

Freshly Picked Moc’s (currently wearing a size 2) – The only shoes she’ll wear and that fit her. We’ve ordered a couple other shoes and and they’ve been too big and she freaks out. I’m hoping she’ll get over this stage soon… she can’t wear mocs her whole life, lol.

H&M and Zara Beanies – Harper wears a beanie every time we leave the house because it’s freezing right now. These have been clutch all winter!

Mori Winter Sleeping bag – I had been looking for a thicker sleep sack and found these on Instagram. They have been perfect for winter. So soft and cozy, and SO cute! We have the pink stripe and the gray stripe.

Sage Spoonfuls Glass Jars – You guys ask about these anytime I post them on my Stories. We use these anytime we leave the house – for snacks, lunch, dinner – depending on where we’re going. I initially bought them to store Harper’s purees, but they work great for snacks and food on-the-go.

Wee Gallery Press, Listen, Sound Books – We’ve had these for months, but she only recently started loving them. Of course, the battery is dying in both now, lol. We love these books!

Magnets – She became obsessed with my old Instagram photo magnets on the fridge, so I recently bought her some Mickey Mouse magnets.

Veggie sticks & veggie puffs – both are bought at Whole Foods in the chip section.

Harper’s 13th Month Schedule

We stick to the EASY schedule, but we’re more flexible and less strict with the schedule now that Harper’s older. I will say, being on the schedule from day 1 has paid off – it’s why everything runs very smoothly (for the most part). Harper knows what to expect and she’s very used to it.  

6am – Wake and Nurse

6:30am – Breakfast and activity

8:00am/8:30am – 1st nap

9:30am/10am – Wake

10:30am – Snack and activity

12:30pm – Lunch

2:00pm – 2nd Nap

3:30pm – Wake and Activity

4:30pm – Dinner

5:45pm – Bath

6:00pm – Nurse and Bedtime

*She will have another snack either before her 2nd nap or before dinner some time.

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