13 month milestones

I've seen a few different blogs that do a monthly checkup of milestones based on the age of your child. So I thought I'd take a look at the 13 month milestones on Baby Center. When looking at development, we usually take off a month for James to account for the fact that he was 5 weeks early, but as he gets older he is catching up more and more. By the time he's 2 he should be completely even with his age group and his doctor has never been concerned about his development.

13 months
Mastered Skills (most kids can do):
Uses two words skillfully (e.g., "hi" and "bye")
Bends over and picks up an object
James uses a few words like "hi" "mama" "dada" "uh oh" "all done" and "yea". He is definitely becoming more talkative and there are a few words that I think are coming soon like "bottle" and "kitty".
James picks up a lot of objects, mostly his toys or sippy cup from the floor. I think this milestone assumes that he is standing on his own, which he hasn't done yet. But he can reach down and get something if he's holding on to a table or chair.

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do):
Enjoys gazing at his reflection
Holds out arm or leg to help you dress him
James has been looking at his reflection for awhile now, he loves mirrors and the glass doors to our TV stand. If I'm holding him in the mirror, I ask "who's that?" and he grins.
James also helps to get dressed. He knows we put the shirt over his head, then do one arm and then the other. If you ask for his arm, he will usually give it to you, although he much prefers to be naked!

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do):
Combines words and gestures to make needs known
Rolls a ball back and forth
James doesn't let us know what he wants through words and gestures, although at times I think he says "baba" and reaches up when he wants his sippy cup.  He is also starting to say "all done" and pushing his food or sippy away when he is done eating.  More often though he likes to throw the sippy or start to feed the dog when he's finished.  We're working on him not doing this, but he gets so happy when he feeds the dog.
Playing with balls is one of James' favorites right now and he can definitely roll one back and forth.

That's all until next month!