16 Months

 

Declan, today you are 16 months old! You are growing up so fast and are, of course, still bigger than most everyone else your age. Daddy says you are going to be a defensive tackle with the build you have, lol. Your current size makes dressing you a bit difficult at times because things are either way too big or way too small. Carter's, Target and The Children's Place need to get on the ball and realize some kid are going to weigh in at 2T/3T, but their  height will be around the 24 months range. Due to this fitting issue all of your pants drag the ground. The simplicity of one size fits all kiddo ranges is no longer working for us. This was not an issue over the summer because you were always wearing shorts, but now that it is cooling off we are going to have to get creative with some hemming.

It has been such an exciting time lately with all you are learning! My absolute favorite thing is that you love to sing songs with us. The "ABC's" are still your favorite and you love when we sing this in your room and point at all the letters on your wall. You make it pretty clearly saying A-G and then trail off until it is time for you to yell "ella mm no p" as loud as you can. Sometimes you keep singing with us after that, but most of the time you consider that the end of the song. Other hits are "Old McDonald" with you providing all of the e-i-e-i-o's and a few animal sounds, as well as "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," "Ring Around the Rosies" and "Itsy Bitsy Spider" complete with all of the hand motions.

On top of singing, you are becoming more and more vocal as a whole. Your favorite word is Wade, and by favorite we mean that you call for him about 1,000x a day, but you have only said Fia a handful of times. You count to three and then yell "GO!" but really only "three" and "go" are easily understood when you say them, but we know what you are trying to get at with the attempts at "one" and "two". You say mommy, daddy, and Jake, which you say just like I do when I am trying to get daddy to hurry up and do something, lol. Poor Daddy!
This is how you currently say each of your grandparent's names:

CeeCee = TeeTee

Papi = Puppy, but sometimes Pahpeee

MawMaw = Mamna

PawPaw = also Puppy

Nanny= Nanny (you said it so well the other day!)

Pappy = Pappy, but more often you say Puppy

 

Additional favorite words are: shoes, yum, mine, up, cup, baby,
uh oh, bye, ouch, and pish (aka fish).

 

Speaking of shoes being one of your favorite words to say, I should probably point out that you really like your shoes. You find them around the house and bring them all to one spot and then shove one or two in our faces until we put them back on your feet. I always thought kids were supposed to hate their shoes and take them off, but you want them on most of the time. As soon as you get a pair on, you promptly remind us that we are then supposed to take you outside. :)

 

 

You love to "grocery shop" at home with your shopping cart and play food. However, shopping sometimes turns into more of a Godzilla moment and you knock the cart over and kick the food everywhere. Poor HB is occasionally still in the seat of the buggy when you do this. Wade and Fia both run when you start pusing the cart around the living room because you are not a very cautious driver.

 

You still love playing in pools, fountains, the shower and pretty much anywhere else water can be found (like the dog bowl). You blow kisses when we say "I love you," wave at everyone we meet and give the best hugs. You love both of your sweet little cousins and have a blast each time you get together to play with one of them. Luckily, all three of you are very energetic so they are not phased at all by how big you are and how rough you play at times....we still keep a close watch just in case you get a bit too rough.

 

It is remarkable how much you have changed just since your birthday. There are still times when you really want to snuggle, but it is usually just at bedtime these days. You have become so independent and always want to show that you are able to feed yourself (with a spoon!) and hold your own drink even though it is just a cup with a straw. We make a lot of messes this way, but your puppy brother and sister are always glad to help you clean it up.

 

We love you!

Mommy and Daddy 





     

Cheap Challenge 2013- Lessons Learned

Total spent: $290.47

 

	Groceries	Eating Out	Gas	Household	Entertainment	Clothing	Dog Needs
Week 1	$25.10	$13.86	$0.00	$5.34	$4.99	$0.00	$0.00
Week 2	$5.23	$22.71	$44.65	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$22.98
Week 3	$43.59	$15.47	$20.08	$0.00	$2.76	$7.34	$0.00
Week 4	$0.00	$0.00	$20.00	$5.37	$31.00	$0.00	$0.00
TOTAL	$73.92	$52.04	$84.73	$10.71	$38.75	$7.34	$22.98



 Groceries and Household Items:

I am so proud of our grocery spending considering I can easily spend $75 or more each week on these items and there are definitely times where I spend even more. We had so much food in our freezer and pantry that needed to be eaten, but we had simply been piling more and more new items on top of it all so it was just lying around forgotten and at risk of freezer burn. I am glad to say we are starting with pretty much a clean slate at the end of the challenge and I definitely plan to make wiser decisions about what to purchase in bulk and what to purchase as needed.

Jake and I have both learned the value of planning out our meals and shopping trips so we do not come home from the store with a lot of unnecessary items that will potentially go unused and ruin because we did not have a plan in place to use them. For household items, we were actually stockpiled in this area as well because I make purchases when I have coupons. If we did this more often, we could definitely save even more. I just need to make sure to only purchase things we actually need because even if I get it cheap, it is money wasted if it wasn't something we needed.


Eating Out:

 

On average Jake and I each eat lunch out three days a week at roughly $8 per meal. By cutting that out for this month we saved over $190! This is something I definitely think we should keep up in the months to come. We saved so much money by bringing lunches from home and we had far less food waste than we normally do in a month because we actively planned to use leftovers for lunches.

 

We tend to do really well about cooking at home during the week, but we realized we use being tired from the workday as an excuse to eat out/order in. This month we just toughed it out and cooked even when we did not feel like it. We ate a lot healthier this way and we both actually lost a little bit of weight (bonus!). Declan also got to try some new foods since I was planning a variety of meals so we would not get burned out on having the same thing over and over. Weekend dinners out are where we normally spend a good bit of money since it is what our groups of friends tend to want to do when we hang out. After taking the time to see how much we spend here even though we don't do it all that often definitely has me planning to invite folks over for dinner parties/potlucks on occasion instead of always eating out.

 

Gas:

 

I hope we can find a way to cut our gas expenses in the future because it ended up being nearly 34% of the original $250 budget. This was with us being fairly conservative about where we drove, but we still had two trips home during this month, which meant we had an extra 312 miles driven outside of our normal routine. For my car that is a little over a full tank of gas worth of driving. We own both of our cars which is a huge savings for us each month since we do not have car payments, but when the time comes to purchase a new one we will definitely be looking into better mileage options.

Entertainment:

We normally keep our spending pretty low in this area, but we do have times where we spend more than we should. I tend to justify these expenses though since we do not pay for cable or go out all the time. Jake and I actually have not gotten to go to a movie together since February 2012, just a few months before Declan was born. Since we have a young child, we always have to be mindful that dinner and a movie or going to an event that is not kid friendly also means paying a babysitter since our families live more than an hour away. We have a zoo membership and a children's theatre membership so we save money by covering Declan's entertainment for the year in advance.

Clothing:

Purchases in this area have been my weakness for a while. I really don't spend a ton, but $30 here and there adds up over the course of the year. I have lost weight since Declan was born, but am not back to my pre-pregnancy size so some things still fit from my original wardrobe, but a lot doesn't. I tend to go out and buy something for myself when I feel stressed about a specific event that is coming up and I need something to wear. This month was helpful because I was forced to make things work without running out to buy something new and I realized I can make more of my old wardrobe work than I thought. Plus, even without purchasing anything new in the near future, I have a pretty decent wardrobe as is so I need to save my clothing purchases for things I really want. Jake never buys new clothes so he is good here...he could actually stand to spend a little more and be fine. As for Declan's clothes, I will continue shopping consignment sales, clearance racks and couponing like crazy. We still get really cute clothes and it doesn't break the bank when he outgrows it all 6 weeks later.

Dog Needs:

Wade and Fia are our furbabies and I probably spend way more getting them treats than I should, but I only get them treats when I have a coupon so I am glad to splurge a bit because they really are great dogs. They hated the cheaper dog food and refused to eat it for a bit even though it was from the same brand we normally get so it looks like we are back to Purina One and the occasional canned food. I am sure they had a celebration about the Cheap Challenge reaching an end.

Closing Thoughts

 

I would definitely like to try the Cheap Challenge again in the future, but it needs to be a month where we know we do not have any major travel plans or trips home to visit our families. We will also have to be more diligent about not eating out at all during the month. It was really hard for us to say no when people we do not get to see very often asked us out for a meal, but we could have easily told them to go ahead and eat so we could just meet up with them later. I am confident we will be able to stay under the $250 limit after going through it and knowing where we can improve for the next try.

 

 

Cheap Challenge 2013- Week 4 and Final 3 Days

August 22-31
Spending total: $56.37

Groceries	Eating Out	Gas	Household	Entertainment	Clothing	Dog Needs
$0.00	$0.00	$20.00	$5.37	$31.00	$0.00	$0.00

I was really worried going into this week since we had just over $15 remaining in the budget. Luckily, the week began with our trip to Parris Island, which I had already said would not count against the budget since we could not plan when my brother was going to graduate and it just happened to fall in the month we had picked for the Cheap Challenge. We were there from the 22nd-25th and we actually spent hardly any money because the home we stayed in during the trip was paid for in advance by my parents, we rode up as a family so travel was also covered for all of the kids in the family by our parents, and my dad did just as he did for everyone else's graduations and treated us all to dinner when we ate out.

We did not go grocery shopping at all the last week. We had purchased enough the week before that we even made it through with enough milk for Declan. We also toughed it out and ate some really strange dinners that we pieced together from the pantry odds and ends I mentioned last week. We did have to stop at the store and buy a pack of paper towels though because we were completely out. We bought a cheaper brand and a smaller pack than we normally would, but it still cost us $5.37.

Jake and I both continued to pack our lunches this last week and we both had days free meals due to luncheons and such during the week. I got two lunches out of the planning meeting we had on Thursday. We had salads from Urban Cookhouse and I had enough leftover for my lunch the next day. This was a big bonus since I love their food, but definitely could not have stayed anywhere near budget if I had been spending $9 or more on lunch each day. I also had a coupon for a free drink from Starbucks since my birthday is August 30th so it was nice to be able to get a coffee this week.

Wade and Fia had enough food to make it through the last of the challenge, but we are definitely going to need to go to the store and get them some more dog food early next week.

Our entertainment purchases hurt us this last part of the challenge. Although we had free tickets and food at the Barons game we attended on the 29th, we did still have to pay the $5 parking fee. We also went home to see my brother while he was still on leave and one of the things he wanted to do was go to a football game. We paid $12 to get in and then spent $14 at the concession stand to get food and drinks (it was so hot at the game!).

We had to make one final gas purchase for the drive home this weekend. I have decided I absolutely hate buying gas! I never realized just how much we spend on it from month to month. I did not realize it was goint to turn out to be our highest expense this month.

Now, I know I busted the budget instantly with that one purchase at the football game, but I wanted to go ahead and list out the rest of our spending for this last portion of the challenge because we actually came incredibly close to staying under $250. I am disappointed that we went over, but I am still really proud of how much we saved during this month. My birthday was the night of the football game and I know $26 is probably the smallest amount Jake has ever spent on celebrating my birthday in the 9 years we have been together. That right there is a win in my book! :)

Budget remaining: -$40.47

Cheap Challenge 2013- Week 3 Update

August 15-21
Spending total: $89.24

Groceries	Eating Out	Gas	Household	Entertainment	Clothing	Dog Needs
$43.59	$15.47	$20.08	$0.00	$2.76	$7.34	$0.00

This week was probably the toughest week so far. Our grocery stockpile had pretty much dwindled away and we were left with a few really random odds and ends in the freezer and pantry. This week's shopping trip was the largest one we have had so far, but it still had a lower total in comparison to our usual spending on groceries. We should have enough meat from this trip to last us through the end of the month so next week's trip should just be for Declan's milk and some fresh produce.

We had a meal out on Saturday night because all of my family came to town and I got way to caught up with getting the house in order and missed the window of opportunity to get dinner fixed for everyone. Luckily, this left us with leftovers so it at least served us for more than one meal.

I had to finally make a gas purchase for my car, but I tried to keep the amount as low as possible and just get what I thought would be needed to make it until the end of the month. I guess we will see how well I estimated next week.

I had a project I really wanted to complete while I had a free weekend so some of our budget was spent on a wreath form ($2.76) since I had all of the fabric, glue, and ribbon on hand. This went under entertainment since I didn't leave a place on the budget for crafts/projects, plus I found it entertaining. :)

We had to get ready for our trip out-of-town and Dec needed a couple of plain tees so we checked out the sales rack at Wal-Mart and were able to get three short sleeve t-shirts that they had on clearance.

The dogs are now completely out of biscuits, but we are really going to be cutting it close this last week with what we have remaining in the budget so I am giving them table scraps more often than they normally get them. They may actually forgive us for not getting their favorite dog food last week.

Budget remaining: $15.90

I am not sure how we are going to make it this next week with just $15.90 remaining in the budget. Even though I have not eaten lunch out at all this month the few dinners we have not cooked on our own have really impacted the budget, even though they were cheap dining out experiences for a family of 3. Jake's one big gas purchase also put a big dent in what we had left to work with. I am really hoping we can pull this off, but I really don't know if it is possible at this point since we have 10 days remaining.

DIY Fabric Wreath

I love wreaths like this and I am always looking at them on Etsy, but I really did not need to spend $50+ on a wreath for the front door so I decided to figure out how to make one for myself. Here are the results and step-by-step tutorial of how I made a fabric wreath.

You will need the following:

• Pinking Shears
• Ruler
• 2-3 yards of fabric (Amount depends on the width of the fabrics you choose. It needs to yield approximately 250 of the 4x4 fabric squares.)
• 14 inch Straw Wreath Form (do not remove the plastic wrapping)
• Tacky Glue/Elmer's Glue
• Small plastic bowl or paper plate
• Phillips head screwdriver (Anything with a decent handle that is narrow and somewhat pointy will do.)

Instructions:
 
Step 1- Using the pinking shears and ruler, cut your fabric into 4x4 squares.  

 

I chose three different fabrics for my wreath. The solid blue happened to be a piece that was exactly 36x36" so I was able to get 80- 4" squares. The other two fabrics were 36x48" so I cut 84-4" squares from each of them and had roughly a one foot remnant left of each one (Total of 248 squares).

Step 2- Pour a small puddle of glue into the plastic bowl (refill bowl as needed).

Step 3- Take the screwdriver and place the tip into the center of one of the fabric squares. Fold the fabric square around it and then dip the end into the bowl of glue.

  
Step 4- Keep the glue dipped fabric square held around the screwdriver and push it into the wreath. 
 

 

The technique of dabbing the fabric with glue and pushing it into the wreath using the screwdriver keeps all of your fabric squares looking nice and fluffy from the start. Plus, the glue won't allow the pieces to pull out easily, as they would if you attached them with a straight pin.
 
Step 5- Repeat steps 3 and 4 until all of your fabric squares are in the wreath form.

Tips:
I put a few of one color in at the start and then moved to the second and third colors following the same pattern to make sure all three colors were used throughout. Also, a few of the pieces got pushed in further than I wanted initially so if this happens when you are making yours, make sure to fluff them back out right away before the glue dries because they will not move later.
 

 

 
 
  

 
Finished! I am really pleased with how it turned out. The back of the wreath is not covered so just make sure the sides are covered completely and that the inner part of the wreath is not easily visible. I had enough pieces to pretty much fully cover the inside of the wreath. I am going to be looking for a cute wooden "T" to add to one of the sides, but I like it even without the initial.
 
I am so excited to have our wreath up on the door! The blues and browns are nice colors for the end of summer/early fall.
 


Back door.



Declan was a big help while I worked on this so he got to
play with it for a minute before we hung it outside.

 
 
 

Cheap Challenge 2013- Week 2 Update

August 8-14
Spending total: $95.57

Groceries	Eating Out	Gas	Household	Entertainment	Clothing	Dog Needs
$5.23	$22.71	$44.65	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$22.98

We found one last pack of ground beef in the freezer so we will be using that before the next shopping trip. We got some fresh veggies at Pepper Place over the weekend, as well as some that were completely free thanks to Jake's granny having a wonderful garden each summer. She also gave us some apples off of their apple trees so we made them into an apple pie...yum!

Grocery spending was really low again this week. Our trip to the grocery store was just to pick up milk for Declan and dog food for Wade and Fia. We decided to buy Purina Dog Chow instead of Purina One to cut costs. The dogs were not impressed, but if we can cut back for a month then they can do it along with us.

Entertainment was completely free this week because we just played with what we had at home. Declan had a blast playing outside in his pool and was joined by Wade. :) We also got to visit with family again, but this time they came down to us. However, we did eat out on Saturday while Clint and Ashley were in town. We really have to avoid this the rest of the time and keep packing lunches each day.

Jake had to buy gas this week. He forgot the rule about only using the cash on hand and used his debit card so he could fill up the tank. I will definitely just have to get what is needed when I fill up now since this took a fifth of the month's budget. Gas expenses are hard for us to avoid since there is no way we can carpool due to our schedules being so different. We will just have to be very diligent the next two weeks about limiting the distance we can go on the weekends.

We didn't have any clothing or household purchases this week. Yay!

Budget remaining: $105.14

Cheap Challenge 2013- Week 1 Update

August 1-7 Spending total: $49.29 Groceries  Eating Out Gas Household  Entertainment Clothing Dog Needs $25.10 $13.86 $0.00 $5.34 $4.99 $0.00 $0.00 The household purchases we made were for the hooks to hang Dec's swing on the back porch ($2.07) and a new sippy cup after one cracked ($3.27).

$4.99 was to watch a movie over the weekend on Amazon Instant Video. This is definitely not something we could do every weekend of the challenge.

The grocery bill was low thanks to our pantry being so well-stocked from past purchases. We didn't have to purchase any meat this week because we had salmon, chicken and beef in the freezer. There is a little left, but we will likely have to buy some on the next grocery trip.

No gas this week, but we both started this with less than 3/4 tank and with a trip home to see some of our family this past weekend we used up more gas than planned. I am really proud of myself for doing zero online shopping this week and not browsing at stores for clothes for me or Declan. Yay!

Jake couldn't avoid eating out on Friday because he was at a conference and couldn’t pack lunch. He also bought sodas and had hot dogs from the cart at the dental school one day this week. I managed to pack lunch everyday! Week 1 really was not bad at all. I had hoped we would spend a little less than this in the first week so we would have more room in the budget later on, but we really did not get anything outlandish this week. The only expenses this week that were not necessities were Jake's one lunch at the hot dog stand, the movie we rented, and Dec's swing hooks. The kid has been waiting a month for us to put it up because the first hooks we got were the wrong size so this purchase was definitely worth it to us. Budget remaining: $200.71

Cheap Challenge 2013

For the month of August, we will be doing our best to save money by commiting to the No Spending Challenge, or, as we will call it, the Cheap Challenge. I have had this and many other money saving tips, challenges, and budget plans pinned to my Frugalista board on Pinterest for quite some time and only a few of them have actually happened in the Turner household.

At this time in our lives we are in somewhat of a strange place financially. I have a steady income, but Jake does not due to being a full-time dental student. My salary is a reasonable salary for a family of three, but it is definitely tight some months and absolutely nothing is going into savings. We have a buffer built-in from the additional money we take out in student loans each year to make sure we are covered in the event of any unforeseen expenses, but payments on this and all of Jake's loan money for tuition, tools and miscellaneous fees will start requiring payment sometime around November of 2014. With all of this in mind there is no time like the present to figure out where we can scale back so we are in a good place financially to pay the mountain of dental school student loans off ASAP and to start building our retirement fund.

Thus, our savings kickstarter: Cheap Challenge 2013.

Challenge Details:

For the next 31 days our family of 3 only has $250 to spend on all food, gas, clothing,

entertainment, household items, and doggie needs.

This budget restriction does not apply to the house payment, utilities, or cost of daycare since each of those easily exceeds $250/month all on its own.

I am really interested to see how this goes. We are going to definitely need to eat at home each night, pack lunches, find free events for entertainment, and try to drive as little as possible. I will definitely need to stay away from online shopping and resist the urge to buy clothes for Declan and myself when I make trips to Target (perhaps I should just avoid Target for a month).

Wish us luck and feel free to check-in to help keep us accountable! :)

Check back for weekly updates!

Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4

Lessons Learned

Transporation Birthday Party

I cannot believe it has been over a year since Declan was born and we brought him home from the hospital! This first year has been filled with so many wonderful memories and we were so excited for the opportunity to celebrate our little man and his first year of life.

I love parties so I could not wait for the chance to plan the first of Declan's many birthday celebrations. I had several ideas floating around, but most have been tabled for later birthdays because I decided a carnival, stache bash, and whatnot would be more fun when he and his guests were was a bit older and could be more inteactive with the event. So for his first birthday, I decided on transportation as the theme. What says little boy more than trains, planes, and automobiles?

The first thing I wanted to get nailed down was decor for the party. I wish I had the funds some of the parties on Pinterest seem to have, but alas my budget is not that large so I had to simplify some of my plans. :) For the backdrop behind one of the food tables, I decided to keep it simple and have just a birthday banner to decorate the wall. Fortunately, Keith (my cousin) and her shop, Feathered Nest Boutique, were able to make my plan come to life with an adorable 'Happy Birthday' pennant banner with appliqued lettering and different vehicles. She also made him a super cute birthday outfit to match! I also tried to pull from items we already had on hand (like Declan's wooden train he got for Christmas and the cute suitcase set I bought on Zulily) and purchased a few other wooden vehicles to serve as decorations and our gifts to the birthday boy.

   

 With decorations thought out, I had to come up with a plan for the invite and party favors. I managed to get really lucky here and won a custom invitation design from Cardtopia Company and they created the cutest birthday inviation for Declan! Once they completed the design, I was able to order cupcake toppers (I used them as stickers for sealing invite envelopes and on fruit cups at the party.) and water bottle labels that matched. I also won a $25 credit to KK's Favors and was able to use it toward custom party favors complete with a train whistle and airplane themed cup to give out to the kiddos.



It looks a little weird since I took off our contact info, but you can just imagine it. :)

Everything else just pretty much came together as needed. We lined the front walkway with balloons by using golf tees to hold them to the ground. I used Starbucks Frappucino bottles we collected as "milk bottles" for the tea and lemonade we served (the dispensers were the ones I purchased for our wedding). I made labels for the bottles using brown Kraft Paper and attached them with red, green, and blue baker's twine. Guests had access to a Sharpie so they could label their bottle. I also purchased blue striped and red striped paper straws on Amazon and they were way more affordable there than anywhere else. The cakes came from the Albertville Bakery and they were awesome, even though they did have to be frozen for two weeks when we had to reschedule the party from its original date. 

I took golf tees and tied the balloons to them before pushing them into the ground.

 Happy birthday, little man! I hope you had as much fun as your Dad and I did this first year and that you loved celebrating it with everyone (you did seem to really love the cake). I had a blast planning this for you and getting to celebrate at the party with you. Can't wait to see what the next year brings! Love, Mommy

Declan and his smash cake.

Declan's chair from Nanny and Pappy.

10 Months Old!

10 Months!

 

 

Stop growing!! Ok, don't really stop, but can you somehow slow down a bit? You are getting so big and independent now and I can't help but miss the moments where you had to be carried all the time and were too tiny to get around without my help. Don't get me wrong, I love that you are growing and I love the new ways we get to interact, but I can't believe how fast it is all going by. Everyday I celebrate each of the wonderful milestones you are reaching, but I also nearly burst into tears when I realize what you have outgrown in order to get there. 
  

You are currently 31 inches tall and are weighing in at a whopping 27.4 pounds! You can wear clothes from 18-24 months in size, but have ventured into the 2T range in many things. We have been using size 4 diapers, but their claim of going up to 37 pounds is not working with you so we are finishing out this pack and have already begun stocking up on size 5.
 

 

It amazes me constantly how fast you are changing. Gone are the days of a newborn's gummy grin. We now get a pretty full smile when you give us your "cheesy" little boy grin (you are so goofy!). Your four top teeth are pretty much completely in place and the two on bottom are still waiting for their outside buddies to come up. The high volume of drooling has returned though so I am thinking we'll get a peek at those any day now.

 

Your dad and I are having so much fun with you! You get into everything now that you are crawling and cruising so we have had to take our babyproofing to a whole new level. You really like to try to eat magazines for some reason so they are all shoved out of sight. :) You are so curious and it makes me so happy to watch you try to figure things out for yourself. And, I cannot help but crack up when you don't manage to get things to go your way because your whole foreheard wrinkles up with frustration. You keep trying though...that is until you grow bored and throw whatever down and move onto the next thing for a minute or so.

 

 Your laugh is infectious and we are able to get it out of you all the time now because you a.) seem to think we are weirdly hilarious and b.) are extremely ticklish. Laughter is by no means the only noise coming from you these days though. You also like to click your tongue at us, yell loudly, bark like a dog, and make a weird hissing noise (sounds like "cssshhh"). You are babbling up a storm and you are beginning to string multiple syllables together, going beyond the standard baba, mama, dada.

 

We find it really funny that you like to shake your head back and forth as if you are saying "no." I keep trying to nod "yes" and teach you that, but you just laugh and shake your head at me. You give great kisses and high fives though! Another fun habit you picked up this month is biting. We are getting along pretty well by saying "no biting" every time you do it, but every once in a while you nearly take a chunk out of my shoulder. This is one milestone I won't miss. :)

We keep thinking you may start walking any day now. You pull yourself up effortlessly and like to walk behind your push cart...or I should say run behind your push cart. You also like to scoot behind it on your knees just to break things up. :) You have stood on your own without holding onto anything several times now, but only for a few seconds so we may have just a bit more time before you are fully mobile.

We love you so much and cannot wait to see what the next month brings!