OFB Baby Update: 16 Months


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Baby Bucks

General Baby Thoughts

Sally is like a well-funneled tornado, wreaking havoc in every room of the house. I used to have her sit in the bathroom while I showered, but now she opens the cabinets, tears out every container, opens them, pours out their contents, and then opens the bathroom door and runs away — cackling. Okay, not cackling, but definitely smiling devilishly. On the flip side, she’s more fun and sweeter than ever. She’s started enjoying playing with other kids her own age, and she’d spend every second swinging at the park if we’d let her.

Sally also just got her first major owie when she fell off the bleachers at Johnny’s softball game. She got scraped up pretty good but was fine otherwise. And Johnny and I both had heart attacks, of course. Suffice it to say, parenting a toddler is keeping us on our toes.

Financial Baby Thoughts

Sally has grown out of all of her 12–18 month clothing, and with summer fast approaching, I spent $51 on a bunch of 2T shirts and shorts. As one fellow mom recently said to me, “She’s huge!” Recently, Sally also dropped my phone on our kitchen floor and shattered the screen, which cost $85 to get replaced. She has since lost all privileges to my phone, which Johnny has been encouraging all along. Luckily, he didn’t say, “I told you so,” but if he had, it would have been well deserved. We also spent $25 on wipes and $12 on babysitting, bringing the grand total for month 16 to $173. This month was a tad more expensive, mostly because of the phone debacle. But she looked so cute holding it!

And now, here are a few action shots of our girl since she’s always on the go these days:

Sally 1thwarting my makeshift barricade

sally 2on the move & sweeping

sally 3her first owie 🙁

Sally 4swinging to her heart’s content

For the been-there-done-that crowd, does this sound pretty typical? How do we relate and differ? Will we be calling Sally a 48-month-old when she turns four, or does this month-to-month gibberish end sometime soon?

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25 Comments

  • Reply Becky @ RunFunDone May 12, 2014 at 8:39 am

    Have you looked into getting an Otterbox for your phone???? I consider mine to be well worth the investment, since I drop my phone several times per day (I’m clumsy!). Make sure you get the heftiest one with the screen cover! You can save quite a but by buying from eBay, and Otterbox has great customer service with a great warranty !

    • Reply Joanna May 12, 2014 at 4:40 pm

      That might be a good option now that I have a toddler! I kind of love minimalist cases, but my wallet would probably thank me if I got an Otterbox.

      • Reply Lorin May 13, 2014 at 3:36 am

        I was going to suggest the same thing. I’m not sure how my phone would survive 2 kids without my otter box. Just don’t get white, it shows stains.

  • Reply Brian May 12, 2014 at 9:22 am

    I second the Otterbox. Our little guy is pretty good at watching/playing with my wife’s phone when we need a distraction, but he has been know to give it a good toss. The otterbox has held up nicely!

    I think they month talk stops when the turn 2… for me it stop after 18 months… then I just started saying he is almost 2.

    • Reply Joanna May 12, 2014 at 4:41 pm

      Sally’s very good at tossing phones, too! When Johnny’s not around, I still let her hold it when we’re on the couch or carpet, even though I’m probably asking for trouble :).

  • Reply Cate M. May 12, 2014 at 9:31 am

    I do not have an Otterbox but I have far surpassed my luck already. My 2 1/2 year old is always playing with my phone and I am very surprised it hasn’t been destroyed yet, especially when it is dropped from several feet onto a shopping store floor that is as hard as concrete.
    Each new season I find myself buying some new clothes for our oldest son (we also have a 6 month old). He is growing so fast that each season he needs new shoes/sandals,pants/shorts & shirts/jackets. We hit up a few garage sales and consignment stores which makes it less painful to our budget. Of course, the grandparents are always buying him new clothes which helps tremendously. Luckily our second child is also a boy so we consider clothing an investment since we can re-use most of it.
    We stopped using months to describe how old our son was after he turned 2. I found myself pausing to do the math and felt like an idiot.

    • Reply Joanna May 12, 2014 at 4:44 pm

      Sally had dropped my phone so many times that I was starting to think it was invincible! But all it took was one drop the wrong way, and the whole thing was shattered :(.

      And I’m already stopping to do the math with Sally’s months, ha! I had a woman at the park ask if I was her babysitter, and I think it was because I couldn’t think of her age very quickly :).

  • Reply Eric Williams May 12, 2014 at 9:36 am

    I’ve always dis-liked referring to babies in months. And I was told I could stop doing it once our girl turned two. Yet, now I find myself still saying she’s 26 months….. maybe once she’s potty-trained I’ll give it up. Old habits die hard…

    • Reply Joanna May 12, 2014 at 4:48 pm

      Haha, it sounds like they do! I’m impressed you’re able to remember how many months she is at this point :).

  • Reply kelsey May 12, 2014 at 11:14 am

    Such a climber!!! Here was the post I wrote when my daughter turned 16 months: http://www.snappycasualblog.com/blog/rooney-16-months

    • Reply Joanna May 12, 2014 at 4:48 pm

      Thanks for sharing! I enjoyed reading what your girl was up to at Sal’s age.

  • Reply Mary May 12, 2014 at 11:45 am

    Hi guys! We are 3 months ahead of you with our first kid. She too is a big girl. If a shirt isn’t v-neck, have lots of buttons, or a big scoop neck, it had better be 3T or it isn’t going over her head. So, I feel your pain. I’d recommend that you go ahead and start looking at sales, goodwill half price color days, craigslist, and garage sales at the next two sizes so that you at least have a couple of options when you suddenly need them. Then you won’t get hit with as big of a bill all at once. Also, my girl doesn’t have long enough legs to keep 2T pants off the ground yet, but needs 2T or 3T for the belly and hips. I’ve just discovered that if you buy 3T capri legging (or any other kind of leggings I assume) they work as full length right now.

    For me, the month thing stopped after the 18 month check up because I no longer have to think about when I need to be scheduling one. It also takes some conscious thought to start saying a year and a half rather than 18 months, but I am so happy not to count months before I respond!

    • Reply Joanna May 12, 2014 at 4:51 pm

      Good call on looking for the next size up right now, Mary! Big toddlers for the win! 🙂

  • Reply Wade May 12, 2014 at 11:57 am

    After 18 months we just said “approaching 2” or “2” or “2.5”.

    For your second kid you will just bypass the months after 1 and for your 3rd kid you will drop the months thing altogether. “0”, “waiting for 1”, “not yet in Kindergarten”. 🙂

    Our middle kid managed to break her iPhone 4 back glass with an Otterbox on. Dropped it from about 3.5 feet onto a hard tile floor. She felt bad. $80 later I felt bad for her. But she learned.

    • Reply Joanna May 12, 2014 at 4:52 pm

      Oh, good! Only two more months of this month-to-month madness. I wish I could have billed Sally for dropping my phone. Unfortunately, she’s still under the impression that money is something to be eaten :).

  • Reply Dave Lalonde May 12, 2014 at 3:45 pm

    I’ve never liked using an Otterbox because it was so big. I prefer having a ghost armor screen protector. It works really well and it doesn’t add on any extra weight to my phone. And this whole month-to-month thing will surely end soon. With my nieces and nephews, it ended after their first year.

    • Reply Joanna May 12, 2014 at 4:53 pm

      I’m more of a minimalist with my phone, too. I’ll have to look into the ghost armor screen protector. Thanks!

  • Reply Lisa May 12, 2014 at 4:48 pm

    I definitely will never spend $53 on kids clothes again. First kid, yes, I admit it, I did, and it’s fun once in awhile, but it is so not worth it to spend more than a dollar or two on each item. Second child, I’m loving Goodwill or Savers, especially in a nice area like where we live we find all sorts of name brands, Ralph Lauren, Guess, Gymboree, etc. They grow out of them so fast, used kids clothes are almost new!

    • Reply Joanna May 12, 2014 at 4:55 pm

      True. Sally grows out of her clothes before they get any wear and tear. I think half of the reason why I buy her clothes new is that I prefer being able to shop online and get it done in the comfort of my house. But $1 an item is hard to beat, so maybe Goodwill and I should become friends.

  • Reply Debra May 12, 2014 at 5:12 pm

    My first would scream her head off the entire time I was in the shower, even though she was in her bouncer right outside the glass door. I finally got smart and brought her in with me as soon as she could sit in a bumbo seat. If you don’t mind stepping around a few bath toys and keeping the spray out of her face (they make a shower hat for that), it’s the best way to ensure a worry-free shower for you, and she gets clean, too!

    • Reply Joanna May 13, 2014 at 1:37 pm

      Funny you should mention that, Debra! I have started letting Sally get in the shower with me the last couple of times, although ours is just a standing shower, not a tub. I will have to look into the shower hat you mentioned… I think that’d help a lot!

  • Reply Rob May 12, 2014 at 9:28 pm

    Yep, as a been-there-done-that dad I figure that you guys are just about on track as we were when our daughter was Sally’s age. I will say however that, should you (like us) have a second child in the not-too-distant future, you will surely get out of the month-to-month mode since much of this stuff will become pretty blaze to you seasoned parents by then. When our daughter was born (and for two years afterward), we took a gazillion pics of her. Then along came her little brother and he got a lot less kid-glove treatment (and less pics)! 🙂

    • Reply Joanna May 13, 2014 at 1:39 pm

      Ha, I already feel sorry for our second child because I’m sure it will be the same! Sally is getting the royal treatment, and there’s no way any future children will be nearly as spoiled :).

  • Reply Tarynkay May 12, 2014 at 11:42 pm

    I met a woman recently who told me that her daughter was 56 weeks old. I mean, seriously? Don’t make people do math. When our son hit 18 months, I started saying, “He is 1 1/2.” When his second birthday was about three months away, I started saying, “He will be two in November.” I am not sure when you stop mentioning the 1/2. Six months is pretty significant among toddlers, though. If other parents ask or say the months first, I try to count up and say the months, b.c it really matters to some people. I won’t do weeks, though. That is crazy talk.

    My son destroyed my phone just this morning! He submerged it in my water glass when I left the room for five minutes. He also ate my shopping list. No kidding. He is 2 1/2 now and thinks these things are hilarious.

    • Reply Joanna May 13, 2014 at 1:41 pm

      Yeah, the weeks talk should stop once the baby hits two months. That mom must not have gotten the memo! 😉

      So sorry about your phone!! That stinks! Sally eats receipts. What is it with kids and devouring paper??

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