OFB Baby Update: 20 Months


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Baby Bucks

 General Baby Thoughts

Can it really be called a baby update when I’m referring to a 20-month-old? She’s still under two, so I vote yes. My, how the time flies. This is an interesting age. Sally is both super fun and super difficult right now. Let’s talk about today, for instance. She put part of a plastic wrapper in her mouth, and when I tried to fish it out, she bit my finger as hard as she could. And laughed at my angry reaction. She threw her dinner all over the floor while Johnny and I were both shouting, “No, Sally!” And she fished a Diet Coke can out of the trash can and poured the last few drops on a pillow in the living room, also while I was saying, “No! Don’t do that!” On the flip side, she played at the splash pad for over an hour, giggling and running from it to Johnny and me. She cuddled with me on the couch several times today and gave both Johnny and me several spontaneous hugs and even tried to give the kitty a hug. And after throwing her dinner on the floor, she picked up every single piece by hand without complaint, per our orders. Finally, when she fell fast asleep tonight, she was cradling an open book on her chest. We love our girl more every single day.

So, yes, that’s the only way I know to explain this age. We have some of the sweetest, most blissful moments one second, followed by pure craziness and defiance the next second. Sally is talking so much these days, trying to repeat almost every word that comes out of our mouths. It’s so fun to see her learning so quickly. And it’s equally frustrating knowing that she understands exactly what we’re saying, but she chooses to do the exact opposite. In short, there’s never a dull moment in this household right now.

Financial Baby Thoughts

As far as baby finances go, we’ve been doing really well. Diapers and wipes are a constant cost, at about $50 per month. And while I do buy some separate snacks for Sally, they just go into our grocery budget. As far as clothing goes, Sally’s been growing at a much slower rate this year, which has been nice. We got her a few shirts a couple of weeks ago, which cost about $15 total. And I ordered her two puzzles from Amazon, which were worth every penny, and spent $20 total. Other than that, I’ve spent $5 on stickers. Each time she’s happy at the grocery store, she gets a $1 sticker pack. And that’s it for our baby spending for the month, a grand total of $90. I will say that she could use a few more shirts and dresses, but I’m kind of hoping I can hold out until Santa visits in December. I will say that I’m very excited about spending a little money on a Halloween outfit in the next month, though!

And now, some pictures of our girl:

raspberry 1after stuffing her mouth with raspberries

raspberry 2

raspberry

For the been-there-done-that crowd, does this sound pretty typical? How do we relate and differ? How can so much personality be bottled into such tiny little people?

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23 Comments

  • Reply Deb @ Saving the Crumbs September 17, 2014 at 9:17 am

    Awww, thanks for the cute pictures and honesty on parenthood. We’re thinking of starting a family (God-willing) and appreciate parents being willing to share real-life parenthood with both the sweet and the occasional ugly! 🙂

    • Reply Joanna September 22, 2014 at 11:45 pm

      It’s both fun and frustrating, all in one. But it’s worth every second!

  • Reply Melanie September 17, 2014 at 9:58 am

    Haha those stories are hilarious. You will be so happy to one day have these “little” things like fishing a can out of the trash and pouring it on your pillow….what a little darling! haha. I used to nanny for a little girl who would put a piece of chicken in her mouth, chew it up, and then pull it out of her mouth slowly, look at me, and throw it on the floor. (It was just a stage!) I remember feeling particularly IRRITATED by that, haha!. Now it’s funny to look back on.
    Love that last pic of her scrunching her face and smiling. So cute!

    • Reply Joanna September 22, 2014 at 11:49 pm

      That sounds like something Sally would do. We’re just telling ourselves that her very strong opinions and personality will be a good thing someday! 🙂

  • Reply Little House September 17, 2014 at 10:03 am

    Toddlers could almost be classified as “The good, the bad, and the cute (instead of ugly 😉 ).” Sounds like you’re completely enjoying parenthood, even with the deviance (which I believe comes back around the teen years!)

    • Reply Joanna September 22, 2014 at 11:51 pm

      We are definitely enjoying it a lot. I’m glad I have a parenting partner in crime who I can laugh with… otherwise, I really don’t know how I’d handle this stage!

  • Reply Wade September 17, 2014 at 11:16 am

    With 3 girls ages 14,11 and 6, the only way we survived was to forget. Ha ha. Those early years are a blur. A bunch of fun memories and many that are fine to let go of. Today I wrote about our 3 year old middle kid getting a Vaseline jar and getting the cover off. In the 2-3 minutes she pretty much emptied it on herself and the carpet. That was a mess. Memories.

    • Reply Joanna September 23, 2014 at 12:07 am

      Oh dear! I’m sure we have many “fun” memories ahead of us with Sal and any future children!

  • Reply Aldo @ MDN September 17, 2014 at 11:51 am

    She could be 20 years old and you’d still consider her your baby. I’m 33 years old and my mom still thinks I’m her baby… “I’m a grown as* man, Mom!” hahaha.

    You’re daughter is a cutie!

    • Reply Joanna September 23, 2014 at 12:08 am

      You’re right. She will ALWAYS be my baby!

  • Reply Miranda September 17, 2014 at 1:23 pm

    Haha! I just picture her doing a Cartman impression saying “I DO WHAT I WANT!”. Too cute! Do you guys ever get clothes for her from thrift shops? I don’t have any kiddos but I always see the cutest stuff for the wee ones when I’m browsing for myself. I always see things that are in near perfect condition for a dollar…

    • Reply Joanna September 23, 2014 at 12:21 am

      She definitely does what she wants. She’s the boss. Yes, we have gotten stuff at thrift shops, really cute stuff. We found some great stuff when we lived in NC, but stuff seems to be kind of picked over out here in UT.

  • Reply Tarynkay September 17, 2014 at 2:54 pm

    My theory is that they have an adult sized amount of emotions crammed into tiny little bodies. It is like trying to pour 20lbs of flour into a 5lb sack.

    • Reply Joanna September 23, 2014 at 12:22 am

      HA. Yes! Perfect description.

  • Reply Halsy September 17, 2014 at 3:33 pm

    What a cutie! I would say Sally’s a lucky girl to get stickers if she is good at the store! My toddler loves stickers too! It used to be the potty training reward but we had to step it up to a M&M. I can’t wait until the day I only have to buy diapers for my youngest! That will free up about $40 in the budget! The closer she gets to 2 the more she will challenge you!

    • Reply Joanna September 23, 2014 at 12:33 am

      Good luck with potty training! I’m already dreading that day, and I feel like it’s fast approaching!

  • Reply Shay September 17, 2014 at 5:01 pm

    Ha! “Little House” summed it up! Terrible twos and terrible teens! I’ve got an 8 1/2 year old who is pretty good most of the time, although her smart mouth has gotten her into time out twice this week. The 10 1/2 year old is a piece of cake when I can get him to put down the video games. Luckily, he does and plays outside with friends and plays on a basketball team. The teenager is a stuggle, 13 1/2 and has an active social and cross country life. The teenager has a mind of her own and it is almost a physical force needed to get her to do things on my time instead of hers. Love them all though and love all the stages they have gone through!
    Just be consistent with your discipline. It’s so hard and exhausting sometimes, but worth the end result!
    Shay
    Mom to Three Great Kids!

    • Reply Joanna September 23, 2014 at 12:53 am

      Those sound like very fun ages! Good luck with those teenage years! And you’re right about the discipline… something Johnny and I are still learning!

  • Reply Cate September 18, 2014 at 3:17 pm

    I have a 3-year old son who i still feel that way about! He will look at us with a defiant smirk as we (try to) calmly tell him not to do something which of course results in him doing exactly what we told him not to do. My husband and I then pull a little of our hair out and re-evaluate our discipline tactics.
    Shortly after that he says “Sowy” and runs over and gives us a big ole hug….
    Repeat that for hours and that is our oldest son on a daily basis.

    Then there is our 10 month old son who follows his big brother around growling and laughing at all of us.

    Kids, you cant help but love them <3

    • Reply Joanna September 23, 2014 at 12:54 am

      I’d like to think these strong personalities will be a good thing someday. That’s so cute about him saying “Sowy.” Those moments make it all worth it!

  • Reply Alexis September 23, 2014 at 11:55 am

    She is adorable! The people I live with are about to have a baby girl, and I am so excited for them!

  • Reply Nicole September 23, 2014 at 3:24 pm

    Hehehe, we’re in the same boat. Our little one is 25 months now and Oh My Goodness the changes they go through so rapidly. When I think about it, I’d be testing boundaries and trying to figure out this world too…. I can’t even imagine what it’s like to learn SO many words in the course of a day or week. Our Evelyn is pitching some pretty epic fits lately. She has developed a definite appreciation of the word “No!!!!!!” (with multiple exclamation points of course), and walking past our house one could probably hear, “No! I don’t WANT TO!” on a regular basis. You name it–sleep, eat, pick up toys, sing the ABCs because mama loves to hear her sing–nope, I don’t want to!. LOL We have a 9 year old also…. but that means that I have completely forgotten about all of this between the two children and almost all of the difficult stuff I find myself saying, “I don’t remember Kid1 doing this?!?!” This too shall pass. I love their great curiosity and strength of spirit! It’s also such a challenge though (I’m not one to sugar coat the hard stuff lol).

  • Reply Katie B. September 30, 2014 at 5:16 pm

    Just found your blog… LOVE! My daughter turned 20 months Sept. 22 so looks like we are two of a kind! My MIL just brought us two brand new boxes of diapers!!! I have never been so happy in my life to see giant cardboard boxes! Haha! I absolutely HATE buying diapers. But, we must. .

    Right now we are finding ourselves buying transitional items… new forks, spoons, plates, toddler bed rail, etc. I’m trying not to buy it all at once but I swear she turned into a super independent toddler overnight!

    We also have to send lunches to daycare and I’m constantly amazed at the increase in cost for feeding three people three times a day – she eats way more than I thought she would at this age!

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