So in the excitement of yesterday and this weekend (no not THAT excitement, although if you’re as sick of hearing about it as I am definitely read this), I almost forgot Baby Evan’s monthday is today! 16 months doesn’t sound like anything special but for me it’s getting way too close to 18 months, which is a year and a half. And when he’s a year and a half he’ll be closer to 2 than 1 and my heart might break into a zillion teeny tiny pieces because I will definitely have to stop calling Baby Evan Baby Evan. I’m actually sort of glad I’ve got a new baby to ease the pain of watching my firstborn turn into such a PERSON.

Examples of personhood include: following directions more often than not, FINALLY signing “more” when he wants more and then pointing at the specific thing he wants more of, turning the pages of books as I read them, giving bedtime hugs and kisses and then requesting to be put in the crib and left alone to sleep, and clapping along with any and all applause on the television. Oh yeah, and running/climbing/dancing/grabbing/all manner of other child-like behaviors I swear he couldn’t do yesterday. Someone tell me he’s going to slow down soon – at this rate he’s going to be doing long division and competing in Olympic sports by the time he’s 6.

Time for some arbitrary and mostly meaningless milestones!

16 month milestone from Baby Center

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
• Turns the pages of a book – Yes, although this isn’t always a good thing since he gets bored with more than about four words per page and starts flipping to the end after a few seconds. I have no idea what happens in the middle of Pigs Aplenty, Pigs Galore. I’m assuming it involves pigs.
• Has temper tantrums when frustrated – Oh. Ha. Yes. Complete with thrashing, screaming and banging his head against the hardest object in the room. What a fun milestone.
• Becomes attached to a soft toy or other object – He has a blankie he sleeps with (and an identical extra blankie in case something happens to the first one)(both knit by his grandmother because she is awesome) and he definitely loves that blankie more than he loves other blankies…but I don’t think I would say he’s “attached”. Also, despite my best efforts he has no real interest in the bear I made him. Who, for the record, has a head now.

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
• Discovers the joy of climbing – So far, he likes climbing on and off the couch SO MUCH he hasn’t yet tried to climb anything especially dangerous. Plus he doesn’t really need to since he’s TALL ENOUGH TO REACH THE COUNTERS. Ack.
• Stacks three blocks – No, but he can knock down ALL of them.
• Uses spoon or fork – I’m not sure I’d call his utensil skills good enough for public viewing but we use them at home. He’s actually better with a fork than a spoon and really enjoys it.
• Learns the correct way to use common objects (e.g., the telephone) – Yes, definitely, and he’s becoming a better mimic every day. It’s adorable.

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
• Takes off one piece of clothing by himself – Does a diaper count? I’m pretty sure every kid this age has done that at least once, which I wouldn’t really call “advanced.”
• Gets finicky about food – He’s always been finicky about food. Right now he’s eating mainly animal crackers and mini bagels, but he FINALLY decided he likes whole milk so I’m hoping the weight check this month will still be good.
• Switches from two naps to one – How is this a milestone? For us it was a schedule thing – back when we first started doing Stroller Strides and Baby Signs and fourbazillionty other morning activities Baby Evan switched to just one mid-day nap. Luckily that noontime nap usually lasts at least two hours and can be moved successfully from the car to the crib most days if we’re running late. But I am already dreading the day he goes to NO nap. I’m not letting that happen until he’s in full-day kindergarten.

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Today is your last day to enter the LBaggies giveaway! And if you missed it, I also posted a coupon code for 20% off your baggie order, just to ease the pain of not winning. Not that YOU’RE not going to win. YOU totally are. Just enter BEBEHBLOG at checkout for your discount.

Also, could I trouble you to click on the banner below to vote for me? I’m getting my butt kicked by all the cooler, fancier blogs and it makes me sad in the face. Thank you!

Ladies and gentleman, we have a…..

GIRL!

My bank account is already weeping.

Besides THAT awesomeness, I am happy to report the baby looks perfect. For some reason, as focused as I’ve been on the gender, I’ve been secretly freaking out about the rest of the scan to the point where I’ve been waking up regularly at 2 am to obsess about it. Maybe it’s because this pregnancy feels so different from the first one I have a hard time believing it can be “normal.” Maybe it’s because after two years in the mommy-blogging world I have a better understanding of what a questionable or poor or tragic result means. Reading about it in What To Expect just doesn’t terrify me the way seeing it spelled out in black and white and gray and red and every rainbow color of emotion on the internet does. But the tech took a zillion measurements and was very thorough and said several times everything looked perfect and normal and good.

So for the record, the “high heartbeat means it’s a girl” old wives tale proved 100% true for me. Which makes it scientifically proven. IT’S SCIENCE, PEOPLE.

p.s. Oh God now I DO have to pick a name. I think we’ll probably narrow it down to a couple and make the announcement after she’s (SHE!!!!) born. So don’t be mad when I won’t tell you what it is until then – I DON’T KNOW.

p.p.s. Once this sinks in, expect a huge freak out over everything from whether or not I need to give Baby Girl her (HER!!!!!) own nursery to how exactly one changes little girl diapers.

p.p.p.s. I think E might cry. Please tell him girls are awesome and that they DON’T always grow up and break your heart. Although I think half his disappointment is not getting to use the awesome boy name we picked out. This time.

See round 1 here – I’ve officially crossed off Clementine but nothing else is definite.

Gemma Louise
Caroline Louisa
Piper Mae
Piper Corinne
Corinne Mae
Louisa Mae
Ruby Mae
Lizette (I just saw this somewhere and think it is SO CUTE)

I was shocked to learn E thinks Piper is adorable and awesome. He says no to Gemma and probably Ruby though. I just haven’t asked, since he usually says no to everything and it’s crushing my soul. I am soulless.

ARGH. WHY IS IT SO HARD TO DECIDE? And why can’t I stop reading baby name suggestions on the internet? This would be so much easier if I only had two dozen names to choose from instead of two BILLION.

I’m totally just naming her Baby Girl Davis. If it’s a girl. Which it’s not. So it doesn’t matter.

JUST LEAVE ME ALOOOOOOONE.

(Ultrasound tomorrow at 1:30 pm. I promise my hysterics will officially be over then.)

So you know how kids eat ALL THE TIME? And how you always have half a dozen different snacks in your purse just in case someone decides to throw a low-sugar meltdown in the middle of Target? Because if you don’t have snacks you have to abandon your cart full of super-necessary-and-useful stuff you found on clearance AND you don’t get to stop at Starbucks on the way out and now your whole life is ruined forever?

Yeah, that sucks. Which is why you need snacks.

One of the drawbacks of all those snacks is all those plastic sandwich baggies. The non-recyclable, ugly plastic sandwich baggies that end up in the trash even if you rinse them out several times because they’re just not made to be used over and over. So of course someone came up with a better solution:

Oh hai, I'm adorable and eco-friendly.

My sandwich is stylish in this LBaggie!

Enjoying Goldfishes at the fireworks display last week. Baby Evan loves eating stuff out of the bags - crackers, fruit, sandwiches - and they're so easy to just wipe out and use again.

More about LBaggies:

Our fun and colorful baggies are great for snacks, sandwiches, and just about anything!
We make our baggies with a 100% cotton print outer (we also have 100% organic cotton choices) and a waterproof inner (PU coated nylon). Lbaggies are food safe and free of lead, phlalates, BPA, and PVC.

Lbaggies come in two sizes: snack (6 in. x 6 in.) and sandwich (7 in. x 7 in.) and have a snap closure. We find snaps work better than aplix/velcro so you don’t get all those icky crumbs stuck in the closure. And you won’t smoosh your sandwich snapping them closed- just pinch the fabric from the outside to snap together.

Wash instructions: turn inside out to wipe/rinse clean, or machine wash.

A bunch of the moms in my Stroller Strides class (do you see a trend here of how easily I am influenced by the cool stuff my friends have?) ordered these from LoveyBums. Of course, then I wanted some too, and because I like sharing I asked if Pam would be interested in sending an extra bag so I could pass it on to you.

Since she is awesome and super nice, she sent four!

For you!

(That blue one with the flowers is my FAVORITE pattern. Let me tell you how hard I fought with my conscience on keeping it for myself.) There are tons of other cute pattern available if you want to buy some yourself:

The mermaids are a close second for my favorite. Or maybe the animals. Heck, I'll take them all.

FREE STUFF ALERT!!! Do YOU want one of the sets pictured above (includes one sandwich size and one snack size)? I’ll draw two winners – the first one gets dibs on whichever set they want and runner up gets the other.

To enter – just leave a comment! It doesn’t have to be brilliant, but make sure I know you’re not spam.

Contest is open to anyone who has a mailing address. I just hope my sister in Africa doesn’t win, shipping there is ridiculous. But you can enter if you want Carolyn! Entries must be received by midnight on August 5th to be considered. Winner announced on Friday morning. GIVEAWAY CLOSED!

NEW! Pam sent me a coupon code to share with you! Enter BEBEHBLOG at checkout to get 20% off your baggie order!

Disclosure: Pam from LoveyBums sent me 6 bags total for this post. I kept two to review (total value: $13) and I am personally mailing the other four to the winners at my own expense. Because I love you. My opinions and review are totally my own and were not influenced by free stuff.