E L E V E N Months!

I think this might be the first time I'm actually up to date on the blog! Branko is now eleven months old, we're just a few short weeks from his first birthday! This was the fastest year of my life! This month, Branko has become a bit more of a pickier eater, but still loves to eat. Not the biggest fan of tomatoes, no matter how many times I try. We just tried feeding him jackfruit, and he started to feed it to me instead. It did kind of have a weird spice to it, so I can' blame him. He's also not a fan of mashed potatoes, I think the puree texture gets to him since he loves to feed himself. Branko is starting to crawl "normally", loves to stand 80% of his day, really good at pulling himself up to stand, drinking out of a straw, showing off his new top teeth, clapping,  placing a basketball into the net, walking while holding mom or dads hands, and taking toys out of the bucket to put them back in.

Our prop for this month were donuts! I've officially lost the battle. Note broken donuts and donuts in different spots in each picture. Stay tuned for his birthday smash cake for his party!

From here until the end of the blog, all of the pictures uploaded in reverse order. What's a blog with out a little mix up?! It is currently Labor Day weekend, on Saturday we went up to our friends Kelly and Matt's new house in the Appleton area. They were our neighborhood buddies who moved back up north to be closer to family. We miss them, but enjoyed our time together and seeing the boys play. They have a little guy named Ben who is 9 months older than Branko. Funny, the day Ben was born was the day I found out I was pregnant with Branko. After we drove back from Appleton, we drove to Racine to go to Milaegers to meet with Bacha and Auntie Kelly to pick up some mums and check out their farmers market. We ended up going to the Racine lakefront for lunch. Here's Branko checking out his new balance bike from Bacha (Bacha is Serbian for Grandma).

Kelly had lots of fun toys at their house, Branko gravitated to the balls! These boys got a long really well. 

Deep conversation over Cheese-It's.

Our blue eyed boys.

Both boys have similar bedtime routines, so we thought, why not give Branko a quick soak before bedtime.

The Friday of Labor Day weekend, we went to Lionsfest down the street from our house. We've gone 2 or 3 times and really enjoy ourselves each year. It was a bit of a cooler day with some rain, but it held out during our few hours there. We ran into a few friends while we were there, so it was nice to catch up.

#Coachella

On Monday and Friday last week, my dad came over to work on our swings that we got from the neighbors behind us. He came over on Monday to power wash it and take down the tarp. My mom is making a new tarp, so it's not quite finished yet. I think I'm going to need some new swings to complete the look! My dad also took out the grass below the fort and put in a sand box. It needs about 10 more bags, but we played in it last night and Branko loved kicking his feet around. He was doing really good about not putting the sand in his mouth until the very end. 

Branko enjoyed watching grandpa, his favorite part was climbing on the stool. It was a beautiful week, were the weather was in the mid-70's. It was a breath of fresh air after the 90's/humidity we we're dealing with. It rained towards the end when we were putting the sand in, but luckily, the stain was already dry and I gotta say, it looks so good! I can't wait to see the new tarp! We picked this color to match the house and not stick out like a sore thumb. Thank you dad/grandpa!

Before..

One of Branko's favorite toys, he's finally figure out he can stick his hand in it to get the fabric tissues. Makes my job so much easier than trying to loop all the tissues together!

On Tuesday, Branko and I went to the zoo. We went on the train for the first time! This is pretty much what he looked like most of the train ride. We stopped and grabbed Chick-Fil-A and ate by the farm animals.

These pictures are from Monday. He got a new hat from Auntie Kelly and I feel like his blue eyes pop so much with this color! We spent as much time outside as we could so soak in this perfect weather.

Also, on Monday while my dad was here, he helped repair the front window shutters. They had been bothering me since we moved in. We tried to unscrew them from the house to really clean them, but they were in there pretty good. I hand washed them, and my dad painted them. Luckily, the previous owners had a bunch of left over pain from the garage trim and front post, making it for an easy match! Grandpa always has an audience! Actually, Branko took some pretty awesome naps this day, allowing me to help my dad. I was even able to borrow the power washer and wash our back patio and fence! Looks so good!

Left is the finished product, right is during the process, you can see how faded they are from the sun.

Last Sunday, Lindsey/Joe/Charlie came over. Branko wanted to show Charlie one of his favorite books, "Don't tickle the pig."

These boys ate almost the entire time they were together.

Mac and Cheese for dinner!

Charlie just loved Branko and just wanted to give him lots of hugs!

More hugs!

This was Branko's face when I told him Charlie was coming over. 

My parents wedding anniversary was August 28th, we went out to dinner to Casa Capri to celebrate their 45 years of marriage. Branko did awesome at dinner!

Kisses for Nora!

This was Branko most of the dinner, hanging out with Grandma. Lots of apps/bread made for a happy Branko!

We checked out the splash pad near by. Branko really enjoyed himself, almost as much as he just enjoyed standing against the ledge.

Branko wanted to show you all an update of his cool new teeth!

He also tries to check to make sure there isn't anything to drink in... anything..

We're 2.5 weeks away from the big day! I've been starting to get ready for his birthday party, his actual birthday falls on a Saturday, which is when we will have the party. Fingers crossed it doesn't rain!