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14 Months

Baby Joe and 'Uncle Firetruck'
Baby Joe is now a little over 14 months old and has had quite the adventure over the last month.  He traveled with Rachael to Florida last month to spend time with Holly and Mike and their new daughter and was supposed to go see Melody for a few days before coming home.  Unfortunately, my mother got into a car accident on April 12th and I had to cut their trip short so they could meet me in New Jersey.  Mom is recovering well and she got to see the baby before we left, albeit for only a few minutes.  He was also able to visit with Rachael's mom in Delaware for lunch one day and made his rounds with my aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandmothers during his time in New Jersey.

On his trip we learned that baby Joe loves firetrucks - he got to visit one with Mike at his firehouse and also my friend Pat in New Jersey and he now owns several firetruck toys.  He can also say 'firetruck' in his own way and refers to his Uncle Mike as 'firetruck'.

He is starting to string together words for small sentences, such as 'light off' when he wants to go to sleep, and also has expanded his vocabulary to include animal sounds like cow, dog, elephant, and also makes the siren sound of his favorite firetruck.   He also enjoys saying 'I did it' when he does something like climbing up stairs or playing with his toys.

Last night he took his first connected set of steps - he took about 5 steps in the living room in front of both Rachael and I.  He's still quite cautious about walking but it seems he's getting more confident and we're looking forward to him walking around sometime soon.

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