First Independent Purchase!

Christopher made his first purchase with his own money, his own wallet, and all by himself today! We had a neighborhood yard sale this weekend, planned a few months ago. His friends Quintin and Kyle were at Kyle's house about 5 houses down the street selling their toys for the yard sale today. Christopher walked down to see them, and next thing I know, he's back and telling me that, "Mommy! Mommy! I need a dollar so I can go buy a transformer at Kyle's house!" Earlier that morning, we had put his wallet in an inconspicuous place, so he could find it, but it wasn't sitting out in the open. His dresser, where he normally kept it, had been removed for the yard sale yesterday. So, I suggested to him that he go get his wallet, and get a dollar out to take and buy the toy he wanted. About 15 minutes later, he returned, very proud of himself, and told us that, "Mommy, I spent TWO DOLLARS and bought two transformers from Kyle. It cost me TWO DOLLARS! And then we counted the money in my wallet! Guess how much money I have in it, because we counted it! And I bought my transformers!" His wallet had tooth fairy money in it. Half went in his piggy bank, and half to his wallet. As we know, he's been losing a lot of teeth this past year so his little dollars were starting to rack up! And now his class is learning about money and the different denominations, and how to add them together. We practice at home, as well, so he was so excited he could count his money with his friends and know what it meant. Before this month, he really didn't care about money, even though he knew about it and what it was used for. As he likes to say, "Hey, I made a connection!" "Look what (two nickels and two pennies equal)!"

He was very proud of himself!

And then we realized how he had gone out on his own on a mission (with permission), he found something he wanted, he figured out how to get it, and he made the purchase with his own funds, and all by himself without us.

Our baby is growing up!
We are very proud of him, and love to see when he makes his "connections" in his day.

And today...we also sold and gave away 3 big boxes of baby clothing, blankets, sheets, toys, and more. We sold his baby crib last month. That was hard. It was easier today. We held up his first Halloween costume, an octopus, up against his body today before it went to its new home. The top of the head and eyes didn't even come up to his waist!

Our baby is Really Growing Up!
and learning how to spend his money
next, he's going to start asking for an allowance, we just know it