Bennett: 18 Months!

How is our baby 18 months old already?!?  He is growing and learning so much lately - he is honestly like a little person and not much like a baby at all.  I feel like he learns something new everyday!

Bennett is on a pretty consistent schedule lately, thanks to my working full time and him having to be at the babysitter's house.  He takes one nap per day, anywhere from 1 hour - 1.5 hours, and will sometimes (but rarely) sleep for 2 hours.  We are slowly working on making that nap after lunch but right now it's from about 11-12:30.  At night Ben sleeps 7:15pm-6:00am-ish usually.  We've just transitioned from a bedtime bottle to a bedtime sippy cup of warm milk and he's doing fine with that.  So no more bottles! :)

Bennett is like a little parrot lately, trying to say everything we say.  He still isn't using 2 word phrases, other than Oh-oh, Oh no, or help please!  However, he probably says about 30-40 words independently.  His favorite things to say are the names of everyone he knows, especially when he's in his car seat.  He still can't say the "ck" sound, so it's entertaining to listen to him say Kyle "Di-al!" and Kimmee "Chimmee!"  Bennett also is still obsessed with animals and making animal noises.  It's also pretty cute when he kisses or pats my belly and says, "Baby!" (Though I doubt he has any clue what's coming.... :))  His other favorite thing to say is, "Pease!" (Please).  And he knows his own name, too.  If you ask, "Who are you?" He'll say, "Ben!"

Bennett is a crazy little explorer and climber lately.  He's started rejecting his high chair, so now he sits at the table or peninsula with us.  It's not ideal at all, but we couldn't stand his screaming and crying and refusing to eat when he was in the high chair.  Bennett still doesn't like to really play alone, and he'll often grab our hand and say, "Pay!" (Play) while leading us to the family room where his toys are.  He loves to play with blocks, puzzles, I'm gonna get you, Peekaboo, and with his Little People farm animals and Little People house.  Strangely enough, he's also pretty obsessed with a big cardboard box - he loves to sit in it or make us sit in it and pretend to be stuck and need help "Help!"  But Bennett's favorite thing is still to be doing anything outside.  He loves throwing and kicking balls around, and going down his slide.  He loves playing in water or sand and in the garden, too.  "Ow-sigh!" (Outside)  He will actually start trying to put on his shoes and will bring us our shoes when he really wants to go out.

Bennett is starting to pretend, which is really fun.  He pretends to talk on the phone, pretends to eat food, he makes his little people animals kiss "Muah!" and eat "nom nom nom!"  His newest thing is pretending to be a dog.  He crawls around with his tongue hanging out like Cooper. :)  He also LOVES singing and listening to music and dancing.  He is obsessed with ring-around-the-rosie and will make everyone in the room join in if he decides he wants to do it.  I think we once had six adults doing ring around the rosie in our family room.  Ha!  He also still loves books.  The first thing we do in the morning is snuggle and read a few books, and he and Brad read books before bed too.  Bennett has a few favorites, and he can turn the book the right way if it's upside down.  We sometimes find him in his glider with Fox in Socks, turning the pages saying, "socks sock socks" to himself. :)  There are quite a few books that he knows well enough to be able to say a word or make a noise that's coming up on the next page.

Bennett loves playing with his Daddy - wrestling and I'm Gonna Get You are his favorites.  He isn't really afraid of anyone, and usually isn't too shy with strangers either.  Usually one-on-one he acts more shy.  In a crowded place he will just start waving at everyone and saying, "Hi!"  Overall, he is a Mommy's boy!  After work he pretty much won't put me down.  If I take a shower, he's pounding at the door yelling, "Mama!"  (He recently learned how to knock).  Ben LOVES giving kisses and will say "Muah!"  And he won't take no for an answer - it's gotta be on the lips.

Eating has been a little challenging now that Bennett is getting his own opinions.  He will eat any fruit and pretty much any cracker, but he hates most veggies (peas are okay).  He often rejects what I make for dinner, even if it's something I know he'd like.  He ends up eating a lot of grilled cheese with ham, mac and cheese, and cheese quesadillas (Midwest theme here???).  Not a huge meat lover.  He will eat sloppy joe's so we can sneak some meat into him by making that.

We love our boy so much and are so excited to watch him grow.  Every day is more fun than the day before! :)