Ben 18 months!

My sweet sweet Bennie Boo is 18 months old TODAY! I apologize that I do not have any pictures. I am actually amazed that I am writing a blog post. Work is super busy this time of year and the past few weeks have been quite hectic! I know lots of people do it every day, but working full time with 2 kids is not the easiest of tasks. Getting myself ready, 2 kids fed, dressed, medicated (Addyson), shoes on that match each other and match the clothes they are wearing, teeth brushed, etc every morning is really not easy. It's quite hard actually! So, anyways, I digress....this blog post is not about my busy schedule but it's about sweet Ben!!

We are so proud of him. He is seriously the sweetest little boy we could have ever imagined. He is SO happy and just a very go with the flow kind of baby. That has been nice! He had started throwing some tantrums at 15 months but those have subsided drastically and he is just a happy little critter (most of the time!!- he does have his moments here and there!). He has really been talking a lot the past few weeks. He says "Outside" every day when we get home because this boy LOVES to play outside. I think that is pretty typical for little boys and he is no exception. It does not matter that it is 108 degrees outside, that is where he wants to be! Each evening we play out in the driveway (thank goodness it is shaded!) and run around outside. Ben loves bugs and all things boys. Tonight there was a big frog on the driveway and it jumped really far towards me and I jumped up and shreeked "EWWW!". He ran after the poor frog all night (chasing it though) and yelling "Ew Ew Ew". It was funny! He also says "shoe" when he needs his shoe on. Water is "wa wa" usually very loudly when he wants his water. He can say nose and point to his nose and eyes and point to his eyes. The other body parts are a little hit or miss! He says "dog" a lot and his favorite book right now is "Go Dog Go!" We read this each and every day! When I open it up he says "Go Dog!" Very cute!

He is acually saying about 30-35 words right now I think. I counted them up the other day and this is what I came up with. Some of them are not exactly pronounced correctly (wa wa for example) but I know what he wants! He has also put 2 words together a couple of times (Bye Mi Mi!, Go Dog)

He is still the best little sleeper as well. I can really put him down at any time in his crib and he goes to sleep without one little peep! Bed time is usually 7:30 or so and he's up anywhere between 7:30 and 10:00 AM! That was nice a few days! He also naps for 2 1/2 to 3 hours during the day.

He has lots of teeth- is it bad that I really don't know how many right now?? :) Whatever it is, he has lots of chompers! Bad mommy point on this one! I'll count them tomorrow!!

Ben is also still a great eater! Tonight while we were cooking dinner we snacked on some cucumbers and green bell pepper. He ate them all right up! Addyson wouldn't eat that if you dipped it in chocolate! He eats everything that we eat and loves it. He also loves to throw food though. If he is full or decides he wants to play he will take a big handful of food and throw it as far as it will go. When we get on to him and say, "No Ben" in the meanest voice we can muster up he gets a very serious look on his face, eyes well up with tears and then gives us the cutest little smile and starts laughing. Little stinker! How can you get mad at that!! :) He knows quite well what he is doing, and I do confess, he usually gets away with it because he is just so darn cute!

Brushing his teeth has been a challenge. He does not like this but I do remember Addyson going through this and so I know he will get used to it with time!

Overall he is just a pure joy and I want to just bottle up all of his cuteness and sweetness. I know there are fun times to come in the next 6 months as we approach 2!

One more point I want to remember is how much of a daddy's boy Ben is right now. He loves his daddy more than anything in this world (yes, even more than me right now!). He wants to be right beside him and he just lights up every time he sees him. This just melts Ryan's heart to have a little "mini-me" running around behind him at all times. I hope they always are very close! We love you to pieces Bennie Boo!