Bennett--21 Months (May 7-June 6)

Silence is Golden!  Well, not at our house anymore!  You are a talking machine—and most of it is actually something we can understand….if we pay attention!

Your vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds.  You will repeat almost anything if we ask (depending on your mood of course!) and we’re definitely hearing more 2-3 word phrases!  This is so exciting because just a few months ago we were on the edge of getting worried about your speech.  From what you’re showing us now though, I think our problem will be the lack of silence!  I love listening to how sweet your voice sounds and can’t wait to hear it more and more.  I’ve got to remember to take some videos so you can hear your tiny self later on down the road!

New words/phrases:  light, yeah (we miss the famous “Yessss”), right there, that one, the letters n and t (working on the letters in your name!), No mama, No dada, Thank you mama, Thank you dada, he’s crying (pointing to Riley), huh?  I know there are more, but I’ve forgotten!

You love trying to hold Riley’s bottle for him and will sometimes do it without us asking while we’re just doing something else.  You honestly love your brother and enjoy having him sit with you in any chair as well as lie beside him on the floor, saying Night, night.

I feed!

With your new turtle friend that lived in our yard for a while--you LOVED throwing him in the pool!

You started swimming lessons this month.  They’re more infant survival lessons where you work on going under water, closing your mouth (our biggest problem!), holding your breath, kicking, and floating on your back (the part you hate most!).  It’s so important that we do this with you since we have a pool and you love the water.  You’ve been a little more afraid of it lately, but I think it’s because you’re learning what to do and sometimes you’d just rather play and splash—or throw things in!  We’re taking you to Texas Swim Academy and we really love the way they work with you.  You do love Miss Amelia, your teacher!

You are becoming quite the expert at using your eyes to do things!  You certainly know how to give us sneaky looks, sly looks, etc—and the problem is that it’s just too cute!  The other problem is that I probably taught you!  Oh well…look like your daddy, act like me!  You’re such a ham and truly enjoy laughing, trying out new ways to use a toy, etc. One of your teachers said it best:  "Bennett is a rule breaker, but he's sneaky about how he does it.  If you tell him to not touch something with his finger, he'll touch it with his toe!"  That sums it up perfectly!

"Breaking a rule" by not grabbing anything in the fridge...but simply refusing to get out!

• Cars are one of your favorite toys right now.  Well, anything with wheels really!  
• You love driving around town because we see SO MANY diggers!  I try to call out their real names, but you insist they’re all just diggers!

Favorite spot to watch Thomas!

Bennett--20 Months (April 7-May 7)

Words!  Glorious WORDS!!!  Your vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds and that's pretty much how I'll classify this month!  You're still as cute as ever.  You still have as much personality as ever, and you still make us love you more and more each day!

Cracking yourself up on a car ride!

You are pretty much a bucket load of fun!  Everything amazes you and we love watching your excitement over the little things in life--like a favorite book or realization that if you hear something loud, it might have a truck/digger/choo-choo/etc to go with it!

First movie:  The Croods at the Drive-In in Hockley--not much of a success!

Lovely rash--still don't know what it was to this day.  Dr. said it was contact dermatitis...but we really don't believe that!

Daddy made you a chalkboard and hung it on the wall.  You love playing with chalk indoors--mommy...not so much!

Watching the choo-choo at Gram and Pops' house in Cuero

 

Monkey See, Monkey Do—that’s what the phrase of the month should be!  You are really into copying anything—not on a big scale, but we just notice you doing “grown up” things more and more.

You are a:

• Daredevil on your 4-wheeler and love to stand up on it…much to our dismay!
• Lethal thrower!  Anything and everything goes into the pool!  You’ve even figured out the best spot to stand at the fence so you can ensure it goes in!
• Great big brother!  You voluntarily give Riley hugs, kisses, his pacifier, hold his bottle, try to share food/toys with him, etc.
• Talker!  You said 3 phrases this month in addition to a few other new words.
• Phrases:  No more balls?—This one was particularly funny because you were running around the living room picking up balls you’d thrown.  After looking under a chair, this came out of your mouth!  Nothing major, but funny at the time because of your hand motions and voice inflection!  “I Sing”—which was followed by some cute Bennett singing!  “Did it”—when you fixed or did something!
• Words:  Outside, Rahla (Riley), mine—seriously…the 2nd most hated word after “No!”, bye, Yesssss
• Player—of toys I mean!  This month you enjoyed sitting in a V and rolling/throwing the ball.  Interactive games are a thrill for you!

 

This month you also:

• Started to get a little bit clingier (is that a word?).  It’s like you realize that daddy and I can go away and it frightens you.
• Tantrums come on easily and nothing triggers them the same way twice!

 

Bennett--15 Months

Who's the Charlie Brown character who carries a blanket everywhere?  Linus?  Pigsty?  We have our own version!

Growth

• Height/Weight
• Clothing--still at 18 month (some 12-18 month depending on brand)
• Shoes--still at 5.5 (even though they're big)
• Diapers--still at a size 4 for both regular and night time ones.
• Words:  Nothing completely clear except "dada", but the words you consistently try to say are: "shoes", "dog", "uh-oh", "thank you"--which is really just the sound...no word production, and "ohhhh!!!"
• Games:  You now raise your hands when we ask "How big are you?"; can show us "Who's #1?", and point to your nose, ears, mouth, and head. 
• If we ask you to do something like pick up your shoes and take them to the stairs, you'll do it and you start looking around if we ask you where something is.  You may not always get it or do what we are asking, but you'll look!

  
  Getting into things much?  Yep!  Nothing like mommy's lipstick!
  

   

  

  You LOVE putting things in holes or boxes!

  

  Ohhh!!!!

Sleeping/Eating
I've decided to lump these into one category since not much is changing with these.

• Pretty good napper still at daycare.  Sometimes 2 hours, sometimes less, sometimes they have to wake you up!  On the weekends....depends on what we're doing and how exhausted you are, but it's basically the same!
• Eating--you want everything we have and you MUST have the same thing because you notice if you're missing something and point to it until it's given to you.  Not a good habit for us to get into!
• Chicken is apparently NOT a favorite any more--even with BBQ, ketchup, or alfredo sauce.  Apparently you DO have taste buds AND an opinion!

The Land of Bennett

• Bubbles are still a hit!  One afternoon you sat in my lap sticking the wand in/out of the container for a good 15-20 minutes.  You even decided that the bubble filled wand should go in your mouth a bit--and you didn't seem to care about the taste!  Huh!



Bubbles!  Love the expression--he's in the middle of talking to himself!

• Accidentally leaving the changing pad out has worked to my advantage a few times, as you saw it, grabbed it, and made me open it so you could sit on it. This didn't always mean you needed to be changed, but I'll take what I can get!
• If we tell you "let's go change your diaper" now you will actually go to the changing spot in our bedroom.  Whoa!
• I've tried some sensory play with you thanks to ideas I get off Pinterest!
• Right before Thanksgiving you FINALLY learned what it is to give kisses! You'd let us give them to you, but that was about it. Then one day getting out of the car, I caught you and gave you one on your mouth. You thought it was hilarious and we just went from there! There's nothing like a wet Bennett kiss to make my day!  We now get them a lot at night and I LOVE them!
• Books--You are really into your books right now--especially when you're getting your morning or night-time sippy cup of milk.  You LOVE Brown Bear, Brown Bear; A Color of His Own; Baby Night-Night; Baby Colors,  a foam shape book with pieces that come out; Here Comes Halloween (has textures in it); your tractor book that has textures; your truck book that has sliding parts; Ten Little Ladybugs; your prayer book, and a few more that I can't think of at the moment! You like us reading to you as well as just playing and turning the pages yourself!
• First Aggie game was the one against daddy's alma mater--Sam Houston.  Of course, we won, and you had a decent time at the game.  You didn't nap well, so it was a long day...maybe we should've waited til you were a little bit older!  Oh well...live and learn!

1st Aggie Game

Helping Mommy sweep the kitchen--sad to say I actually DID put a swiffer cloth on so he could really help!