19 months - Benjamin

Oh Benjamin. What a little character. His talking has taken another step up this past week. We get such a kick out of hearing what he has to say! The other day, I was driving with him in the car and chatting with him about what we were going to have for lunch. I told him we were going to have noodles. He said "No I Not Noodles! No I Not Noodles!". I took that to mean that he didn't want noodles for lunch, so I asked if he wanted a sandwich instead. He spent the rest of the ride home talking about "Bed" (Bread). He says "No I Not" for a few things when he doesn't want to do them. He has also finally learned how to say "yes" and/or nod his head. Before, he would say "no" to any question, no matter what it was. His nod is hilarious. He slowly nods his head up and down with his eyes wide open. Wish I had a picture of it. He continues to like to talk about the people he hangs out with at daycare. He tries to tell us stories about what happens at daycare. He tells us when one of the kids gets sad. He scrunches up his face and does a little "waaaa" when he's telling us about someone being sad. If he doesn't know what something is, he says "uuummm" and looks at us while pointing to whatever it is.

His fiestiness and independence has also taken a step up lately! Yikes! Joel and I are trying to figure out (Fast!) how to deal with all of his new little challenges. He wants to do EVERYTHING by himself, but that's obviously not possible. So...how do we avoid major meltdowns when he's not allowed to do it all himself And then the little things, like how do we get him to listen to us the first time when we say things like "It's time to go upstairs to get ready for bed". Brenna tells me that we'll figure out these little challenges and look back and wonder how it was ever even a question. So I'm writing this down to see what my thoughts will be in a few months :) He has strong opinions on what he wants Joel, Emma or me to do. Basically, he never wants me to do anything. He doesn't want me to sing, dance, throw balls, etc. He says "No Mama, No Mama" whenever I'm doing something he doesn't approve of. Also, lately, he's been waking up in the evening if he hears Emma running around or eating (she eats pretty close to his door). He stands up and says "No Emma!" several times before he lays down and goes back to sleep. It's not bratty when he says it...he just sounds concerned and really wants Emma to stop making noise. They are like siblings that argue. They argue over snacks, toys, space on the couch, the hammock, dad's lap, etc.

He's learning his colors! He knows the words and context for 5 or 6 colors. He gets orange right most of the time...and tonight he correctly identified blue a few different times. We have our christmas lights up in the family room, so he's been practicing his colors with those.

His big things this month have been trains and his "hammock". His "hammock" is a blanket I tucked into the couch and the ottoman. I meant it to be a tent, but he discovered it's a cozy place to play on top of! It's been up for weeks, which makes half our couch unuseable...oh well. If he's not rolling around, snacking, lounging or playing in his hammock, he likes to pile all his toys in there. His other big thing is trains. All he wants to do is watch train videos on our phone or on tv...and he carries his trains (or cars) all around the house. I love watching him try to figure out the magnetic connectors on the trains. The trains (or trucks) sit on the table and park while he's eating. It's really like his toys are his little buddies. He definitely has his favorites and is always on the lookout for those.

Here's his Hammock:

Last weekend was Thanksgiving. We went down to Portland for a few nights to visit my Dad and Michelle. Chauncy and Alan came down for one night, too. It was great! It was so fun seeing my dad and Ben play together. Ben really liked my dad, and my dad was great at being goofy with Ben and showing him cool stuff. My dad texted me today and said it melted his heart to hear Ben say his name (he was calling him papa). Aunt Chauncy got tonnsssss of snuggles after our Turkey dinner! I've never seen Ben sit still for so long and snuggle! Joel, Ben and I all slept in the same room while Michelle, Ci and Alan slept in the living room area...well, on Friday, Ben woke up really early, so we whisked him off to do a little Black Friday shopping and let the others sleep in.

Christmas is a few weeks away, so it's been fun to read Christmas books with Ben and teach him Christmas words (Santa, ho ho ho, nutcracker, and so on). We rented a Christmas Chuggington at the library and have started singing a few Christmas songs.

Ben at this age is so much fun!! It's fun to see his language grow and watch him figure out the world in leaps and bounds. I love his excitement over little things (Christmas lights, showing us his artwork from daycare, seeing a kitty outside...). I cannot wait to see how this fun, sweet little personality continues to develop!!!