Ben at 18 Months

Checking in with Ben and how he's growing ... up ...

Weight: 23 lbs 3 oz (13%)

Length: 32 in (34%)

He is the biggest chatterbox! He knows and can say all of the names of all of the kids in his class. He says two and three word sentences. He knows at least one hundred words. And he's starting to repeat everything we say. He'll be moving up to the next class at school soon.

Here he is "talking" on the phone to Lulu on Easter.

Ben is a little shy around others, but is very lovey-dovey with Mommy and Daddy. He gives lots of kisses and hugs.

Yogurt is his favorite and now he's big enough to let Cleo lick the cup when he's finished. He's not so great with the spoon, but he can definitely feed himself with a fork. He's a big eater, too.

This is a picture of Ben after story time at a local book store. He loves, loves, loves books now. He even cries if he doesn't get at least three books before bed. Well, he actually cries before bed most days now and that is one development that I am not happy about. He had a high fever a few weeks ago and it really threw off his sleep. He usually just cries for a minute or two, but I much preferred no crying at all.

Ben loves music. He calls it moo-nak. He doesn't care much for the cartoons on the DVD player unless they have music. He bops his head and kicks his fee to the moo-nak. He always wants music playing in the house too. He asks for it as soon as he walks in from school if it isn't already playing.

Riding the carousel at the mall with Daddy ... and binky. Ben was always a thumb sucker, but he got hooked on his binky at around 14 months old. He mostly chews on it when he's awake, especially when he's teething. He only has his four canine teeth left to come in and we plan on just using binky for naps and bed after that. If he doesn't have his binky he sucks his thumb raw, so the binky seems the better option for now.

At Sam's hockey practice. If Sam happens to fall during practice, Ben will yell "Oh, no! Buddy!"

Swinging with Mommy and Mimi.

You wouldn't know it by this chill-out photo, but Ben is a big daredevil. He zooms down the slide and squeals weeeeee! If he falls he just dusts it off and goes again. He gets very mad that we don't let him just go up and hang out in Sam's fort.

We can't go outside without bubbles!

Here is Ben watching videos with Mimi and Sam. Ben has been calling Sam "Buddy" for a while now, but he started saying Sam in the last week or so.