16 Months

Benjamin turned 16 months old on Saturday.  Time has certainly flown by and I feel like I can't really call him a baby anymore, although he will always be my baby, because he is most definitely a toddler now.  Benjamin continues to be a great sleeper and goes to bed around 6:00 P.M. and wakes around 6:00 A.M.  He sleeps for about 12 hours every night and we really try to stick to this same schedule no matter where we are.  We rock Benjamin for a few minutes each night before bed- long enough to read a few books and sing his favorite songs- twinkle, twinkle and He's got the whole world in his hands, or sometimes longer if he wants to snuggle.  Benjamin is typically taking 1 nap a day during the week usually around 10:00, his school naps  from 10:00-1:00 so they try to have all the babies nap during this time.  At home on the weekends we still let him have 2 naps because I really think he needs the 2nd one and he typically takes that nap around 2:00.  On most days Benjamin is a great eater, I can always count on him eating almost any breakfast food- pancakes, french toast, oatmeal being his favorites but we vary it up with sausage, eggs, yogurt and fruit.  He loves macaroni and cheese and really any pasta, chicken, tamales, broccoli and cheese, cauliflower and cheese, bananas and yogurt are just a few of his favorites.  We offer him whatever we are eating at all meals and for the most part he usually enjoys it.  He drinks milk and water throughout the day with the occasional cup of juice.  I also give him toddler formula once a day because of the DHA it contains which is excellent for brain growth which occurs the most in the first 3 years of life. =)  Balls continue to be a favorite toy of Benjamin's along with any Tupperware container, sometimes I think I should just buy kitchen utensils instead of toys for him, he loves to read books of any kind, and stack and sort everything-especially his stacking cups and boxes.  He recently has been obsessed with hats and talks about them constantly.  He also wants to put them on and take them off all the time.  Thomas the Train and Elmo are his favorite shows, although we do try to limit the amount of television that he watches.  Benjamin loves to climb in and out of his chair and is exploring with climbing on other furniture.  His vocabulary has flourished in the last couple of weeks and he is saying lots of words now- Dada, Mama, ball, dog, duck, up, no, yes, Lyla (his friend at school), nana, hat, and he babbles and talks constantly.   He points to things he wants and although the vocabulary isn't all there yet, he understands everything that we say. Although Benjamin can't say "I love you, Mommy" he sure does know how to show it.  He loves to give hugs and gives the biggest, slobberiest, open mouth kisses- they are the best.  At his 15 month check up he weighed 21 pounds and was 29 inches tall and checked out perfectly so I imagine he is just a little taller and heavier than that now.  I keep telling myself that I am going to take some 16 month pictures so I am going to try to do that this weekend, it is just so hard to get a good picture these days because he is constantly on the move so for now I leave you with some pictures from school this past month as well as his school picture.  Gotta love those school pictures.  =)   Love my silly, sweet, cuddly boy so much!