38 Weeks

Today Joel and I were discussing what our favorite age has been of Bennett, and we both agreed that we love where he is right now. He's interactive, moving around, can sit and stand, and is getting increasingly opinionated. When he is happy he claps, when he wants something he crawls to it (and he crawls REALLY quickly), he is so much fun!

We've been giving him more finger foods for the past week now, and he loves the freedom of feeding himself. It is amazing to see how quickly his skills are progressing. For the first few days, less than 50% of the food was making it into his mouth and now food is making it in there 75% of the time.

This past week he also started shaking his head like he was saying no. We were eating dinner one night and I was asking him if he wanted more to eat and he shook his head. So I asked him if he was sure he didn't want more to eat and again he shook his head. Then it finally dawned on me that we were having a conversation and he was shaking his head. We're not sure if he knows what it means yet, but when he doesn't want to eat something he'll shake his head no, so maybe he does.

Bennett is climbing up stairs really well now but has yet to master climbing down. He is very mischievous and likes getting into everything. He likes to read books, and will often flip through books when he is playing by himself. Bennett obviously loves swim classes and is kicking his legs from the second they touch the water. He is ticklish and is always smiling.

The two biggest issues we're dealing with  are putting him down for naps and to bed, and his dry itchy skin. The worst part of the day is putting Bennett down for bed. He is dealing with some separation anxiety, so it is impossible to put him in his crib if he is not dead asleep. Even after he is asleep, if he wakes, there are times he only wants me and it is frustrating! Then sometimes when he wakes in the middle of the night, it is because he is itchy. He cries and screams because he is so itchy, it is horrible to witness. He has his nine month checkup on Friday, so hopefully we get some more advice on how to deal with it. We're just lucky that his skin doesn't bother him much during the day, and he is happy 97% of the time he is awake.

Transferring from one hand to the other. He has been doing this for a while, but it is an important developmental milestone!