51 Weeks, cont.

51 weeks! Finally, the last week of weekly photos before his one year old pictures. These pictures were taken a few days late, over the weekend, of course. Life has been too busy on the weekdays, especially with Joel out of town last week, ECFE class on Thursdays, and Valentine's Day on Friday. So many times have we wanted to give up on these weekly photos, but we made it (more or less)! Week to week, it is hard to justify finding the time to take photos, since he doesn't seem to change much, but we've been going through photos and videos in preparation for his birthday party, and it is incredible to see how much Bennett has changed!

Bennett has become an amazing little kid these past few days and weeks. He LOVES to talk. Literally from his waking moments (One morning, I walked into his room, looked into his crib and saw him laying there, staring at the ceiling. He pointed up and said, "dung dung!") and talks until he goes to bed. Today when Joel picked him up from daycare, they told him he talked all day long. He likes to talk when he points to things, sometimes he just sits and talks, talks, talks. It'll be exciting when he actually has words to say. Right now he has three words in his vocabulary: Mama, Dada, and dung dung. He tries to say 'ball' but it usually comes out 'ba!' or 'da!'  For as much as he talks, he seems to understand us as well. He knows when we tell him not to do something, although, he doesn't always stop. He likes to listen when we explain things to him, likes it when we point out things. The other day I was teaching him how to turn the lights on and off. It take too long for him to try to flip the switch on his own, and then snap his head up to look at the light. He is really a lot of fun right now- but requires as much energy as he is fun. Nonverbally, he communicates too. He knows how to sign for milk and when he is 'all done.' He claps when he is happy or likes something, wiggles when he eats something he likes, and dances when he hears a catchy tune. He knows the words 'clap' and 'dance' and will do (most of the time) both when we ask. Bennett will give kisses (big slobbery, open mouth ones, that sometimes involve a tongue poking around) and blow kisses (less frequently, but it happens). He knows how to wave bye, only he doesn't do it all the time, or quickly enough for people to see. It is a lot of fun to communicate with him.

Also at daycare today, they told Joel that he has two buddies- Landyn and Silvia. Silvia is the little blonde pushing Bennett on the car and Landyn is the son of the teachers in his room. They said they follow each other around all day and usually Bennett is usually in the lead. I'm glad he has friends and other kids so close to him in age, because there are a lot of young babies in his room.

Bennett is still working hard on walking. He can walk holding onto one of our hands, and does it quite well, but really doesn't have much of a desire to walk on his own.  90% of the time he attempts walking, it is because we're having him do it. Someone told us over the weekend that they say kids either development mentally or physically first- so either talking or walking. I guess Bennett is going the talking route, but he is definitely active enough without the walking, so I'm okay with that. He loves climbing onto the couch and jumping. I know we shouldn't encourage it, but it IS building his leg muscles, so we let it slide.

In terms of playing, he likes his motorbike. He does a good job of climbing onto it, and likes to press the button to play songs. But his favorite toy right now is probably his blue ball. He likes to roll/throw it with us, but will also play on his own. Bennett also likes when pillows and blankets are thrown into a pile on the floor. He flops onto them, rolls around, and stands then falls onto them. He is definitely an active kid!

Bennett's favorite kitchen 'toy' is anything he can get his hands on in the cabinets and drawers. We put a bunch of plastic bowls, plates, cups and containers in the island, for him. He makes good use of them!

It is hard to believe he will be a year old in just a matter of days. A year ago, we had stud walls up in our home, and now we have a beautiful house and a little boy- definitely not a baby anymore! It is unbelievable how Bennett has gone from a teeny little baby to a curious, talkative, wiggly little boy. He still only has eight teeth, but he started out with none, so that's an improvement! From day one, he liked lights, music, and for people to talk to him, and that hasn't changed. He is still pretty easy going and flexible, but a light sleeper. It'll be exciting to see if these things carry on year and year!

Photos are all courtesy of Daddy this week. He did a great job!