Bennett at 18 Months

Benny Boy, what can I say? It’s not that I don’t want to do monthly updates for you like I did (occasionally) for Reeves, it’s just that I’m not working now, and as such, don’t find myself with a lot of free time sitting in front of a computer trying to find something to do to make it look like I’m working. That being said, today you are 18 months old, and, as difficult as it is to pull myself away from my bonbons and stories, here I am, at the computer in a desperate attempt to make sure I don’t let this precious time pass without documenting all the amazing things you are doing at this stage in your life.
First, I must say that you are one of the happiest children I have ever seen. You are almost always smiling or laughing. For the most part, you are instantly in love with whomever you meet, although you have recently been showing signs of shyness. Sometimes you curl yourself into me when someone new arrives, but I know this is a stage, and it doesn’t take long for you to warm right up to anyone. Your blue eyes shine with a perfect contentment and glee. It’s usually your eyes that draw people in. They are the first thing anyone comments on – they’re so big and so blue. And poor Reeves when it comes to this. He has made it no secret that blue is his favorite color, and while he loves your eyes, he also points out to us that his eyes are blue too. Most times we try to correct him, but sometimes it’s just not worth the meltdown. I hope you don’t use this against him later on.
Speaking of Reeves, he is by far your favorite person. Oh, you love Daddy and me, and you take a special delight in Lolly and Grandaddy, but you adore Reeves. When I come to get you up from bedtime or a nap, you are not necessarily super happy, but as soon as I say, “Let’s go find Reeves!”, you start jumping up and down in the crib, clambering at me to get you out. Heaven forbid I should have to change your diaper. Those are precious seconds where I am keeping you from your brother, not that you calm down and let me do it very quickly. I’m hoping that you really get the whole cause and effect thing down by 19 months, because it’s a little frustrating at times.
On the verbal front, you are far exceeding your brother when he was this age. Your words include, “Mama, Dada, Lala, juice, ball, book, shoes, choo-choo, ketchup (which you actually pronounce “babup”, but we know what you mean), and stop.” And I must expand a little here on your favorite word, “Stop!” I hadn’t realized what you were saying until Lolly pointed it out. It was a noise you always made when I changed your diaper or wiped your face and hands. It is more like a sing-song than actually saying the word. “Staaaaaaaaap!” How I didn’t realize that you were saying “stop” is beyond me, but I now totally hear it from you. You use it a lot during said diaper changes because you loathe having your waste cleaned off of you. You’re lucky I love you so much because honestly, I really only want to change you once or twice a day. It’s not a quick process like it was with Reeves. It is usually an all out battle involving lots of flipping you back over, lots of saving you from throwing yourself off the table, lots of using my elbow to hold you down, and occasionally hanging you upside down by your ankle when you have successfully made the dive towards the floor. “One day,” I keep telling myself, “One day you won’t fight me on this.”
Bennett, you are growing up so much faster than we could have ever imagined. On the playground, you pretty much keep up with the older boys. There is almost nothing you won’t try at least once. You climb up to the highest slides all by yourself, and come shooting down them without so much as even holding onto my finger. You take the knock downs and bumps like a man and have even started giving some of them back in kind. Just yesterday, you fell off a little structure at Moultrie. None of us saw it, but when I came running over and scooped you up, you curled yourself into me like you haven’t done since you were an infant. I just knew something was terribly wrong. But, after about 15 minutes of Mommy time, you were back down, ready to go. I checked all the obvious appendages and made sure of your balance, but you were fine. And you climbed right back on that horse and showed him who’s boss. Whoa would be so proud.
As tough as you are, I cannot overlook your sweet side. You have finally started to give real hugs. You wrap your arms around our necks and squeeze with all your might. Sometimes you grab our cheeks and pull them in close for a kiss. I randomly find you patting Reeves on the back, and I’m certain it’s “just because you love him.” You have also recently taking quite a liking to baby Campbell. Other than trying to poke his eyes out a couple of times, you are very gentle with him. (I wonder if we can convince Daddy that you need a baby brother or sister. Doubt it!) I love seeing this tender side of you while knowing that you can also take pretty much what anybody can dish out on you. It’s kind of like seeing a big football player holding his newborn after a game.
Sweet Benny, I promise to do better in writing down and sharing these memories of you so that you will have them forever. There is so much more to say even now, but I just can’t get my mind to conjure up and put into words just how gooey in love we are with you. You have brought so much happiness into all of our lives. We love you more than you’ll ever know and count our blessings that we are so lucky God gave you to us. Happy 18 months!

Bennett at One Year

365 days. What a drop in the bucket, and yet I find myself marvelling at the fact that you have been with us for more than even a week. You came rumbling into our lives two weeks early, and while I thought we weren't prepared for you at all (no infant clothes washed, Reeves still in the crib), your easy going demeanor and precious smiles made you fall right into place, and we all grew around you. It was like you came into the family and filled in that missing piece. You completed our puzzle.There were some frustrating, exhausting times early on, namely the couple of weeks when you completely forgot how to latch on and refused to eat, but you have generally been the easiest baby ever. You have slept when you are supposed to and for as long as your supposed to, you eat when you're supposed to, and you put smiles on all of our faces because yours is so often lit up in happiness. It is the rare occasion that you are upset and not easily placated. You are on a wonderful schedule - a morning nap, an afternoon nap, and bedtime around 7:30. And heaven forbid you are forced to stay up much past that betime. There is nothing that can make your life better other than your crib and your blue blanket. Unlike Reeves, you are not one to be rocked to sleep. You fuss and fight until you are in bed. It's like you must have read Babywise in the womb because you have definitely made us be better parents in that respect.I must mention here your blue blanket. Never in my life have I seen a child so enamoured with a "blankie". Oh, Reeves loves his froggies, Lolly loved(loves) her Abby, and I apparently loved my Moppie so much that all that is left is a postage stamp sized piece of it, but you adore your blue blanket. Maddelle gave it to you, and you take the corner where your name in embroidered and scrunch it up under your nose with your right hand, put your left thumb in your mouth, and roll over. It's really the cutest thing. Even if you're not in bed, if someone gives you that blanket, your hands already have muscle memory and do the same thing. (This is why I have bought four more and had Maddelle embroider them exactly the same way as the original.)What is interesting is that you only suck your thumb when it's time for bed, never at any other times of the day. I hope it stays this way. Once we realized you were a thumb sucker, I started dreading the day we had to get you to stop, but honestly, if you only do it at bedtime, I'm OK with that.
You and your brother absolutely adore each other. Your face lights up (even more than it already is) when you see him. You let out a squeal of delight when he says hello to you. He greets you each morning with a "Hi, Benny Boy!" and a kiss on the forehead, and he sends you off to bed each night with the same kiss and a "Night, night, Benny Boy. Love you." The two of you are really starting to play together a lot. You are always interested in whatever he is playing with, and he is generally good natured about it unless it is something he has had to build. I have now permanently moved all my mixing bowls to the den as you and he thoroughly enjoy putting on a drum show almost everyday. Reeves also likes to hop from bowl to bowl, and I know, as soon as you can, you will be doing the same thing too. For the most part you seem to endure and even enjoy some of the physical pain he (lovingly) puts you in. Just this morning, I heard you cackling with laughter and poked my head around the corner only to see him pulling you around the room. Even though you loved it, I had to put a stop to it. It's not all about your enjoyment; it's also about training Reeves, and I'm certain most children wouldn't have enjoyed the same treatment, especially since, for most children, Reeves didn't hang the sun, the moon, and all the stars. Just a hunch.
You haven't started walking yet, but I have occasionally caught you standing up all on your own. I know perambulation isn't far behind. Probably my fault since I only recently brought out the walker toys to help you in your development. Oops! Funny how that happens with second children. You are making all kinds of sounds, but best of all, and much to your father's delight, you scream "DaDa!!" whenever you see him. This just makes his day, especially at the end of a work day. Of course, he doesn't always make it home before your bedtime, so you have also learned to associate the phone with Dada. It's pretty cute. I have heard you say "Mama", but never in connection with me, so I'll have to add that to the Honey-Do list. You wave at anyone who will wave at you and you never meet a stranger. You are possibly the happiest child I've ever met. I envy you your disposition and the fact that any problem you have can be fixed by food, drink, sleep, or a diaper change. How nice it would be if we adults could have life be so simple.
Benny Boy, you're a year old now. I can't believe we're not measuring you in months anymore. I don't want to blink. I look back at pictures of you from only a few months ago and wonder where the time went. When did you start looking like you? Certainly not when you were first born, but I can't pinpoint a time that that newborn look changed. When did you start being you? When did you blossom into this little boy, this baby on the verge of being a toddler?
But I know, from the moment you were born, you've been an amazing, precious child that God made just for us. You and Reeves are the most wonderful gifts we have ever been given. You make us all better people and parents, and with God's help, we will spend the rest of our lives molding you and Reeves into the wonderful men we know you will be.

Bennett at Ten Months

Well, Benny Boy, here we are at ten months. I still can't believe how quickly your infancy has flown by - so fast, in fact, that I completely missed your nine month letter. We're ringing in this month with a nice case of pink eye. What fun. Luckily, the only aspect of this that seems to even remtely bother you is the treatment. You scream like I've never heard you scream when I put those drops in. Of course, you being you, you recover from this trauma remarkably fast, and seconds after we're finished, you're off and playing like nothing has happened.

As Murphy would have it, since I didn't post at your ninth month, you spent the majority of the time before that hurtling over milestone after milestone. Your two bottom teeth finally popped in in April. So far, they are the only ones brave enough to make the journey. I think they have warned all the other dental buds that you thouroughly enjoy putting any and everything in your mouth and chomping down. You have mastered the art of opening any flip top with your two little teeth.

While you had been commando crawling for a month or so, you finally made the transition to full fledged crawling. It was as if all of a sudden, one day you figured out that it was much faster and perhaps less painful to go it on your hands and knees. While I find myself doing less laundry now, I am also having to clean the floors more since you are no longer doing your sweeping laps.

On morning of your ninth month, I went in to get you from your crib and found you on your knees, holding onto the railing, looking for me. I couldn't believe it. You were getting vertical on your own. Suddenly, we had to move everything we didn't want you to have up another level. The top of the toy box was no longer a treasure safe zone for Reeves. He has adjusted accordingly and without too many meltdowns. For a few days, once you got to your knees, you were stuck. You couldn't figure out how to get back down. This led to some frantic cries on your part, but once you learned to thump down on your bottom, you were happy as a clam.

On May 20, you stayed out at the country for us to take Reeves to his endoscopy. This started what was to become a five day stay. I came down wth terrible swimmer's ear and could do nothing more than lie in bed 24/7 and wonder, "Whhhyyyy meeee?" When I went to finally see you and Reeves on Friday, I learned that you had apparently decided this was the week you would start pulling up to standing and go from crawling to sitting all by yourself. As much as I hated to miss these firsts, I am so glad you had your grandparents to take care of you for them. Of course, you have never looked back, and while there haven't been any major new developments, you have certainly perfected those you do have.

We have noticed, recently, that while you always loved the little silky blanket with your name on it that Maddelle gave you, it has now, somehow, morphed into a totally necessary security for you to have in order to go to sleep. I can't tell you how precious you are when I put you in your crib, and you grab that blanket, pullit up to your face, and put your thumb in your mouth. I also can't tell you haw terrified I am that something will ever happen to that thing. As insurance, I have bought three similar blankets and had Maddelle embroider them just the way this one is done. These imposters seem to work, but you certainly don't adore them as much as the original. As long as they soothe you off to dreamland, I, and you, seem to be OK with them.

Bennett, you are just about the happiest child I have ever known. You smile all the time, and somehow, when that one dimple appears, you get even cuter. You are, most of the time, easy going, but have no qualms about letting us know how you're really feeling. You adore your daddy and big brother. I like to think you feel the same about me, but since you jump out of my arms to get to either one of them, I'll be content with being #3 in your hierarchy for now.

We say it all the time, but, Benny Boy, we love you more than you'll ever know. You have brought such joy to our lives, we'll have to spend the rest of our time repaying you.

Bennett at Eight Months

Benny Boy, where does the time go? Somehow your seventh month flew right past us, and here we are two days into your eighth. My, how you have grown and changed in these last two months. We just got back from your (very early) 9 month doctor's appointment, and while you were looking up at the weight charts at six months, I'm happy to report that you are now nicely settled in at the fifth percentile, tipping the scales at 16'4". Honestly, I thought you would be higher than that, but I'm not complaining. You're happy and healthy, and if you give my arm muscles a break for a few more months, who am I to complain?

About three weeks after our initial attempts at solids, you finally relented and are now eating like a champ. Some nights I wish I had three hands because it certainly would keep you a lot happier if I could just shovel those sweet potatoes in, one spoon after another. It is so refreshing to have a child who eats so happily. I hope you keep up these healthy eating habits. Maybe one day your big brother will learn from you that food and mealtimes are not the enemies.

As expected, you have really upped the chatter recently. Your favorite noise is now the squeal. I love it because it is such a wonderful indication of your complete happiness. You will make that noise for me, but you reserve your uninhibited squealing for your brother and your father. Reeves usually squeals back at you, but you know that Daddy will instantly pick you up and snuggle and smooch you, and I think that's why you really do it. You have really started to love your Daddy time. For a while, you were waking up around midnight just to play with him. I know this because you weren't wet or dirty, and you weren't hungry. All you wanted to do was get right in his face and play. Of course, he delighted in those times. I suppose you have gotten your late night fix of him for a while because you are once again sleeping your solid 11-12 hours a night.Speaking of bonding, you and Reeves are, apparently, on your way to becoming best friends. You adore him, and luckily, he appears to feel the same way. He loves to snuggle you and will even share some of his cherished toys with you. Of course, you aren't yet "taking" his toys, so we'll see how long this goodwill lasts, but we're off to a good start. Sometimes when you're fussy (which is rare), I can tell Reeves to go make you happy, and he is successful every time.

Your favorite song is Patty-Cake. You have even perfected your own version of the movements. You clasp your hands together and bounce them off of your mouth, all the while babbling incessantly. Oh, some may say that you're not really doing patty-cake, but you and I know better.

You have become quite the little mover of late, as well. You started sitting on your own right about 7 months. Since then, you have learned to "swim" all around the den. Somehow you manage to get to what you want despite the fact that you only, two days ago, got up on all fours. It is too much fun to see you do this. When some toy catches your eye, you direct yourself towards it with all the excitement and dedication you can muster. How you even have the strength or energy to play with it once you get there is beyond me. You still can't get yourself to a sitting position on your own, but I know that is right around the corner.

Bennett, I can hardly remember life without you. Eight months ago we didn't even realize how incomplete our lives were. You have brought such joy to all of us. We love you more than you'll ever know.

Bennett at Six Months

Well, Bennett, it happened. I glanced away for a second, and when I looked back, you were half a year old. I can’t even begin to tell you just how special you are to us. You are such a fantastic baby. I have heard rumors that some children have been wonderful infants and then change at six months. I am praying this is not the case with you. I’m not sure what I would do with you if you got extremely fussy. I’m sure I’d figure it out, but I think that’s a test best left untaken, so let’s just make a deal that you’ll continue on your current path.
This month you have finally taught yourself to roll back over from your tummy to your back, although you are not all that good at it yet. And my only proof that you can do it is because there have been times when you have woken up on your back after I know you had been on your tummy at some point. I have not actually witnessed the front/back roll, but as long as it keeps you in blissful slumber just a little while longer, I’m willing to believe things I don’t see.
I have tried to get you to latch onto a little puppy blanket that Grandmommy gave you, but you have made your own decision to fall madly in love with a satin, super soft blanket that Maddelle gave you. Right now it’s just big enough to cover your body when you roll on your side and curl up. You immediately grab it and pull it up to your face and, most of the time, fall instantly asleep (or at least quiet). So far you’ve only had this in your crib, and if possible, I’d like to keep it that way. Otherwise, I’ll have to contact Maddelle pronto and get at least three more! With Reeves, we have a whole herd of his froggies, and he doesn’t seem to prefer one over the other, so come to think of it, it might be a good idea to go ahead and stock up for you.
Your movements this month have gotten much more deliberate and focused. When you reach for something, you go after it directly and without much wandering of the hand. Though you are not near crawling, you somehow manage to maneuver your way around the den floor. This is great as far as your development goes, but it is not such a welcome change to your brother. More than once he has left a toy on the floor only to look over and find that you have managed to grab it. I thought I would have a little more time before I had to address the whole “sharing with your brother” issue, but it looks like you have decided to move that up a few steps. So far Reeves has been relatively good about getting you another toy to play with, and none of your fingers or arms appear to be disjointed, so he’s also mastered the art of not grabbing whatever it is from you.
You had your first sit down meal on the 13th. Rice cereal with breast milk. We were all very excited about it, and you seemed to be taking it in stride until you realized that there was actually something with texture in your mouth. We have never laughed so hard. Even Reeves was amused. You have the same disturbing habit that he had of seeming to choke on anything you decide you don’t like. It was more than once that I jerked Reeves out of his seat, prepared to administer the Heimlich maneuver, only to discover that it was his tastebuds that were revolting and not his windpipe. Be warned, I’m privy to these tricks now, so you won’t get away with it as much as he did!
Benny Boy, you’re an angel. You send Daddy off to work with a big smile, and you welcome him back with that same smile. Only now, you’ve added to his happiness even more because you are starting to reach out to him when he goes to take you from my arms. You make us so happy, and we love you more than you’ll ever know.

Bennett at Five Months

Benny, Benny Boy, what an angel you are. People ask me all the time if you are "always this happy". It hasn't been until recently that I am confident and comfortable in answering that yes, you are. This is not because you aren't. It has simply been because I have been so fearful of jinxing whatever angelic spell was cast on you when you were born. I kept thinking that all this happiness is just a phase, and I didn't want that phase to ever end. Well, it's been five months, so I'm finally pretty certain that I can say that you are "always this happy"(knock on wood).

In this last month, you have tackled and successfully made it through your first Christmas and New Year's. You were the Beau of the Ball at Christmas. Your unabashed cheerfulness makes you a delight to hold, and as such, there is never a lack of arms willing to take you. This suits Daddy and me just fine. We did Christmas Eve with the Bairs, and you were perfect - and gigantic compared to little 13 day old Caulder! You took everything in stride and loved watching your silly big brother and cousin run amuck in the house with all their new noise making toys. We went to church out there that night, and I did have to take you and Reeves out during the service. Although it was a children's service, you two were really the only little ones in there, and, despite how good you are, when everyone else is silent, you two are thunderous.

Christmas day was with the Phillipps/Anderson clan. How to describe your behavior this day? Basically, ditto. Except that you also went down without a peep for your nap and slept all through dinner - pretty much the best present you could have given Daddy and me. Oh yeah, and you and Reeves looked precious in your matching Christmas outfits. The same outfits, by the way, that Davis and Guerin sported last year. You are now the fourth child to use that one. Jodie, you got your money's worth on that! Thanks for letting us borrow them again!

Speaking of Superman and his brother, we spent NYE with them. You stayed up way past your bedtime, not that it altered your mood in the least. And you didn't even wake up when Daddy and I came and got in bed. Please keep being a heavy sleeper - at least until you're out of our house.

On the milestone front, you're kind of like 3M right now. You haven't done too much new stuff, you've just done the stuff you do do better. I might have been a bit overzealous in an earlier post when I mentioned that you had found your feet. You did, but you quickly lost interest in them. This month, they have become your favorite toys, and you like to play with both of them at once. And while it's true that you have laughed out loud before, now you cackle and giggle all the time. And you're getting louder. You are constantly reaching for everything now. Reeves has discovered this and will often dangle a toy just out of your reach. Fun for him, and fun for you for about a minute, then you want it. He sometimes gives in. You have started this new blowing bubbles and motorboating thing with your mouth. I love it because I know it means you are truly happy. There is always a grin behind that outboard. You also stick your tongue out a lot. It's the cutest little triangle of muscle I've ever seen. We are working on rolling over. Today you went from front to back, but to be honest, I think I might have happened to have positioned your arms in just the right way to make it easy for you. Milestone? Maybe.

Despite my desire to have you solely nurse for, oh, a year, it looks like we will be giving you your first bit of rice cereal this week. You're still sleeping through the night, but you reach for anything we are eating. I think you might even be licking your lips a little. Maybe we should just skip the cereal and go straight for steak. Well, maybe, if you had any teeth. I have a feeling you'll take to solids much faster and better than your brother did.

You did have your first trip to The Back to sit by a fire this month. You were mesmerized. Just like your father, you would have been content to sit and stare at those flames for hours. I see many more wonderful nights spent back there.

Bennett, you make us so happy. You brighten any day, no matter how bad it's been. Thank you for being such an angel. We love you more than you'l ever know.