17 months

"How did I get here?" wow! 17 months is so close to 18, and that seems so close to two! In fact, things change so much from day to day right now that it's hard to fathom what Ben will be doing and saying 6 months from now. Right now there is lots of almost instant gratification for mama. It seems I spend very little time teaching or showing him things and suddenly a day or two later he does said thing leaving me in awe that my teaching actually worked!!

His only new word at the moment is baby, which he has repeated twice very clearly. While that's his only new official word, he is making new sounds and sound combinations every day. I keep having dreams about him starting very clear statements ended with his own special gobbldygook. As his MeeMee noted last night, with all this babbling, "when he finally finds his words, we'll never get him to (be quiet)."

With his quick learning of late and new found motor skills, lots of Bens old toys are all new as he can play with them in all new ways.  We also learned at MeeMee's last week that this boy should never be without a ball.  He actually bit and deflated a (very thick skinned) ball at MeeMee's and we were stopping him from throwing his other toys and objects all week. 

Toddlerhood of late has also brought expected and unexpected challenges.  I clearly remember attempting to read a book to Ben's friend Cadyn about this time last year.  She was very into word and object books (without story-lines or plots) and not very into waiting for all the words on the page.  Though Ben has been peacefully turning the pages when prompted for many many months, he now turns them at hyper speed not caring what you are reading (but don't dare stop.)  His infatuation of late is the book, My Very Own Name, which I have more than memorized and which we often spend two hours a day reading over and over and over and over and over and over and over.........now you know how I feel:). 

The unexpected change of late has been sleep patterns.  While Ben has never consistently slept 12 hours a night like some of his counterparts, he did spend a couple months this fall sleeping 10.5-11 and allowing us to begin the transition to a single nap. Even then, however, that nap was usually 10:30 to 1:30 or 2, leaving us with a VERY tired baby by 8pm.  Sometime over the holidays this sleep began to shorten and over the last couple weeks Ben has been waking consistently at 4 am and sometimes during the night.  I do remember and give credit to our crazy life right now bouncing from house to house and seeing lots of new people all the time.  We made a mistake at MeeMee's last week and brought Ben into bed with me and both of us when he woke at 4 or 5 am.  He would then sleep on until 730 or even 830 one day. So, with the help of The Baby Whisperer (see future post for how her book is my bible:), and caffeine, I am going to tackle this sleep problem head on.  The hardest part has been and will continue to be pushing Ben a bit past his tired state for a while.  I am such a lover of sleep that when he shows tired signs I just want to let him nap.  I know a struggle now will pay off for all of us in the long run and I also know that I tried this transition too early before.  I am confident the time is right now.  Today has been a success and he woke at 4, 5 and finally 6, and just went down for one nap at noon.  Unfortunately, due to the Kurre Curse, there was no sleep for me after the 15 minutes of back rubbing and shooshing at 4am, but perhaps this will be a training exercise for both of us in falling back to sleep.

I've been a pretty good Mama in the food department and have been taking the time to have Ben practice with a spoon and fork.  It's WAY too easy to always give him finger foods and often use food time to cook our adult dinner or clean the kitchen.  I've been consistently sitting with him at least once a day and guiding him and it's definitely been paying off.  One day too soon I will long for the days when he couldn't manipulate utensils on his own so a little progress is perfect.

Ben's dancing skills continue to change almost daily and keep all around him in stitches.  He has taken on some ballet moves of late after watching Angelina Ballerina and I will try to get a video before this too passes.  The most humorous trick in Ben's back pocket right now is his flirting :).  Countless (mostly female real estate agents) people have quipped, "he's flirting with me....for real."  or "did you see that look?  He really knows how to flirt."  And sadly, I admit, this boy can flirt!! He tilts his head down and to the side and raises his eyes in perfect, "how you doin'?" fashion.  Yes, I am afraid.....very afraid.

We did successfully find a pediatrician and get everything transferred, so next month you'll get a full well-baby update, complete with stats galore! Amen!  I promised in his 14/15 month Well Baby post to have some nakey baby pics "well before" his 18 month visit and I am a woman of my word who forgets very little so here you go.........

Operation Jelly rescue.......