Bennett's One year stats

Bennnett had his one year check-up today:
Weight: 20lb (28%)
Height: 29.5 inches (38%)
Head: 45.6 cm (35%)

Healthy and happy

1 Year!

We made it! Bennett is 1 year old today! I spent most of the day reminiscing of where we were one year ago today. I never did post Bennett's birth story. Mostly because at the time it was too painful to recall it. Basically it went like this...nothing went as planned. And now, one year later, I finally am understanding why that is. Because as a mother, nothing goes as planned, ever. And now, one year later, I am finally getting to be ok with that. The more you push for how things "should" be, the more resistance you come up against. The more you relax and "listen" to your little one, the easier things are. I'm not saying that Bennett will always get what he wants. It is my job to figure out what he needs and adapt accordingly. Ok, enough about what I've learned in the past year (and that by no means is all of it) and on to what's really important. What's going on with Bennett?

Bennett's birthday party was scheduled for this past Saturday but mother nature had other plans. Instead of a pool party, we had a hurricane party. Thankfully, the forecasts were off and the hurricane was not as bad as predicted but needless to say we rescheduled the party. We did celebrate his birthday today by going to the zoo.

And dinner out at the Cheesecake Factory.

And just all around silliness

Over the past month, Bennett has been working on his communication skills. He does say words, but not at the right time quite yet. Over the past few weeks, he has started to do some sign language. He can sign "all done", "milk", and "more." He also waves "hi" and "bye." He says "dada" quite a bit but I don't think he associates it with Eric. I am still waiting to hear "mama."

He is still not walking on his own and I'm ok with that. He loves his push walker and between that and crawling he can get any where he wants to. He is cruising between furniture more and more. He has no interest in letting go. He will stand without support for a couple of seconds if you let go of him but quickly falls to the ground and not because he loses his balance. Instead of working on his walking skills, he is busy perfecting the art of climbing. Here he is during our "photo shoot" this afternoon.

I think we are going to have our hands full!

All in all he is a happy, busy little boy. I absolutely love how now Bennett will give me hugs all through out the day. And even though it is exhausting at times, I love that I am still his favorite person. I love that when I enter a room, he lights up. Every day he amazes me and I fall in love with him more and more. This past year has been the best year of my life. I am truly honored to be Bennett's mother and blessed with watching him learn and grow. I am sad that the year has flown by but I am also so happy with where we are now.

Sweet Bennett, I hope you always keep the curiosity and sense of humor that you have now. I hope you stay fearless but not reckless. And I hope that I will always be your favorite person.

Bedtime stories

Bennett decided he would read a book to himself tonight.

I had just told my brother that I couldn't wait to see Bennett "reading" to himself since he loves looking through the books. The very next night Ben decided he would do just that. If you listen closely you might hear him say "read book."

11 months!

I can't believe my little man is 11 months old. I know I say that each time he is a month older but it really is unbelievable. This month Bennett's personality has really been coming out. The picture above is of him doing his fake laugh. He scrunches up his face and breaths out his nose quickly. It's so cute. If I do it, then he'll do it back. He is a little comedian.
He still isn't walking but that is stopping him from getting around. He crawls so fast that I can barely keep up with him. Once I showed him how to use the push walker, he was off. He loves the upright mobility but still doesn't have the confidence to walk unassisted. I think he may have fallen one to many times when he started pulling himself up so he is extra cautious now.

One thing that has been a surprise this month is Bennett's separation anxiety. We really haven't dealt with it until now. He has always been ok with other people holding him but now he is a bit shy around strangers. He is quite a few days that he is extra clingy. I guess with his new mobility comes the realization that mama can leave too and he doesn't like that. We are doing the best we can to reassure him without too much coddling.
Bennett started going to daycare this month. Only two days a week so that he can adjust to the change. He seems to be loving it. This is a picture was sent to me by his sitter, Kelly.

He's a happy boy!
I'm so sad that he will be one soon. I knew the day would come but for some reason I was hoping on could hold on to his "baby days" just a little longer.