Bebo 16-18 months

Well, Bennett has reached the year and a half marker and has gained yet another nickname. I'm not sure this kid even knows his real name is Bennett...

Here's Beebs (credit for this nickname goes, once again, to Lincoln)!

Let's see...what has B been up to lately? Well, he has some new words...actually, quite a few. My best attempt to list them: mama, dada, weh weh (wembley), ah duh (all done), muh (more), dehyeh (there it is), uh uh (no), uh (yes), nana (banana), wahwah (water), bah (ball), buh (book), boo (boot), ooo (shoe), woofwoof, waaama waaama (llama llama), dih (this), hi, hi mama (2 word utterance!), hi dada (another one!), dah (dog), moo, buh (bird), kak kak (quack), ooo ahah (monkey sound), ah (off), kuh (corn), koh (cold), pah (pop), and he signs caterpillar the exact same way Lincoln used to (I need to get it on video!). There are maybe more that I am forgetting...

Knows the following body parts, on himself or others: hair, eyes, nose, mouth, teeth, ears, legs, feet, fingers, toes, booty.

Loves taking his pants off. He also knows how to take his diaper off, so we do have to keep an eye on that...

Last week, right after bath, he ran into Lincoln's closet, got out the potty chair, sat on it, and actually peed. Totally random, but we'll take it! Not that I have any intention of potty training an 18 month old. That's just asking for a trip to the insane asylum.

We've been working on cutting down the nursing. Bennett was getting a bit obsessed with having to nurse every time I sat down, which obviously didn't fly with me. He has been night weaned since he had his overnight hospital stay (he was so sick he didn't even try to nurse, so it was an easy time to do that), and as of this week, is down to nursing only 3-4 times a day. Lucas puts him to bed at night, so really he just nurses in the morning, before nap, and sometime in the afternoon. Before bed is kind of hit and miss. He sometimes refuses then, so I certainly don't force it...

I think in part to cutting back on the nursing, Bebo has really increased the amount of food he is eating per meal. He has the least amount of intake at breakfast (as in, maybe a bite or two), but eats a good size lunch and dinner. Did you know that is typical for toddlers? They usually have one (or 2) meals that they will just pick at and the other meal(s) eat a regular amount. I've been meaning to do a post about typical toddler feeding patterns since I attended the Food Chaining conference, but keep forgetting. Favorite foods of the moment: edamame, pizza, cheese, chocolate chips, bananas, strawberries, apples, cooked carrots, crackers and peanut butter (he just licks the peanut butter off, though), raisins, grapes, pasta, chicken enchiladas, beans and rice, honey.

We took a trip up to Breckenridge for Oktoberfest. Mr. B had just gotten over a cold, and I think must have had some residual fluid in his ears, because he was MISERABLE on the drive (which took us to 11,000 feet above sea level). He cried, held his ears and head, and was all around a sad baby. He did fine once we actually arrived in Breckenridge and started walking around. Maybe the pressure in the car was too much when combined with the change in altitude? Who knows. He was so sad :(

 On the gondola in Breckenridge. Bennett appears to be terrified in this picture.

There's Mr. B helping himself to the rest of my birthday cake in the refrigerator, crazy hair and all.

Lincoln and Beebs have started playing together more, which is awesome. I think it is so hilarious to watch them play. An example:
Lincoln: "Beebs, do you want to play trash truck and recycling center in the basement?"
Beebs: "uh"
Lincoln: "Ok. Let's go do it."
Beebs: "uh." (B then goes and pick up something up a truck and plays for about a minute)
Lincoln: "Ok, Beebs! Dump it here!"
Beebs: (dumps it in a totally different spot)
Lincoln: "NOT LIKE THAT, BEEBS! MAMA, BEEBS IS NOT DOING IT THE RIGHT WAY."

We have been spending as much time outside as we can. The weather has been amazing, and both kids ask to go out constantly. A few nights ago, we were on a walk in our neighborhood and discovered a park that we had never seen before--about half a mile from our house. All this time! A park within walking distance! And we'd been wasting it! Anyway, while we were exploring it, we saw these 2 deer in someone's backyard. They jumped the fence and wandered down near the sidewalk. The boys probably could have gotten close enough to touch them...they were not scared of people at all. Lincoln grabbed Bennett's hand to keep him from running up to the deer. And then I melted into a puddle.

Bennett experienced his first snow in Colorado! It came early (October!), but luckily I had picked up winter jackets a few days before at a consignment shop. Bebo LOVED the snow...he cried and cried when we came inside. Of course, the only fitting consolation prize was hot chocolate...with marshmallows.

It warmed back up about 5 days later, so we are back to daily plasma car/scooter rides, mowing the grass, drawing with chalk, and running into the street because it is hilarious (we have a strong difference of opinion, there). Also, Lincoln looks about 8 years old in this picture.

6 months until I have a 2 year old (again)!