18 months old !

Okay, it’s been forever since I’ve posted anything.  I’ve had all these grand intentions. 

But I also have been trying to read my Bible more faithfully every day, and support my husband more effectively every day and parent our boys more patiently every day and enjoy life more truly every day … and since I haven’t really been successful on any of those fronts (and it’s not just because I’m a perfectionist who is trying to change), I didn’t feel like I could stop and spend lots of time posting to the blog … since that really doesn’t have the eternal significance of any of my other every day objectives. 

But today, Benjamin is 18 months old.  He’s a year-and-a-half.  gulp!  I don’t know where the time went, but he is definitely not a baby anymore.  He is a little boy.  Since January, we’ve watched his personality unfold and have been rapt in the awesomeness of God’s creation.  It is fun to see how people born of the same parents and raised in the same household can be so different.  To be sure, Benjamin has distinct similarities to his brother Jasper.  But he is his own creature, and he is a HOOT! 

Benjamin is still not talking much, but he has his own way of communicating.   He does say dada (his first word), chugga chugga (for train) and wee-ooo (for fire truck).  We think he’s saying chips.  How’s that for a non family word?  And just recently he’s started saying papa and mama.  He does sign for milk, more and thank you and blows kisses like the best of them.  He totally responds when you ask him to do something he wants to do – like go give hugs and kisses to a room of people before bed.  Today he ran from the bathroom to the tent in the playroom to retrieve the “milk carton” for Jasper who happened to be sitting on the big boy potty.  He’s attached to his pacifier still (sadly) for naps and other times of comfort and is just starting to show progress of being in the nursery at church without crying much.  This last Sunday was perhaps an anomaly since there were 28 kids in his nursery room on Easter.  Previous Sundays he’s played, talked and laughed the entire time without needing his pacifier.  (We LOVE our nursery workers who are consistent each Sunday and love him and can really track his improvements and care that he shows progress.) 

Without knowing how or why this developed, Benjamin loves to yank Jasper’s clothes off the hangers in the closet.  He’ll do it while I’m trying to change Jasper’s diapers, too – just when I don’t have a hand free to grab him.  In these instances, he is all too defiant and cares not about the tone or inflection of my voice to stop him.  He will not eat leftover chicken and sometimes protests almost his entire meal – even though it’s clearly composed of things he loves.  He’s taken to Oatmeal Squares cereal for his breakfast of champions of oatmeal, toast and fruit as well.  He’s ascribing to his brother’s adoration of breakfast.  He loves trucks, just like his brother, and refers to them as “a-cha” – pointing decidedly at passing trucks while saying this. 

As of today he has 12 teeth and four, yes four, additional ones are coming in right now.  These four will fill out his mouth, leaving no gaps in his smile.  Oh, his smile.  He is a funny kid and has a “funny face” that he will grin at you if you ask.  Jasper loves his funny face and will ask him to show it – then laugh, laugh, laugh at Benjamin.  It’s too cute.  Drew took a video of it about a week ago.   I’ll try to get it uploaded.  This is a shot taken when Jasper was saying “Let’s see your funny face, Benjamin!”

The boys are attached to their papa and nana who have been snowbirding in Austin for nearly three months.  When they arrive, Benjamin runs for papa, sometimes very clearly brushing off nana as he runs past her.  Jasper on the other hand squeals wildly for nana when she arrives.  Thankfully they are an equal distribution sibling pair.  Papa and nana leave tomorrow.  Oh how the boys (and I) will miss them. 

Benjamin has not completely given up his morning nap.  Some days he can skip it without missing a beat.  I mean, he’s stumbling over himself as noon approaches but can make it through lunch and then down for his nap.  But he can’t do it every day all week.  Yesterday we skipped morning nap and there was major flame out at dinner.  Today he was flaming out nearly at the end of breakfast and went down with a scream for his morning nap but quickly fell asleep for over an hour.  It sounds like he’s just starting to wake up from his afternoon nap now.  There is nothing simple about life with kids.  I hope we can be a little more productive in our days once he gives up his morning nap for good and we can use mornings for going to the park, running errands, etc. 

I’ll have to catch up on all the goings on since January later.  Right now, I have two boys who want to play.