Pizza and Ice Cream: 17 Month Update

One more month and Ben is 1 1/2 years old. The time is going so fast. I have found myself often saying "I'm glad I'm not a sentimental person" these last few months. So much is changing that I can barely take it all in. Ben now has a big boy room - when did he get old enough for that? Another baby coming? It all seems to crazy.

On most days Ben is an absolute joy. His giggles are infectious and often unprovoked. He gets super proud of himself when he accomplishes a task and will often clap for himself or give a huge grin and a giggle. He is a super fast walker, he can be across the house before I realize he left my side. He loves to help: he brings the laundry, puts his things away, gets out his own whisk or spoon when I'm cooking, and on and on. I am much slower at tasks now because he is "helping" with everything.

He is still working on some molars. One is all the way in and some more seem to be coming soon. He drools like a faucet, keeps his fingers in his mouth constantly, and reminds us of his pain with lots of whining when he feels he needs some attention.

His words are coming quickly now. He tries to say everything you ask him to and most of the time it sounds close to the actual word. Sometimes he just gives some gibberish and we tell him it was a good effort anyway. He frequently says "more" and by frequently I mean non-stop. He wants more tickles, more juice, more everything. It kinda sounds like "mo" sometimes and is just so cute to hear his little voice. He loves to say "dog" when we are in the backyard because the neighbor's dog barks at us. He will say "mo dog" over and over. The dog doesn't always respond! His other words are mama, dada, my mama, my dada, that (a much over-used word), ball. Surely there are more, but that is all I can come up with right now.

Enjoy some pictures from my mom's trip.

Painting a picture for Nate after I painted the tree. We did his hand prints 2 days before, so he tried to paint his hand and make his prints. So smart.