Several months ago, our little guy turned one! It's hard to believe over a year has gone by since he joined our family. His birthday was jam packed. I wish it was packed with fun, birthdayish things. Not even close. We did carve out about an hour that was devoted just to Bennett though! His birthday was also the day of Scott's graduation, and the last day in our apartment. Yeah, we were a little busy.
Between all the chaos, we managed to go to a breakfast place to get pancakes, one of Bennett's favorite foods! The also had pieces of chocolate cake, so we got one of those too. Grandma Ellsworth was on the ball and even brought some candles for his cake! We took the cake outside, and unfortunately it was too windy for the candles to stay lit, but they made for some cute pics. Addie LOVED putting the candles in the cake and especially loved snagging bites from it too.
At one here is what Bennett is like:
His favorite things are balls, dogs and his dad. Not joking. He will go to great lengths to get his hands on a ball if he sees one. He finds them in places we didn't even know they were. Grandma and Grandpa Ellsworth got him a basketball hoop for his birthday and he LOVES it! I can't believe he never gets tired of it. He doesn't just put the ball in the hoop, he slams it in. Sometimes he'll even jam them with one ball in each hand. He also thinks garbage cans are hoops and will slam dunk all sorts of stuff in there. If something's missing in the house, the first place I check is the garbage. One of his favorite games is throwing balls down the stairs, then going down and collecting them to do it all over again.
Bennett is also obsessed with his dad. I was really worried how he would do when Scott went back to work, because he really doesn't care for me. In fact, he's kind of mean to me. He has no problem shoving me away, or arching his back to get away from me. But he'll cuddle and run right to Scott. It makes me a little sad, but I really love how much he loves his Dad.
When he gets excited and wants somethings, usually food, he flaps his arms and shoats, "Oooooh, Ooooooh!" like a monkey.
He's gotten really good at the stairs. Thank goodness! I only had to show him a few times and he now does them great. Addie is always so excited to cheer him on as he goes down them.
He loves to roam and run. He really doesn't need toys or entertainment, just the freedom to roam and he's as happy as can be.
He loves bending over, putting his hands on the ground and looking between his legs. I think he likes the way the world looks upside down.
At one he had all 8 front teeth and one molar. Now (at 13 mos. he has all of his molars and is working on the k-9s).
He thinks he's one of the big kids at the playground. He loves to follow the big kids up to the tops of the playgrounds. He'll send himself down all the slides. It gives me a little bit of a heart attack. I have to stay on him like glue at the park!
He says momma, dada, and adda for Addie. Since his birthday he's added gaw-gu (doggie) and bah (ball) to his vocabulary. He also signs more and all done.
He is the world's best napper. He's still hanging on to that morning nap and I don't foresee it leaving anytime soon. His afternoon nap is at least 2 hours, usually 3 pretty much every day. He also made the transition to a sippy cup and milk seamlessly. I was dreading it because Addie was pretty hard, but he LOVES his milk and would drink 10 cups full a day if I'd let him!
If you're lying down on the floor, he'll charge at you and dive on top of you. Sometimes he dives so far that he'll overshoot you and face plant on the other side of you.
When it's time to go somewhere I say, "Go, go!" and he'll shout, very high pitched, "Go, go, go!" He gets a very intent and determined look on his face and heads straight for the stairs to get his shoes. He plops his bum down and waits for me to put his shoes on then he goes straight to the car. He runs in circles around the car until I intercept him to put him in. Sometimes I'm busy getting other things ready and he'll keep going around and around looking for me to get him in his seat.
He is a magnet to trouble, like the street and garbage cans. He bee lines for both of those things.
He sleeps like a teenager. I have to be careful not to get him up from his nap too early or I get majorly grumped at. If I go in too early, he grunts at me and rolls over and pretends like he didn't see me.. If I try getting him out, he arches his back and screams until I put him back. I can usually coax him into happiness with my secret weapon, a cup of milk!
We love our Bennett Boy so much! He's such a riot. We can't imagine our family without him. Enjoy a million pictures and videos of his tiny birthday celebration!
