Ben at 18 months

Ben has done a lot growing in the past few months… the biggest area being his language. He wasn’t really saying any words when he turned 1. Now, just six short months later, he has almost too many to count. Here is my best attempt at compiling a list:

Hi, Milk, More, Roux, Dee, Sit, Fish, Go, I Got It, Hair, Mouth, Uh-oh, Ball, Bye, Eat, Please, Sweetie, Tanner, Book, Banana, Truck, No, Eyes, Lips, Hello, Water, Mom, Night-Night, Thank You, Grammy, Help, Puppy, Ro-Ro, Ride, Home, Nose, Face, Shoe, Chair, Daddy, Bath, Army, Paw Paw, Hot, Duck, Wiggles, All Done, Paci, Ears, Tree, Bite, Cookie

Whew – he is one little chatter box. Things are definitely not very quiet around our house.

Along with his exploding language, Ben has also been developing his social skills. He has never met a stranger and he is not bashful IN THE LEAST. He’s had plenty of opportunities to charm the masses during our trips to see family, at home with the college kids, at school twice a week, in the church nursery on Saturday nights, and with his many friends during our play dates and outings. He also confidently navigates the halls of my office when he visits me at work… he knows exactly which ministers have jelly beans, animal crackers, or little toys in their office.

As Ben grows, I can see so many of his Daddy’s great qualities in him (his sense of humor, charm and good looks), as well as some of the not so great ones (Daddy, too, is a “talker” and he got into his fair share of trouble for being chatty in school when he was growing up). It will be fun to see all of the ways that he grows up to be like his daddy. :)