15 Months . . . .

and I guess 16 months too! Oops! Busy times around this joint and I am so sorry your not so spectacular posts are on the recieving end! Maybe this mega post will make up for it!

 

Here you are at 15 months!

The fascinating change to me this month has been how you really do

have a word for everything that is important to you and you really CAN follow directions  so well! 

I love talking to you and seeing you knod your head yes or no! Month 15 was the "yes" month, 

and our 16th month was definitely or "no!" month! 

You are still always ready for a laugh! Loud noises, sudden movements, silly voices, things falling, are some of your favorites to laugh at!

Silly voices can almost always distract you when you are upset, like when you are getting your diaper changed.

You are super huggy and lovie, always wanting something to hold or carry, like your sack, a bear, and when your big sister lets you, Barbara, who is still way  up on your list.

You love pointing out all the baseballs in your room, it's like an "eye spy" for you, there are so many! One of daddy's favorite things that you do these days is the way you say, "he, he, he!" after we say "baseball," like Harry Carey! I couldn't help but teach you that because daddy has always said it. So when I was teaching you about baseballs, it was second nature to say , "baseball, he, he, he!" and you quickly caught on!

You are really silly, and I love it! Already, you know that sticking your finger up your nose is funny!

You also crack yourself up when:

 you turn in cirlces and fall down

you are walking backwards, especially if you have an audience who

 "comentates" on how amazing it is! : ) 

Year 2013 has got to be the "Year of the Book!" 

Staying inside so much, being sick and a few extra plane rides has really helped us to step up our book reading! It was no question that your sister would be good with it, and I am happy to say, you are too!

Here are some of your favorites!

We strongly recommend them to any and all toddlers!

(cassie and vaughanie, he loves your truck books too, for some reason i forgot to put them in the pic!)

Your happy eating is a continuing source of amusement for me, here you are gulping down

 your first hamburger!

In addition to that, we are also trying to help you feel better. You have had some bad constipation issues the past 3 months  and they really make a difference with your day! You get so fussy and upset, rightfully so, and you even stop playing because the cramps hurt so much! I am praying that by next month, we can get this figured out, thanks to changes in diet and some "extra help" like laxatives. We just went to the dr about it, so I am hoping we are on the right track. I know, not too blogworthy of a subject, but really a big deal in your life right now!

You want to do things yourself much more than yous sister at this age, such as  eat yogurt and cereal from the bowl and pick the fruit YOURSELF out of the fruit bowl ( although you have been known to smash it too!).

A few more other things I want to remember about you at this month include:

 -you love playing hide and go seek, 

- now you are getting into skype, and you will walk by the computer saying "gramommy!"

-you pick up the phone and say maymay 

-you always want to go to bekah's room afters he wakes up, even though, more times than not, bekah is still sleeping!

- you are transitioning to one nap. monster naps are a hit and miss, making it sooo hard to get to 6:30 without having major meltdowns. You sleep from 7 to 7 ish, each night.

- you love being outside

-you know all your major body parts, on a good day!

 

 

-most animal sounds too.

-most interested in trains, cars, trucks, tractors, dogs and vacume cleaners! ha!

You got to experience snow for the first time in your 15th month, which you were very interested in.

I had to be conscious of how often you got outside each day, cabin fever affected you the most, so I felt like you were a dog, "taking you on walks!" Sister was not as interested in going outside, so when daddy wasn't home, we just bundled you two up and I told her she was being a good big sister by letting you decide what to play : ).

Pretty snow outside our window:

This month also was all about Notre Dame and the big game ahead!

We decorated a cookie cake for Daddy on the night of:

And did a little pregame celebrating and cheering! The whole gang was dressed and ready for some domination! 

 . . . . . .If only we knew! : ) 

The following weekend was Notre Dame's Winter Family Fun weekend for all the alums and though we were all pretty bummed about the outcome, we still had a great time on campus and with friends!

 

You got to experience your first college basketball game!

Bekah actually got sick that weekend, poor girl slept through most of it,

and then suddenly woke up saying she felt better!

Unfortunately that lasted for 5 minutes, the rest of the weekend went downhill from there : (.

So fun to be with the Smeraglinolos again!

You learned what a hockey game looked like too, good thing to learn in the midwest!

You really enjoyed hanging with "the boys" that weekend.

Last day we got to tour the locker room, so happy we got a pic of you and daddy doing such a special thing!

 

"We're gonna get on the run, and we're gonna keep them on the run! We're gonna go inside 'em, we're gonna go outside 'em, we're gonna go inside and outside 'em!   . . . We're gonna go, go, go, and we're not going to stop until we cross that goal line!"

-Rudy

 

(Teehee, daddy can do that whole speech, pretty funny to hear him do it!)

One of these days Benjamin, you too will love the movie Rudy like your daddy and I!

Such sweet boys, they played so well with you  and were very caring towards our little sickie!

Got home and the very next day, we learn that Bekah has pnemonia and RSV, and of course, a few days after that, look who also got a breathing treatment for his RSV??

Oh man, that was one long and worrisome 2 weeks!

Thank goodness for Praise Baby! I had to administer the breathing treatments 3 times a day to an active 15 month old, not an easy thing to do, but you seemed to be okay with sitting for 10 minutes with the help of Praise Baby!

Really, God bless Praise Baby! I joke that your vocabulary skyrocketed that week because while we watched it, we would always say the word to you that we saw on the screen. A nice little perk!

"Fish!"

Both of you got little "get well" presents from your daddy and I, here is Bekah with her new fairy outfit.

Although I did my darndest to not get you sick, you got sick from your sissy, and one of the saddest things about those weeks was how you two couldn't play together! At first, I was trying to keep you away from her, which I failed : (, and then, once you got sick, she was soooo sick, she didn't want to play and of course, you didn't want to play either! After about 10 days though, I loved seeing your spirits lifting by being able to interact with one another, making  you guys oh so happy!

 

Benjamin, you sure like to "play rough" with your "fairy princess" sister! I think it will be good for her!

I remember that day so well, and how seeing you two together lifted my tired and worried worn out mommy spirits so much!

Keeping y'all apart was hard, and I love that, I love that you guys need one another so much!

Still being a bit contagious, we stayed around the house ( some more!) and enjoyed painting and doing playdough together, somehow we survived!

Okay, I should break this post up into 2 posts, but I already downloaded these pics on this post, so here we go with the 16th month too! I never got a 16 month pic of you in San Antonio last week, so I decided to use the professional pics we had taken a few weeks back!

It took awhile to find a photographer, but I think it was worth the search, I am happy with how they turned out. Benjmain, you were not in the greatest of moods that day, not your usual smiley self! You hardly wanted to let me get away from you , making it hard to get a "solo" shot, but, we got enough of them!

You still love your sack and your passy more than anything, and I am good with it to a degree, though it makes me sad to see how many pics your cute face is covered up by that passy, too many!

JUST started "assy" for passy, both funny : ), and sad ( used to be mama!)

You are quite energized by the times I tell you no! you either get super excited and do it again, or you get your feelings hurt terribly and start to cry!

You still love cars, trains, dogs, balls and books. You love to ride on things, I have caught you more than once sitting on the dustbuster, squealing at it, wanting it to go! Teehee!

You also love some odd things, like coke cans. You prefer them to be cold, and just carry them around, roll them down the floor, stack them, they make you so happy! One time on the plane when you were upset, I had the stewardess bring us a coke can and it kept you happy for atleast 10 minutes! I guess you like how heavy they are? It doesn't hurt that daddy can almost always be seen carrying one!

You love anything about Bekah, her purses, her toys, you even copy her and now like to play/read on your stomach, just like her! 

 

The funniest thing is your interest in the swiffer! You looooove it! And you want to take it with you everywhere, which is not an easy thing to do, it's so tall! It really pisses you off when you can push it smoothly across the wood floor, but then, find that it isn't quite the same on the carpet.

Ever since that week you guys couldn't play together, you have really made up for lost times! I do detect a period of life where we are going to have some disagreements to work out,such as who gets to play with what and sharing, but so far, Bekah has been pretty amazing about how YOU want everything she has! 

You have assumed a special place in the house, "your box!" You go and sit on it whenever you can, and love to then climb on it and reach for things! So not a thing Bekah ever did, I am constantly amused by your boyness, your climbing and "getting into things!" 

A pic that shows 3 of your favorite things, your "car", your passy ( duh! when is it NOT in a pic??) and your doggie! This is your get well present and it makes you so happy! You love to tuck it under you arm and carry it around! I think you think it's real because it walks and makes noises. A good replacement until we reunite with Charlie Boy!

On a rare occasion, Daddy was home to catch a pic of me doing what I love most with my kiddos,

 read to them!  Thanks to a new book I am reading, Honey for a Child's Heart, I am getting reeducated on the importance of quality literature for children. Just the other day, I told bekah we could go to the book store and pick out alot of books, but we had a special mission, they had to have "awards" ( caldecott and newberry). She loved the challenge and we came home with such sweet books to balance out all those disney books that are good, but simply put, a child's imagination needs more.

( We are reading Blueberries for Sal, Benjamin sat through the whole thing! The kid does love him some blueberries! The author included a booklist that I tried to stick to so we also bought The Little House, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, and The Important Book)

I know that I mentioned that your word is "no" this month, but even still,  an even more important word of the month for you my sweet boy must be irresistible! oh goodness, i can't get enough of you and your personality!

We all love you so much dear boy! : )